Assessing landslide potential on coastal bluffs near Mukilteo, Washington—Geologic site characterization for hydrologic monitoring
Benjamin B. Mirus, Joel B. Smith, Benjamin Stark, York Lewis, Abigail Michel, Rex L. Baum
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1082
During the summer 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey collected geologic and geotechnical data for two sites on coastal bluffs along the eastern shore of Puget Sound, Washington. The U.S. Geological Survey also installed hydrologic instrumentation at the sites and collected specimens for laboratory testing. The two sites are located on...
Updated logistic regression equations for the calculation of post-fire debris-flow likelihood in the western United States
Dennis M. Staley, Jacquelyn A. Negri, Jason W. Kean, Jayme L. Laber, Anne C. Tillery, Ann M. Youberg
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1106
Wildfire can significantly alter the hydrologic response of a watershed to the extent that even modest rainstorms can generate dangerous flash floods and debris flows. To reduce public exposure to hazard, the U.S. Geological Survey produces post-fire debris-flow hazard assessments for select fires in the western United States. We use...
Mercury concentrations in water and mercury and selenium concentrations in fish from Brownlee Reservoir and selected sites in the Boise and Snake Rivers, Idaho and Oregon, 2013–15
Marshall L. Williams, Dorene E. MacCoy
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1098
Mercury (Hg) analyses were conducted on samples of sport fish and water collected from selected sampling sites in Brownlee Reservoir and the Boise and Snake Rivers to meet National Pollution Discharge and Elimination System (NPDES) permit requirements for the City of Boise, Idaho, between 2013 and 2015. City of...
Jaguar taxonomy and genetic diversity for southern Arizona, United States, and Sonora, Mexico
Melanie Culver, Alexander Ochoa Hein
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1109
Executive SummaryThe jaguar is the largest Neotropical felid and the only extant representative of the genus Panthera in the Americas. In recorded history, the jaguars range has extended from the Southern United States, throughout Mexico, to Central and South America, and they occupy a wide variety of habitats. A previous...
Relation between Enterococcus concentrations and turbidity in fresh and saline recreational waters, coastal Horry County, South Carolina, 2003–04
James Landmeyer, Thomas J. Garigen
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1015
Bacteria related to the intestinal tract of humans and other warm-blooded animals have been detected in fresh and saline surface waters used for recreational purposes in coastal areas of Horry County, South Carolina, since the early 2000s. Specifically, concentrations of the facultative anaerobic organism, Enterococcus, have been observed to exceed...
Evaluating water management scenarios to support habitat management for the Cape Sable seaside sparrow
James M. Beerens, Stephanie S. Romañach, Mark McKelvy
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1107
The endangered Cape Sable seaside sparrow (Ammodramus maritimus mirabilis) is endemic to south Florida and a key indicator species of marl prairie, a highly diverse freshwater community in the Florida Everglades. Maintenance and creation of suitable habitat is seen as the most important pathway to the persistence of the six...
QRev—Software for computation and quality assurance of acoustic doppler current profiler moving-boat streamflow measurements—Technical manual for version 2.8
David S. Mueller
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1068
The software program, QRev applies common and consistent computational algorithms combined with automated filtering and quality assessment of the data to improve the quality and efficiency of streamflow measurements and helps ensure that U.S. Geological Survey streamflow measurements are consistent, accurate, and independent of the manufacturer of the instrument used...
Estimating juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) abundance from beach seine data collected in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay, California
Russell W. Perry, Joseph E. Kirsch, A. Noble Hendrix
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1099
Resource managers rely on abundance or density metrics derived from beach seine surveys to make vital decisions that affect fish population dynamics and assemblage structure. However, abundance and density metrics may be biased by imperfect capture and lack of geographic closure during sampling. Currently, there is considerable uncertainty about the...
Gravity and magnetic studies of the eastern Mojave Desert, California and Nevada
Kevin M. Denton, David A. Ponce
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1070
IntroductionFrom May 2011 to August 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collected gravity data at more than 2,300 stations and physical property measurements on more than 640 rock samples from outcrops in the eastern Mojave Desert, California and Nevada. Gravity, magnetic, and physical-property data are used to study and locate...
Preliminary peak stage and streamflow data at selected U.S. Geological Survey streamgages for flooding in the central and southeastern United States during December 2015 and January 2016
Robert R. Holmes Jr., Kara M. Watson, Thomas E. Harris
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1092
Flooding occurred in the central and southeastern United States during December 2015 and January 2016. The flooding was the result of more than 20 inches of rain falling in a 19 day period from December 12 to December 31, 2015. U.S. Geological Survey streamgages recorded 23 peaks of record during...
Building groundwater modeling capacity in Mongolia
Joshua F. Valder, Janet M. Carter, Mark T. Anderson, Kyle W. Davis, Michelle A. Haynes, Dorjsuren Dechinlhundev
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1096
Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia (fig. 1), is dependent on groundwater for its municipal and industrial water supply. The population of Mongolia is about 3 million people, with about one-half the population residing in or near Ulaanbaatar (World Population Review, 2016). Groundwater is drawn from a network of shallow...
Herpetological monitoring and assessment on the Trinity River, Trinity County, California—Final report
Melissa L. Snover, M. J. Adams
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1089
The primary goal of the Trinity River Restoration Program is to rehabilitate the fisheries on the dam-controlled Trinity River. However, maintaining and enhancing other wildlife populations through the restoration initiative is also a key objective. Foothill yellow-legged frogs (Rana boylii) and western pond turtles (Actinemys marmorata) have been identified...
Predation on larval suckers in the Williamson River Delta revealed by molecular genetic assays—A pilot study
Danielle M. Hereford, Carl O. Ostberg, Summer M. Burdick
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1094
Predation of endangered Lost River suckers (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose suckers (Chasmistes brevirostris) during larval egress to Upper Klamath Lake from the Williamson River is poorly understood but may be an important factor limiting recruitment into adult spawning populations. Native and non-native piscivores are abundant in nursery wetland habitat,...
California State Waters Map Series — Monterey Canyon and vicinity, California
Peter Dartnell, Katherine L. Maier, Mercedes D. Erdey, Bryan E. Dieter, Nadine E. Golden, Samuel Y. Johnson, Stephen R. Hartwell, Guy R. Cochrane, Andrew C. Ritchie, David P. Finlayson, Rikk G. Kvitek, Ray W. Sliter, H. Gary Greene, Clifton W. Davenport, Charles A. Endris, Lisa M. Krigsman
Peter Dartnell, Susan A. Cochran, editor(s)
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1072
IntroductionIn 2007, the California Ocean Protection Council initiated the California Seafloor Mapping Program (CSMP), designed to create a comprehensive seafloor map of high-resolution bathymetry, marine benthic habitats, and geology within the 3-nautical-mile limit of California’s State Waters. The CSMP approach is to create highly detailed seafloor maps through collection, integration,...
Jaguar surveying and monitoring in the United States
Melanie Culver
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1095
Because of the jaguar’s (Panthera onca) endangered status under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 throughout its range (from Arizona in the north to Argentina in the south), jaguar individuals and populations are monitored to varying degrees throughout their range. Knowledge gained from monitoring jaguars is helpful for wildlife...
Bathymetric survey and digital elevation model of Little Holland Tract, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California
Alexander G. Snyder, Jessica R. Lacy, Andrew W. Stevens, Emily M. Carlson
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1093
The U.S. Geological Survey conducted a bathymetric survey in Little Holland Tract, a flooded agricultural tract, in the northern Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (the “Delta”) during the summer of 2015. The new bathymetric data were combined with existing data to generate a digital elevation model (DEM) at 1-meter resolution. Little Holland...
Salmon redd identification using environmental DNA (eDNA)
David S. Pilliod, Matthew B. Laramie
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1091
IntroductionThe purpose of this project was to develop a technique to use environmental DNA (eDNA) to distinguish between redds made by Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and redds made by Coho salmon (O. kisutch) and to distinguish utilized redds from test/abandoned redds or scours that have the appearance of redds. The...
User’s guide for the Delaware River Basin Streamflow Estimator Tool (DRB-SET)
Marla H. Stuckey, James E. Ulrich
2016, Open-File Report 2015-1192
IntroductionThe Delaware River Basin Streamflow Estimator Tool (DRB-SET) is a tool for the simulation of streamflow at a daily time step for an ungaged stream location in the Delaware River Basin. DRB-SET was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and funded through WaterSMART as part of the National Water...
Geologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources—Southern Rocky Mountain Basins: Chapter M in Geologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources
Matthew D. Merrill, Ronald M. Drake II, Marc L. Buursink, William H. Craddock, Joseph A. East, Ernie R. Slucher, Peter D. Warwick, Sean T. Brennan, Madalyn S. Blondes, Philip A. Freeman, Steven M. Cahan, Christina A. DeVera, Celeste D. Lohr
Peter D. Warwick, M.D. Corum, editor(s)
2016, Open-File Report 2012-1024-M
The U.S. Geological Survey has completed an assessment of the potential geologic carbon dioxide storage resources in the onshore areas of the United States. To provide geological context and input data sources for the resources numbers, framework documents are being prepared for all areas that were investigated as part of...
A software tool for rapid flood inundation mapping
James Verdin, Kristine Verdin, Melissa L. Mathis, Tamuka Magadzire, Eric Kabuchanga, Mark Woodbury, Hussein Gadain
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1038
The GIS Flood Tool (GFT) was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance to provide a means for production of reconnaissance-level flood inundation mapping for data-sparse and resource-limited areas of the world. The GFT has also...
Groundwater quality from private domestic water-supply wells in the vicinity of petroleum production in southwestern Indiana
Martin R. Risch, Cheryl A. Silcox
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1081
The U.S. Geological Survey provided technical support to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry for site selection and sample collection and analysis in a 2012 investigation of groundwater quality from 29 private domestic water-supply wells in the vicinity of petroleum production in southwestern Indiana. Petroleum hydrocarbons, oil and...
Tree Cover Mapping Tool—Documentation and user manual
Suzanne E. Cotillon, Melissa L. Mathis
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1067
The Tree Cover Mapping (TCM) tool was developed by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science Center to allow a user to quickly map tree cover density over large areas using visual interpretation of high resolution imagery within a geographic information system interface. The TCM tool...
Field survey of earthquake effects from the magnitude 4.0 southern Maine earthquake of October 16, 2012
Amy L. Radakovich, Alex J. Fergusen, John Boatwright
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1071
The magnitude 4.0 earthquake that occurred on October 16, 2012, near Hollis Center and Waterboro in southwestern Maine surprised and startled local residents but caused only minor damage. A two-person U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) team was sent to Maine to conduct an intensity survey and document the damage. The only...
Geologic map of the Morena Reservoir 7.5-minute quadrangle, San Diego County, California
Victoria R. Todd
2016, Open-File Report 95-50
IntroductionMapping in the Morena Reservoir 7.5-minute quadrangle began in 1980, when the Hauser Wilderness Area, which straddles the Morena Reservoir and Barrett Lake quadrangles, was mapped for the U.S. Forest Service. Mapping was completed in 1993–1994. The Morena Reservoir quadrangle contains part of a regional-scale Late Jurassic(?) to Early Cretaceous...
Geologic and geochemical results from boreholes drilled in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 2007 and 2008
Cheryl Jaworowski, David Susong, Henry Heasler, David Mencin, Wade Johnson, Rick Conrey, Jennipher Von Stauffenberg
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1028
Between 2007 and 2008, seven Earthscope Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) boreholes ranging in depth from about 200 to 800 feet deep were drilled in and adjacent to the Yellowstone caldera in Yellowstone National Park, for the purpose of installing volcano monitoring instrumentation. Five of the seven boreholes were equipped...
