Assessing the vulnerability of public-supply wells to contamination: Rio Grande aquifer system in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Martha L. Jagucki, Laura M. Bexfield, Charles E. Heywood, Sandra M. Eberts
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3138
This fact sheet highlights findings from the vulnerability study of a public-supply well in Albuquerque, New Mexico (hereafter referred to as “the study well”). The study well produces about 3,000 gallons of water per minute from the Rio Grande aquifer system. Water samples were collected at the study well, at...
Hydrologic and sediment data collected from selected basins at the Fort Leonard Wood Military Reservation, Missouri--2010-11
Joseph M. Richards, Paul H. Rydlund Jr., Miya N. Barr
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5268
Commercial and residential development within a basin often increases the amount of impervious area, which changes the natural hydrologic response to storm events by increasing runoff. Land development and disturbance combined with increased runoff from impervious areas potentially can increase sediment transport. At the Fort Leonard Wood Military Reservation in...
Variance partitioning of stream diatom, fish, and invertebrate indicators of biological condition
Robert E. Zuellig, Daren M. Carlisle, Michael R. Meador, Marina Potapova
2012, Freshwater Science (31) 182-190
Stream indicators used to make assessments of biological condition are influenced by many possible sources of variability. To examine this issue, we used multiple-year and multiple-reach diatom, fish, and invertebrate data collected from 20 least-disturbed and 46 developed stream segments between 1993 and 2004 as part of the US Geological...
Occurrence model for volcanogenic beryllium deposits
Nora K. Foley, Albert H. Hofstra, David A. Lindsey, Robert R. Seal II, Brian W. Jaskula, Nadine M. Piatak
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5070-F
Current global and domestic mineral resources of beryllium (Be) for industrial uses are dominated by ores produced from deposits of the volcanogenic Be type. Beryllium deposits of this type can form where hydrothermal fluids interact with fluorine and lithophile-element (uranium, thorium, rubidium, lithium, beryllium, cesium, tantalum, rare earth elements, and...
The occurrence of trace elements in bed sediment collected from areas of varying land use and potential effects on stream macroinvertebrates in the conterminous western United States, Alaska, and Hawaii, 1992-2000
Angela P. Paul, Nicholas V. Paretti, Dorene E. MacCoy, Anne M.D. Brasher
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5272
As part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program of the U.S. Geological Survey, this study examines the occurrence of nine trace elements in bed sediment of varying mineralogy and land use and assesses the possible effects of these trace elements on aquatic-macroinvertebrate community structure. Samples of bed sediment and macroinvertebrates...
Land Capability Potential Index (LCPI) and geodatabase for the Lower Missouri River Valley
Kimberly A. Chojnacki, Matthew A. Struckhoff, Robert B. Jacobson
2012, Data Series 736
The Land Capacity Potential Index (LCPI) is a coarse-scale index intended to delineate broad land-capability classes in the Lower Missouri River valley bottom from the Gavins Point Dam near Yankton, South Dakota to the mouth of the Missouri River near St. Louis, Missouri (river miles 811–0). The LCPI provides a...
Interbasin water transfer, riverine connectivity, and spatial controls on fish biodiversity
Evan H. Campbell Grant, Heather J. Lynch, Rachata Muneepeerakul, Arunachalam Muthukumarasamy, Ignacio Rodríguez-Iturbe, William F. Fagan
2012, PLoS ONE (7)
Background Large-scale inter-basin water transfer (IBWT) projects are commonly proposed as solutions to water distribution and supply problems. These problems are likely to intensify under future population growth and climate change scenarios. Scarce data on the distribution of freshwater fishes frequently limits the ability to assess the potential implications of...
Future scenarios of land-use and land-cover change in the United States--the Marine West Coast Forests Ecoregion
Tamara S. Wilson, Benjamin M. Sleeter, Terry L. Sohl, Glenn Griffith, William Acevedo, Stacie Bennett, Michelle Bouchard, Ryan R. Reker, Christy Ryan, Kristi L. Sayler, Rachel Sleeter, Christopher E. Soulard
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1252
Detecting, quantifying, and projecting historical and future changes in land use and land cover (LULC) has emerged as a core research area for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Changes in LULC are important drivers of changes to biogeochemical cycles, the exchange of energy between the Earth’s surface and atmosphere, biodiversity,...
Northwestern salamanders Ambystoma gracile in mountain lakes: record oviposition depths among salamanders
R. Hoffman Jr., C.A. Pearl, G.L. Larson, B. Samora
2012, Herpetological Review (43) 553-556
Oviposition timing, behaviors, and microhabitats of ambystomatid salamanders vary considerably (Egan and Paton 2004; Figiel and Semlitsch 1995; Howard and Wallace 1985; Mac-Cracken 2007). Regardless of species, however, females typically oviposit using sites conducive to embryo development and survival. For example, the results of an experiment by Figiel and Semlitsch...
Do Daphnia use metalimnetic organic matter in a north temperate lake? An analysis of vertical migration
Chase Julian Brosseau, Timothy J. Cline, Jonathan J. Cole, James R. Hodgson, Michael L. Pace, Brian Weidel
2012, Inland Waters (2) 193-198
Diel vertical migration of zooplankton is influenced by a variety of factors including predation, food, and temperature. Research has recently shifted from a focus on factors influencing migration to how migration affects nutrient cycling and habitat coupling. Here we evaluate the potential for Daphnia migrations to incorporate metalimnetic productivity in...
Spring onset variations and trends in the continental United States: past and regional assessment using temperature-based indices
Mark D. Schwartz, Toby R. Ault, Julio L. Betancourt
2012, International Journal of Climatology
Phenological data are simple yet sensitive indicators of climate change impacts on ecosystems, but observations have not been made routinely or extensively enough to evaluate spatial and temporal patterns across most continents, including North America. As an alternative, many studies use weather-based algorithms to simulate specific phenological responses. Spring Indices...
Copper-nickel-rich, amalgamated ferromanganese crust-nodule deposits from Shatsky Rise, NW Pacific
J.R. Hein, T.A. Conrad, M. Frank, M. Christl, W.W. Sager
2012, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (13)
A unique set of ferromanganese crusts and nodules collected from Shatsky Rise (SR), NW Pacific, were analyzed for mineralogical and chemical compositions, and dated using Be isotopes and cobalt chronometry. The composition of these midlatitude, deep-water deposits is markedly different from northwest-equatorial Pacific (PCZ) crusts, where most studies have been...
Associations of benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages with environmental variables in the upper Clear Creek watershed, California
Larry R. Brown, Jason T. May, Marissa Wulff
2012, Western North American Naturalist (72) 473-494
Benthic macroinvertebrates are integral components of stream ecosystems and are often used to assess the ecological integrity of streams. We sampled streams in the upper Clear Creek drainage in the Klamath—Siskiyou Ecoregion of northwestern California in fall 2004 (17 sites) and 2005 (original 17 plus 4 new sites) with the...
Step-changes in the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of the Gulf of Maine, as documented by the GNATS time series
William M. Balch, D.T. Drapeau, B.C. Bowler, Thomas G. Huntington
2012, Marine Ecology Progress Series (450) 11-35
We identify step-changes in the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of the Gulf of Maine (GoM) using the Gulf of Maine North Atlantic Time Series (GNATS), a series of oceanographic measurements obtained between September 1998 and December 2010 along a transect in the GoM running from Portland, ME, to Yarmouth,...
Ancient impact and aqueous processes at Endeavour Crater, Mars
S. W. Squyres, R. E. Arvidson, J.F. Bell III, F.J. Calef III, B. C. Clark, B. A. Cohen, L.A. Crumpler, P. A. de Souza Jr., W. H. Farrand, Ralf Gellert, J. Grant, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, J.A. Hurowitz, J. R. Johnson, B.L. Jolliff, A.H. Knoll, R. Li, S. M. McLennan, D. W. Ming, D. W. Mittlefehldt, T. J. Parker, G. Paulsen, M.S. Rice, S. W. Ruff, C. Schroder, A. S. Yen, K. Zacny
2012, Science (336) 570-576
The rover Opportunity has investigated the rim of Endeavour Crater, a large ancient impact crater on Mars. Basaltic breccias produced by the impact form the rim deposits, with stratigraphy similar to that observed at similar-sized craters on Earth. Highly localized zinc enrichments in some breccia materials suggest hydrothermal alteration of...
Analysis of rainfall-induced slope instability using a field of local factor of safety
Ning Lu, Başak Şener-Kaya, Alexandra Wayllace, Jonathan W. Godt
2012, Water Resources Research (48)
Slope-stability analyses are mostly conducted by identifying or assuming a potential failure surface and assessing the factor of safety (FS) of that surface. This approach of assigning a single FS to a potentially unstable slope provides little insight on where the failure initiates or the ultimate geometry and location of...
A remote-sensing, GIS-based approach to identify, characterize, and model spawning habitat for fall-run chum salmon in a sub-arctic, glacially fed river
Lisa Wirth, Amanda Rosenberger, Anupma Prakash, Rudiger Gens, F. Joseph Margraf, Toshihide Hamazaki
2012, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (141) 1349-1363
At northern limits of a species’ distribution, fish habitat requirements are often linked to thermal preferences, and the presence of overwintering habitat. However, logistical challenges and hydrologic processes typical of glacial systems could compromize the identification of these habitats, particularly in large river environments. Our goal was to identify and...
On the use of wave parameterizations and a storm impact scaling model in National Weather Service Coastal Flood and decision support operations
Anthony Mignone, H. Stockdon, M. Willis, J.W. Cannon, R. Thompson
2012, Conference Paper, 92nd American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting, January 22-26, 2012
National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Forecast Offices (WFO) are responsible for issuing coastal flood watches, warnings, advisories, and local statements to alert decision makers and the general public when rising water levels may lead to coastal impacts such as inundation, erosion, and wave battery. Both extratropical and tropical cyclones can...
Methods for simulating solute breakthrough curves in pumping groundwater wells
J. Jeffrey Starn, Amvrossios C. Bagtzoglou, Gary A. Robbins
2012, Computers & Geosciences (48) 244-255
In modeling there is always a trade-off between execution time and accuracy. For gradient-based parameter estimation methods, where a simulation model is run repeatedly to populate a Jacobian (sensitivity) matrix, there exists a need for rapid simulation methods of known accuracy that can decrease execution time, and thus make the...
A historical estimate of apparent survival of American oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) in Virginia
Erica Nol, Sean P. Murphy, Michael D. Cadman
2012, Waterbirds (35) 631-635
Using mark-recapture models, apparent survival was estimated from older banding and re-sighting data (1978–1983) of American Oystercatchers (Haematopus palliatus) nesting on beaches and in salt marshes of coastal Virginia, USA. Oystercatchers nesting in salt marshes exhibited higher apparent survival (0.94 ±0.03) than birds nesting on beaches (0.81 ±0.06), a difference...
Geology and sequence stratigraphy of undiscovered oil and gas resources in conventional and continuous petroleum systems in the Upper Cretaceous Eagle Ford Group and related strata, U.S. Gulf Coast Region
Russell F. Dubiel, Ofori N. Pearson, Janet K. Pitman, Krystal M. Pearson, Scott A. Kinney
2012, Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions (62) 57-72
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently assessed the technically recoverable undiscovered oil and gas onshore and in State waters of the Gulf Coast region of the United States. The USGS defined three assessment units (AUs) with potential undiscovered conventional and continuous oil and gas resources in Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian to...
Emerging contaminants at a closed and an operating landfill in Oklahoma
William J. Andrews, Jason R. Masoner, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli
2012, Groundwater Monitoring & Remediation (32) 120-130
Landfills are the final depositories for a wide range of solid waste from both residential and commercial sources, and therefore have the potential to produce leachate containing many organic compounds found in consumer products such as pharmaceuticals, plasticizers, disinfectants, cleaning agents, fire retardants, flavorings, and preservatives, known as emerging contaminants...
Modeling responses of large-river fish populations to global climate change through downscaling and incorporation of predictive uncertainty
Mark L. Wildhaber, Christopher K. Wikle, Christopher J. Anderson, Kristie J. Franz, Edward H. Moran, Rima Dey
Helmut Mader, Julia Kraml, editor(s)
2012, Conference Paper, 9th International Symposium on Ecohydraulics 2012 Proceedings
Climate change operates over a broad range of spatial and temporal scales. Understanding its effects on ecosystems requires multi-scale models. For understanding effects on fish populations of riverine ecosystems, climate predicted by coarse-resolution Global Climate Models must be downscaled to Regional Climate Models to watersheds to river hydrology...
Assessing consumption of bioactive micro-particles by filter-feeding Asian carp
Nathan R. Jensen, Jon J. Amberg, James A. Luoma, Liza R. Walleser, Mark P. Gaikowski
2012, Journal of Aquaculture Research & Development (3)
Silver carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (SVC) and bighead carp H. nobilis (BHC) have impacted waters in the US since their escape. Current chemical controls for aquatic nuisance species are non-selective. Development of a bioactive micro-particle that exploits filter-feeding habits of SVC or BHC could result in a new control tool. It...
Conflicts between sandhill cranes and farmers in the western United States: evolving issues and solutions
Jane E. Austin
2012, Conference Paper, Cranes, Agriculture and Climate Change, May 28 - June 3, 2010, Muraviovka Park for Sustainable Land Use, Amur Region, Russia
The main conflicts between Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis) and farmers in western United States occur in the Rocky Mountain region during migration and wintering periods. Most crop damage by cranes occurs in mature wheat (Triticum aestivum) and barley (Hordeum vulgare), young shoots of alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and cereal grains, chilies...
