Rice methylmercury exposure and mitigation: a comprehensive review
Sarah E. Rothenberg, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Joel E. Creswell
2014, Environmental Research (133) 407-423
Rice cultivation practices from field preparation to post-harvest transform rice paddies into hot spots for microbial mercury methylation, converting less-toxic inorganic mercury to more-toxic methylmercury, which is likely translocated to rice grain. This review includes 51 studies reporting rice total mercury and/or methylmercury concentrations, based on rice (Orzya sativa) cultivated...
Analytical solutions for benchmarking cold regions subsurface water flow and energy transport models: one-dimensional soil thaw with conduction and advection
Barret L. Kurylyk, Jeffrey M McKenzie, Kerry T. B. MacQuarrie, Clifford I. Voss
2014, Advances in Water Resources (70) 172-184
Numerous cold regions water flow and energy transport models have emerged in recent years. Dissimilarities often exist in their mathematical formulations and/or numerical solution techniques, but few analytical solutions exist for benchmarking flow and energy transport models that include pore water phase change. This paper presents a detailed derivation of...
A mass balance approach to investigating geochemical controls on secondary water quality impacts at a crude oil spill site near Bemidji, MN
Gene-Hua Crystal Ng, Barbara A. Bekins, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Mary Jo Baedecker, Philip C. Bennett, Richard T. Amos
2014, Journal of Contaminant Hydrology (164) 1-15
Secondary water quality impacts can result from a broad range of coupled reactions triggered by primary groundwater contaminants. Data from a crude-oil spill research site near Bemidji, MN provide an ideal test case for investigating the complex interactions controlling secondary impacts, including depleted dissolved oxygen and elevated organic carbon, inorganic...
Major element and oxygen isotope geochemistry of vapour-phase garnet from the Topopah Spring Tuff at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, USA
Richard J. Moscati, Craig A. Johnson
2014, Mineralogical Magazine (78) 1029-1041
Twenty vapour-phase garnets were studied in two samples of the Topopah Spring Tuff of the Paintbrush Group from Yucca Mountain, in southern Nevada. The Miocene-age Topopah Spring Tuff is a 350 m thick, devitrified, moderately to densely welded ash-flow tuff that is zoned compositionally from high-silica rhyolite to latite. During...
Preliminary geologic map of the eastern Willapa Hills, Cowlitz, Lewis, and Wahkiakum Counties, Washington
Ray E. Wells, Michael G. Sawlan
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1063
This digital map database and the PDF derived from the database were created from the analog geologic map: Wells, R.E. (1981), “Geologic map of the eastern Willapa Hills, Cowlitz, Lewis, and Wahkiakum Counties, Washington.” The geodatabase replicates the geologic mapping of the 1981 report with minor exceptions along water boundaries...
Emplacement and erosive effects of the south Kasei Valles lava on Mars
Colin M. Dundas, Laszlo P. Keszthelyi
2014, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (282) 92-102
Although it has generally been accepted that the Martian outflow channels were carved by floods of water, observations of large channels on Venus and Mercury demonstrate that lava flows can cause substantial erosion. Recent observations of large lava flows within outflow channels on Mars have revived discussion of the hypothesis...
Spatially explicit modeling of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) habitat in Nevada and northeastern California: a decision-support tool for management
Peter S. Coates, Michael L. Casazza, Brianne E. Brussee, Mark A. Ricca, K. Benjamin Gustafson, Cory T. Overton, Erika Sanchez-Chopitea, Travis Kroger, Kimberly Mauch, Lara Niell, Kristy Howe, Scott Gardner, Shawn Espinosa, David J. Delehanty
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1163
Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus, hereafter referred to as “sage-grouse”) populations are declining throughout the sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystem, including millions of acres of potential habitat across the West. Habitat maps derived from empirical data are needed given impending listing decisions that will affect both sage-grouse population dynamics and human land-use...
Hierarchical model analysis of the Atlantic Flyway Breeding Waterfowl Survey
John R. Sauer, Guthrie S. Zimmerman, Jon D. Klimstra, William A. Link
2014, Journal of Wildlife Management (78) 1050-1059
We used log-linear hierarchical models to analyze data from the Atlantic Flyway Breeding Waterfowl Survey. The survey has been conducted by state biologists each year since 1989 in the northeastern United States from Virginia north to New Hampshire and Vermont. Although yearly population estimates from the survey are used by...
Bile salts as semiochemicals in fish
Tyler J. Buchinger, Weiming Li, Nicholas S. Johnson
2014, Chemical Senses (39) 647-654
Bile salts are potent olfactory stimuli in fishes; however the biological functions driving such sensitivity remain poorly understood. We provide an integrative review of bile salts as semiochemicals in fish. First, we present characteristics of bile salt structure, metabolism, and function that are particularly relevant to chemical communication. Bile salts...
Integrated assessment of runoff from livestock farming operations: analytical chemistry, in vitro bioassays, and in vivo fish exposures
Jenna E. Cavallin, Elizabeth J. Durhan, Nicola Evans, Kathleen M. Jensen, Michael D. Kahl, Dana W. Kolpin, Edward Kolodziej, William T. Foreman, Carlie A. LaLone, Elizabeth A. Makynen, Sara M. Seidl, Linnea M. Thomas, Daniel L. Villeneuve, Matthew A. Weberg, Vickie S. Wilson, Gerald T. Ankley
2014, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (33) 1849-1857
Animal waste from livestock farming operations can contain varying levels of natural and synthetic androgens and/or estrogens, which can contaminate surrounding waterways. In the present study, surface stream water was collected from 6 basins containing livestock farming operations. Aqueous concentrations of 12 hormones were determined via chemical analyses. Relative androgenic...
The implications of microbial and substrate limitation for the fates of carbon in different organic soil horizon types of boreal forest ecosystems: a mechanistically based model analysis
Y. He, Q. Zhuang, Jennifer W. Harden, A. David McGuire, Z. Fan, Y. Liu, Kimberly P. Wickland
2014, Biogeosciences (11) 4477-4491
The large amount of soil carbon in boreal forest ecosystems has the potential to influence the climate system if released in large quantities in response to warming. Thus, there is a need to better understand and represent the environmental sensitivity of soil carbon decomposition. Most soil carbon decomposition models...
Coastal circulation and water-column properties in the War in the Pacific National Historical Park, Guam: measurements and modeling of waves, currents, temperature, salinity, and turbidity, April-August 2012
Curt D. Storlazzi, Olivia M. Cheriton, Jamie M.R. Lescinski, Joshua B. Logan
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1130
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center (PCMSC) initiated an investigation in the National Park Service’s (NPS) War in the Pacific National Historical Park (WAPA) to provide baseline scientific information on coastal circulation and water-column properties along west-central Guam, focusing on WAPA’s Agat Unit, as it...
Synthesis of studies in the fall low-salinity zone of the San Francisco Estuary, September-December 2011
Larry R. Brown, Randall Baxter, Gonzalo Castillo, Louise Conrad, Steven Culberson, Gregg Erickson, Frederick Feyrer, Stephanie Fong, Karen Gehrts, Lenny Grimaldo, Bruce Herbold, Joseph Kirsch, Anke Mueller-Solger, Steven B. Slater, Ted Sommer, Kelly Souza, Erwin Van Nieuwenhuyse
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5041
In fall 2011, a large-scale investigation (fall low-salinity habitat investigation) was implemented by the Bureau of Reclamation in cooperation with the Interagency Ecological Program to explore hypotheses about the ecological role of low-salinity habitat in the San Francisco Estuary—specifically, hypotheses about the importance of fall low-salinity habitat to the biology...
Migration, foraging, and residency patterns for Northern Gulf loggerheads: implications of local threats and international movements
Kristen M. Hart, Margaret M. Lamont, Autumn R. Sartain-Iverson, Ikuko Fujisaki
2014, PLoS ONE (9)
Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGoM) loggerheads (Caretta caretta) make up one of the smallest subpopulations of this threatened species and have declining nest numbers. We used satellite telemetry and a switching state-space model to identify distinct foraging areas used by 59 NGoM loggerheads tagged during 2010–2013. We tagged turtles after...
Effects of hydrologic modifications on salinity and formation of hypoxia in the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet and adjacent waterways, southeastern Louisiana, 2008 to 2012
Christopher M. Swarzenski, Scott V. Mize
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5077
The Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (MRGO) was constructed between 1958 and 1968 to provide a safer and shorter route between the Gulf of Mexico and the Port of New Orleans for ocean-going vessels. In 2006, the U.S. Congress directed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to develop and implement a...
Whiting events in SW Florida coastal waters: a case study using MODIS medium-resolution data
Jacqueline Long, Chuanmin Hu, Lisa Robbins
2014, Remote Sensing Letters (5) 539-547
Whitings, floating patches of calcium carbonate mud, have been found in both shallow carbonate banks and freshwater environments around the world. Although these events have been studied for many decades, much of their characteristics remain unknown. Recent sightings of whitings near Ten Thousand Islands, Florida suggest a phenomenon that has...
Precipitation isotopes link regional climate patterns to water supply in a tropical mountain forest, eastern Puerto Rico
Martha A. Scholl, Sheila F. Murphy
2014, Water Resources Research (50) 4305-4322
Like many mountainous areas in the tropics, watersheds in the Luquillo Mountains of eastern Puerto Rico have abundant rainfall and stream discharge and provide much of the water supply for the densely populated metropolitan areas nearby. Projected changes in regional temperature and atmospheric dynamics as a result of global warming...
Asphaltene content and composition as a measure of Deepwater Horizon oil spill losses within the first 80 days
M. D. Lewan, A. Warden, R.F. Dias, Z.K. Lowry, T.L. Hannah, P. G. Lillis, R.F. Kokaly, T.M. Hoefen, G.A. Swayze, C.T. Mills, S.H. Harris, G.S. Plumlee
2014, Organic Geochemistry (75) 54-60
The composition and content of asphaltenes in spilled and original wellhead oils from the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) incident provide information on the amount of original oil lost and the processes most responsible for the losses within the first 80 days of the active spill. Spilled oils were collected from open...
Changing amounts and sources of moisture in the U.S. southwest since the Last Glacial Maximum in response to global climate change
Weimin Feng, Benjamin F. Hardt, Jay L. Banner, Kevin J. Meyer, Eric W. James, MaryLynn Musgrove, R. Lawrence Edwards, Hai Cheng, Angela Min
2014, Earth and Planetary Science Letters (401) 47-56
The U.S. southwest has a limited water supply and is predicted to become drier in the 21st century. An improved understanding of factors controlling moisture sources and availability is aided by reconstruction of past responses to global climate change. New stable isotope and growth-rate records for a central Texas speleothem...
SAFRR tsunami scenario: Impacts on California ecosystems, species, marine natural resources, and fisheries
Deborah Brosnan, Anne Wein, Rick Wilson
Stephanie L. Ross, Lucile Jones, editor(s)
2014, Open-File Report 2013-1170-G
We evaluate the effects of the SAFRR Tsunami Scenario on California’s ecosystems, species, natural resources, and fisheries. We discuss mitigation and preparedness approaches that can be useful in Tsunami planning. The chapter provides an introduction to the role of ecosystems and natural resources in tsunami events (Section 1). A separate...
Occurrence and transport of nitrogen in the Big Sunflower River, northwestern Mississippi, October 2009-June 2011
Jeannie R.B. Barlow, Richard H. Coupe
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5107
The Big Sunflower River Basin, located within the Yazoo River Basin, is subject to large annual inputs of nitrogen from agriculture, atmospheric deposition, and point sources. Understanding how nutrients are transported in, and downstream from, the Big Sunflower River is key to quantifying their eutrophying effects on the Gulf. Recent...
Annual agricultural pesticide use for Midwest Stream-Quality Assessment, 2012-13
Nancy T. Baker, Wesley W. Stone
2014, Data Series 863
This report provides estimates of annual agricultural use of 190 pesticide compounds for counties and selected watersheds of Midwestern States for 2012 and 2013 compiled for subsequent analysis by the National Water-Quality Assessment Program, Midwest Stream-Quality Assessment (MSQA). One of the goals of MSQA is to characterize contaminants at perennial-stream...
Estimation of methane concentrations and loads in groundwater discharge to Sugar Run, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
Victor M. Heilweil, Dennis W. Risser, Randall W. Conger, Paul L. Grieve, Scott A. Hynek
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1126
A stream-sampling study was conducted to estimate methane concentrations and loads in groundwater discharge to a small stream in an active shale-gas development area of northeastern Pennsylvania. Grab samples collected from 15 streams in Bradford, Lycoming, Susquehanna, and Tioga Counties, Pa., during a reconnaissance survey in May and June 2013...
Concentrations and transport of suspended sediment, nutrients, and pesticides in the lower Mississippi-Atchafalaya River subbasin during the 2011 Mississippi River flood, April through July
Heather L. Welch, Richard H. Coupe, Brent T. Aulenbach
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5100
High streamflow associated with the April–July 2011 Mississippi River flood forced the simultaneous opening of the three major flood-control structures in the lower Mississippi-Atchafalaya River subbasin for the first time in history in order to manage the amount of water moving through the system. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collected...
Repeated multibeam echosounder hydrographic surveys of 15 selected bridge crossings along the Missouri River from Niobrara to Rulo, Nebraska, during the flood of 2011
Benjamin J. Dietsch, Brenda K. Densmore, Kellan R. Strauch
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5062
In 2011, unprecedented flooding in the Missouri River prompted transportation agencies to increase the frequency of monitoring riverbed elevations near bridges that cross the Missouri River. Hydrographic surveys were completed in cooperation with the Nebraska Department of Roads, using a multibeam echosounder at 15 highway bridges spanning the Missouri River...
