Topographic and hydrographic GIS datasets for the Afghan Geological Survey and U.S. Geological Survey 2013 mineral areas of interest
Brittany N. Casey, Peter G. Chirico
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1124
Afghanistan is endowed with a vast amount of mineral resources, and it is believed that the current economic state of the country could be greatly improved through investment in the extraction and production of these resources. In 2007, the “Preliminary Non-Fuel Resource Assessment of Afghanistan 2007” was completed by members...
Nonstructural leaf carbohydrates dynamics of Pinus edulis during drought-induced tree mortality reveal role for carbon metabolism in mortality mechanism
Henry D. Adams, Matthew J. Germino, David D. Breshears, Greg A. Barron-Gafford, Maite Guardiola-Claramonte, Chris B. Zou, Travis E. Huxman
2013, New Phytologist (197) 1142-1151
* Vegetation change is expected with global climate change, potentially altering ecosystem function and climate feedbacks. However, causes of plant mortality, which are central to vegetation change, are understudied, and physiological mechanisms remain unclear, particularly the roles of carbon metabolism and xylem function. * We report analysis of foliar nonstructural carbohydrates...
Hydrologic connectivity to streams increases nitrogen and phosphorus inputs and cycling in soils of created and natural floodplain wetlands
Kristin L. Wolf, Gregory B. Noe, Changwoo Ahn
2013, Journal of Environmental Quality (42) 1245-1255
Greater connectivity to stream surface water may result in greater inputs of allochthonous nutrients that could stimulate internal nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) cycling in natural, restored, and created riparian wetlands. This study investigated the effects of hydrologic connectivity to stream water on soil nutrient fluxes in plots (n =...
Application of the SPARROW model to assess surface-water nutrient conditions and sources in the United States Pacific Northwest
Daniel R. Wise, Henry M. Johnson
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5103
The watershed model SPARROW (Spatially Referenced Regressions on Watershed attributes) was used to estimate mean annual surface-water nutrient conditions (total nitrogen and total phosphorus) and to identify important nutrient sources in catchments of the Pacific Northwest region of the United States for 2002. Model-estimated nutrient yields were generally higher in...
Nutrient enrichment and fish nutrient tolerance: Assessing biologically relevant nutrient criteria
Michael R. Meador
2013, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (49) 253-263
Relationships between nutrient concentrations and fish nutrient tolerance were assessed relative to established nutrient criteria. Fish community, nitrate plus nitrite (nitrate), and total phosphorus (TP) data were collected during summer low-flow periods in 2003 and 2004 at stream sites along a nutrient-enrichment gradient in an agricultural basin in Indiana and...
The airspace is habitat
Robert H. Diehl
2013, Trends in Ecology and Evolution (28) 377-379
A preconception concerning habitat persists and has gone unrecognized since use of the term first entered the lexicon of ecological and evolutionary biology many decades ago. Specifically, land and water are considered habitats, while the airspace is not. This might at first seem a reasonable, if unintended, demarcation, since years...
Revision of Fontes & Garnier's model for the initial 14C content of dissolved inorganic carbon used in groundwater dating
Liang-Feng Han, Niel Plummer
2013, Chemical Geology (351) 105-114
The widely applied model for groundwater dating using 14C proposed by Fontes and Garnier (F&G) (Fontes and Garnier, 1979) estimates the initial 14C content in waters from carbonate-rock aquifers affected by isotopic exchange. Usually, the model of F&G is applied in one of two ways: (1) using a single 13C...
U.S. Geological Survey water-resource monitoring activities in support of the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative
Suzanna Soileau, Kirk Miller
2013, WLCI Fact Sheet 4
The quality of the Nation’s water resources are vital to the health and well-being of both our communities and the natural landscapes we value. The U.S. Geological Survey investigates the occurrence, quantity, quality, distribution, and movement of surface water and groundwater and provides this information to engineers, scientists, managers, educators,...
Impact of Late Holocene climate variability and anthropogenic activities on Biscayne Bay (Florida, U.S.A.): Evidence from diatoms
Anna Wachnicka, Evelyn Gaiser, G. Lynn Wingard, Henry Briceno, Peter Harlem
2013, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology (371) 80-92
Shallow marine ecosystems are experiencing significant environmental alterations as a result of changing climate and increasing human activities along coasts. Intensive urbanization of the southeast Florida coast and intensification of climate change over the last few centuries changed the character of coastal ecosystems in the semi-enclosed Biscayne Bay, Florida. In...
Hysteresis in suspended sediment to turbidity relations due to changing particle size distributions
Mark N. Landers, Terry W. Sturm
2013, Water Resources Research (49) 5487-5500
Turbidity (T) is the most ubiquitous of surrogate technologies used to estimate suspended-sediment concentration (SSC). The effects of sediment size on turbidity are well documented; however, effects from changes in particle size distributions (PSD) are rarely evaluated. Hysteresis in relations of SSC-to-turbidity (SSC~T) for single stormflow events was observed and...
Development of a geodatabase for springs within and surrounding outcrops of the Trinity aquifer in northern Bexar County, Texas, 2010-11
Allan K. Clark, Diane E. Pedraza
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3044
The Trinity aquifer is an important source of groundwater in central Texas, including Bexar County, where population growth has resulted in an increased demand for water (Ashworth, 1983; Mace and others, 2000). Numerous springs issue from rock outcrops within and surrounding the Trinity aquifer in northern Bexar County (fig. 1)....
Software for analysis of chemical mixtures--composition, occurrence, distribution, and possible toxicity
Jonathon C. Scott, Kenneth A. Skach, Patricia L. Toccalino
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5030
The composition, occurrence, distribution, and possible toxicity of chemical mixtures in the environment are research concerns of the U.S. Geological Survey and others. The presence of specific chemical mixtures may serve as indicators of natural phenomena or human-caused events. Chemical mixtures may also have ecological, industrial, geochemical, or toxicological effects....
Water resources: Implications of changes in temperature and precipitation: Chapter 3
Rick R. Raymondi, Jennifer E. Cuhaciyan, Patty Glick, Susan M. Capalbo, Laurie L. Houston, Sarah Shafer, Oliver Grah
2013, Book chapter, Climate change in the Northwest: Implications for our landscapes, waters, and communities
No abstract available....
Variability common to first leaf dates and snowpack in the western conterminous United States
Gregory J. McCabe, Julio L. Betancourt, Gregory T. Pederson, Mark D. Schwartz
2013, Earth Interactions (17)
Singular value decomposition is used to identify the common variability in first leaf dates (FLDs) and 1 April snow water equivalent (SWE) for the western United States during the period 1900–2012. Results indicate two modes of joint variability that explain 57% of the variability in FLD and 69% of the...
Controls on recent Alaskan lake changes identified from water isotopes and remote sensing
Lesleigh Anderson, Jean Birks, Jennifer R. Rover, Nikki Guldager
2013, Geophysical Research Letters (40) 3413-3418
High-latitude lakes are important for terrestrial carbon dynamics and waterfowl habitat driving a need to better understand controls on lake area changes. To identify the existence and cause of recent lake area changes in the Yukon Flats, a region of discontinuous permafrost in north central Alaska, we evaluate remotely sensed imagery with lake water isotope compositions...
The National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program planned monitoring and modeling activities for Texas, 2013–23
Patricia Ging
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3038
The U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program was established by Congress in 1992 to answer the following question: What is the status of the Nation’s water quality and is it getting better or worse? Since 1992, NAWQA has been a primary source of nationally consistent data and...
Source and transport of human enteric viruses in deep municipal water supply wells
Kenneth R. Bradbury, Mark A. Borchardt, Madeline Gotkowitz, Susan K. Spencer, Jun Zhu, Randall J. Hunt
2013, Environmental Science & Technology (47) 4096-4103
Until recently, few water utilities or researchers were aware of possible virus presence in deep aquifers and wells. During 2008 and 2009 we collected a time series of virus samples from six deep municipal water-supply wells. The wells range in depth from approximately 220 to 300 m and draw water...
The effects of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee on the bed sediment geochemistry of U.S. Atlantic coastal rivers
Arthur J. Horowitz
2013, Hydrological Processes (28) 1250-1259
Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, both of which made landfall in the U.S. between late August and early September 2011, generated record or near record water discharges in 41 coastal rivers between the North Carolina/South Carolina border and the U.S./Canadian border. Despite the discharge of substantial amounts of suspended...
Pilot study of natural attenuation of arsenic in well water discharged to the Little River above Lake Thunderbird, Norman, Oklahoma, 2012
William J. Andrews, Jason R. Masoner, Samuel H. Rendon, Kevin A. Smith, James R. Greer, Logan A. Chatterton
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5055
The City of Norman, Oklahoma, wanted to augment its water supplies to meet the needs of an increasing population. Among the city’s potential water sources are city wells that produce water that exceeds the 10 micrograms per liter primary drinking-water standard for arsenic. The City of Norman was interested in...
Culvert Analysis Program Graphical User Interface 1.0--A preprocessing and postprocessing tool for estimating flow through culvert
D. Nathan Bradley
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3045
The peak discharge of a flood can be estimated from the elevation of high-water marks near the inlet and outlet of a culvert after the flood has occurred. This type of discharge estimate is called an “indirect measurement” because it relies on evidence left behind by the flood, such as...
Reorganization of vegetation, hydrology and soil carbon after permafrost degradation across heterogeneous boreal landscapes
M.T. Jorgenson, Jennifer W. Harden, M. Kanevskiy, J.A. O'Donnell, Kimberly Wickland, S. Ewing, Kristen L. Manies, Q. Zhuang, Y. Shur, Robert G. Striegl, Joshua C. Koch
2013, Enivronmental Research Letters (8)
The diversity of ecosystems across boreal landscapes, successional changes after disturbance and complicated permafrost histories, present enormous challenges for assessing how vegetation, water and soil carbon may respond to climate change in boreal regions. To address this complexity, we used a chronosequence approach to assess changes in vegetation composition, water...
Water resources of Claiborne Parish, Louisiana
Robert B. Fendick Jr., Lawrence B. Prakken, Jason M. Griffith
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3029
This fact sheet summarizes basic information on the water resources of Claiborne Parish. Information on groundwater and surface-water availability, quality, development, use, and trends is based on previously published reports listed in the Cited References section. In 2010, about 2.60 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of water were withdrawn in...
Experimental infection studies demonstrating Atlantic salmon as a host and reservoir of viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus type IVa with insights into pathology and host immunity
Jan Lovy, P. Piesik, P.K. Hershberger, K.A. Garver
2013, Veterinary Microbiology (166) 91-101
In British Columbia, Canada (BC), aquaculture of finfish in ocean netpens has the potential for pathogen transmission between wild and farmed species due to the sharing of an aquatic environment. Viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) is enzootic in BC and causes serious disease in wild Pacific herring, Clupea pallasii, which...
Estimating occupancy and abundance of stream amphibians using environmental DNA from filtered water samples
David S. Pilliod, Caren S. Goldberg, Robert S. Arkle, Lisette P. Waits
2013, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (70) 1123-1130
Environmental DNA (eDNA) methods for detecting aquatic species are advancing rapidly, but with little evaluation of field protocols or precision of resulting estimates. We compared sampling results from traditional field methods with eDNA methods for two amphibians in 13 streams in central Idaho, USA. We also evaluated three water collection...
Kaolin
R.L. Virta
2013, Mining Engineering (2013) 60-62
Nineteen companies mined kaolin in eight states in 2012. Production, on the basis of preliminary data, was estimated to be 5.88 Mt (6.48 million st) valued at $841 million, an increase from 5.77 Mt (6.36 million st) valued at $817 million in 2011. Production in Georgia, the top producing state,...
