Hydrogeology, distribution, and volume of saline groundwater in the southern midcontinent and adjacent areas of the United States
Noel I. Osborn, S. Jerrod Smith, Christian H. Seger
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5017
The hydrogeology, distribution, and volume of saline water in 22 aquifers in the southern midcontinent of the United States were evaluated to provide information about saline groundwater resources that may be used to reduce dependency on freshwater resources. Those aquifers underlie six States in the southern midcontinent—Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri,...
Estimated nitrogen loads from selected tributaries in Connecticut draining to Long Island Sound, 1999–2009
John R. Mullaney, Gregory E. Schwarz
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5171
The total nitrogen load to Long Island Sound from Connecticut and contributing areas to the north was estimated for October 1998 to September 2009. Discrete measurements of total nitrogen concentrations and continuous flow data from 37 water-quality monitoring stations in the Long Island Sound watershed were used to compute total...
Broad-scale patterns of Brook Trout responses to introduced Brown Trout in New York
James E. McKenna Jr., Michael T. Slattery, Kean M. Clifford
2013, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (33) 1221-1235
Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis and Brown Trout Salmo trutta are valuable sport fish that coexist in many parts of the world due to stocking introductions. Causes for the decline of Brook Trout within their native range are not clear but include competition with Brown Trout, habitat alteration, and repetitive stocking...
Methods for estimating water consumption for thermoelectric power plants in the United States
Timothy H. Diehl, Melissa Harris, Jennifer C. Murphy, Susan S. Hutson, David E. Ladd
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5188
Water consumption at thermoelectric power plants represents a small but substantial share of total water consumption in the U.S. However, currently available thermoelectric water consumption data are inconsistent and incomplete, and coefficients used to estimate consumption are contradictory. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has resumed the estimation of thermoelectric water...
Land subsidence along the Delta-Mendota Canal in the northern part of the San Joaquin Valley, California, 2003-10
Michelle Sneed, Justin T. Brandt, Mike Solt
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5142
Extensive groundwater withdrawal from the unconsolidated deposits in the San Joaquin Valley caused widespread aquifer-system compaction and resultant land subsidence from 1926 to 1970—locally exceeding 8.5 meters. The importation of surface water beginning in the early 1950s through the Delta-Mendota Canal and in the early 1970s through the California Aqueduct...
Developing and implementing the use of predictive models for estimating water quality at Great Lakes beaches
Donna S. Francy, Amie M. G. Brady, Rebecca B. Carvin, Steven R. Corsi, Lori M. Fuller, John H. Harrison, Brett A. Hayhurst, Jeremiah Lant, Meredith B. Nevers, Paul J. Terrio, Tammy M. Zimmerman
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5166
Predictive models have been used at beaches to improve the timeliness and accuracy of recreational water-quality assessments over the most common current approach to water-quality monitoring, which relies on culturing fecal-indicator bacteria such as Escherichia coli (E. coli.). Beach-specific predictive models use environmental and water-quality variables that are easily and...
Water quality, sediment characteristics, aquatic habitat, geomorphology, and mussel population status of the Clinch River, Virginia and Tennessee, 2009-2011
Jennifer L. Krstolic, Gregory C. Johnson, Brett J.K. Ostby
2013, Data Series 802
Chemical, physical, and biological data were collected during 2009-2011 as part of a study of the Clinch River in Virginia and Tennessee. The data from this study, data-collection methods, and laboratory analytical methods used in the study are documented in this report. The study was conducted to describe the conditions...
Evaluation of intake efficiencies and associated sediment-concentration errors in US D-77 bag-type and US D-96-type depth-integrating suspended-sediment samplers
Thomas A. Sabol, David J. Topping
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5208
Accurate measurements of suspended-sediment concentration require suspended-sediment samplers to operate isokinetically, within an intake-efficiency range of 1.0 ± 0.10, where intake efficiency is defined as the ratio of the velocity of the water through the sampler intake to the local ambient stream velocity. Local ambient stream velocity is defined as...
Landscape consequences of natural gas extraction in Sullivan and Wyoming Counties, Pennsylvania, 2004–2010
Terry E. Slonecker, Lesley E. Milheim, Coral M. Roig-Silva, Alexander R. Malizia
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1261
Increased demands for cleaner burning energy, coupled with the relatively recent technological advances in accessing unconventional hydrocarbon-rich geologic formations, have led to an intense effort to find and extract natural gas from various underground sources around the country. One of these sources, the Marcellus Shale, located in the Allegheny Plateau,...
Landscape consequences of natural gas extraction in Armstrong and Indiana Counties, Pennsylvania, 2004–2010
Terry E. Slonecker, Lesley E. Milheim, Coral M. Roig-Silva, Alexander R. Malizia
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1263
Increased demands for cleaner burning energy, coupled with the relatively recent technological advances in accessing unconventional hydrocarbon-rich geologic formations, have led to an intense effort to find and extract natural gas from various underground sources around the country. One of these sources, the Marcellus Shale, located in the Allegheny Plateau,...
Location-only and use-availability data: analysis methods converge
Lyman McDonald, Bryan Manly, Falk Huettmann, Wayne Thogmartin
2013, Journal of Animal Ecology (82) 1120-1124
This Special Feature arose from a session on a topic of the same name that took place during The Wildlife Society meeting in Kona, Hawaii, from 5 to 10 November, 2011. The purpose of that session and this Special Feature is to compare methods for predictive modelling of species geographical...
Water resources of Lafourche Parish, Louisiana
Lawrence B. Prakken, John K. Lovelace
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3075
This fact sheet presents a brief overview of groundwater and surface-water resources in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana. Information on the availability, past and current use trends, and water quality from groundwater and surface-water sources in the parish is discussed. Previously published reports and data stored in the U.S. Geological Survey’s National...
Performance of quantitative vegetation sampling methods across gradients of cover in Great Basin plant communities
David S. Pilliod, Robert S. Arkle
2013, Rangeland Ecology and Management (66) 634-647
Resource managers and scientists need efficient, reliable methods for quantifying vegetation to conduct basic research, evaluate land management actions, and monitor trends in habitat conditions. We examined three methods for quantifying vegetation in 1-ha plots among different plant communities in the northern Great Basin: photography-based grid-point intercept (GPI), line-point intercept...
Borehole-explosion and air-gun data acquired in the 2011 Salton Seismic Imaging Project (SSIP), southern California: description of the survey
Elizabeth J. Rose, Gary S. Fuis, Joann M. Stock, John A. Hole, Annie M. Kell, Graham Kent, Neal W. Driscoll, Mark Goldman, Angela M. Reusch, Liang Han, Robert R. Sickler, Rufus D. Catchings, Michael J. Rymer, Coyn J. Criley, Daniel S. Scheirer, Steven M. Skinner, Coye J. Slayday-Criley, Janice M. Murphy, Edward G. Jensen, Robert McClearn, Alex J. Ferguson, Lesley A. Butcher, Max A. Gardner, Iain D. Emmons, Caleb L. Loughran, Joseph R. Svitek, Patrick C. Bastien, Joseph A. Cotton, David S. Croker, Alistair J. Harding, Jeffrey M. Babcock, Steven H. Harder, Carla M. Rosa
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1172
The Imperial and Coachella Valleys are being formed by active plate-tectonic processes. From the Imperial Valley southward into the Gulf of California, plate motions are rifting the continent apart. In the Coachella Valley, the plates are sliding past one another along the San Andreas and related faults (fig. 1). These...
The 3D Elevation Program: summary for Alabama
William J. Carswell Jr.
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3105
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 Alabama, elevation data are critical for flood risk management; infrastructure and construction management; wildfire management, planning, and response; natural resources conservation; geologic...
Iodine-129 in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer at and near the Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho, 2010-12
Roy C. Bartholomay
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5195
From 1953 to 1988, approximately 0.941 curies of iodine-129 (129I) were contained in wastewater generated at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) with almost all of this wastewater discharged at or near the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC). Most of the wastewater containing 129I was discharged directly into the...
Paleomagnetic contributions to the Klamath Mountains terrane puzzle-a new piece from the Ironside Mountain batholith, northern California
Edward A. Mankinen, C. Sherman Gromme, W. Porter Irwin
2013, Tectonophysics (608) 401-407
We obtained paleomagnetic samples from six sites within the Middle Jurassic Ironside Mountain batholith (~170 Ma), which constitutes the structurally lowest part of the Western Hayfork terrane, in the Klamath Mountains province of northern California and southern Oregon. Structural attitudes measured in the coeval Hayfork Bally Meta-andesite were used...
Water-table and Potentiometric-surface altitudes in the Upper Glacial, Magothy, and Lloyd aquifers beneath Long Island, New York, April-May 2010
Jack Monti Jr., Michael D. Como, Ronald Busciolano
2013, Scientific Investigations Map 3270
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with State and local agencies, systematically collects groundwater data at varying measurement frequencies to monitor the hydrologic conditions on Long Island, New York. Each year during April and May, the USGS conducts a synoptic survey of water levels to define the spatial distribution...
Post-fire debris-flow hazard assessment of the area burned by the 2013 Beaver Creek Fire near Hailey, central Idaho
Kenneth D. Skinner
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1273
A preliminary hazard assessment was developed for debris-flow hazards in the 465 square-kilometer (115,000 acres) area burned by the 2013 Beaver Creek fire near Hailey in central Idaho. The burn area covers all or part of six watersheds and selected basins draining to the Big Wood River and is at...
Temporal changes and sexual differences in spatial distribution of Burbot in Lake Erie
Martin A. Stapanian, Larry D. Witzel, Andy Cook
2013, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (142) 1724-1732
We used GIS mapping techniques to examine capture data for Burbot Lota lota from annual gill-net surveys in Canadian waters of Lake Erie during late August and September 1994–2011. Adult males were captured over a larger area (3–17% for ≥20% maximum yearly catch [MYC]) than adult females. More males than...
Equations for estimating bankfull channel geometry and discharge for streams in Massachusetts
Gardner C. Bent, Andrew M. Waite
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5155
Regression equations were developed for estimating bankfull geometry—width, mean depth, cross-sectional area—and discharge for streams in Massachusetts. The equations provide water-resource and conservation managers with methods for estimating bankfull characteristics at specific stream sites in Massachusetts. This information can be used for the adminstration of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Rivers...
Hydrogeology and hydrologic conditions of the Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain aquifer System from Long Island, New York, to North Carolina
John P. Masterson, Jason P. Pope, Jack Monti Jr., Mark R. Nardi, Jason S. Finkelstein, Kurt J. McCoy
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5133
The seaward-dipping sedimentary wedge that underlies the Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain forms a complex groundwater system. This major source of water provides for public and domestic supply and serves as a vital source of freshwater for industrial and agricultural uses throughout the region. Population increases and land-use and climate changes,...
Spatial ecological processes and local factors predict the distribution and abundance of spawning by steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) across a complex riverscape
Jeffrey A. Falke, Jason B. Dunham, Christopher E. Jordan, Kris M. McNyset, Gordon H. Reeves
2013, PLoS ONE (8)
Processes that influence habitat selection in landscapes involve the interaction of habitat composition and configuration and are particularly important for species with complex life cycles. We assessed the relative influence of landscape spatial processes and local habitat characteristics on patterns in the distribution and abundance of spawning steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss),...
Tools and data for meeting America's conservation challenges
Kevin J. Gergely, Alexa McKerrow
2013, General Information Product 151
The Gap Analysis Project (GAP) produces data and tools that help meet critical national challenges such as biodiversity conservation, renewable energy development, climate change adaptation, and infrastructure investment. The GAP is managed by the U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior. GAP supports a wide range of national, State, and...
MODIS phenology image service ArcMap toolbox
Colin Talbert, Tim J. Kern, Jeff Morisette, Don Brown, Kevin James
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1250
Seasonal change is important to consider when managing conservation areas at landscape scales. The study of such patterns throughout the year is referred to as phenology. Recurring life-cycle events that are initiated and driven by environmental factors include animal migration and plant flowering. Phenological events capture public attention, such as...
