Geochemical characterization of groundwater evolution south of Grand Canyon, Arizona (USA)
Kimberly R. Beisner, John E. Solder, Fred D. Tillman, Jessica R. Anderson, Ronald C. Antweiler
2020, Hydrogeology Journal (28) 1615-1633
Better characterization of the geochemical evolution of groundwater south of Grand Canyon, Arizona (USA), is needed to understand natural conditions and assess potential effects from breccia-pipe uranium mining in the region. Geochemical signatures of groundwater at 28 sampling locations were evaluated; baseline concentrations for select trace elements (As, B, Ba,...
Structural impacts, carbon losses, and regeneration in mangrove wetlands after two hurricanes on St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands
Ken Krauss, Andrew From, Caroline Rogers, Kevin R.T. Whelan, Kristen W. Grimes, Robert C. Dobbs, Thomas Kelley
2020, Wetlands (40) 2397-2412
Hurricanes Irma and Maria ravaged the mangroves of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, in 2017. Basal area losses were large (63–100%) and storm losses of carbon associated with aboveground biomass amounted to 11.9–43.5 Mg C/ha. Carbon biomass of dead standing trees increased 8.1–18.3 Mg C/ha among sites, and carbon in...
Modeling Escherichia coli in the Missouri River near Omaha, Nebraska, 2012–16
Brenda K. Densmore, Brent M. Hall, Matthew T. Moser
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5045
The city of Omaha, Nebraska, has a combined sewer system in some areas of the city. In Omaha, Nebr., a moderate amount of rainfall will lead to the combination of stormwater and untreated sewage or wastewater being discharged directly into the Missouri River and Papillion Creek and is called a...
Comparing trends in modeled and observed streamflows at minimally altered basins in the United States
Glenn A. Hodgkins, Robert W. Dudley, Amy M. Russell, Jacob H. LaFontaine
2020, Water (12)
We compared modeled and observed streamflow trends from 1984–2016 using five statistical transfer models and one deterministic, distributed-parameter, process-based model, for 26 flow metrics at 502 basins in the United States that are minimally influenced by development. We also looked at a measure of overall model fit and average bias....
Quantifying gas emissions associated with the 2018 rift eruption of Kīlauea Volcano using ground-based DOAS measurements
Christoph Kern, Allan Lerner, Tamar Elias, Patricia A. Nadeau, Lacey Holland, Peter J. Kelly, Cynthia Werner, Laura E. Clor, Michael Cappos
2020, Bulletin of Volcanology (82)
Starting on 3 May 2018, a series of eruptive fissures opened in Kīlauea Volcano’s lower East Rift Zone (LERZ). Over the course of the next 3 months, intense degassing accompanied lava effusion from these fissures. Here, we report on ground-based observations of the gas emissions associated with Kīlauea’s 2018 eruption....
Assessing the value of removing earthquake-hazard-related epistemic uncertainties, exemplified using average annual loss in California
Edward H. Field, Kevin R. Milner, Keith Porter
2020, Earthquake Spectra (36) 1912-1929
To aid in setting scientific research priorities, we assess the potential value of removing each of the epistemic uncertainties currently represented in the US Geological Survey California seismic-hazard model, using average annual loss (AAL) as the risk metric of interest. Given all the uncertainties, represented with logic-tree branches, we find...
Resource segregation at fine spatial scales explains Karner blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis) distribution
Sophia N Chau, Lainey V Bristow, Ralph Grundel, Jessica J Hellmann
2020, Journal of Insect Conservation (5) 739-749
The resource concentration hypothesis predicts that herbivorous insect density scales positively with plant density because insects are better able to identify, and remain longer in, patches with denser plant resources. While some studies support this hypothesis, others do not. Different explanations have been proposed for this discrepancy, including variation in...
Small basin annual yield and percentage of snowmelt runoff in North Dakota, 1931–2016
Tara Williams-Sether, Spencer L. Wheeling
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5144
The North Dakota hydrology manual prepared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, presents methodologies primarily used for developing hydrology for onfarm conservation practices, watershed projects, Resource Conservation and Development project measures, and river basin studies. The manual includes data necessary for determining hydrologic factors and developing a...
Geochemical modeling of iron and aluminum precipitation during mixing and neutralization of acid mine drainage
D. Kirk Nordstrom
2020, Minerals (10)
Geochemical modeling of precipitation reactions in the complex matrix of acid mine drainage is fundamental to understanding natural attenuation, lime treatment, and treatment procedures that separate constituents for potential reuse or recycling. The three main dissolved constituents in acid mine drainage are iron, aluminum, and sulfate. During...
Origin and geochemistry of formation waters from the lower Eagle Ford Group, Gulf Coast Basin, south central Texas
Mark A Engle, Colin A. Doolan, Janet K. Pitman, Matthew S. Varonka, Jessica Chenault, William H. Orem, Peter B. McMahon, Aaron M. Jubb
2020, Chemical Geology (550)
The lower Eagle Ford Group (LEFG) is one of the most productive continuous hydrocarbon plays in the United States but few associated produced waters data and minimal interpretation have been published. This effort focuses on results from compositional and isotopic data from 39 produced water samples collected from horizontal wells...
Cyclic shear zone cataclasis and sintering during lava dome extrusion: Insights from Chaos Crags, Lassen Volcanic Center (USA)
Amy Ryan, Michael J. Heap, James K. Russell, Lori A. Kennedy, Michael A. Clynne
2020, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (401)
The ascent and extrusion of crystal-rich magma is commonly facilitated by deformation partitioned within annular, conduit-parallel shear zones. The physical properties and textures of the shear zone materials, where exposed at surface, provide a record of ascent and eruption dynamics. We describe the shear zone developed in Dome C, part of Chaos...
Missouri StreamStats—St. Louis County and the City of St. Louis urban application
Rodney E. Southard, Tana Haluska, Joseph M. Richards, Jarrett T. Ellis, Christine Dartiguenave, Dean Djokic
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5040
To address a major limitation of the functionality of the Missouri statewide StreamStats application in the urban areas of St. Louis County and the City of St. Louis, Missouri, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District, defined watershed boundaries and hydrography for the study...
Conceptual framework and approach for conducting a geoenvironmental assessment of undiscovered uranium resources
Tanya J. Gallegos, Katherine Walton-Day, Robert R. Seal, II
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5104
This report presents a novel conceptual framework and approach for conducting a geologically based environmental assessment, or geoenvironmental assessment, of undiscovered uranium resources within an area likely to contain uranium deposits. The framework is based on a source-to-receptor model that prioritizes the most likely contaminant sources, contaminant pathways, and affected...
Newly documented population extends geographic range and genetic diversity for the Leaf-toed Gecko (Phyllodactylus nocticolus) into the Transverse Ranges of southern California
Dustin A. Wood, Alyssa Worrel-Black, Robert Black, Anna Mitelberg, Mark Fisher, Robert N. Fisher, Amy G. Vandergast, Cameron W. Barrows
2020, Herpetological Review (51) 456-458
Between 19 – 30 May 2018, one of us [AW] discovered a disjunct population of Peninsula leaf-toed geckos, Phyllodactylus nocticolus (Phyllodactylidae) on the northern edge of the Coachella Valley in the Little San Bernardino Mountains of the Transverse Ranges (Fig. 1a). The previously northernmost location for the species is Tahquitz...
Kinematic rupture and 3D wave propagation simulations of the 2019 Mw 7.1 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake
Evan Tyler Hirakawa, Andrew J. Barbour
2020, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (110) 1644-1659
We model the kinematic rupture process of the 2019 Mw">MwMw 7.1 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake using numerical simulations to reproduce the elastodynamic wave field observed by inertial seismometers, high‐rate Global Navigation Satellite System stations,...
Keeping it classy: Classification of live fish and ghost PIT tags detected with a mobile PIT tag interrogation system using an innovative analytical approach
J. Benjamin Stout, Mary Conner, Phaedra E. Budy, Peter Mackinnon, Mark McKinstry
2020, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (7) 1564-1573
The ability of passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag data to improve demographic parameter estimates has led to the rapid advancement of PIT tag systems. However, ghost tags create uncertainty about detected tag status (i.e., live fish or ghost tag) when using mobile interrogation systems. We developed a method to differentiate...
Updating data inputs, assessing trends, and evaluating a method to estimate probable high groundwater levels in selected areas of Massachusetts
Janet R. Barclay, John R. Mullaney
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5036
A method to estimate the probable high groundwater level in Massachusetts, excluding Cape Cod and the islands, was developed in 1981. The method uses a groundwater measurement from a test site, groundwater measurements from an index well, and a distribution of high groundwater levels from wells in similar geologic and...
The prevalence and significance of offset magma reservoirs at arc volcanoes
Allan H. Lerner, Daniel O'Hara, Leif Karlstrom, Susanna K. Ebmeier, Kyle R. Anderson, Shaul Hurwitz
2020, Geophysical Research Letters (47)
Determining the spatial relations between volcanic edifices and their underlying magma storage zones is fundamental for characterizing long-term evolution and short-term unrest. We compile centroid locations of upper crustal magma reservoirs at 56 arc volcanoes inferred from seismic, magnetotelluric, and geodetic studies. We show that magma reservoirs are often horizontally...
The impact of lime additions on mercury dynamics in stream chemistry and macroinvertebrates: A comparison of watershed and direct stream addition management strategies
Geoffrey D. Millard, Karen Riva-Murray, Douglas A. Burns, Mario S. Montesdeoca, Charles T. Driscoll
2020, Ecotoxicology (29) 1627-1643
Acid deposition has declined across eastern North America and northern Europe due to reduced emissions of sulfur and nitrogen oxides. Ecosystem recovery has been slow with limited improvement in surface water chemistry. Delayed recovery has encouraged acid-neutralization strategies to accelerate recovery of impaired biological communities. Lime application has been shown...
Dietary fat concentrations influence fatty acid assimilation patterns in Atlantic pollock (Pollachius virens)
Suzanne M. Budge, Katherine Townsend, Santosh P Lall, Jeffrey F. Bromaghin
2020, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (375)
A key aspect in the use of fatty acids (FA) to estimate predator diets using Quantitative FA Signature Analysis (QFASA) is the ability to account for FA assimilation through the use of calibration coefficients (CC). Here, we tested the assumption that CC are independent of dietary fat concentrations by feeding...
Snow processes in mountain forests: Interception modeling for coarse-scale applications
N. Helbig, C. David Moeser, M. Teich, L. Vincent, Y. Lejeune, J.-E. Sicart, J.-M. Monnet
2020, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (24) 2545-2560
Snow interception by the forest canopy controls the spatial heterogeneity of subcanopy snow accumulation leading to significant differences between forested and nonforested areas at a variety of scales. Snow intercepted by the forest canopy can also drastically change the surface albedo. As such, accurately modeling snow interception is of importance...
Baseline conditions and projected future hydro-climatic change in National Parks in the conterminous United States
William A. Battaglin, Lauren Hay, David J. Lawrence, Gregory J. McCabe, Parker A. Norton
2020, Water (6)
The National Park Service (NPS) manages hundreds of parks in the United States, and many contain important aquatic ecosystems and/or threatened and endangered aquatic species vulnerable to hydro-climatic change. Effective management of park resources under future hydro-climatic uncertainty requires information on both baseline conditions and the range of projected future...
Conceptualizing alternate regimes in a large floodplain-river ecosystem
Kristen L. Bouska, Jeffrey N. Houser, Nathan R. De Jager, Deanne C. Drake, Scott F. Collins, Caniel K. Gibson-Reniemer, Meredith A. Thomsen
2020, Journal of Environmental Management (264)
Regime shifts –persistent changes in the structure and function of an ecosystem - are well-documented in many ecosystems but remain poorly understood in floodplain-river ecosystems. We apply a resilience perspective to large floodplain-river ecosystems by presenting three examples of plausible sets of alternate regimes that are relevant to natural resource...
Using a bayesian multistate occupancy model to assess seabird and shorebird status in Glacier Bay, Alaska
Steven L. Whitlock, Tania Lewis, James Peterson
2020, Wildlife Society Bulletin (44) 451-467
The U.S. Department of Interior National Park Service is charged with both monitoring avian communities and evaluating the influence of visitors to National Parks on sensitive species; however, this task is challenging considering that sampling programs often involve multiple species, each with differing behavior, habitat requirements,...
Mysterious tsunami in the Caribbean Sea following the 2010 Haiti earthquake possibly generated by dynamically triggered early aftershocks
Uri S. ten Brink, Yong Wei, Wenyuan Fan, Jose-Luis Granja-Bruna, Nathaniel C. Miller
2020, Earth and Planetary Science Letters (540)
Dynamically triggered offshore aftershocks, caused by passing seismic waves from main shocks located on land, are currently not considered in tsunami warnings. The M7.0 2010 Haiti earthquake epicenter was located on land 27 km north of the Caribbean Sea and its focal...
