Landsat: a global land imaging program
Raymond A. Byrnes
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3057
Landsat satellites have continuously acquired space-based images of the Earth's land surface, coastal shallows, and coral reefs across four decades. The Landsat Program, a joint effort of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), was established to routinely gather land imagery from space. In...
Summary of data from onsite and laboratory analyses of surface water and marsh porewater from South Florida Water Management District Water Conservation Areas, the Everglades, South Florida, March 1995
Michael M. Reddy, Charmaine D. Gunther
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1063
This report presents results of chemical analysis for samples collected during March, 1995, as part of a study to quantify the interaction of aquatic organic material (referred to here as dissolved organic carbon with dissolved metal ions). The work was done in conjunction with the South Florida Water Management District,...
Evaluating lake stratification and temporal trends by using near-continuous water-quality data from automated profiling systems for water years 2005-09, Lake Mead, Arizona and Nevada
Ronald J. Veley, Michael J. Moran
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5080
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the National Park Service and Southern Nevada Water Authority, collected near-continuous depth-dependent water-quality data at Lake Mead, Arizona and Nevada, as part of a multi-agency monitoring network maintained to provide resource managers with basic data and to gain a better understanding of the...
Water-quality, bed-sediment, and discharge data for the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet and adjacent waterways, southeastern Louisiana, August 2008 through December 2009
Christopher M. Swarzenski, Scott V. Mize, John K. Lovelace
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1056
The Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet navigation channel (MRGO) was constructed in the early 1960s to provide a safer and shorter route between the Gulf of Mexico and the Port of New Orleans for deep-draft, ocean-going vessels and to promote the economic development of the Port of New Orleans. In 2006, the...
A framework for inference about carnivore density from unstructured spatial sampling of scat using detector dogs
Craig M. Thompson, J. Andrew Royle, James D. Garner
2012, Journal of Wildlife Management (76) 863-871
Wildlife management often hinges upon an accurate assessment of population density. Although undeniably useful, many of the traditional approaches to density estimation such as visual counts, livetrapping, or mark–recapture suffer from a suite of methodological and analytical weaknesses. Rare, secretive, or highly mobile species exacerbate these problems through the reality...
History of surface displacements at the Yellowstone Caldera, Wyoming, from leveling surveys and InSAR observations, 1923-2008
Daniel Dzurisin, Charles W. Wicks, Michael P. Poland
2012, Professional Paper 1788
Modern geodetic studies of the Yellowstone caldera, Wyoming, and its extraordinary tectonic, magmatic, and hydrothermal systems date from an initial leveling survey done throughout Yellowstone National Park in 1923 by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. A repeat park-wide survey by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the University of...
An annotated bibliography for lamprey habitat in the White Salmon River, Washington
M. Brady Allen
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1086
The October 2011 decommissioning of Condit Dam on the White Salmon River at river kilometer (rkm) 5.3 removed a significant fish passage barrier from the White Salmon River basin for the first time in nearly a century. This affords an opportunity to regain a potentially important drainage basin for Pacific...
Stability of infinite slopes under transient partially saturated seepage conditions
Jonathan W. Godt, Başak Şener-Kaya, Ning Lu, Rex L. Baum
2012, Water Resources Research (48) 1-14
Prediction of the location and timing of rainfall‐induced shallow landslides is desired by organizations responsible for hazard management and warnings. However, hydrologic and mechanical processes in the vadose zone complicate such predictions. Infiltrating rainfall must typically pass through an unsaturated layer before reaching the irregular and usually discontinuous shallow water...
Geologic and environmental characteristics of porphyry copper deposits with emphasis on potential future development in the Bristol Bay Watershed, Alaska (Appendix H)
Robert R. Seal II
2012, Report, An assessment of potential mining impacts on salmon ecosystems of Bristol Bay, Alaska: EPA 910-R-14-001A-C
This report is prepared in cooperation with the Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment being conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The goal of the assessment is to help understand how future large-scale development in this watershed may affect water quality and the salmon fishery. Mining has been identified as a...
Migrated hydrocarbons in exposure of Maastrichtian nonmarine strata near Saddle Mountain, lower Cook Inlet, Alaska
D. L. LePain, P. G. Lillis, K. P. Helmold, R. G. Stanley
2012, Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys Report of Investigation 2012-1
Magoon and others (1980) described an 83-meter- (272-foot-) thick succession of Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) conglomerate, sandstone, mudstone, and coal exposed on the south side of an unnamed drainage, approximately 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) east of Saddle Mountain in lower Cook Inlet (figs. 1 and 2). The initial significance of this...
Delta Chromium-53/52 isotopic composition of native and contaminated groundwater, Mojave Desert, USA
John A. Izbicki, Thomas D. Bullen, Peter Martin, Brian Schroth
2012, Applied Geochemistry (27) 841-853
Chromium(VI) concentrations in groundwater sampled from three contaminant plumes in aquifers in the Mojave Desert near Hinkley, Topock and El Mirage, California, USA, were as high as 2600, 5800 and 330 μg/L, respectively. δ53/52Cr compositions from more than 50 samples collected within these plumes ranged from near 0‰ to almost...
Nature's Notebook 2011: Data & participant summary
Jherime L. Kellermann, Theresa Crimmins, Ellen G. Denny, Carolyn A.F. Enquist, R. Lee Marsh, Alyssa H. Rosemartin, Jake F. Weltzin
2012, USA-NPN Technical Series 2012‐001
Introduction The USA National Phenology Network The USA National Phenology Network (USA‐NPN; www.usanpn.org) seeks to engage a diverse range of citizen scientist volunteers, federal, state, and non‐governmental organizations, educators and professional research scientists to collect phenological observations of plants and animals using consistent standards and to contribute their observations to a...
Preliminary investigation of the effects of sea-level rise on groundwater levels in New Haven, Connecticut
David M. Bjerklie, John R. Mullaney, Janet Radway Stone, Brian J. Skinner, Matthew A. Ramlow
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1025
Global sea level rose about 0.56 feet (ft) (170 millimeters (mm)) during the 20th century. Since the 1960s, sea level has risen at Bridgeport, Connecticut, about 0.38 ft (115 mm), at a rate of 0.008 ft (2.56 mm + or - 0.58 mm) per year. With regional subsidence, and with...
Status and trends of the land bird avifauna on Tinian and Aguiguan, Mariana Islands
Richard J. Camp, Thane K. Pratt, Fred Amidon, Ann P. Marshall, Shelly Kremer, Megan Laut
2012, Technical Report HCSU-029
Avian surveys were conducted on the islands of Tinian and Aguiguan, Marianas Islands, in 2008 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to provide current baseline densities and abundances and assess population trends using data collected from previous surveys. On Tinian, during the three surveys (1982, 1996, and 2008), 18...
Timing and proximate causes of mortality in wild bird populations: testing Ashmole’s hypothesis
Daniel C. Barton, Thomas E. Martin
2012, Thesis, Ecological causes of life history variation tested by meta-analysis, comparison, and experimental approaches
Fecundity in birds is widely recognized to increase with latitude across diverse phylogenetic groups and regions, yet the causes of this variation remain enigmatic. Ashmole’s hypothesis is one of the most broadly accepted explanations for this pattern. This hypothesis suggests that increasing seasonality leads to increasing overwinter mortality due to...
Tidal triggering of low frequency earthquakes near Parkfield, California: Implications for fault mechanics within the brittle-ductile transition
A.M. Thomas, R. Burgmann, David R. Shelly, Nicholas M. Beeler, M.L. Rudolph
2012, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (117) 1-24
Studies of nonvolcanic tremor (NVT) have established the significant impact of small stress perturbations on NVT generation. Here we analyze the influence of the solid earth and ocean tides on a catalog of ∼550,000 low frequency earthquakes (LFEs) distributed along a 150 km section of the San Andreas Fault centered...
Trends in Marine Debris along the U.S. Pacific Coast and Hawai’i 1998-2007
Christine Ribic, Seba B. Sheavly, David J. Rugg, Eric S. Erdmann
2012, Marine Pollution Bulletin (64) 944-1004
We assessed amounts, composition, and trends of marine debris for the U.S. Pacific Coast and Hawai’i using National Marine Debris Monitoring Program data. Hawai’i had the highest debris loads; the North Pacific Coast region had the lowest debris loads. The Southern California Bight region had the highest land-based debris loads....
LiDAR and field observations of slip distribution for the most recent surface ruptures along the central San Jacinto fault
J.B. Salisbury, T.K. Rockwell, T.J. Middleton, Kenneth W. Hudnut
2012, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (102) 598-619
We measured offsets on tectonically displaced geomorphic features along 80 km of the Clark strand of the San Jacinto fault (SJF) to estimate slip‐per‐event for the past several surface ruptures. We identify 168 offset features from which we make over 490 measurements using B4 light detection and ranging (LiDAR) imagery and...
Manning's roughness coefficient for Illinois streams
David T. Soong, Crystal D. Prater, Teresa M. Halfar, Loren A. Wobig
2012, Data Series 668
Manning's roughness coefficients for 43 natural and constructed streams in Illinois are reported and displayed on a U.S. Geological Survey Web site. At a majority of the sites, discharge and stage were measured, and corresponding Manning's coefficients—the n-values—were determined at more than one river discharge. The n-values discussed in this...
Lineament analysis of mineral areas of interest in Afghanistan
Bernard E. Hubbard, Thomas J. Mack, Allyson L. Thompson
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1048
During a preliminary mineral resource assessment of Afghanistan (Peters and others, 2007), 24 mineralized areas of interest (AOIs) were highlighted as the focus for future economic development throughout various parts of the country. In addition to located mineral resources of value, development of a viable mining industry in Afghanistan will...
Air-water oxygen exchange in a large whitewater river
Robert O. Hall, Theodore A. Kennedy, Emma J. Rosi-Marshall
2012, Limnology and Oceanography: Fluids and Environments (2) 1-11
Air–water gas exchange governs fluxes of gas into and out of aquatic ecosystems. Knowing this flux is necessary to calculate gas budgets (i.e., O2) to estimate whole‐ecosystem metabolism and basin‐scale carbon budgets. Empirical data on rates of gas exchange for streams, estuaries, and oceans are readily available. However, there are...
Are Agrofuels a conservation threat or opportunity for grassland birds in the United States?
Bruce A. Robertson, Robert A. Rice, Christine Ribic, Bruce A. Babcock, Douglas A. Landis, James R. Herkert, Robert J. Fletcher Jr., Joseph J Fontaine, Patrick J. Doran, Douglas W. Schemske
2012, The Condor (114) 679-688
In the United States, government-mandated growth in the production of crops dedicated to biofuel (agrofuels) is predicted to increase the demands on existing agricultural lands, potentially threatening the persistence of populations of grassland birds they support. We review recently published literature and datasets to (1) examine the ability of alternative...
Methods for evaluating temporal groundwater quality data and results of decadal-scale changes in chloride, dissolved solids, and nitrate concentrations in groundwater in the United States, 1988-2010
Bruce D. Lindsey, Michael G. Rupert
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5049
Decadal-scale changes in groundwater quality were evaluated by the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program. Samples of groundwater collected from wells during 1988-2000 - a first sampling event representing the decade ending the 20th century - were compared on a pair-wise basis to samples from the same wells...
Water quality studied in areas of unconventional oil and gas development, including areas where hydraulic fracturing techniques are used, in the United States
David D. Susong, Tanya J. Gallegos, Gretchen P. Oelsner
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3049
Domestic oil and gas production and clean water are critical for economic growth, public health, and national security of the United States. As domestic oil and gas production increases in new areas and old fields are enhanced, there is increasing public concern about the effects of energy production on surface-water...
Characterization of the Highway 95 Fault in lower Fortymile Wash using electrical and electromagnetic methods, Nye County, Nevada
Jamie P. Macy, Levi Kryder, Jamieson Walker
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5060
The Highway 95 Fault is a buried, roughly east-west trending growth fault at the southern extent of Yucca Mountain and Southwestern Nevada Volcanic Field. Little is known about the role of this fault in the movement of groundwater from the Yucca Mountain area to downgradient groundwater users in Amargosa Valley....
