Assessing the solubility controls on vanadium in groundwater, northeastern San Joaquin Valley, CA
Michael T. Wright, Kenneth G. Stollenwerk, Kenneth Belitz
2014, Applied Geochemistry (48) 41-52
The solubility controls on vanadium (V) in groundwater were studied due to concerns over possible harmful health effects of ingesting V in drinking water. Vanadium concentrations in the northeastern San Joaquin Valley ranged from <3 μg/L to 70 μg/L with a median of 21 μg/L. Concentrations of V were highest...
Geologic logs of geotechnical cores from the subsurface Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California
Katherine L. Maier, Daniel J. Ponti, John C. Tinsley III, Emma Gatti, Mark Pagenkopp
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1127
This report presents and summarizes descriptive geologic logs of geotechnical cores collected from 2009–12 in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, California, by the California Department of Water Resources. Graphic logs are presented for 1,785.7 ft of retained cores from 56 borehole sites throughout the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Most core sections are...
Platinum-group elements: So many excellent properties
Michael L. Zientek, Patricia J. Loferski
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3064
The platinum-group elements (PGE) include platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium, and osmium. These metals have similar physical and chemical properties and occur together in nature. The properties of PGE, such as high melting points, corrosion resistance, and catalytic qualities, make them indispensable to many industrial applications. PGE are strategic and...
Characterization of salinity loads and selenium loads in the Smith Fork Creek region of the Lower Gunnison River Basin, western Colorado, 2008-2009
Rodney J. Richards, Joshua I. Linard, Christopher M. Hobza
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5101
The lower Gunnison River Basin of the Colorado River Basin has elevated salinity and selenium levels. The Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act of June 24, 1974 (Public Law 93–320, amended by Public Law 98–569), authorized investigation of the Lower Gunnison Basin Unit Salinity Control Project by the U.S. Department...
Inference for finite-sample trajectories in dynamic multi-state site-occupancy models using hidden Markov model smoothing
Ian J. Fiske, J. Andrew Royle, Kevin Gross
2014, Environmental and Ecological Statistics (21) 313-328
Ecologists and wildlife biologists increasingly use latent variable models to study patterns of species occurrence when detection is imperfect. These models have recently been generalized to accommodate both a more expansive description of state than simple presence or absence, and Markovian dynamics in the latent state over successive sampling seasons....
Below the disappearing marshes of an urban estuary: historic nitrogen trends and soil structure
Cathleen Wigand, Charles T. Roman, Earl Davey, Mark Stolt, Roxanne Johnson, Alana Hanson, Elizabeth B. Watson, S. Bradley Moran, Donald R. Cahoon, James C. Lynch, Patricia Rafferty
2014, Ecological Applications (24) 633-649
Marshes in the urban Jamaica Bay Estuary, New York, USA are disappearing at an average rate of 13 ha/yr, and multiple stressors (e.g., wastewater inputs, dredging activities, groundwater removal, and global warming) may be contributing to marsh losses. Among these stressors, wastewater nutrients are suspected to be an important contributing...
Field methods and quality-assurance plan for water-quality activities and water-level measurements, U.S. Geological Survey, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho
Roy C. Bartholomay, Neil V. Maimer, Amy J. Wehnke
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1146
Water-quality activities and water-level measurements by the personnel of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Project Office coincide with the USGS mission of appraising the quantity and quality of the Nation’s water resources. The activities are carried out in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)...
Radar analysis of fall bird migration stopover sites in the northeastern U.S.
Jeffrey J. Buler, Deanna K. Dawson
2014, The Condor (116) 357-370
The national network of weather surveillance radars (WSR-88D) detects flying birds and is a useful remote-sensing tool for ornithological study. We used data collected during fall 2008 and 2009 by 16 WSR-88D radars in the northeastern U.S. to quantify the spatial distribution of landbirds during migratory stopover. We geo-referenced estimates...
Application of near-surface geophysics as part of a hydrologic study of a subsurface drip irrigation system along the Powder River floodplain near Arvada, Wyoming
James I. Sams, Garret Veloski, Bruce D. Smith, Burke J. Minsley, Mark A. Engle, Brian A. Lipinski, Richard W. Hammack, John W. Zupancic
2014, International Journal of Coal Geology (126) 128-139
Rapid development of coalbed natural gas (CBNG) production in the Powder River Basin (PRB) of Wyoming has occurred since 1997. National attention related to CBNG development has focused on produced water management, which is the single largest cost for on-shore domestic producers. Low-cost treatment technologies allow operators to reduce...
COSMO-SkyMed Spotlight interometry over rural areas: the Slumgullion landslide in Colorado, USA
Pietro Milillo, Eric J. Fielding, William H. Schulz, Brent Delbridge, Roland Burgmann
2014, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing (7) 2919-2926
In the last 7 years, spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data with resolution of better than a meter acquired by satellites in spotlight mode offered an unprecedented improvement in SAR interferometry (InSAR). Most attention has been focused on monitoring urban areas and man-made infrastructure exploiting geometric accuracy, stability, and phase...
Biomass modeling of four water intensiveleading world crops using hyperspectral narrowbands in support of HyspIRI Mission
Michael T. Marshall, Prasad S. Thenkabail
2014, Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing (80) 757-772
New satellite missions are expected to record high spectral resolution information globally and consistently for the first time, so it is important to identify modeling techniques that take advantage of these new data. In this paper, we estimate biomass for four major crops using ground-based hyperspectral narrowbands. The spectra and...
Accuracy of travel time distribution (TTD) models as affected by TTD complexity, observation errors, and model and tracer selection
Christopher T. Green, Yong Zhang, Bryant C. Jurgens, J. Jeffrey Starn, Matthew K. Landon
2014, Water Resources Research (50) 6191-6213
Analytical models of the travel time distribution (TTD) from a source area to a sample location are often used to estimate groundwater ages and solute concentration trends. The accuracies of these models are not well known for geologically complex aquifers. In this study, synthetic datasets were used to quantify the...
The 3D Elevation Program: summary for North Carolina
William J. Carswell Jr.
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3066
Elevation data are essential to a broad range of applications, including forest resources management, wildlife and habitat management, national security, and recreation. For the State of North Carolina, elevation data are critical for flood risk management, natural resources conservation, agriculture and precision farming, infrastructure and construction management, forest resources management,...
Timing of ore-related magmatism in the western Alaska Range, southwestern Alaska
Ryan D. Taylor, Garth E. Graham, Eric D. Anderson, David Selby
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1115
This report presents isotopic age data from mineralized granitic plutons in an area of the Alaska Range located approximately 200 kilometers to the west-northwest of Anchorage in southwestern Alaska. Uranium-lead isotopic data and trace element concentrations of zircons were determined for 12 samples encompassing eight plutonic bodies ranging in age...
Mesohabitats, fish assemblage composition, and mesohabitat use of the Rio Grande silvery minnow over a range of seasonal flow regimes in the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo del Norte, in and near Big Bend National Park, Texas, 2010-11
J. Bruce Moring, Christopher L. Braun, Daniel K. Pearson
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5210
In 2010–11, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, evaluated the physical characteristics and fish assemblage composition of mapped river mesohabitats at four sites on the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo del Norte (hereinafter Rio Grande) in and near Big Bend National Park, Texas. The...
Methow River Studies, Washington: abundance estimates from Beaver Creek and the Chewuch River screw trap, methodology testing in the Whitefish Island side channel, and survival and detection estimates from hatchery fish releases, 2013
Kyle D. Martens, Teresa M. Fish, Grace A. Watson, Patrick J. Connolly
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1154
Salmon and steelhead populations have been severely depleted in the Columbia River from factors such as the presence of tributary dams, unscreened irrigation diversions, and habitat degradation from logging, mining, grazing, and others (Raymond, 1988). The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been funded by the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) to...
Chirp seismic-reflection data from the Baltimore, Washington, and Norfolk Canyons, U.S. mid-Atlantic margin
Jeffrey B. Obelcz, Daniel S. Brothers, Uri S. ten Brink, Jason D. Chaytor, Charles R. Worley, Eric M. Moore
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1118
A large number of high-resolution geophysical surveys between Cape Hatteras and Georges Bank have been conducted by federal, state, and academic institutions since the turn of the century. A major goal of these surveys is providing a continuous view of bathymetry and shallow stratigraphy at the shelf edge in order...
Influences of water and sediment quality and hydrologic processes on mussels in the Clinch River
Gregory C. Johnson, Jennifer L. Krstolic, Brett J.K. Ostby
2014, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (50) 878-897
Segments of the Clinch River in Virginia have experienced declining freshwater mussel populations during the past 40 years, while other segments of the river continue to support some of the richest mussel communities in the country. The close proximity of these contrasting reaches provides a study area where differences...
Hydrothermal monitoring in a quiescent volcanic arc: Cascade Range, northwestern United States
Steven E. Ingebritsen, N. G. Randolph-Flagg, Katrina D. Gelwick, Elizabeth A. Lundstrom, Ilana M. Crankshaw, Anna M. Murveit, M.E. Schmidt, Deborah Bergfeld, Kurt R. Spicer, David S. Tucker, Robert H. Mariner, William C. Evans
2014, Geofluids (14) 326-346
Ongoing (1996–present) volcanic unrest near South Sister, Oregon, is accompanied by a striking set of hydrothermal anomalies, including elevated temperatures, elevated major ion concentrations, and 3He/4He ratios as large as 8.6 RA in slightly thermal springs. These observations prompted the US Geological Survey to begin a systematic hydrothermal-monitoring effort encompassing...
A reconnaissance spatial and temporal assessment of methane and inorganic constituents in groundwater in bedrock aquifers, Pike County, Pennsylvania, 2012-13
Lisa A. Senior
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5117
Pike County in northeastern Pennsylvania is underlain by the Devonian-age Marcellus Shale and other shales, formations that have potential for natural gas development. During 2012–13, the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Pike County Conservation District conducted a reconnaissance study to assess baseline shallow groundwater quality in bedrock aquifers...
Arkansas Groundwater-Quality Network
Aaron L. Pugh, Barry T. Jackson, Roger Miller
2014, Fact Sheet 2013-3042
Arkansas is the fourth largest user of groundwater in the United States, where groundwater accounts for two-thirds of the total water use. Groundwater use in the State increased by 510 percent between 1965 and 2005 (Holland, 2007). The Arkansas Groundwater-Quality Network is a Web map interface (http://ar.water.usgs.gov/wqx) that...
Flood-inundation maps for the Susquehanna River near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 2013
Mark A. Roland, Stacey M. Underwood, Craig M. Thomas, Jason F. Miller, Benjamin A. Pratt, Laurie G. Hogan, Patricia A. Wnek
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5046
A series of 28 digital flood-inundation maps was developed for an approximate 25-mile reach of the Susquehanna River in the vicinity of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The study was selected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) national Silver Jackets program, which supports interagency teams at the state level to coordinate...
Bathymetric and velocimetric surveys at highway bridges crossing the Missouri River between Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri, April-May, 2013
Richard J. Huizinga
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5116
Bathymetric and velocimetric data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Transportation, in the vicinity of 10 bridges at 9 highway crossings of the Missouri River between Lexington and Washington, Missouri, from April 22 through May 2, 2013. A multibeam echosounder mapping system...
Key subsurface data help to refine Trinity aquifer hydrostratigraphic units, south-central Texas
Charles D. Blome, Allan K. Clark
2014, Data Series 768
The geologic framework and hydrologic characteristics of aquifers are important components for studying the nation’s subsurface heterogeneity and predicting its hydraulic budgets. Detailed study of an aquifer’s subsurface hydrostratigraphy is needed to understand both its geologic and hydrologic frameworks. Surface hydrostratigraphic mapping can also help characterize the spatial distribution and...
Linking rapid magma reservoir assembly and eruption trigger mechanisms at evolved Yellowstone-type supervolcanoes
J.F. Wotzlaw, I.N. Bindeman, Kathryn E. Watts, A.K. Schmitt, L. Caricchi, U. Schaltegger
2014, Geology (42) 807-810
The geological record contains evidence of volcanic eruptions that were as much as two orders of magnitude larger than the most voluminous eruption experienced by modern civilizations, the A.D. 1815 Tambora (Indonesia) eruption. Perhaps nowhere on Earth are deposits of such supereruptions more prominent than in the Snake River Plain–Yellowstone...
