Groundwater quality near the Placerita Oil Field, California, 2018
Jennifer S. Stanton, Matthew K. Landon, David H. Shimabukuro, Justin T. Kulongoski, Andrew G. Hunt, Peter B. McMahon, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Robert Anders, Theron A. Sowers
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2024-5042
Groundwater-quality data and potential fluid-migration pathways near the Placerita Oil Field in Los Angeles County, California, were examined by the U.S. Geological Survey to determine if oil-field fluids (water and gas from oil-producing and non-producing zones) have mixed with groundwater resources. Six of the 13 new groundwater samples collected for...
A framework for estimating economic impacts of ecological restoration
Catherine Cullinane Thomas, Christopher Huber, Kristin E. Skrabis, Timothy B. Hoelzle
2024, Environmental Management (74) 1239-1259
Ecological restoration projects are designed to improve natural and cultural resources. Spending on restoration also stimulates economic impacts to the restoration economy through the creation or support of jobs and business activity. This paper presents accessible methods for quantifying the economic impacts supported by restoration spending...
Factors contributing to pesticide contamination in riverine systems: The role of wastewater and landscape sources
Samuel Adam Miller, Kaycee E. Faunce, Larry B. Barber, Jacob Fleck, Daniel Walter Burns, Jeramy Roland Jasmann, Michelle Hladik
2024, Science of the Total Environment (954)
Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) discharges can be a source of organic contaminants, including pesticides, to rivers. An integrated model was developed for the Potomac River watershed (PRW) to determine the amount of accumulated wastewater percentage of streamflow (ACCWW) and calculate predicted environmental concentrations...
Cross-fade sampling: Extremely efficient Bayesian inversion for a variety of geophysical problems
Sarah E. Minson
2024, Geophysical Journal International (239) 1629-1649
This paper introduces cross-fade sampling, a computationally efficient Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation method that uses a semi-analytical approach to quickly solve Bayesian inverse problems that do not themselves have an analytical solution. Cross-fading is efficient in two ways. First, it requires fewer samples to obtain the same quality...
The feasibility of using national-scale datasets for classifying wetlands in Arizona with machine learning
Christopher E. Soulard, Jessica J. Walker, Britt Windsor Smith, Jason R. Kreitler
2024, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms (49) 4632-4649
The advent of machine learning techniques has led to a proliferation of landscape classification products. These approaches can fill gaps in wetland inventories across the United States (U.S.) provided that large reference datasets are available to develop accurate models. In this study, we tested the feasibility of expediting the classification...
Testing rate‐and‐state predictions of aftershock decay with distance
Morgan T. Page, Nicholas van der Elst, Sebastian Hainzl
2024, Seismological Research Letters (95) 3376-3386
We analyze aftershocks of the 2019 M 7.1 Ridgecrest mainshock and isolated M 5–6 mainshocks in southern California to test predictions made by the rate‐and‐state friction model of Dieterich (1994). Rate‐and‐state friction predicts that the seismicity rate after a stress step follows Omori decay, where the Omori c‐value, which is the saturation...
Physics-based forecasts of eruptive vent locations at calderas
Lorenzo Mantiloni, Eleanora Rivalta, Kyle R. Anderson, Timothy W. Davis, Luigi Passarelli
2024, Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth (129)
Constraining stresses in the Earth's crust in volcanic regions is critical for understanding many mechanical processes related to eruptive activity. Dike pathways, in particular, are shaped by the orientation of principal stress axes. Therefore, accurate models of dike trajectories and future vent locations rely on accurate estimates...
Geologic framework and hydrostratigraphy of the Edwards and Trinity aquifers within northern Medina County, Texas
Allan K. Clark, Robert R. Morris, Alexis P. Lamberts
2024, Scientific Investigations Map 3526
During 2023–24, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Edwards Aquifer Authority, revised a previous publication of the geologic framework and hydrostratigraphy of the Edwards and Trinity aquifers that was completed during 2018–20 within northern Medina County, Texas. The purpose of this report is to present the updated geologic...
Peak streamflow trends in Iowa and their relation to changes in climate, water years 1921–2020
Padraic S. O’Shea
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5064-C
This study summarizes trends and change points for peak and daily streamflow in Iowa from water years 1921 through 2020. Nonstationarity in peak streamflow in Iowa can include monotonic trends, change points, and changes in seasonality. Spatial patterns of nonstationarity in peak streamflow, daily streamflow, and monthly climatic data (observed...
Are the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios of earthquakes and microtremors the same?
Joseph Vantassel, Makbule Ilgac, Adda Athanasopoulos Zekkos, Alan Yong, Behzad Hassani, Antony Martin
2024, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (114) 3078-3092
We consider the similarities and differences between earthquake and microtremor horizontal‐to‐vertical spectral ratios (eHVSR and mHVSR, respectively) using a dataset of 161 sites in southern California. Quantitative comparisons are made in terms of the eHVSR and mHVSR lognormal median curves, as well as the frequencies and amplitudes associated with the...
Agricultural tile drains increase the susceptibility of streams to longer and more intense streamflow droughts
Seth Adelsperger, Darren Ficklin, Scott Robeson, Margaret Ann Zimmer, John C. Hammond, Damon M. Hall, J.P. Gannon
2024, Environmental Research Letters (19)
Streamflow droughts are receiving increased attention worldwide due to their impact on the environment and economy. One region of concern is the Midwestern United States, whose agricultural productivity depends on subsurface pipes known as tile drains to improve trafficability and soil conditions for crop growth. Tile drains accomplish this by...
GeoAI for science and the science of GeoAI
Wenwen Li, Samantha Arundel, Song Gao, Michael F. Goodchild, Yingjie Hu, Shaowen Wang, Alexander Zipf
2024, Journal of Spatial Information Science
This paper reviews trends in GeoAI research and discusses cutting-edge ad- vances in GeoAI and its roles in accelerating environmental and social sciences. It ad- dresses ongoing attempts to improve the predictability of GeoAI models and recent re- search aimed at increasing model explainability and reproducibility to ensure trustworthy geospatial...
Adaptation and Response in Drylands (ARID): Community insights for scoping a NASA terrestrial ecology field campaign in drylands
Andrew F. Feldman, Sasha C. Reed, Cibele Amaral, Alicja Babst-Kostecka, Flurin Babst, Joel A. Biederman, Charles Devine, Zheng Fu, Julia K. Green, Jessica Guo, Niall P. Hanan, Raymond F. Kokaly, Marcy Litvak, Natasha MacBean, David Moore, Dennis S. Ojima, Benjamin Poulter, Russell L. Scott, William K. Smith, Robert Swap, Compton J. Tucker, Lixin Wang, Jennifer D. Watts, Konrad Wessels, Fangyue Zhang, Wen Zhang
2024, Earth's Future (12)
Dryland ecosystems cover 40% of our planet's land surface, support billions of people, and are responding rapidly to climate and land use change. These expansive systems also dominate core aspects of Earth's climate, storing and exchanging vast amounts of water, carbon, and energy with the atmosphere. Despite their indispensable ecosystem...
Modeling the effects of temperature and limiting nutrients on the competition of an invasive floating plant, Pontederia crassipes, with submersed vegetation in a shallow lake
Linhao Xu, Don DeAngelis
2024, Plants (13)
The potential for a non-native plant species to invade a new habitat depends on broadscale factors such as climate, local factors such as nutrient availability, and the biotic community of the habitat into which the plant species is introduced. We developed a spatially explicit model to assess the risk...
Evaluating a process-guided deep learning approach for predicting dissolved oxygen in streams
Jeffrey M Sadler, Lauren Elizabeth Koenig, Galen Gorski, Alice M. Carter, Robert O. Hall Jr.
2024, Hydrological Processes (38)
Dissolved oxygen (DO) is a critical water quality constituent that governs habitat suitability for aquatic biota, biogeochemical reactions and solubility of metals in streams. Recently introduced high-frequency sensors have increased our ability to measure DO, but we still lack the capacity to understand and predict DO concentrations at high spatial...
Geomorphic change, hydrology, and hydraulics of Caulks Creek, Wildwood, Missouri
Jessica Z. LeRoy, David C. Heimann, Kyle D. Hix, Charles V. Cigrand, Tyler J. Burk
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2024-5079
Caulks Creek is a small stream that flows through the city of Wildwood in western St. Louis County, Missouri. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the city of Wildwood, has documented historical and recent geomorphic change along Caulks Creek, simulated the hydrologic and hydraulic response of Caulks Creek to...
A benchmark dataset and workflow for landslide susceptibility zonation
Massimiliano Alvioli, Marco Loche, Liesbet Jacobs, Carlos H. Grohmann, Minu Treesa Abraham, Kunal Gupta, Neelima Satyam, Gianvito Scaringi, Txomin Bornaetxea, Mauro Rossi, Ivan Marchesini, Luigi Lombardo, Mateo Moreno, Stefan Steger, Corrado Camera, Greta Bajni, Guruh Samodra, Erwin Eko Wahyudi, Nanang Susyanto, Marko Sincic, Sanja Bernat Gazibara, Flavius Sirbu, Jewgenij Torizin, Nick Schussler, Benjamin B. Mirus, Jacob Bryson Woodard, Hector Aguilera, Jhonatan Steven Rivera-Rivera
2024, Earth-Science Reviews (258)
Landslide susceptibility shows the spatial likelihood of landslide occurrence in a specific geographical area and is a relevant tool for mitigating the impact of landslides worldwide. As such, it is the subject of countless scientific studies. Many methods exist for generating a susceptibility map, mostly falling under the...
Free-roaming horses exceeding appropriate management levels affect multiple vital rates in greater sage-grouse
Jeffrey L. Beck, Megan C. Milligan, Kurt T. Smith, Phillip A. Street, Aaron C. Pratt, Christopher P. Kirol, Caitlyn P. Wanner, Jacob D. Hennig, Jonathan B. Dinkins, J. Derek Scasta, Peter S. Coates
2024, The Journal of Wildlife Management (88)
Since the passage of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, federal agencies have been responsible for managing free-roaming equids in the United States. Over the last 20 years, management has been hampered by direct opposition from advocacy groups, budget limitations, and a decline in the public’s willingness...
Large eddy simulation of cross-shore hydrodynamics under random waves in the inner surf and swash zones
Benjamin Tsai, Tian-Jian Hsu, Seok-Bong Lee, Maria Pontiki, Jack A. Puleo, Meagan E. Wengrove
2024, JGR Oceans (129)
A 3D large eddy simulation coupled with a free surface tracking scheme was used to simulate cross-shore hydrodynamics as observed in a large wave flume experiment. The primary objective was to enhance the understanding of wave-backwash interactions and the implications for observed morphodynamics. Two simulation cases were carried out to...
Ambient flow and transport in long-screened, sand-packed wells: Insights into cross contamination and wellbore flow
Philip Harte, Christopher Palumbo Ely, Nicholas F. Teague, Nicole C. Fenton, Anthony A. Brown
2024, Environmental Earth Sciences (83)
The presence of long-screened wells with a surrounding sand pack can have a major effect on the redistribution of contaminants in groundwater, particularly when the wells are set in low-hydraulic conductivity aquifers. Such redistribution, or cross contamination, can occur through vertical flow and advective transport or by in-well mixing via...
Estimating ungulate migration corridors from sparse movement data
Jennifer L. McKee, Julien Fattebert, Ellen O. Aikens, Jodi Berg, Scott Bergen, Eric K. Cole, Holly E. Copeland, Alyson B. Courtemanch, Sarah Dewey, Mark Hurley, Blake Lowrey, Jerod A. Merkle, Arthur D. Middleton, Tristan A. Nuñez, Hall Sawyer, Matthew Kauffman
2024, Ecosphere (15)
Many ungulates migrate between distinct summer and winter ranges, and identifying, mapping, and conserving these migration corridors have become a focus of local, regional, and global conservation efforts. Brownian bridge movement models (BBMMs) are commonly used to empirically identify these seasonal migration corridors; however, they require location data sampled at...
Climate, hydrology, and nutrients control the seasonality of Si concentrations in rivers
Keira Johnson, Kathi Jo Jankowski, Joanna C. Carey, Lienne R. Sethna, Sidney A. Bush, Diane M. McKnight, William H. McDowell, Adam S. Wymore, Pirkko Kortelainen, Jeremy B. Jones, Nicholas Lyon, Hjalmar Laudon, Amanda Poste, Pamela L. Sullivan
2024, Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences (129)
The seasonal behavior of fluvial dissolved silica (DSi) concentrations, termed DSi regime, mediates the timing of DSi delivery to downstream waters and thus governs river biogeochemical function and aquatic community condition. Previous work identified five distinct DSi regimes across rivers spanning the Northern Hemisphere, with many rivers exhibiting multiple DSi regimes...
Nitrogen fixation and fertilization have similar effects on biomass allocation in nitrogen-fixing plants
DNL Menge, A. P. Wolfe, J. Funk, Steven Perakis, K.A. Carreras Pereira
2024, Ecology and Evolution (14)
Plants adjust their allocation to different organs based on nutrient supply. In some plant species, symbioses with nitrogen-fixing bacteria that live in root nodules provide an alternate pathway for nitrogen acquisition. Does access to nitrogen-fixing bacteria modify plants' biomass allocation? We hypothesized that access...
Quantifying the importance of ontogeny and prey type in modeling top-down and bottom-up effects of an ectothermic predator
Melia Gail Nafus, Levi Gray
2024, Scientific Reports (14)
Dietary decisions by predators can affect prey abundance and overall food web dynamics. Many predators do not forage on the same prey at the same frequency throughout their lives. Ontogenetic shifts in prey preference are not, however, often accounted for when modeling food web relationships, despite growing literature that suggests...
Climate controls on longshore sediment transport and coastal morphology adjacent to engineered inlets
Andrew W. Stevens, Peter R Ruggiero, Kai Alexander Parker, Sean Vitousek, Guy Gelfenbaum, George M Kaminsky
2024, Coastal Engineering (194)
Coastal jetties are commonly used throughout the world to stabilize channels and improve navigation through inlets. These engineered structures form artificial boundaries to littoral cells by reducing wave-driven longshore sediment transport across inlet entrances. Consequently, beaches adjacent to engineered inlets are subject to large gradients in longshore transport rates and...
