Assessment of bauxite, clay, and laterite deposits in Afghanistan
Karine M. Renaud, Bruce R. Wardlaw, Bernard E. Hubbard
2015, Open-File Report 2014-1210
Bauxite-bearing rocks are present in several regions of Afghanistan; specifically, the southeast segment of the North Afghanistan Platform, the eastern parts of South Afghanistan, and within the Afghanistan-North and -South Pamir Fold Regions. Bauxite-bearing rocks occur at various stratigraphic levels, in lithologically different sequences of sedimentary rocks. The bauxites are...
Post-Nor'Ida coastal oblique aerial photographs collected from Ocean City, Maryland, to Hatteras, North Carolina, December 4, 2009
Karen L. M. Morgan, M. Dennis Krohn, Kristy K. Guy
2015, Data Series 930
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducts baseline and storm response photography missions to document and understand the changes in vulnerability of the Nation's coasts to extreme storms. The remnants of Tropical Storm Ida intensified to become a nor'easter (herein referred to as Nor'Ida). On December 4, 2009, the USGS conducted...
Estimation of monthly water yields and flows for 1951-2012 for the United States portion of the Great Lakes Basin with AFINCH
Carol L. Luukkonen, David J. Holtschlag, Howard W. Reeves, Christopher J. Hoard, Lori M. Fuller
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5192
Monthly water yields from 105,829 catchments and corresponding flows in 107,691 stream segments were estimated for water years 1951–2012 in the Great Lakes Basin in the United States. Both sets of estimates were computed by using the Analysis of Flows In Networks of CHannels (AFINCH) application within the NHDPlus geospatial...
Lithology, hydrologic characteristics, and water quality of the Arkansas River Valley alluvial aquifer in the vicinity of Van Buren, Arkansas
Timothy M. Kresse, Drew A. Westerman, Rheannon M. Hart
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5044
A study to assess the potential of the Arkansas River Valley alluvial aquifer in the vicinity of Van Buren, Arkansas, as a viable source of public-supply water was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Little Rock, District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. An important study component...
Spatially explicit estimation of aboveground boreal forest biomass in the Yukon River Basin, Alaska
Lei Ji, Bruce K. Wylie, Dana R. N. Brown, Birgit E. Peterson, Heather D. Alexander, Michelle C. Mack, Jennifer R. Rover, Mark P. Waldrop, Jack W. McFarland, Xuexia Chen, Neal J. Pastick
2015, International Journal of Remote Sensing (36) 939-953
Quantification of aboveground biomass (AGB) in Alaska’s boreal forest is essential to the accurate evaluation of terrestrial carbon stocks and dynamics in northern high-latitude ecosystems. Our goal was to map AGB at 30 m resolution for the boreal forest in the Yukon River Basin of Alaska using Landsat data and ground...
Incorporating induced seismicity in the 2014 United States National Seismic Hazard Model: results of the 2014 workshop and sensitivity studies
Mark D. Petersen, Charles S. Mueller, Morgan P. Moschetti, Susan M. Hoover, Justin L. Rubinstein, Andrea L. Llenos, Andrew J. Michael, William L. Ellsworth, Arthur F. McGarr, Austin A. Holland, John G. Anderson
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1070
The U.S. Geological Survey National Seismic Hazard Model for the conterminous United States was updated in 2014 to account for new methods, input models, and data necessary for assessing the seismic ground shaking hazard from natural (tectonic) earthquakes. The U.S. Geological Survey National Seismic Hazard Model project uses probabilistic seismic...
Evaluation and application of regional turbidity-sediment regression models in Virginia
Kenneth Hyer, John D. Jastram, Douglas Moyer, James S. Webber, Jeffrey G. Chanat
2015, Conference Paper
Conventional thinking has long held that turbidity-sediment surrogate-regression equations are site specific and that regression equations developed at a single monitoring station should not be applied to another station; however, few studies have evaluated this issue in a rigorous manner. If robust regional turbidity-sediment models can be developed successfully, their...
Suspended-sediment concentrations, yields, total suspended solids, turbidity, and particle-size fractions for selected rivers in Minnesota, 2007 through 2011
Christopher A. Ellison, Brett E. Savage, Gregory D. Johnson
2015, Conference Paper, Proceedings of joint federal Interagency conference 2015
Excessive sediment transport in rivers causes problems for flood control, soil conservation, irrigation, aquatic health, and navigation, as well as transporting harmful contaminants like organic chemicals and eutrophication-causing nutrients. In Minnesota, more than 5,800 miles of streams are identified as impaired by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) due to...
From mobile ADCP to high-resolution SSC: a cross-section calibration tool
Justin A. Boldt
2015, Conference Paper
Sediment is a major cause of stream impairment, and improved sediment monitoring is a crucial need. Point samples of suspended-sediment concentration (SSC) are often not enough to provide an understanding to answer critical questions in a changing environment. As technology has improved, there now exists the opportunity to obtain discrete...
Characterizing and simulating sediment loads and transport in the lower part of the San Antonio River Basin
J. Ryan Banta, Darwin J. Ockerman, Cassi Crow, Stephen P. Opsahl
2015, Conference Paper
This extended abstract is based on the U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Reports by Crow et al. (2013) and Banta and Ockerman (2014). Suspended sediment in rivers and streams can play an important role in ecological health of rivers and estuaries and consequently is an important issue for water-resource managers....
Estimating concentrations of fine-grained and total suspended sediment from close-range remote sensing imagery
Adam R. Mosbrucker, Kurt R. Spicer, Tami S. Christianson, Mark A. Uhrich
2015, Conference Paper
Fluvial sediment, a vital surface water resource, is hazardous in excess. Suspended sediment, the most prevalent source of impairment of river systems, can adversely affect flood control, navigation, fisheries and aquatic ecosystems, recreation, and water supply (e.g., Rasmussen et al., 2009; Qu, 2014). Monitoring programs typically focus on suspended-sediment concentration...
The upper bound of abutment scour defined by selected laboratory and field data
Stephen Benedict, Andral W. Caldwell
2015, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 5th Federal Interagency Hydrologic Modeling Conference and the 10th Federal Interagency Sedimentation Conference
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the South Carolina Department of Transportation, conducted a field investigation of abutment scour in South Carolina and used that data to develop envelope curves defining the upper bound of abutment scour. To expand upon this previous work, an additional cooperative investigation was initiated...
The upper bound of Pier Scour defined by selected laboratory and field data
Stephen Benedict, Andral W. Caldwell
2015, Conference Paper
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the South Carolina Department of Transportation, conducted several field investigations of pier scour in South Carolina (Benedict and Caldwell, 2006; Benedict and Caldwell, 2009) and used that data to develop envelope curves defining the upper bound of pier scour. To expand upon this...
Surrogate analysis and index developer (SAID) tool and real-time data dissemination utilities
Marian M. Domanski, Timothy D. Straub, Molly S. Wood, Mark N. Landers, Gary R. Wall, Steven J. Brady
2015, Conference Paper
The use of acoustic and other parameters as surrogates for suspended-sediment concentrations (SSC) in rivers has been successful in multiple applications across the Nation. Critical to advancing the operational use of surrogates are tools to process and evaluate the data along with the subsequent development of regression models from which...
Water quality of groundwater and stream base flow in the Marcellus Shale Gas Field of the Monongahela River Basin, West Virginia, 2011-12
Douglas B. Chambers, Mark D. Kozar, Terence Messinger, Michon L. Mulder, Adam J. Pelak, Jeremy S. White
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5233
The Marcellus Shale gas field underlies portions of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee, and West Virginia. Development of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling technology led to extensive development of gas from the Marcellus Shale beginning about 2007. The need to identify and monitor changes in water-quality conditions related...
Landsat surface reflectance data
Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3034
Landsat satellite data have been produced, archived, and distributed by the U.S. Geological Survey since 1972. Users rely on these data for historical study of land surface change and require consistent radiometric data processed to the highest science standards. In support of the guidelines established through the Global Climate Observing...
Land-use impacts on water resources and protected areas: applications of state-and-transition simulation modeling of future scenarios
Tamara Wilson, Benjamin M. Sleeter, Jason T. Sherba, Dick Cameron
2015, Conference Paper, AIMS Environmental Science
Human land use will increasingly contribute to habitat loss and water shortages in California, given future population projections and associated land-use demand. Understanding how land-use change may impact future water use and where existing protected areas may be threatened by land-use conversion will be important if effective, sustainable management approaches...
Digital representation of oil and natural gas well pad scars in southwest Wyoming: 2012 update
Steven L. Garman, Jamie L. McBeth
2015, Data Series 934
The recent proliferation of oil and natural gas energy development in the Greater Green River Basin of southwest Wyoming has accentuated the need to understand wildlife responses to this development. The location and extent of surface disturbance that is created by oil and natural gas well pad scars are key...
Application of the FluEgg model to predict transport of Asian carp eggs in the Saint Joseph River (Great Lakes tributary)
Tatiana Garcia, Elizabeth A. Murphy, P. Ryan Jackson, Marcelo H. Garcia
2015, Journal of Great Lakes Research (41) 374-386
The Fluvial Egg Drift Simulator (FluEgg) is a three-dimensional Lagrangian model that simulates the movement and development of Asian carp eggs until hatching based on the physical characteristics of the flow field and the physical and biological characteristics of the eggs. This tool provides information concerning egg development and spawning...
Summary of hydrologic conditions in Kansas, water year 2014
Andrew L. Robison
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3027
The U.S. Geological Survey Kansas Water Science Center, in cooperation with Federal, State, and local agencies, maintains a long-term network of hydrologic monitoring gages in the State of Kansas. These include 206 real-time streamgages, 12 real-time reservoir-level monitoring stations, and 32 groundwater monitoring wells. These data and associated analyses, accumulated...
11.12 – Tools and techniques: gravitational method
Jeffrey Phillips
2015, Book chapter, Treatise on Geophysics
The gravitational method is used to investigate density variations within the subsurface at depths of several meters to tens of meters, as in depth-to-bedrock investigations, or at depths of several kilometers, as in sedimentary basin thickness investigations. This chapter covers fundamental relations, densities of Earth materials, instruments, field procedures, data...
Accuracy testing of electric groundwater-level measurement tapes
Jim Jelinski, Christopher S. Clayton, Janice M. Fulford
2015, Open-File Report 2014-1236
Electric tapes are used to measure groundwater levels and to verify the accuracy of pressure transducers installed in wells. Electric tapes are generally assumed to be accurate to ±0.01 foot (ft), but little information is available from the manufacturers and no accuracy studies have been conducted to confirm this value....
Dissolved-solids loads discharged from irrigated areas near Manila, Utah, May 2007-October 2012, and relation of loads to selected variables
Susan A. Thiros, Steven J. Gerner
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5018
The Manila/Washam Salinity Project (MWSP) is a cooperative effort by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and local farmers and ranchers to reduce the transport of dissolved solids to Flaming Gorge Reservoir from irrigated agricultural lands near Manila, Utah. To estimate dissolved-solids loads from the MWSP area, discharge and water...
The river as a chemostat: fresh perspectives on dissolved organic matter flowing down the river continuum
Irena F. Creed, Diane M. McKnight, Brian A. Pellerin, Mark B. Green, Brian A. Bergamaschi, George R. Aiken, Douglas A. Burns, Stuart E G Findlay, James B. Shanley, Robert G. Striegl, Brent T. Aulenbach, David W. Clow, Hjalmar Laudon, Brian L. McGlynn, Kevin J. McGuire, Richard A. Smith, Sarah M. Stackpoole
2015, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (72) 1272-1285
A better understanding is needed of how hydrological and biogeochemical processes control dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations and dissolved organic matter (DOM) composition from headwaters downstream to large rivers. We examined a large DOM dataset from the National Water Information System of the US Geological Survey, which represents approximately 100 000...
Critical metals in manganese nodules from the Cook Islands EEZ, abundances and distributions
James R. Hein, Francesca Spinardi, Nobuyuki Okamoto, Kira Mizell, Darryl Thorburn, Akuila Tawake
2015, Ore Geology Reviews (68) 97-116
The Cook Islands (CIs) Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) encompasses 1,977,000 km2 and includes the Penrhyn and Samoa basins abyssal plains where manganese nodules flourish due to the availability of prolific nucleus material, slow sedimentation rates, and strong bottom currents. A group of CIs nodules was analyzed for mineralogical and chemical composition,...
