Groundwater availability of the Northern High Plains aquifer in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming
Steven M. Peterson, Jonathan P. Traylor, Moussa Guira
2020, Professional Paper 1864
Executive SummaryThe Northern High Plains aquifer underlies about 93,000 square miles of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming and is the largest subregion of the nationally important High Plains aquifer. Irrigation, primarily using groundwater, has supported agricultural production since before 1940, resulting in nearly $50 billion in sales in...
Earthquake magnitude and Lg Q variations between the Grenville and northern Appalachian geologic provinces of eastern Canada
H.K. Claire Perry, Allison L. Bent, Daniel E. McNamara, Stephen Crane, Michal Kolaj
2020, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (110) 698-714
This article assesses the ability of regionally specific, frequency‐dependent crustal attenuation (1/Q">1/Q) to reduce mean magnitude discrepancies between seismic stations in the northern Appalachian and Grenville provinces (NAP and GP)...
Distribution, density, and land cover associations of wintering Golden Eagles in the Southern Great Plains
N.R. Mitchell, Clint W. Boal, B.R. Skipper
2020, Western North American Naturalist (80) 452-461
In addition to its resident Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos), the Southern Great Plains of North America receives an influx of migrant Golden Eagles each winter. However, little current or quantitative information is available regarding eagle presence or the species' land cover associations across the region. During the winters of 2014/2015...
Eastern oyster clearance and respiration rates in response to acute and chronic exposure to suspended sediment loads
Megan K. La Peyre, S. K. Bernasconi, R. Lavaud, S. M. Casas, J. F. La Peyre
2020, Journal of Sea Research (157) 1-7
Coastal Louisiana supports some of the most productive areas for the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica. Changing conditions from restoration and climate change alter freshwater and sediment inflows into critical estuarine areas affecting water quality, including salinity and concentrations of suspended sediment. This study examined the effects of acute (1 h) and chronic (8 weeks) exposure of...
Influence of remediation on sediment toxicity within the Grand Calumet River, Indiana, USA
Jeffery A. Steevens, John M. Besser, Rebecca A. Dorman, Daniel W. Sparks
2020, Chemosphere (249)
The Grand Calumet River (GCR), located in northern Indiana, is contaminated due to a wide range of historical industrial activities. This study was conducted to determine the influence of sediment remediation within the GCR on concentrations of chemical contaminants and toxicity to sediment-dwelling organisms. Between 2005 and 2016, sediments with...
Direct trace element determination in oil and gas produced waters with inductively coupled plasma - Optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES): Advantages of high salinity tolerance
Aaron M. Jubb, Mark Engle, Jessica Chenault, Madalyn Blondes, Cloelle G. Danforth, Colin Doolan, Tanya Gallegos, Dan Mueller, Jenna Shelton
2020, Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research (44) 385-397
Waters co-produced during petroleum extraction are the largest waste stream from oil and gas development. Reuse or disposal of these waters is difficult due to their high salinities and the sheer volumes generated. Produced waters may also contain valuable mineral commodities. While an understanding of produced water trace element composition...
Estimating late 19th century hydrology in the Greater Everglades Ecosystem: An integration of paleoecologic data and models
Frank E. Marshall, Christopher E. Bernhardt, G. Lynn Wingard
2020, Frontiers in Environmental Science (8)
Determining hydrologic conditions prior to instrumental records is a challenge for restoration of freshwater ecosystems worldwide. Paleoecologic data provide this information on past conditions and when these data are used to adjust hydrologic models, allow conditions to be hindcast that may not be directly estimated from the paleo-data alone....
Field observations of wind waves in Upper Delaware Bay with living shorelines
Ling Zhu, Q. Chen, Hongqing Wang, William D. Capurso, L.M. Niemoczynski, Kelin Hu, Gregg Snedden
2020, Estuaries and Coasts (43) 739-755
Constructed oyster reefs (CORs) provide shore protections and habitats for fish and shellfish communities via wave energy attenuation. However, the processes and mechanism of CORs on wave attenuation remain unclear, thus limiting the effective assessment of CORs for shoreline protection. This paper presents results of a field investigation on wave...
Simulation modeling of complex climate, wildfire, and vegetation dynamics to address wicked problems in land management
Rachel A. Loehman, Robert E. Keane, Lisa M. Holsinger
2020, Frontiers in Forests and Global Change (3)
Complex, reciprocal interactions among climate, disturbance, and vegetation dramatically alter spatial landscape patterns and influence ecosystem dynamics. As climate and disturbance regimes shift, historical analogs and past empirical studies may not be entirely appropriate as templates for future management. The need for a better understanding of the potential impacts of climate changes on ecosystems...
Does the virus cross the road? Viral phylogeographic patterns among bobcat populations reflect a history of urban development
Christopher P. Kozakiewicz, Christopher P. Burridge, W. Chris Funk, Meggan E. Craft, Kevin R. Crooks, Robert N. Fisher, Nicholas M. Fountain-Jones, Megan K. Jennings, Simona J Kraberger, Justin S. Lee, Lisa M. Lyren, Seth P.D. Riley, Laurel E K Serieys, Sue VandeWoude, Scott Carver
2020, Evolutionary Applications (13) 1806-1817
Urban development has major impacts on connectivity among wildlife populations and is thus likely an important factor shaping pathogen transmission in wildlife. However, most investigations of wildlife diseases in urban areas focus on prevalence and infection risk rather than potential effects of urbanization on transmission itself. Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV)...
Dilution and propagation of provenance trends in sand and mud: Geochemistry and detrital zircon geochronology of modern sediment from central California (U.S.A.)
Matthew A. Malkowski, Glenn R. Sharman, Samuel Johnstone, Marty J. Grove, Dave L. Kimbrough, Stephen A. Graham
2020, American Journal of Science (319) 846-902
Integrated, multi-method provenance studies of siliciclastic sedimentary deposits are increasingly used to reconstruct the history of source-to-sink transport, paleogeography, and tectonics. Invariably, analysis of large-scale depositional systems must confront issues regarding how to best sample the system and adequately cope with the details of sediment mixing. Potential biases including...
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Central North Slope of Alaska, 2020
David W. Houseknecht, Katherine J. Whidden, Christopher D. Connors, Richard O. Lease, Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, William A. Rouse, Palma J. Botterell, Rebecca A. Smith, Margaret M. Sanders, William H. Craddock, Christina A. DeVera, Christopher P. Garrity, Marc L. Buursink, C. Ozgen Karacan, Samuel J. Heller, Thomas E. Moore, Julie A. Dumoulin, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Katherine L. French, Cheryl A. Woodall, Ronald M. Drake II, Kristen R. Marra, Thomas M. Finn, Scott A. Kinney, Chilisa M. Shorten
2020, Fact Sheet 2020-3001
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 3.6 billion barrels of oil and 8.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas (associated and nonassociated) in conventional accumulations in Mississippian through Paleogene strata in the central North Slope of Alaska....
Molecular sequencing and morphological identification reveal similar patterns in native bee communities across public and private grasslands of eastern North Dakota
Brian Darby, Russ Bryant, Abby Keller, Madison Jochim, Josephine Moe, Zoe Schreiner, Carrie Pratt, Ned Euliss, Mia Park, Rebecca Simmons, Clint Otto
2020, PLoS ONE (15)
Bees play a key role in the functioning of human-modified and natural ecosystems by pollinating agricultural crops and wild plant communities. Global pollinator conservation efforts need large-scale and long-term monitoring to detect changes in species’ demographic patterns and shifts in bee community structure. The objective of this project was to...
Revision of Boore (2018) Ground‐motion predictions for Central and Eastern North America: Path and offset adjustments and extension to 200 m/s <= Vs30 <= 3000 m/s
David Boore
2020, Seismological Research Letters (91) 977-991
The three sets of ground‐motion predictions (GMPs) of Boore (2018; hereafter, B18) are compared with a much larger dataset than was used in deriving the predictions. The B18 GMPs work well for response spectra at periods between ∼0.15"><span id="MathJax-Span-39"...
Caltech/USGS Southern California Seismic Network (SCSN) and Southern California Earthquake Data Center (SCEDC): Data availability for the 2019 Ridgecrest sequence
Egill Hauksson, Clara Yoon, Ellen Yu, Jennifer Andrews, Mark Alvarez, Rayo Bhadha, Valerie Thomas
2020, Seismological Research Letters (91) 1961-1970
The 2019 M6.4 and M7.1 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence occurred in the eastern California shear zone (ECSZ). The mainshock ruptured the Little Lake fault zone and aftershocks extended from the Garlock fault in the south, to the southern end of the 1872 M7.5 Owens Valley earthquake rupture in the north. We present data from...
Precipitation, temperature, groundwater-level elevation, streamflow, and potential flood storage trends within the Brazos, Colorado, Big Cypress, Guadalupe, Neches, Sulphur, and Trinity River basins in Texas through 2017
Glenn R. Harwell, Jeremy McDowell, Cathina Gunn-Rosas, Brett Garrett
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5137
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), analyzed streamflow trends and streamflow-related variables through 2017 in seven important water-supply basins to provide information that can help water managers with the USACE and river authorities make future water management decisions. The primary purpose...
Investigating maternity roost selection by northern long-eared bats at three sites in Wisconsin
Brenna A. Hyzy, Robin E. Russell, Alex Silvis, W. Mark Ford, Jason Riddle, Kevin Russell
2020, Endangered Species Research (41) 55-65
One of the North American bat species most impacted by white-nose syndrome (WNS) is the northern long-eared bat Myotis septentrionalis, which as a result has been listed under the Endangered Species Act. WNS was first detected in Wisconsin in 2014. Unfortunately, little is known regarding the ecology of M. septentrionalis in this state...
A 100-year geoelectric hazard analysis for the U.S. high-voltage power grid
Greg M. Lucas, Jeffrey J. Love, Anna Kelbert, Paul A. Bedrosian, E. Joshua Rigler
2020, Space Weather (18)
A once-per-century geoelectric hazard map is created for the United States high-voltage power grid. A statistical extrapolation from 31 years of magnetic field measurements is made by identifying 84 geomagnetic storms with the Kp and Dst indices. Data from 24 geomagnetic observatories, 1079 magnetotelluric survey sites, and 17,258 transmission lines are utilized to perform...
Water-balance techniques for determining available soil-water storage for selected sandy and clay soil study sites in Cass County, North Dakota, 2016–17
Kevin C. Vining
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5141
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service, collected field and remotely sensed data on precipitation, evapotranspiration (ET), and soil-water content to determine available soil-water storage (AWS) at six study sites on sandy and clay soils in Cass County, North Dakota. Data...
Petrologic insights into rift zone magmatic interactions from the 2011 eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaiʻi
Brett H. Walker, Michael O. Garcia, Tim R. Orr
2020, Journal of Petrology (60) 2051-2075
The high frequency of historical eruptions at Kīlauea Volcano presents an exceptional opportunity to address fundamental questions related to the transport, storage, and interaction of magmas within rift zones. The Nāpau Crater area on Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone (ERZ) experienced nine fissure eruptions within 50 years (1961–2011). Most of the magma...
Zircon-hosted melt inclusion record of silicic magmatism in the Mesoproterozoic St. Francois Mountains terrane, Missouri: Origin of the Pea Ridge iron oxide-apatite rare earth element deposit and implications for regional crustal pathways of mineralization
Kathryn E. Watts, Celestine N. Mercer
2020, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (272) 54-77
Voluminous silicic magmatism was coeval with iron ore mineralization in the St. Francois Mountains terrane in southeast Missouri, part of the broader Mesoproterozoic Granite-Rhyolite province along the eastern margin of Laurentia. Some of the iron deposits contain extraordinary endowments of critical elements, such as the Pea Ridge iron oxide-apatite (IOA) deposit, which has an...
Standardized guide to the examination and necropsy of the horseshoe crab using Limulus polyphemus as Limulidae prototype
Katie Roorda, Jill Arnold, Carol Meteyer, Brent Whitaker
2020, Report
The Atlantic, or American, horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) has existed largely unchanged for over 100 million years. Millions of individuals are commonly observed ashore in spring and summer months during spawning events along the entire North American coastline expanding from the East to the Gulf coasts of the United States...
Using advanced population genomics to better understand the relationship between offshore and spawning habitat use for Atlantic Sturgeon
David C. Kazyak, Aaron W. Aunins, Robin L. Johnson, Barbara A. Lubinski, Michael S. Eackles, Tim L. King
2020, OCS Study 2020-062
Atlantic Sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) are a large-bodied anadromous fish that historically supported important fisheries along the east coast of the United States. Following years of overharvest and habitat degradation, populations experienced severe declines. In 2012, the National Marine Fisheries Service listed Atlantic Sturgeon under the Endangered Species Act (ESA;...
Temporospatial shifts in Sandhill Crane staging in the Central Platte River Valley in response to climatic variation and habitat change
Andrew J. Caven, Emma M. Brinley Buckley, Kelsey C King, Joshua D Wiese, David M. Baasch, Greg D. Wright, Mary J. Harner, Aaron T. Pearse, Matt Rabbe, Dana Varner, Brice Krohn, Nicole Arcilla, Kirk D Schroeder, Kenneth F Dinan
2020, Monographs of the Western North American Naturalist (11) 33-76
Over 80% of the Mid-Continent Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis) Population (MCP), estimated at over 660,000 individuals, stops in the Central Platte River Valley (CPRV) during spring migration from mid-February through mid-April. Research suggests that the MCP may be shifting its distribution spatially and temporally within the CPRV. From 2002 to...
A transect through Vermont's most famous volcano - Mount Ascutney
Gregory J. Walsh, Brooks P. Proctor, Karri R. Sicard, Peter M. Valley
2020, Conference Paper, 111th New England Intercollegiate Geological Conference
The Cretaceous Ascutney Mountain igneous complex affords a classic exposure of the White Mountain Igneous Suite. Often called Vermont’s most famous volcano, Mount Ascutney (elev. 3,144 feet, 958 m) stands as a prominent monadnock in the Connecticut River Valley. The mountain often serves as an inspirational landmark, as it...
