Geotechnical aspects in the epicentral region of the 2011, Mw5.8 Mineral, Virginia earthquake
Russell A. Green, Samuel Lasley, Mark W. Carter, Jeffrey W. Munsey, Brett W. Maurer, Martitia P. Tuttle
2015, GSA Special Papers (509) 151-172
A reconnaissance team documented the geotechnical and geological aspects in the epicentral region of the Mw (moment magnitude) 5.8 Mineral, Virginia (USA), earthquake of 23 August 2011. Tectonically and seismically induced ground deformations, evidence of liquefaction, rock slides, river bank slumps, ground subsidence, performance of earthen dams, damage to public infrastructure...
Fire history of Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve, southern Florida
Thomas J. Smith III, Ann M. Foster, John W. Jones
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1034
Fire occurs naturally in the environment on most continents, including Africa (Ryan and Williams, 2011), Asia (Kauhanen, 2008), Australia (Kutt and Woinarski, 2007), Europe (Eshel and others, 2000), South America (Fidelis and others, 2010), and North America (Van Auken, 2000). Antarctica appears to be the only continent that has no...
Unusually loud ambient noise in tidewater glacier fjords: a signal of ice melt
Erin C. Pettit, Kevin M. Lee, Joel P. Brann, Jeffrey A. Nystuen, Preston S. Wilson, Shad O’Neel
2015, Geophysical Research Letters (42) 2309-2316
In glacierized fjords, the ice-ocean boundary is a physically and biologically dynamic environment that is sensitive to both glacier flow and ocean circulation. Ocean ambient noise offers insight into processes and change at the ice-ocean boundary. Here we characterize fjord ambient noise and show that the average noise levels are...
Stochastic reservoir simulation for the modeling of uncertainty in coal seam degasification
C. Özgen Karacan, Ricardo A. Olea
2015, Fuel (148) 87-97
Coal seam degasification improves coal mine safety by reducing the gas content of coal seams and also by generating added value as an energy source. Coal seam reservoir simulation is one of the most effective ways to help with these two main objectives. As in all modeling and simulation...
Simulation of groundwater flow and streamflow depletion in the Branch Brook, Merriland River, and parts of the Mousam River watersheds in southern Maine
Martha G. Nielsen, Daniel B. Locke
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5235
Watersheds of three streams, the Mousam River, Branch Brook, and Merriland River in southeastern Maine were investigated from 2010 through 2013 under a cooperative project between the U.S. Geological Survey and the Maine Geological Survey. The Branch Brook watershed previously had been deemed “at risk” by the Maine Geological Survey...
Validation of eDNA markers for New Zealand mudsnail surveillance and initial eDNA monitoring at Mississippi River Basin sites
Christopher M. Merkes, Keith N. Turnquist, Christopher B. Rees, Jon J. Amberg
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1037
The performance of newly developed New Zealand mudsnail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum; NZMS) genetic markers for environmental (eDNA) analysis of water were compared across two laboratories. The genetic markers were tested in four quantitative polymerase chain reaction assays targeting two regions of the NZMS mitochondrial genome, specifically the cytochrome c oxidase subunit...
The comparative limnology of Lakes Nyos and Monoun, Cameroon
George Kling, William C Evans, Gregory Tanyileke
2015, Book chapter, Volcanic Lakes
Lakes Nyos and Monoun are known for the dangerous accumulation of CO2 dissolved in stagnant bottom water, but the shallow waters that conceal this hazard are dilute and undergo seasonal changes similar to other deep crater lakes in the tropics. Here we discuss these changes with reference to climatic and...
Effects of human alterations on the hydrodynamics and sediment transport in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California
Mathieu D. Marineau, Scott Wright
2015, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences
The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California, (Delta) has been significantly altered since the mid-nineteenth century. Many existing channels have been widened or deepened and new channels have been created for navigation and water conveyance. Tidal marshes have been drained and leveed to form islands that have subsided, some of which have...
Hydrographic surveys at seven chutes and three backwaters on the Missouri River in Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri, 2011-13
Justin R. Krahulik, Brenda K. Densmore, Kayla J. Anderson, Cory L. Kavan
2015, Data Series 909
The U.S. Geological Survey cooperated with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Omaha District, to complete hydrographic surveys of seven chutes and three backwaters on the Missouri River yearly during 2011–13. These chutes and backwaters were constructed by the USACE to increase the amount of available shallow water habitat...
Spatial synchrony in cisco recruitment
Jared T. Myers, Daniel L. Yule, Michael L. Jones, Tyler D. Ahrenstorff, Thomas R. Hrabik, Randall M. Claramunt, Mark P. Ebener, Eric K. Berglund
2015, Fisheries Research (165) 11-21
We examined the spatial scale of recruitment variability for disparate cisco (Coregonus artedi) populations in the Great Lakes (n = 8) and Minnesota inland lakes (n = 4). We found that the scale of synchrony was approximately 400 km when all available data were utilized; much greater than the 50-km scale suggested for freshwater fish...
Evaluation of the effects of sewering on nitrogen loads to the Niantic River, southeastern Connecticut, 2005-2011
John R. Mullaney
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5011
Nitrogen concentration data were collected from 20 wells near the Niantic River Estuary, during 18 sampling periods from 2005 through 2011, as part of a study to determine changes in nitrogen concentrations and loads as a result of sewering on the Pine Grove peninsula in Niantic, Connecticut. The Pine Grove...
At the crossroads: Hazard assessment and reduction of health risks from arsenic in private well waters of the northeastern United States and Atlantic Canada
Yan Zheng, Joseph D. Ayotte
2015, Science of the Total Environment (505) 1237-1247
This special issue contains 12 papers that report on new understanding of arsenic (As) hydrogeochemistry, performance of household well water treatment systems, and testing and treatment behaviors of well users in several states of the northeastern region of the United States and Nova Scotia, Canada. The responsibility to ensure water...
Higher-order statistical moments and a procedure that detects potentially anomalous years as two alternative methods describing alterations in continuous environmental data
Ivan Arismendi, Sherri L. Johnson, Jason B. Dunham
2015, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (19) 1169-1180
Statistics of central tendency and dispersion may not capture relevant or desired characteristics of the distribution of continuous phenomena and, thus, they may not adequately describe temporal patterns of change. Here, we present two methodological approaches that can help to identify temporal changes in environmental regimes. First, we use higher-order...
Life in the main channel: long-term hydrologic control of microbial mat abundance in McMurdo Dry Valley streams, Antarctica
Tyler J. Kohler, Lee F. Stanish, Steven W. Crisp, Joshua C. Koch, Daniel Liptzin, Jenny L. Baeseman, Diane M. McKnight
2015, Ecosystems (18) 310-327
Given alterations in global hydrologic regime, we examine the role of hydrology in regulating stream microbial mat abundance in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Here, perennial mats persist as a desiccated crust until revived by summer streamflow, which varies inter-annually, and has increased since the 1990s. We predicted high flows...
Risk assessment of brine contamination to aquatic resources from energy development in glacial drift deposits: Williston Basin, USA
Todd M. Preston, Tara L. Chesley-Preston
2015, Science of the Total Environment (508) 534-545
Contamination to aquatic resources from co-produced water (brine) associated with energy development has been documented in the northeastern portion of the Williston Basin; an area mantled by glacial drift. The presence and magnitude of brine contamination can be determined using the contamination index (CI) value from water samples. Recently, the...
The role of depth in regulating water quality and fish assemblages in oxbow lakes
Daniel B. Goetz, Leandro E. Miranda, Robert Kroger, Caroline S. Andrews
2015, Environmental Biology of Fishes (98) 951-959
We evaluated water quality and fish assemblages in deep (> 3.0 m; N = 7) and shallow (< 1.5 m; N = 6) floodplain lakes in the intensively cultivated Yazoo River Basin (Mississippi, USA) using indirect gradient multivariate procedures. Shallow lakes displayed wide diel oxygen fluctuations, some reaching hypoxic/anoxic conditions...
Endocrine disrupting alkylphenolic chemicals and other contaminants in wastewater treatment plant effluents, urban streams, and fish in the Great Lakes and Upper Mississippi River Regions
Larry B. Barber, Jorge E. Loyo-Rosales, Clifford P. Rice, Thomas A. Minarik, Ali K. Oskouie
2015, Science of the Total Environment (517) 195-206
Urban streams are an integral part of the municipal water cycle and provide a point of discharge for wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents, allowing additional attenuation through dilution and transformation processes, as well as a conduit for transporting contaminants to downstream water supplies. Domestic and commercial activities dispose of wastes...
Soil disturbance as a driver of increased stream salinity in a semiarid watershed undergoing energy development
Carleton R. Bern, Melanie L. Clark, Travis S. Schmidt, JoAnn M. Holloway, Robert Mcdougal
2015, Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies (524) 123-136
Salinization is a global threat to the quality of streams and rivers, but it can have many causes. Oil and gas development were investigated as one of several potential causes of changes in the salinity of Muddy Creek, which drains 2470 km2 of mostly public land in Wyoming, U.S.A. Stream...
Mineral resource of the month: silver
Florence C. Katrivanos
2015, Earth (60) 53-53
Silver, one of the eight precious or noble metals, has been used extensively throughout recorded history for various medical purposes, ornaments and utensils, and for its intrinsic value as the basis for trade and monetary systems. Silver has played a significant role in world history, financing a Greek victory over...
Monitoring and modeling wetland chloride concentrations in relationship to oil and gas development
Max Post van der Burg, Brian A. Tangen
2015, Journal of Environmental Management (150) 120-127
Extraction of oil and gas via unconventional methods is becoming an important aspect of energy production worldwide. Studying the effects of this development in countries where these technologies are being widely used may provide other countries, where development may be proposed, with some insight in terms of concerns associated with...
Multiscale geophysical imaging of the critical zone
Andy Parsekian, Kamini Singha, Burke J. Minsley, W. Steven Holbrook, Lee Slater
2015, Reviews of Geophysics (53) 1-26
Details of Earth's shallow subsurface—a key component of the critical zone (CZ)—are largely obscured because making direct observations with sufficient density to capture natural characteristic spatial variability in physical properties is difficult. Yet this inaccessible region of the CZ is fundamental to processes that support ecosystems, society, and the environment....
Flow management and fish density regulate salmonid recruitment and adult size in tailwaters across western North America
Kimberly L. Dibble, Charles B. Yackulic, Theodore A. Kennedy, Phaedra E. Budy
2015, Ecological Applications (25) 2168-2179
Rainbow and brown trout have been intentionally introduced into tailwaters downriver of dams globally and provide billions of dollars in economic benefits. At the same time, recruitment and maximum length of trout populations in tailwaters often fluctuate erratically, which negatively affects the value of fisheries. Large recruitment events may...
EverVIEW: a visualization platform for hydrologic and Earth science gridded data
Stephanie S. Romañach, Mark McKelvy, Kevin J. Suir, Craig Conzelmann
2015, Computers & Geosciences (76) 88-95
The EverVIEW Data Viewer is a cross-platform desktop application that combines and builds upon multiple open source libraries to help users to explore spatially-explicit gridded data stored in Network Common Data Form (NetCDF). Datasets are displayed across multiple side-by-side geographic or tabular displays, showing colorized overlays on an Earth globe...
Mechanisms of nutrient retention and its relation to flow connectivity in river-floodplain corridors
Laurel Larsen, Judson Harvey, Morgan M. Maglio
2015, Freshwater Science (34) 187-205
Understanding heterogeneity or patchiness in the distribution of vegetation and retention of C and nutrients in river corridors is critical for setting priorities for river management and restoration. Several mechanisms of spatial differentiation in nutrient retention in river and floodplain corridors have been recognized, but few studies have distinguished their...
Behavioral responses of freshwater mussels to experimental dewatering
Heather S. Galbraith, Carrie J. Blakeslee, William A. Lellis
2015, Freshwater Science (34) 42-52
Understanding the effects of flow alteration on freshwater ecosystems is critical for predicting species responses and restoring appropriate flow regimes. We experimentally evaluated the effects of 3 dewatering rates on behavior of 6 freshwater mussel species in the context of water-removal rates observed in 21 Atlantic Coast rivers. Horizontal movement...
