Between the supercontinents: Mesoproterozoic Deer Trail Group, an intermediate age unit between the Mesoproterozoic Belt–Purcell Supergroup and the Neoproterozoic Windermere Supergroup in northeastern Washington, USA
Stephen E. Box, Chad J. Pritchard, Travis S. Stephens, Paul B. O’Sullivan
2020, Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences (57) 1411-1427
Mesoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic basins in western North America record the evolving position of the Laurentian craton within two supercontinents during their growth and dismemberment: Columbia (Nuna) and Rodinia. The western-most exposures of the Columbia rift-related Belt–Purcell Supergroup are preserved in northeastern Washington, structurally overlain by the Deer Trail Group and...
Challenges in quantifying air-water carbon dioxide flux using estuarine water quality data: Case study for Chesapeake Bay
Maria Herrmann, Raymond G. Najjar, Fei Da, Jaclyn R. Friedman, Marjorie A. M. Friedrichs, Sreece Goldberger, Alana Menendez, Elizabeth H. Shadwick, Edward G. Stets, Pierre St-Laurent
2020, JGR Oceans (125)
Estuaries play an uncertain but potentially important role in the global carbon cycle via CO2 outgassing. The uncertainty mainly stems from the paucity of studies that document the full spatial and temporal variability of estuarine surface water partial pressure of carbon dioxide ( pCO2). Here, we explore the potential of utilizing the...
Seismic velocity variations associated with the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea, Hawaiʻi
Ashton F. Flinders, Corentin Caudron, Ingrid A. Johanson, Taka’aki Taira, Brian Shiro, Matthew M. Haney
2020, Bulletin of Volcanology (82)
The 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea (Hawai‘i) marked a dramatic change in the volcano’s 35-year-long rift zone eruption. The collapse of the middle East Rift Zone vent Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō was followed by one of the volcano’s most voluminous eruptions in 500 years. Over the course of this...
Late Quaternary slip rates on the Sierra Madre fault zone and paleoseismic evidence on the size and frequency of past ruptures
Reed J. Burgette, Katherine M. Scharer, Scott Lindvall
2020, Book chapter, From the islands to the mountains: A 2020 view of geologic excursions in Southern California
The Sierra Madre fault zone is a south-vergent, active reverse fault that accommodates shortening between basins on the northern margin of the Los Angeles region and the San Gabriel Mountains. The preservation of late Quaternary alluvial fill and fan surfaces in the hanging wall of the fault provides evidence of...
U.S. Geological Survey 2018 Kīlauea Volcano eruption response in Hawai'i—After-action review
Dee M. Williams, Vic F. Avery, Michelle L. Coombs, Dale A. Cox, Lief R. Horwitz, Sara K. McBride, Ryan J. McClymont, Seth C. Moran
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1041
The 2018 Kīlauea Volcano eruption lasted 107 days, and now ranks as the most destructive event at Kilauea since 1790, and as one of the most costly volcanic disasters in U.S. history. Multiple simultaneous hazard events unfolded, including sustained seismic activity leading to collapse at the summit of Halema'uma'u crater...
Evaluation of uncertainty intervals for daily, statistically derived streamflow estimates at ungaged basins across the continental U.S.
Sara B. Levin, William H. Farmer
2020, Water (12)
Streamflow estimation methods that transfer information from an index gage to an ungaged site are commonly used; however, uncertainty in daily streamflow estimates are often not adequately quantified. In this study, daily streamflow was simulated at 1,331 validation streamgages across the continental United States using four transfer-based streamflow estimation...
Water-table elevation maps for 2008 and 2016 and water-table elevation changes in the aquifer system underlying eastern Albuquerque, New Mexico
Allison K. Flickinger, Aurelia C. Mitchell
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1036
The addition of surface water from the San Juan-Chama Drinking Water Project to the Albuquerque water supply and the reduction in per capita water use has led to decreased groundwater withdrawals. This decrease in withdrawals has resulted in rising groundwater levels since 2008 in portions of the aquifer underlying Albuquerque....
Compositional analysis of formation water geochemistry and microbiology of commercial and carbon dioxide-rich wells in the southwestern United States
Jenna L. Shelton, Robert S. Andrews, Denise M. Akob, Christina A. DeVera, Adam C. Mumford, Mark Engle, Michelle R. Plampin, Sean T. Brennan
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5037
Studies of naturally occurring subsurface carbon dioxide (CO2) accumulations can provide useful information for potential CO2 injection projects; however, the microbial communities and formation water geochemistry of most reservoirs are understudied. Formation water and microbial biomass were sampled at four CO2-rich reservoir sites: two within Bravo Dome, a commercial CO2...
Prioritizing habitats based on abundance and distribution of molting waterfowl in the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area of the National Petroleum Reserve, Alaska
Paul L. Flint, Vijay Patil, Bradley Shults, Sarah J. Thompson
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1034
The National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A) encompasses more than 9.5 million hectares of federally managed land on the Arctic Coastal Plain of northern Alaska, where it supports a diversity of wildlife, including millions of migratory birds. Within the NPR-A, Teshekpuk Lake and the surrounding area provide important habitat for...
The relationship between biodiversity and wetland cover varies across regions of the conterminous United States
Jeremy S. Dertien, Stella Self, Beth Ross, Kyle Barrett, Robert F. Baldwin
Daehyun Kim, editor(s)
2020, PLoS ONE (15) 1-18
Identifying the factors that determine the spatial distribution of biodiversity is a major focus of ecological research. These factors vary with scale from interspecific interactions to global climatic cycles. Wetlands are important biodiversity hotspots and contributors of ecosystem services, but the association between proportional wetland cover and species richness has...
Risk-targeted alternatives to deterministic ground motion caps in U.S. seismic provisions
Jonathan P. Stewart, Nico Luco, John D Hooper, C. B. Crouse
2020, Earthquake Spectra (36) 904-923
Since their inception over 20 years ago, the maximum considered earthquake ground motion maps in U.S. building codes have capped probabilistic values with deterministic ground motions from characteristic earthquakes on known active faults. This practice has increasingly been called into question both because of spatially non-uniform risk levels...
Effects of flow diversion on Snake Creek and its riparian cottonwood forest, Great Basin National Park
Derek M. Schook, David J. Cooper, Jonathan M. Friedman, Steven E. Rice, Jamie D. Hoover, Richard D. Thaxton
2020, Natural Resource Report NPS/GRBA/NRR-2020/2104
Snake Creek flows east from the southern Snake Range in Nevada over complex lithology before leaving Great Basin National Park. The river travels over a section of karst limestone where some surface water naturally recharges the groundwater flow system. In 1961 a water diversion pipeline was constructed by downstream water...
Fisheries research and monitoring activities of the Lake Erie Biological Station, 2019
Kevin R. Keretz, Patrick Kocovsky, Richard Kraus, Joseph Schmitt
2020, Report
A comprehensive understanding of fish populations and their interactions is the cornerstone of modern fishery management and the basis for Fish Community Goals and Objectives for Lake Erie (Ryan et al. 2003). This report is responsive to U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) obligations via Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Great...
Green turtle mitochondrial microsatellites indicate finer-scale natal homing to isolated islands than to continental nesting sites
Brian M. Shamblin, Kristen Hart, Kelly J. Martin, Simona A. Ceriani, Dean A. Bagley, Katherine L. Mansfield, Llewellyn M. Ehrhart, Campbell J. Nairn
2020, MEPS (643) 159-171
In highly mobile philopatric species, defining the scale of natal homing is fundamental to characterizing population dynamics and effectively managing distinct populations. Genetic tools have provided evidence of regional natal philopatry in marine turtles, but extensive sharing of maternally inherited mitochondrial control region (CR) haplotypes within regions (<500 km) often...
Geologic map of the southern flank of Mauna Loa Volcano, Island of Hawai‘i, Hawaii
Frank A. Trusdell, John P. Lockwood
2020, Scientific Investigations Map 2932-C
On the Island of Hawaiʻi, Mauna Loa, the largest volcano on Earth, has erupted 33 times since written descriptions became available in 1832. Some eruptions began with only brief seismic unrest, whereas others followed several months to a year of increased seismicity. Once underway, its eruptions can produce lava flows...
Threshold responses of songbirds to forest loss and fragmentation across the Marcellus-Utica shale gas region
Laura S. Farwell, Petra B. Wood, Randy Dettmers, Margaret C. Brittingham
2020, Landscape Ecology (35) 1353-1370
Context Since 2005, unconventional gas develop[1]ment has rapidly altered forests across the Marcellus[1]Utica shale basin in the central Appalachian region of the eastern United States, an area of high conservation value for biodiversity. Much is still unknown about ecological impacts of associated land cover change. Objectives Our goal was to...
Spatiotemporal seismic structure variations associated with the 2018 Kīlauea eruption based on temporary dense geophone arrays
Sin-Mei Wu, Fan-Chi Lin, Jamie Farrell, Brian Shiro, Leif Karlstrom, Paul G. Okubo, Keith D. Koper
2020, Geophysical Research Letters (47)
During the 2018 Kīlauea volcanic eruption, lava erupted from a series of new fissures in the lower East Rift Zone more than 30 km away from the summit through a dike intrusion. Between late May and early August, variations in the effusion rate at the persistent eruptive vent (Fissure 8)...
The Missoula and Bonneville floods—A review of ice-age megafloods in the Columbia River basin
Jim E. O'Connor, Victor R. Baker, Richard B. Waitt, Larry N Smith, Charles M. Cannon, David L. George, Roger P. Denlinger
2020, Earth-Science Reviews (208)
The Channeled Scabland of eastern Washington State, USA, brought megafloods to the scientific forefront. A 30,000-km2 landscape of coulees and cataracts carved into the region’s loess-covered basalt attests to overwhelming volumes of energetic water. The scarred landscape, garnished by huge boulder bars and far-travelled ice-rafted erratics, spurred J Harlen Bretz’s...
Potentiometric surface and hydrologic conditions of the South Coast aquifer, Santa Isabel area, Puerto Rico, March–April, 2014
Felix A. Ramos, Alex A. Santiago
2020, Scientific Investigations Map 3455
A potentiometric surface map of the South Coast aquifer near Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico, was created from data collected during a synoptic survey of groundwater levels at 55 wells from March 31 to April 17, 2014. Measured groundwater level values ranged from −22.8 to 185.4 feet above mean sea level....
Hydrologically induced deformation in Long Valley Caldera and adjacent Sierra Nevada
Francesca Silverii, Emily K. Montgomery-Brown, Adrian Borsa, Andrew J. Barbour
2020, Journal of Geophysical Research (125)
Vertical and horizontal components of GNSS displacements in the Long Valley Caldera and adjacent Sierra Nevada range show a clear correlation with hydrological trends at both multiyear and seasonal time scales. We observe a clear vertical and horizontal seasonal deformation pattern primarily attributable to the solid earth...
Emerging diseases of avian wildlife
Susan J Tyson-Pello, Glenn H. Olsen
2020, Veterinary Clinics of North America: Exotic Animal Practice (23) 383-395
Climate change and the interaction with humans and domestic species influences disease in avian wildlife. This article provides updated information on emerging disease conditions such as the spread of an Asian tick, Haemaphysalis longicornis, and its associated diseases among migratory birds in the eastern United States; lymphoproliferative disease virus in...
Bedrock geologic map of the Mount Ascutney 7.5- x 15-minute quadrangle, Windsor County, Vermont, and Sullivan County, New Hampshire
Gregory J. Walsh, Peter M. Valley, Peter J. Thompson, Nicholas M. Ratcliffe, Brooks P. Proctor, Karri R. Sicard
2020, Scientific Investigations Map 3440
The bedrock geology of the Mount Ascutney 7.5- x 15-minute quadrangle consists of highly deformed and metamorphosed Mesoproterozoic through Devonian metasedimentary and meta-igneous rocks intruded by rocks of the Mesozoic White Mountain Igneous Suite. In the west, Mesoproterozoic gneisses of the Mount Holly Complex are the oldest rocks and form...
Seasonal manganese transport in the hyporheic zone of a snowmelt-dominated river (East River, Colorado)
S. Bryant, A. Sawyer, Martin A. Briggs, C. Saup, A. R Nelson, M. J. Wilkins, J. R. Christensen, K. H. Williams
2020, Hydrogeology Journal (28) 1323-1341
Manganese (Mn) plays a critical role in river-water quality because Mn-oxides serve as sorption sites for contaminant metals. The aim of this study is to understand the seasonal cycling of Mn in an alpine streambed that experiences large spring snowmelt events and the potential responses to changes in snowmelt timing...
Geologic map of the Homestake Reservoir 7.5′ quadrangle, Lake, Pitkin, and Eagle Counties, Colorado
Chester A. Ruleman, Michael G. Frothingham, Theodore R. Brandt, Colin A. Shaw, Marc W. Caffee, Brent M. Goehring, Keith A. Brugger
2020, Scientific Investigations Map 3451
The Homestake Reservoir 7.5' quadrangle lies at the northwestern end of the Upper Arkansas Valley, and headwaters of the Arkansas River, and the Roaring Fork, Fryingpan, and Eagle Rivers of the Colorado River system. The quadrangle lies within tectonic provinces of the 1.4 giga-annum (Ga) Picuris orogeny and includes the...
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...
