Assessment of continuous oil and gas resources in Lower Silurian Shales of the Arabian Peninsula, 2019
Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Cheryl A. Woodall, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Thomas M. Finn, Michael E. Brownfield, Kristen R. Marra, Phuong A. Le, Ronald M. Drake II, Scott A. Kinney
2020, Fact Sheet 2019-3070
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 4.6 billion barrels of oil and 561 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Lower Silurian Shale Total Petroleum System of the Arabian Peninsula....
Mercury, cadmium, copper, arsenic, and selenium measurements in the feathers of adult eastern brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis carolinensis) and chicks in multiple breeding grounds in the northern Gulf of Mexico
U. Ndu, J. S. Lamb, Sarah E. Janssen, R. Rossi, Y. G. Satgé, Patrick G.R. Jodice
2020, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (192)
The amounts of trace metals and metalloids that have been introduced into aquatic ecosystems due to anthropogenic activities have increased in recent decades. Some of these elements like mercury are easily transferred from one trophic level to another and can accumulate to toxic quantities in organisms at the top of...
Benthic vertical hydraulic gradients in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, 2017
Nicholas Corson-Dosch
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5029
Groundwater piezometers and lake stilling wells were deployed as paired sets at 10 locations in Upper Klamath Lake in south-central Oregon from May to October 2017 to measure hydraulic heads in and beneath the lake. Continuous water-level data from piezometers and stilling wells were then used to calculate the...
Gastric mill age estimates for ringed crayfish Faxonius neglectus neglectus (Faxon) and the influence of temperature on band formation
Shannon K. Brewer, Joshua B. Mouser, Jason Glover
2020, Freshwater Crayfish (25) 59-67
Counting bands via the gastric mill is a potential direct approach for ageing crayfish; however, the validity of ageing crustaceans using the gastric mill is unknown. Our study objectives were to 1) compare gastric mill age estimates to a traditional aging technique, 2) compare ageing precision among the ossicles, and...
The effects of management practices on grassland birds—Lark Bunting (Calamospiza melanocorys)
Jill A. Shaffer, Lawrence D. Igl, Douglas H. Johnson, Marriah L. Sondreal, Christopher M. Goldade, Amy L. Zimmerman, Betty R. Euliss
2020, Professional Paper 1842-EE
Keys to Lark Bunting (Calamospiza melanocorys) management include providing short vegetation with protective nest cover and tailoring grazing systems to the type of grassland. Lark Buntings have been reported to use habitats with 6–72 centimeter (cm) average vegetation height, 2–11 cm visual obstruction reading, 13–71 percent grass cover, less than...
Tree-ring evidence of forest management moderating drought responses: Implications for dry, coniferous forests in the southwestern United States
Phillip J. van Mantgem, Lucy P Kerhoulas, Rosemary L. Sherriff, Zachary James Wenderott
2020, Frontiers in Forests and Global Change (3)
Drought, coupled with rising temperatures, is an emerging threat to many forest types across the globe. At least to a degree, we expect management actions that reduce competition (e.g., thinning, prescribed fire, or both) to improve growth of residual trees during drought. The influences of management actions and drought on...
Assessing mercury distribution using isotopic fractionation of mercury processes and sources adjacent and downstream of a legacy mine district in Tuscany, Italy
Michael Pribil, Valentina Rimondi, Pilario Costagliola, Pierfranco Lattanzi, Danny Rutherford
2020, Applied Geochemistry (117)
Mercury (Hg) concentrations and isotopic compositions in a range of sample types collected from the legacy Abbadia San Salvatore Mine (ASSM) area were used to evaluate the distribution of Hg in the region. The district generated more than 100,000 metric tons of Hg releasing extensive amounts of gaseous Hg...
Methods for rapidly estimating velocity precision from GNSS time series in the presence of temporal correlation: A new method and comparison of existing methods
John Langbein
2020, Journal of Geophysical Research (125) 1-16
Time series of position estimates from Global Navigational Satellite System (GNSS) are used to measure the velocities of points on the surface of the Earth. Along with the velocity estimates, a measure of the precision is needed to assess the quality of the velocity measurement. Here,...
Brightness of the night sky affects loggerhead (Caretta caretta) sea turtle hatchling misorientation but not nest site selection
Thomas Stanley, Jeremy White, Susan Teel, Mark Nicholas
2020, Frontiers in Marine Science (7)
Sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico, which are listed as either threatened or endangered under the US Endangered Species Act, face numerous threats from many sources but are particularly susceptible to the effects of light pollution on nesting beaches. Light pollution affects the distribution, density, and placement of nests...
Characterization of water-quality and bed-sediment conditions in Currituck Sound, North Carolina, prior to the Mid-Currituck Bridge construction, 2011–18
Stephen L. Harden, Sharon A. Fitzgerald, Chad R. Wagner, Emilia L. Bristow, Keith A. Loftin, Barry H. Rosen
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1031
The North Carolina Turnpike Authority plans to improve transportation in the Currituck Sound area by constructing a two-lane bridge—the Mid-Currituck Bridge—across Currituck Sound from the mainland to the Outer Banks, North Carolina. The results of the final environmental impact statement for the project indicate potential water-quality and habitat effects for...
Sample mounting for organic petrology: No thermal effects from transient exposure to elevated temperatures
Paul C. Hackley, Brian J. Cardott
2020, International Journal of Coal Geology (223)
For sample mounting, organic petrology laboratories typically use cold-setting epoxy-resin (e.g., 40 °C, used by Oklahoma Geological Survey, OGS) or heat-setting thermoplastic (e.g., 180 °C, used by U.S. Geological Survey, USGS). Previous workers have suggested a systematic huminite/vitrinite reflectance (VRo) increase was associated with the thermoplastic preparation process, relative to epoxy mounting,...
Fluorescence spectroscopy of ancient sedimentary organic matter via confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM)
Paul C. Hackley, Aaron M. Jubb, Robert Burruss, Amy E Beaven
2020, International Journal of Coal Geology (223)
Fluorescence spectroscopy via confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) was used to analyze ancient sedimentary organic matter, including Tasmanites microfossils in Devonian shale and Gloecapsomorpha prisca (G. prisca) in Ordovician kukersite from North American basins. We examined fluorescence emission as a function of excitation laser wavelength,...
InFish: A professional network to promote global conservation and responsible use of inland fish
Abigail J Lynch, Devin M. Bartley, Beard Jr., David Bunnell, Steve J. Cooke, Ian. G. Cowx, Simon Funge-Smith, Craig P. Paukert, Mark W. Rogers, William W. Taylor
2020, Fisheries Magazine (45) 319-326
Inland fishes and fisheries make substantial contributions to individuals, society, and the environment in a changing global landscape that includes climate, water allocations, and societal changes. However, current limitations to valuing the services provided by inland fish and their fisheries often leaves them out of key decision‐making discussions. InFish is...
Bathymetric and velocimetric surveys at highway bridges crossing the Missouri River between Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri, May 22–31, 2017
Richard J. Huizinga
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5018
Bathymetric and velocimetric data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Transportation, near 10 bridges at 9 highway crossings of the Missouri River between Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri, from May 22 to 31, 2017. A multibeam echosounder mapping system was used...
Atmospheric dust deposition varies by season and elevation in the Colorado Front Range, USA
Ruth C. Heindel, Annie L. Putman, Sheila F. Murphy, Deborah A. Repert, Eve-Lyn S. Hinckley
2020, Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface (125)
As atmospheric dust deposition continues to increase across the southwestern United States, it has the potential to alter ecosystem productivity and structure by delivering nutrients, base cations, and pollutants to remote mountain sites. Due to the sparse distribution of dust monitoring sites, open questions remain about the spatial and temporal...
Evaluating indicators of marsh vulnerability to sea level rise along a historical marsh loss gradient
Lennert Schepers, Matthew Kirwan, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Stijn Temmerman
2020, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms (45) 2107-2117
Sea level rise (SLR) is threatening coastal marshes, leading to large‐scale marsh loss in several micro‐tidal systems. Early recognition of marsh vulnerability to SLR is critical in these systems to aid managers to take appropriate restoration or mitigation measures. However, it is not clear if current marsh vulnerability indicators correctly...
Effects of legacy sediment removal and effects on nutrients and sediment in Big Spring Run, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 2009–15
Michael J. Langland, Joseph W. Duris, Tammy M. Zimmerman, Jeffrey J. Chaplin
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5031
Big Spring Run is a 1.68-square mile watershed underlain by mostly carbonate rock in a mixed land-use setting (part agricultural and part developed) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Big Spring Run is a subwatershed of Mill Creek, a tributary to the Conestoga River. These watersheds are known contributors of nutrient and...
Genesis and evolution of ferromanganese crusts from the summit of Rio Grande Rise, southwest Atlantic Ocean
Mariana Benites, James R. Hein, Kira Mizell, Terrence Blackburn, Luigi Jovane
2020, Minerals (10)
The Rio Grande Rise (RGR) is a large elevation in the Atlantic Ocean and known to host potential mineral resources of ferromanganese crusts (Fe–Mn), but no investigation into their general characteristics have been made in detail. Here, we investigate the chemical and mineralogical composition, growth rates and...
Dietary patterns in black abalone (Haliotis cracherodii Leach, 1814) as indicated by observation of drift algal and seagrass capture at San Nicolas Island, California USA, 1982‒2019
Michael C. Kenner, Glenn Van Blaricom
2020, Journal of Shellfish Research (39) 113-124
Black abalone Haliotis cracherodii Leach, 1814 are known to feed on drift plant macrodetritus moved about in the intertidal zone by waves and currents. Drift capture is a trait shared by at least several other abalone species. Drift materials are entrapped beneath the anterior foot and held...
Explaining mass balance and retreat dichotomies at Taku and Lemon Creek Glaciers, Alaska
Christopher J. McNeil, Shad O’Neel, Michael Loso, Mauri Pelto, Louis C. Sass, Emily Baker, Seth Campbell
2020, Journal of Glaciology
We reanalyzed mass balance records at Taku and Lemon Creek Glaciers to better understand the relative roles of hypsometry, local climate and dynamics as mass balance drivers. Over the 1946–2018 period, the cumulative mass balances diverged. Tidewater Taku Glacier advanced and gained mass at an average rate of +0.25±0.28 m...
Characterization of surface-water and groundwater quality on the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota, 2014–17
Robert F. Lundgren, Mary J. Iorio
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5020
The Fort Berthold Reservation is in west-central North Dakota and home to the Three Affiliated Tribes. The primary water-resources concerns on the Fort Berthold Reservation are associated with the different types of land uses from agricultural activities and the rapid development of oil and gas resources in western North Dakota....
Some approaches to accounting for incidental carcass discoveries in non-monitored years using the Evidence of Absence model
Daniel Dalthorp, Paul Rabie, Manuela Huso, Andrew Tredennick
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1027
Executive SummaryWe evaluate three approaches to accounting for incidental carcasses when estimating an upper bound on total mortality (𝑀) as 𝑀∗ using the Evidence of Absence model (EoA; Dalthorp and others, 2017) to assess compliance with an Incidental Take Permit (ITP) (Dalthorp & Huso, 2015) under a monitoring protocol that...
Monazite and cassiterite Usingle bondPb dating of the Abu Dabbab rare-metal granite, Egypt: Late Cryogenian metalliferous granite magmatism in the Arabian-Nubian Shield
Bernd Lehmann, Basem Zoheir, Leonid A. Neymark, Armin Zeh, Ashraf Emam, Abdelhady Radwan, Rongqing Zhang, Richard J. Moscati
2020, Gondwana Research (84) 71-80
The Abu Dabbab rare-metal granite in the Eastern Desert of Egypt is a highly-evolved alkali-feldspar granite with transitional magmatic-hydrothermal features. Extreme geochemical fractionation and the associated significant TaSn resource make the Abu Dabbab intrusion an important feature in the metallogenic...
Zero or not? Causes and consequences of zero-flow stream gage readings
Margaret Zimmer, Kendra E. Kaiser, Joanna Blaszczak, Samuel Zipper, John C. Hammond, Ken M. Fritz, Katie H. Costigan, Jacob D. Hosen, Sarah E Godsey, George Allen, Stephanie K. Kampf, Ryan Burrow, Corey Krabbenhoft, Walter Dodds, Rebecca Hale, Julian D. Olden, Margaret Shanafield, Amanda DelVecchia, Adam S Ward, Meryl C. Mims, Thibault Datry, Michael A. Bogan, Kate Boersma, Michelle Busch, Nathan M. Jones, Amy Burgin, Daniel Allen
2020, WIREs Water (7)
Streamflow observations can be used to understand, predict, and contextualize hydrologic, ecological, and biogeochemical processes and conditions in streams. Stream gages are point measurements along rivers where streamflow is measured, and are often used to infer upstream watershed‐scale processes. When stream gages read zero, this may indicate that the stream...
Synthesis of weed-suppressive bacteria studies in rangelands of the Western United States: Special section of articles in Rangeland Ecology and Management provides no evidence of effectiveness
Matthew J. Germino, Brynne E. Lazarus
2020, Rangeland Ecology and Management (73) 737-740
No abstract available. ...
