Critical nitrogen deposition loads in high-elevation lakes of the western US inferred from paleolimnological records
J.E. Saros, David W. Clow, T. Blett, A.P. Wolfe
2011, Water, Air, & Soil Pollution (216) 193-202
Critical loads of nitrogen (N) from atmospheric deposition were determined for alpine lake ecosystems in the western US using fossil diatom assemblages in lake sediment cores. Changes in diatom species over the last century were indicative of N enrichment in two areas, the eastern Sierra Nevada, starting between 1960 and...
New technique for quantification of elemental hg in mine wastes and its implications for mercury evasion into the atmosphere
A.D. Jew, C.S. Kim, James J. Rytuba, M.S. Gustin, Gordon E. Brown Jr.
2011, Environmental Science & Technology (45) 412-417
Mercury in the environment is of prime concern to both ecosystem and human health. Determination of the molecular-level speciation of Hg in soils and mine wastes is important for understanding its sequestration, mobility, and availability for methylation. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy carried out under ambient P-T conditions...
Development of an aquatic pathogen database (AquaPathogen X) and its utilization in tracking emerging fish virus pathogens in North America
E.J. Emmenegger, E. Kentop, T.M. Thompson, S. Pittam, A. Ryan, D. Keon, J.A. Carlino, J. Ranson, R.B. Life, R.M. Troyer, K.A. Garver, Gael Kurath
2011, Journal of Fish Diseases (34) 579-587
The AquaPathogen X database is a template for recording information on individual isolates of aquatic pathogens and is freely available for download (http://wfrc.usgs.gov). This database can accommodate the nucleotide sequence data generated in molecular epidemiological studies along with the myriad of abiotic and biotic traits associated with isolates of various...
Environmental controls of wood entrapment in upper Midwestern streams
Eric C. Merten, Jacques Finlay, Lucinda Johnson, Raymond Newman, Heinz Stefan, Bruce C. Vondracek
2011, Hydrological Processes (25) 593-602
Wood deposited in streams provides a wide variety of ecosystem functions, including enhancing habitat for key species in stream food webs, increasing geomorphic and hydraulic heterogeneity and retaining organic matter. Given the strong role that wood plays in streams, factors that influence wood inputs, retention and transport are critical to...
Fish community and bioassessment responses to stream network position
N.P. Hitt, P. L. Angermeier
2011, Journal of the North American Benthological Society (30) 296-309
If organisms move beyond the boundaries of local sampling units, regional metacommunity dynamics could undermine the ability of bioassessment studies to characterize local environmental quality. We tested the prediction that fish dispersal influences local fish community structure and bioassessment metrics as a function of site position within stream networks. We...
Use of habitats by female mallards wintering in Southwestern Louisiana
Paul T. Link, A. D. Afton, R. R. Cox Jr., B.E. Davis
2011, Waterbirds (34) 429-438
Habitat use by wintering Mallards (Anas platyrhychos) on the Gulf Coast Chenier Plain (GCCP) has received little study and quantitative data is needed for management of GCCP waterfowl. Radio-telemetry techniques were used to record habitats used by 135 female Mallards during winters 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 in south-western Louisiana. Habitat use...
Making United States Integrated Ocean Observing System (U.S. IOOS) inclusive of marine biological resources
H. Moustahfid, J. Potemra, P. Goldstein, R. Mendelssohn, A. Desrochers
2011, Conference Paper, OCEANS'11 - MTS/IEEE Kona, Program Book
An important Data Management and Communication (DMAC) goal is to enable a multi-disciplinary view of the ocean environment by facilitating discovery and integration of data from various sources, projects and scientific domains. United States Integrated Ocean Observing System (U.S. IOOS) DMAC functional requirements are based upon guidelines for standardized data...
New insights of tsunami hazard from the 2011 Tohoku-oki event
K. Goto, C. Chague-Goff, S. Fujino, J. Goff, Bruce Jaffe, Y. Nishimura, Bruce M. Richmond, D. Sugawara, Witold Szczucinski, D.R. Tappin, Robert C. Witter, E. Yulianto
2011, Marine Geology (290) 46-50
We report initial results from our recent field survey documenting the inundation and resultant deposits of the 2011 Tohoku-oki tsunami from Sendai Plain, Japan. The tsunami inundated up to 4.5 km inland but the > 0.5 cm-thick sand deposit extended only 2.8 km (62% of the inundation distance). The deposit however continued as a...
An Analysis of the Published Mineral Resource Estimates of the Haji-Gak Iron Deposit, Afghanistan
David M. Sutphin, Karine Renaud, Lawrence J. Drew
2011, Natural Resources Research (20) 329-353
The Haji-Gak iron deposit of eastern Bamyan Province, eastern Afghanistan, was studied extensively and resource calculations were made in the 1960s by Afghan and Russian geologists. Recalculation of the resource estimates verifies the original estimates for categories A (in-place resources known in detail), B (in-place resources known in moderate detail),...
Effects of reduction in porosity and permeability with depth on storage capacity and injectivity in deep saline aquifers: A case study from the Mount Simon Sandstone aquifer
C.R. Medina, J.A. Rupp, D.A. Barnes
2011, International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control (5) 146-156
The Upper Cambrian Mount Simon Sandstone is recognized as a deep saline reservoir that has significant potential for geological sequestration in the Midwestern region of the United States. Porosity and permeability values collected from core analyses in rocks from this formation and its lateral equivalents in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and...
Study relationship between inorganic and organic coal analysis with gross calorific value by multiple regression and ANFIS
S.C. Chelgani, B. Hart, W.C. Grady, J.C. Hower
2011, International Journal of Coal Preparation and Utilization (31) 9-19
The relationship between maceral content plus mineral matter and gross calorific value (GCV) for a wide range of West Virginia coal samples (from 6518 to 15330 BTU/lb; 15.16 to 35.66 MJ/kg) has been investigated by multivariable regression and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). The stepwise least square mathematical method comparison between...
Innate immune response development in nestling tree swallows
T. Stambaugh, B.J. Houdek, M.P. Lombardo, P.A. Thorpe, Caldwell Hahn
2011, Wilson Journal of Ornithology (123) 779-787
We tracked the development of innate immunity in nestling Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) and compared it to that of adults using blood drawn from nestlings during days 6, 12, and 18 of the ∼20-day nestling period and from adults. Innate immunity was characterized using an in vitro assay of the ability...
Electronic tags and genetics explore variation in migrating steelhead kelts (oncorhynchus mykiss), Ninilchik river, Alaska
J.L. Nielsen, S.M. Turner, Christian E. Zimmerman
2011, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (68) 1-16
Acoustic and archival tags examined freshwater and marine migrations of postspawn steelhead kelts (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in the Ninilchik River, Alaska, USA. Postspawn steelhead were captured at a weir in 2002-2005. Scale analysis indicated multiple migratory life histories and spawning behaviors. Acoustic tags were implanted in 99 kelts (2002-2003), and an...
Columnar jointing in vapor-phase-altered, non-welded Cerro Galán Ignimbrite, Paycuqui, Argentina
Heather M. Wright, Chiara Lesti, Ray A.F. Cas, Massimiliano Porreca, Jose G. Viramonte, Christopher B. Folkes, Guido Giordano
2011, Bulletin of Volcanology (73) 1567-1582
Columnar jointing is thought to occur primarily in lavas and welded pyroclastic flow deposits. However, the non-welded Cerro Galán Ignimbrite at Paycuqui, Argentina, contains well-developed columnar joints that are instead due to high-temperature vapor-phase alteration of the deposit, where devitrification and vapor-phase crystallization have increased the density and cohesion of...
Epistemic uncertainty in the location and magnitude of earthquakes in Italy from Macroseismic data
W. H. Bakun, Capera A. Gomez, M. Stucchi
2011, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (101) 2712-2725
Three independent techniques (Bakun and Wentworth, 1997; Boxer from Gasperini et al., 1999; and Macroseismic Estimation of Earthquake Parameters [MEEP; see Data and Resources section, deliverable D3] from R.M.W. Musson and M.J. Jimenez) have been proposed for estimating an earthquake location and magnitude from intensity data alone. The locations and...
Are patterns in nutrient limitation belowground consistent with those aboveground: Results from a 4 million year chronosequence
Sasha C. Reed, P.M. Vitousek, C.C. Cleveland
2011, Biogeochemistry (106) 323-336
Accurately predicting the effects of global change on net carbon (C) exchange between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere requires a more complete understanding of how nutrient availability regulates both plant growth and heterotrophic soil respiration. Models of soil development suggest that the nature of nutrient limitation changes over the course...
Isotopic evolution of the idaho batholith and Challis intrusive province, Northern US Cordillera
Richard M. Gaschnig, J.D. Vervoort, R. S. Lewis, B. Tikoff
2011, Journal of Petrology (52) 2397-2429
The Idaho batholith and spatially overlapping Challis intrusive province in the North American Cordillera have a history of magmatism spanning some 55 Myr. New isotopic data from the ∼98 Ma to 54 Ma Idaho batholith and ∼51 Ma to 43 Ma Challis intrusions, coupled with recent geochronological work, provide insights...
Geodynamic interpretation of the 40Ar/39Ar dating of ophiolitic and arc-related mafics and metamafics of the northern part of the Anadyr-Koryak region
S.A. Palandzhyan, P.W. Layer, W. W. Patton Jr., A.I. Khanchuk
2011, Geotectonics (45) 481-495
Isotope datings of amphibole-bearing mafics and metamafics in the northern part of the Anadyr-Koryak region allow clarification of the time of magmatic and metamorphic processes, which are synchronous with certain stages of the geodynamic development of the northwest segment of the Pacific mobile belt in the...
Methodology for quantifying uncertainty in coal assessments with an application to a Texas lignite deposit
Ricardo A. Olea, James A. Luppens, Susan J. Tewalt
2011, International Journal of Coal Geology (85) 78-90
A common practice for characterizing uncertainty in coal resource assessments has been the itemization of tonnage at the mining unit level and the classification of such units according to distance to drilling holes. Distance criteria, such as those used in U.S. Geological Survey Circular 891, are still widely used for public disclosure. A major deficiency...
Satellite and ground observations of the June 2009 eruption of Sarychev Peak volcano, Matua Island, Central Kuriles
A. Rybin, M. Chibisova, P. Webley, T. Steensen, P. Izbekov, Christina A. Neal, V. Realmuto
2011, Bulletin of Volcanology (73) 1377-1392
After 33 years of repose, one of the most active volcanoes of the Kurile island arc—Sarychev Peak on Matua Island in the Central Kuriles—erupted violently on June 11, 2009. The eruption lasted 9 days and stands among the largest of recent historical eruptions in the Kurile Island chain. Satellite monitoring of the...
Generalized bootstrap method for assessment of uncertainty in semivariogram inference
Ricardo A. Olea, E. Pardo-Iguzquiza
2011, Mathematical Geosciences (43) 203-228
The semivariogram and its related function, the covariance, play a central role in classical geostatistics for modeling the average continuity of spatially correlated attributes. Whereas all methods are formulated in terms of the true semivariogram, in practice what can be used are estimated semivariograms and models based on samples. A...
Near-field hazard assessment of March 11, 2011 Japan Tsunami sources inferred from different methods
Y. Wei, V.V. Titov, A. Newman, G. Hayes, Liujuan Tang, C. Chamberlin
2011, Conference Paper, OCEANS'11 - MTS/IEEE Kona, Program Book
Tsunami source is the origin of the subsequent transoceanic water waves, and thus the most critical component in modern tsunami forecast methodology. Although impractical to be quantified directly, a tsunami source can be estimated by different methods based on a variety of measurements provided by deep-ocean tsunameters, seismometers, GPS, and...
Field verification of stable perched groundwater in layered bedrock uplands
J.T. Carter, M.B. Gotkowitz, Marilyn P. Anderson
2011, Ground Water (49) 383-392
Data substantiating perched conditions in layered bedrock uplands are rare and have not been widely reported. Field observations in layered sedimentary bedrock in southwestern Wisconsin, USA, provide evidence of a stable, laterally extensive perched aquifer. Data from a densely instrumented field site show a perched aquifer in shallow dolomite, underlain...
SPECTRAL data-based estimation of soil heat flux
Ramesh K. Singh, A. Irmak, Elizabeth Walter-Shea, S.B. Verma, A.E. Suyker
2011, Transactions of the ASABE (54) 1589-1597
Numerous existing spectral-based soil heat flux (G) models have shown wide variation in performance for maize and soybean cropping systems in Nebraska, indicating the need for localized calibration and model development. The objectives of this article are to develop a semi-empirical model to estimate G from a normalized difference vegetation...
Patterns of space and habitat use by northern bobwhites in south Florida, USA
A. Singh, T.C. Hines, J.A. Hostetler, H. Franklin Percival, M.K. Oli
2011, European Journal of Wildlife Research (57) 15-26
The manner by which animals use space and select resources can have important management consequences. We studied patterns of habitat selection by northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) on Babcock-Webb Wildlife Management Area, Charlotte County, Florida and evaluated factors influencing the sizes of their home ranges. A total of 1,245 radio-tagged bobwhites...
