Assessment of the geomorphic effects of large floods using streamgage data: The 1951 floods in eastern Kansas, USA
Mark W. Bowen, Kyle E. Juracek
2011, Physical Geography (32) 52-77
Data from 23 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) streamgages were analyzed to assess the geomorphic effects (short-term change and subsequent recovery) of the record 1951 floods on streams in eastern Kansas. Flood-related, channel-bed elevation change was indicated for 17 gage sites, with substantial deposition at five sites and substantial erosion at...
Environmental factors that influence the location of crop agriculture in the conterminous United States
Nancy T. Baker, Paul D. Capel
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5108
This report presents and describes high-resolution geospatial data identifying the range of environmental conditions that influence the location of cropped agricultural lands in the conterminous United States. Also presented are estimates of the extent of land where environmental constraints limit agricultural production (marginal land) and the extents of land where...
Detection probability in aerial surveys of feral horses
Jason I. Ransom
2011, Journal of Wildlife Management (76) 299-307
Observation bias pervades data collected during aerial surveys of large animals, and although some sources can be mitigated with informed planning, others must be addressed using valid sampling techniques that carefully model detection probability. Nonetheless, aerial surveys are frequently employed to count large mammals without applying such methods to account...
GLORIA sidescan-sonar imagery for parts of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone and adjacent areas
Valerie F. Paskevich, Florence L. Wong, John J. O'Malley, Andrew J. Stevenson, Christina E. Gutmacher
2011, Open-File Report 2010-1332
In 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a Proclamation establishing the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the United States extending its territory 200 nautical miles from the coasts of the United States, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and other U.S. territories and possessions. The charter of the U.S. Geological Survey...
Assessing power of large river fish monitoring programs to detect population changes: the Missouri River sturgeon example
M. L. Wildhaber, S. H. Holan, J.L. Bryan, D. W. Gladish, M. Ellersieck
2011, Journal of Applied Ichthyology (27) 282-290
In 2003, the US Army Corps of Engineers initiated the Pallid Sturgeon Population Assessment Program (PSPAP) to monitor pallid sturgeon and the fish community of the Missouri River. The power analysis of PSPAP presented here was conducted to guide sampling design and effort decisions. The PSPAP sampling design has a...
Slip rate and slip magnitudes of past earthquakes along the Bogd left-lateral strike-slip fault (Mongolia)
M. Rizza, J.-F. Ritz, R. Braucher, R. Vassallo, C. Prentice, Shannon A. Mahan, S. McGill, A. Chauvet, S. Marco, M. Todbileg, S. Demberel, D. Bourles
2011, Geophysical Journal International (186) 897-927
We carried out morphotectonic studies along the left-lateral strike-slip Bogd Fault, the principal structure involved in the Gobi-Altay earthquake of 1957 December 4 (published magnitudes range from 7.8 to 8.3). The Bogd Fault is 260 km long and can be subdivided into five main geometric segments, based on variation...
Northern Hemisphere modes of variability and the timing of spring in western North America
T.R. Ault, A.K. Macalady, G.T. Pederson, J.L. Betancourt, M.D. Schwartz
2011, Journal of Climate (24) 4003-4014
Spatial and temporal patterns of variability in spring onset are identified across western North America using a spring index (SI) model based on weather station minimum and maximum temperatures (Tmin and Tmax, respectively). Principal component analysis shows that two significant and independent patterns explain roughly half of the total variance in the...
Hydrogeologic framework, groundwater movement, and water budget in the Chimacum Creek basin and vicinity, Jefferson County, Washington
Joseph L. Jones, Wendy B. Welch, Lonna M. Frans, Theresa D. Olsen
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5129
This report presents information used to characterize the groundwater flow system in the Chimacum Creek basin. It includes descriptions of the geology and hydrogeologic framework; groundwater recharge and discharge; groundwater levels and flow directions; seasonal fluctuations in groundwater level; interactions between aquifers and the surface-water system; and a groundwater budget....
Near-field receiving water monitoring of trace metals and a benthic community near the Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Control Plant in South San Francisco Bay, California: 2010
Jessica Dyke, Francis Parcheso, Janet K. Thompson, Daniel J. Cain, Samuel N. Luoma, Michelle I. Hornberger
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1163
Trace-metal concentrations in sediment and in the clam Macoma petalum (formerly reported as Macoma balthica), clam reproductive activity, and benthic macroinvertebrate community structure were investigated in a mudflat 1 kilometer south of the discharge of the Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Control Plant (PARWQCP) in South San Francisco Bay, Calif. This report includes...
A water-budget model and assessment of groundwater recharge for the Island of Hawai'i
John A. Engott
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5078
Concern surrounding increasing demand for groundwater on the Island of Hawaiʻi, caused by a growing population and an increasing reliance on groundwater as a source for municipal and private water systems, has prompted a study of groundwater recharge on the island using the most current data and accepted methods. For...
Surficial geologic map of the Elizabethtown 30' x 60' quadrangle, North Carolina
Robert E. Weems, William C. Lewis, E. Allen Crider
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1121
The Elizabethtown 30' x 60' quadrangle is located in southeastern North Carolina between Fayetteville and Wilmington. Most of the area is flat to gently rolling, although steep slopes occur locally along some of the larger streams. Total relief in the area is slightly over 210 feet (ft), with elevations ranging...
Detailed sections from auger holes in the Elizabethtown 1:100,000-scale quadrangle, North Carolina
Robert E. Weems, William C. Lewis, Joseph H. Murray, David B. Queen, Jeffrey B. Grey, Benjamin D. DeJong
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1115
The Elizabethtown 1:100,000 quadrangle is in the west-central part of the Coastal Plain of southeastern North Carolina. The Coastal Plain, in this region, consists mostly of unlithified sediments that range in age from Late Cretaceous to Holocene. These sediments lie with profound unconformity on complexly deformed metamorphic and igneous rocks...
Appropriate uses and considerations for online surveying in human dimensions research
Natalie R. Sexton, Holly M. Miller, Alia M. Dietsch
2011, Human Dimensions of Wildlife (16) 154-163
Online surveying has gained attention in recent years for its applicability to human dimensions research as an efficient and inexpensive data-collection method; however, online surveying is not a panacea. In this article, we provide some guidelines for alleviating or avoiding the criticisms and pitfalls suggested of online survey methods and...
Detection, emission estimation and risk prediction of forest fires in China using satellite sensors and simulation models in the past three decades-An overview
Jiahua Zhang, Fengmei Yao, Cheng Liu, Limin Yang, Vijendra K. Boken
2011, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (8) 3156-3178
Forest fires have major impact on ecosystems and greatly impact the amount of greenhouse gases and aerosols in the atmosphere. This paper presents an overview in the forest fire detection, emission estimation, and fire risk prediction in China using satellite imagery, climate data, and various simulation models over the past...
Probability and volume of potential postwildfire debris flows in the 2011 Monument burn area, southeastern Arizona
Barbara C. Ruddy, Kristine L. Verdin
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1181
This report presents a preliminary emergency assessment of the debris-flow hazards from drainage basins burned by the Monument wildfire in southeastern Arizona, in 2011. Empirical models derived from statistical evaluation of data collected from recently burned drainage basins throughout the intermountain Western United States were used to estimate the probability...
Anthropocene streams and base-level controls from historic dams in the unglaciated mid-Atlantic region, USA
Dorothy Merritts, Robert Walter, Michael Rahnis, Jeff Hartranft, Scott Cox, Allen Gellis, Noel Potter, William Hilgartner, Michael J. Langland, Lauren Manion, Caitlin Lippincott, Sauleh Siddiqui, Zain Rehman, Chris Scheid, Laura Kratz, Andrea Shilling, Matthew Jenschke, Katherine Datin, Elizabeth Cranmer, Austin Reed, Derek Matuszewski, Mark Voli, Erik Ohlson, Ali Neugebauer, Aakash Ahamed, Conor Neal, Allison Winter, Steven Becker
2011, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences (369) 976-1009
Recently, widespread valley-bottom damming for water power was identified as a primary control on valley sedimentation in the mid-Atlantic US during the late seventeenth to early twentieth century. The timing of damming coincided with that of accelerated upland erosion during post-European settlement land-use change. In this paper, we examine the...
Greater sage-grouse as an umbrella species for shrubland passerine birds: a multiscale assessment
Steven E. Hanser, Steven T. Knick
Steven T. Knick, John W. Connelly, editor(s)
2011, Book chapter, Greater Sage-Grouse
Working groups and government agen-cies are planning and conducting land actions in sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) habitats to benefit Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) populations. Managers have adopted an umbrella concept, creating habitat characteristics specific to sage-grouse requirements, in the belief that other wildlife species dependent on sagebrush will benefit. We tested...
An adaptive-management framework for optimal control of hiking near golden eagle nests in Denali National Park
Julien Martin, Paul L. Fackler, James D. Nichols, Michael C. Runge, Carol L. McIntyre, Bruce L. Lubow, Maggie C. McCluskie, Joel A. Schmutz
2011, Conservation Biology (25) 316-323
Unintended effects of recreational activities in protected areas are of growing concern. We used an adaptive-management framework to develop guidelines for optimally managing hiking activities to maintain desired levels of territory occupancy and reproductive success of Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) in Denali National Park (Alaska, U.S.A.). The management decision was...
Whole-rock and sulfide-mineral geochemical data for samples from volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits of the Bonnifield district, east-central Alaska
Cynthia Dusel-Bacon, John F. Slack, Alan E. Koenig, Nora K. Foley, Robert L. Oscarson, Kathleen D. Gans
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1171
This Open-File Report presents geochemical data for outcrop and drill-core samples from volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits and associated metaigneous and metasedimentary rocks in the Wood River area of the Bonnifield mining district, northern Alaska Range, east-central Alaska. The data consist of major- and trace-element whole-rock geochemical analyses, and major- and...
Assessment of selected contaminants in streambed- and suspended-sediment samples collected in Bexar County, Texas, 2007-09
Jennifer T. Wilson
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5097
Elevated concentrations of sediment-associated contaminants are typically associated with urban areas such as San Antonio, Texas, in Bexar County, the seventh most populous city in the United States. This report describes an assessment of selected sediment-associated contaminants in samples collected in Bexar County from sites on the following streams: Medio...
Summary of juvenile salmonid passage and survival at McNary Dam-Acoustic survival studies, 2006-09
Noah S. Adams, Scott D. Evans
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1179
Passage and survival data were collected at McNary Dam between 2006 and 2009. These data have provided critical information for resource managers to implement structural and operational changes designed to improve the survival of juvenile salmonids as they migrate past the dam. Given the importance of these annual studies, the...
Precipitation and runoff simulations of select perennial and ephemeral watersheds in the middle Carson River basin, Eagle, Dayton, and Churchill Valleys, west-central Nevada
Anne E. Jeton, Douglas K. Maurer
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5066
The effect that land use may have on streamflow in the Carson River, and ultimately its impact on downstream users can be evaluated by simulating precipitation-runoff processes and estimating groundwater inflow in the middle Carson River in west-central Nevada. To address these concerns, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with...
Development of a high-resolution binational vegetation map of the Santa Cruz River riparian corridor and surrounding watershed, southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico
Cynthia S.A. Wallace, Miguel L. Villarreal, Laura M. Norman
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1143
This report summarizes the development of a binational vegetation map developed for the Santa Cruz Watershed, which straddles the southern border of Arizona and the northern border of Sonora, Mexico. The map was created as an environmental input to the Santa Cruz Watershed Ecosystem Portfolio Model (SCWEPM) that is being...
Hypolimnetic dissolved-oxygen dynamics within selected White River reservoirs, northern Arkansas-southern Missouri, 1974-2008
Jeanne L. De Lanois, W. Reed Green
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5090
Dissolved oxygen is a critical constituent in reservoirs and lakes because it is essential for metabolism by all aerobic aquatic organisms. In general, hypolimnetic temperature and dissolved-oxygen concentrations vary from summer to summer in reservoirs, more so than in natural lakes, largely in response to the magnitude of flow into...
Geology and geochemistry of volcanic centers within the eastern half of the Sonoma volcanic field, northern San Francisco Bay region, California
Donald S. Sweetkind, James J. Rytuba, Victoria E. Langenheim, Robert J. Fleck
2011, Geosphere (7) 629-657
Volcanic rocks in the Sonoma volcanic field in the northern California Coast Ranges contain heterogeneous assemblages of a variety of compositionally diverse volcanic rocks. We have used field mapping, new and existing age determinations, and 343 new major and trace element analyses of whole-rock samples...
