A global database of lake surface temperatures collected by in situ and satellite methods from 1985–2009
Sapna Sharma, Derek Gray, Jordan S. Read, Catherine M. O’Reilly, Philipp Schneider, Anam Qudrat, Corinna Gries, Samantha Stefanoff, Stephanie Hampton, Simon Hook, John Lenters, David M. Livingstone, Peter B. McIntyre, Rita Adrian, Mathew Allan, Orlane Anneville, Lauri Arvola, Jay Austin, John E. Bailey, Jill Baron, Justin D Brookes, Yuwei Chen, Robert Daly, Kye Ewing, Elvira de Eyto, Martin Dokulil, David B. Hamilton, Karl Havens, Shane Haydon, Harald Hetzenaeur, Jocelyn Heneberry, Amy Hetherington, Scott Higgins, Eric Hixson, Lyubov Izmest'eva, Benjamin M. Jones, Kulli Kangur, Peter Kasprzak, Benjamin Kraemer, Michio Kumagai, Esko Kuusisto, George Leshkevich, Linda May, Sally MacIntyre, Dörthe Müller-Navarra, Mikhail Naumenko, Peeter Noges, Tiina Noges, Pius Niederhauser, Ryan P. North, Andrew Paterson, Pierre-Denis Plisnier, Anna Rigosi, Alon Rimmer, Michela Rogora, Lars G. Rudstam, James A. Rusak, Nico Salmaso, Nihar R. Samal, Daniel E. Schindler, Geoffrey Schladow, Silke R. Schmidt, Tracey Schultz, Eugene A. Silow, Dietmar Straile, Katrin Teubner, Piet Verburg, Ari Voutilainen, Andrew Watkinson, Gesa A. Weyhenmeyer, Craig E. Williamson, Kara H. Woo
2015, Scientific Data (2)
Global environmental change has influenced lake surface temperatures, a key driver of ecosystem structure and function. Recent studies have suggested significant warming of water temperatures in individual lakes across many different regions around the world. However, the spatial and temporal coherence associated with the magnitude of these trends remains unclear....
Priority pollutants and associated constituents in untreated and treated discharges from coal mining or processing facilities in Pennsylvania, USA
III Cravotta, Keith B.C. Brady
2015, Applied Geochemistry (62) 108-130
Clean sampling and analysis procedures were used to quantify more than 70 inorganic constituents, including 35 potentially toxic or hazardous constituents, organic carbon, and other characteristics of untreated (influent) and treated (effluent) coal-mine discharges (CMD) at 38 permitted coal-mining or coal-processing facilities in the bituminous coalfield and 4 facilities...
Reconnaissance of contaminants in larval Pacific lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus) tissues and habitats in the Columbia River Basin, Oregon and Washington, USA
Elena B. Nilsen, Whitney B. Hapke, Brian McIlraith, Dennis J. Markovchick
2015, Environmental Pollution (201) 121-130
Pacific lampreys (Entosphenus tridentatus) have resided in the Columbia River Basin for millennia and have great ecological and cultural importance. The role of habitat contamination in the recent decline of the species has rarely been studied and was the main objective of this effort. A wide range of contaminants (115...
Development, evolution, and destruction of the saline mineral area of Eocene Lake Uinta, Piceance Basin, western Colorado
Ronald C. Johnson, Michael E. Brownfield
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5176
Halite and the sodium bicarbonate mineral nahcolite were deposited in Eocene-age saline Lake Uinta in the Piceance Basin, northwestern Colorado. Variations in the areal extent of saline mineral deposition through time were studied using descriptions of core and outcrop. Saline minerals have been extensively leached by groundwater, and the original...
Bibliography for acid-rock drainage and selected acid-mine drainage issues related to acid-rock drainage from transportation activities
Mike Bradley, Scott C. Worland
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1016
Acid-rock drainage occurs through the interaction of rainfall on pyrite-bearing formations. When pyrite (FeS2) is exposed to oxygen and water in mine workings or roadcuts, the mineral decomposes and sulfur may react to form sulfuric acid, which often results in environmental problems and potential damage to the transportation infrastructure. The...
The distribution of submersed aquatic vegetation and water lettuce in the fresh and oligohaline tidal Potomac River, 2007
Sarah Hunter Campbell, Nancy B. Rybicki, Edward R. Schenk
2015, Open-File Report 2014-1259
Surveys documenting the composition of species of submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV) have been conducted in the Potomac River for decades. These surveys can help managers assess the proportion of native and exotic plants in the river or can be used to determine relationships between native and exotic plants, environmental conditions,...
Hydrological, water-quality, and ecological data for streams in Independence, Missouri, June 2005 through September 2013
Shelley L. Niesen, Eric D. Christensen
2015, Data Series 915
Water-quality, hydrological, and ecological data collected from June 2005 through September 2013 from the Little Blue River and smaller streams within the City of Independence, Missouri, are presented in this report. These data were collected as a part of an ongoing cooperative study between the U.S. Geological Survey and the...
The 3D Elevation Program: summary for Pennsylvania
William J. Carswell Jr.
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3019
Elevation data are essential to a broad range of applications, including forest resources management, wildlife and habitat management, national security, recreation, and many others. For the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, elevation data are critical for natural resources conservation (including the effects of drilling for oil and natural gas), agriculture and precision...
The 3D Elevation Program: summary for Iowa
William J. Carswell Jr.
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3018
Elevation data are essential to a broad range of applications, including forest resources management, wildlife and habitat management, national security, recreation, and many others. For the State of Iowa, elevation data are critical for agriculture and precision farming, infrastructure and construction management, natural resources conservation, flood risk management, water supply...
Low-flow characteristics and flow-duration statistics for selected USGS continuous-record streamgaging stations in North Carolina through 2012
J. Curtis Weaver
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5001
In 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the North Carolina Division of Water Resources, compiled updated low-flow characteristics and flow-duration statistics for selected continuous-record streamgages in North Carolina. The compilation of updated streamflow statistics provides regulators and planners with relevant hydrologic information reflective of the recent droughts, which...
Understanding nutrients in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and implications for management and restoration: The Eastern Shore
Scott W. Ator, Judith M. Denver
2015, Circular 1406
The Eastern Shore includes only a small part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, but contributes disproportionately large loads of the excess nitrogen and phosphorus that have contributed to ecological and economic degradation of the bay in recent decades. Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States and a...
A comparison of methods to predict historical daily streamflow time series in the southeastern United States
William H. Farmer, Stacey A. Archfield, Thomas M. Over, Lauren E. Hay, Jacob H. LaFontaine, Julie E. Kiang
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5231
Effective and responsible management of water resources relies on a thorough understanding of the quantity and quality of available water. Streamgages cannot be installed at every location where streamflow information is needed. As part of its National Water Census, the U.S. Geological Survey is planning to provide streamflow predictions for...
Water-quality trends for selected sites in the Boulder River and Tenmile Creek watersheds, Montana, based on data collected during water years 1997-2013
Steven K. Sando, Melanie L. Clark, Tom Cleasby, Elliott P. Barnhart
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5008
In the Boulder River and Tenmile Creek watersheds in southwestern Montana, there was intensive mining during a 40-year period after the discovery of gold in the early 1860s. Potential effects from the historic mining activities include acid-mine drainage and elevated concentrations of potentially toxic trace elements from mining remnants such...
Modelling non-Euclidean movement and landscape connectivity in highly structured ecological networks
Christopher Sutherland, Angela K. Fuller, J. Andrew Royle
2015, Methods in Ecology and Evolution (6) 169-177
Movement is influenced by landscape structure, configuration and geometry, but measuring distance as perceived by animals poses technical and logistical challenges. Instead, movement is typically measured using Euclidean distance, irrespective of location or landscape structure, or is based on arbitrary cost surfaces. A recently proposed extension of spatial...
Quantifying avian predation on fish populations: integrating predator-specific deposition probabilities in tag-recovery studies
Nathan J. Hostetter, Allen F. Evans, Bradley M. Cramer, Ken Collis, Donald E. Lyons, Daniel D. Roby
2015, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (144) 410-422
Accurate assessment of specific mortality factors is vital to prioritize recovery actions for threatened and endangered species. For decades, tag recovery methods have been used to estimate fish mortality due to avian predation. Predation probabilities derived from fish tag recoveries on piscivorous waterbird colonies typically reflect minimum estimates of predation...
Water-quality characteristics in runoff for three discovery farms in North Dakota, 2008-12
Rochelle A. Nustad, Kathleen M. Rowland, Ronald Wiederholt
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5212
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with North Dakota State University Agriculture Research Extension and in collaboration with North Dakota State Department of Health, North Dakota State Water Commission, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and several agricultural producers, helped organize a Discovery Farms program in North Dakota in 2007. Discharge measurements...
Mercury in Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis):bioaccumulation and trans-Pacific Ocean migration
John A. Colman, Jacob I. Nogueira, Oscar C. Pancorbo, Carol A. Batdorf, Barbara A. Block
2015, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (72) 1-9
Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) have the largest home range of any tuna species and are well known for the capacity to make transoceanic migrations. We report the measurement of mercury (Hg) concentrations in wild Pacific bluefin tuna (PBFT), the first reported with known size-of-fish and capture location. The results...
Aquatics Systems Branch: transdisciplinary research to address water-related environmental problems
Quan Dong, Katie D. Walters
2015, Fact Sheet 2014-3073
The Aquatic Systems Branch at the Fort Collins Science Center is a group of scientists dedicated to advancing interdisciplinary science and providing science support to solve water-related environmental issues. Natural resource managers have an increasing need for scientific information and stakeholders face enormous challenges of increasing and competing demands for...
Integrated climate and land use change scenarios for California rangeland ecosystem services: wildlife habitat, soil carbon, and water supply
Kristin B. Byrd, Lorraine E. Flint, Pelayo Alvarez, Frank Casey, Benjamin M. Sleeter, Christopher E. Soulard, Alan L. Flint, Terry L. Sohl
2015, Landscape Ecology (30) 729-750
Context In addition to biodiversity conservation, California rangelands generate multiple ecosystem services including livestock production, drinking and irrigation water, and carbon sequestration. California rangeland ecosystems have experienced substantial conversion to residential land use and more intensive agriculture. Objectives To understand the potential impacts to rangeland ecosystem services, we developed...
A Laurentian margin back-arc: the Ordovician Wedowee-Emuckfaw-Dahlonega basin
Clinton I. Barineau, James F. Tull, Christopher S. Holm-Denoma
2015, GSA Field Guides (39) 21-78
Independent researchers working in the Talladega belt, Ashland-Wedowee-Emuckfaw belt, and Opelika Complex of Alabama, as well as the Dahlonega gold belt and western Inner Piedmont of Alabama, Georgia, and the Carolinas, have mapped stratigraphic sequences unique to each region. Although historically considered distinct terranes of disparate origin, a synthesis of...
Workgroup for Hydraulic laboratory Testing and Verification of Hydroacoustic Instrumentation
Janice M. Fulford, Brandy N. Armstrong, Kirk G. Thibodeaux
2015, Conference Paper, Proceedings of eleventh current, waves and turbulence measurement workshop
An international workgroup was recently formed for hydraulic laboratory testing and verification of hydroacoustic instrumentation used for water velocity measurements. The activities of the workgroup have included one face to face meeting, conference calls and an inter-laboratory exchange of two acoustic meters among participating laboratories. Good agreement was found among...
Buried particulate organic carbon stimulates denitrification and nitrate retention in stream sediments at the groundwater-surface water interface
Robert S. Stelzer, J. Thad Scott, Lynn Bartsch
2015, Freshwater Science (34) 161-171
The interface between ground water and surface water in streams is a hotspot for N processing. However, the role of buried organic C in N transformation at this interface is not well understood, and inferences have been based largely on descriptive studies. Our main objective was to determine how buried...
Multiple regression and inverse moments improve the characterization of the spatial scaling behavior of daily streamflows in the Southeast United States
William H. Farmer, Thomas M. Over, Richard M. Vogel
2015, Water Resources Research (51) 1775-1796
Understanding the spatial structure of daily streamflow is essential for managing freshwater resources, especially in poorly-gaged regions. Spatial scaling assumptions are common in flood frequency prediction (e.g., index-flood method) and the prediction of continuous streamflow at ungaged sites (e.g. drainage-area ratio), with simple scaling by drainage area being the most...
A new approach for continuous estimation of baseflow using discrete water quality data: Method description and comparison with baseflow estimates from two existing approaches
Matthew P. Miller, Henry M. Johnson, David D. Susong, David M. Wolock
2015, Journal of Hydrology (522) 203-210
Understanding how watershed characteristics and climate influence the baseflow component of stream discharge is a topic of interest to both the scientific and water management communities. Therefore, the development of baseflow estimation methods is a topic of active research. Previous studies have demonstrated that graphical hydrograph separation (GHS) and conductivity...
Life history strategies of fish species and biodiversity in eastern USA streams
Michael R. Meador, Larry M. Brown
2015, Environmental Biology of Fishes (98) 663-677
Predictive models have been used to determine fish species that occur less frequently than expected (decreasers) and those that occur more frequently than expected (increasers) in streams in the eastern U.S. Coupling life history traits with 51 decreaser and 38 increaser fish species provided the opportunity to examine potential mechanisms...
