An evaluation of remote sensing technologies for the detection of fugitive contamination at selected Superfund hazardous waste sites in Pennsylvania
E. Terrence Slonecker, Gary B. Fisher
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1081
This evaluation was conducted to assess the potential for using both traditional remote sensing, such as aerial imagery, and emerging remote sensing technology, such as hyperspectral imaging, as tools for postclosure monitoring of selected hazardous waste sites. Sixteen deleted Superfund (SF) National Priorities List (NPL) sites in Pennsylvania were imaged...
Multi-elemental analysis of aqueous geological samples by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry
Todor I. Todorov, Ruth E. Wolf, Monique Adams
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1067
Typically, 27 major, minor, and trace elements are determined in natural waters, acid mine drainage, extraction fluids, and leachates of geological and environmental samples by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). At the discretion of the analyst, additional elements may be determined after suitable method modifications and performance data are...
Groundwater and surface-water resources in the Bureau of Land Management Moab Master Leasing Plan area and adjacent areas, Grand and San Juan Counties, Utah, and Mesa and Montrose Counties, Colorado
Melissa D. Masbruch, Christopher L. Shope
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1062
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Canyon Country District Office is preparing a leasing plan known as the Moab Master Leasing Plan (Moab MLP) for oil, gas, and potash mineral rights in an area encompassing 946,469 acres in southeastern Utah. The BLM has identified water resources as being potentially affected...
Use of satellite imagery to identify vegetation cover changes following the Waldo Canyon Fire event, Colorado, 2012-2013
Christopher J. Cole, Beverly A. Friesen, Earl M. Wilson
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1078
The Waldo Canyon Fire of 2012 was one of the most destructive wildfire events in Colorado history. The fire burned a total of 18,247 acres, claimed 2 lives, and destroyed 347 homes. The Waldo Canyon Fire continues to pose challenges to nearby communities. In a preliminary emergency assessment conducted in...
Groundwater-surface water relations in the Fox River watershed: insights from exploratory studies in Illinois and Wisconsin
P.C. Mills
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1055
Exploratory studies were conducted at sites bordering the Fox River in Waukesha, Wisconsin, during 2010 and McHenry, Illinois, during 2011–13. The objectives of the studies were to assess strategies for the study of and insights into the potential for directly connected groundwater and surface-water systems with natural groundwater discharge to...
Delineation of contributing areas to selected wells in Ingham County, Michigan
Carol L. Luukkonen
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1054
A groundwater-flow model that was constructed in 2009 was updated to reflect recent (2011–12) pumping conditions in the Tri-County region, which consists of Clinton, Eaton, and Ingham Counties, Michigan. As part of local wellhead protection area programs, areas contributing water to local production wells must be periodically updated, because groundwater-flow...
Geologic field notes and geochemical analyses of outcrop and drill core from Mesoproterozoic rocks and iron-oxide deposits and prospects of southeast Missouri
Warren C. Day, Matthew Granitto
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1053
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources/Missouri Geological Survey, undertook a study from 1988 to 1994 on the iron-oxide deposits and their host Mesoproterozoic igneous rocks in southeastern Missouri. The project resulted in an improvement of our understanding of the geologic setting, mode of...
Precipitation and streamflow data from the Fort Carson Military Reservation and precipitation, streamflow, and suspended-sediment data from the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site, Southeastern Colorado, 2008-2012
Christopher R. Brown
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1039
In 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U. S. Department of the Army, compiled available precipitation and streamflow data for the years of 2008–2012 from the Fort Carson Military Reservation (Fort Carson) near Colorado Springs, Colo., and precipitation, streamflow, and suspended-sediment loads from the Piñon Canyon...
The presence and distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and inorganic elements in water and lakebed materials and the potential for bioconcentration in biota at established sampling sites on Lake Powell, Utah and Arizona
Kurt T. Schonauer, Robert J. Hart, Ronald C. Antweiler
2014, Open-File Report 2013-1299
The National Park Service is responsible for monitoring the effects of visitor use on the quality of water, lakebed material (bottom sediments), and biota, in Lake Powell, Utah and Arizona. A sampling program was begun in 2010 to assess the presence, distribution, and concentrations of organic and inorganic compounds in...
A geochemical perspective of Red Mountain: an unmined volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit in the Alaska Range
Stuart A. Giles, Robert G. Eppinger
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1037
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has investigated the environmental geochemistry of a group of unmined volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits in the Bonnifield mining district, Alaska Range, east-central Alaska. The spectacularly colored Red Mountain deposit is the best exposed of these and provides excellent baseline geochemical data for natural environmental...
The Pacific Islands Climate Science Center five-year science agenda, 2014-2018
David Helweg, Sarah A.B. Nash, Dan A. Polhemus
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1075
From the heights of Mauna Kea on Hawaiʻi Island to the depths of the Mariana Trench, from densely populated cities to sparse rural indigenous communities and uninhabited sandy atolls, the Pacific region encompasses diverse associations of peoples and places that are directly affected by changes to the atmosphere, ocean, and...
Geologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources: U.S. Gulf Coast
Tina L. Roberts-Ashby, Sean T. Brennan, Marc L. Buursink, Jacob A. Covault, William H. Craddock, Ronald M. Drake II, Matthew D. Merrill, Ernie R. Slucher, Peter D. Warwick, Madalyn S. Blondes, Mayur A. Gosai, P.A. Freeman, Steven M. Cahan, Christina A. DeVera, Celeste D. Lohr
Peter D. Warwick, M.D. Corum, editor(s)
2014, Open-File Report 2012-1024-H
This report presents 27 storage assessment units (SAUs) within the United States (U.S.) Gulf Coast. The U.S. Gulf Coast contains a regionally extensive, thick succession of clastics, carbonates, salts, and other evaporites that were deposited in a highly cyclic depositional environment that was subjected to a fluctuating siliciclastic sediment supply...
Spatial and stratigraphic distribution of water in oil shale of the Green River Formation using Fischer Assay, Piceance Basin, northwestern Colorado
Ronald C. Johnson, Tracey J. Mercier, Michael E. Brownfield
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1059
The spatial and stratigraphic distribution of water in oil shale of the Eocene Green River Formation in the Piceance Basin of northwestern Colorado was studied in detail using some 321,000 Fischer assay analyses in the U.S. Geological Survey oil-shale database. The oil-shale section was subdivided into 17 roughly time-stratigraphic intervals,...
Hydrogeology of the Old Faithful area, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, and its relevance to natural resources and infrastructure
Old Faithful Science Review Panel, Duncan Foley, Robert O. Fournier, Henry P. Heasler, Bern Hinckley, Steven E. Ingebritsen, Jacob B. Lowenstern, David D. Susong
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1058
A panel of leading experts (The Old Faithful Science Review Panel) was convened by Yellowstone National Park (YNP) to review and summarize the geological and hydrological understanding that can inform National Park Service management of the Upper Geyser Basin area. We give an overview of present geological and hydrological knowledge...
Laharz_py: GIS tools for automated mapping of lahar inundation hazard zones
Steve P. Schilling
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1073
Laharz_py is written in the Python programming language as a suite of tools for use in ArcMap Geographic Information System (GIS). Primarily, Laharz_py is a computational model that uses statistical descriptions of areas inundated by past mass-flow events to forecast areas likely to be inundated by hypothetical future events. The...
A brief test of the Hewlett-Packard MEMS seismic accelerometer
Brian D. Homeijer, Donald J. Milligan, Charles R. Hutt
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1047
Testing was performed on a prototype of Hewlett-Packard (HP) Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) seismic accelerometer at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory. This prototype was built using discrete electronic components. The self-noise level was measured during low seismic background conditions and found to be 9.8 ng/√Hz at periods below 0.2...
Geologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources: Denver Basin, Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska
Ronald M. Drake II, Sean T. Brennan, Jacob A. Covault, Madalyn S. Blondes, P.A. Freeman, Steven M. Cahan, Christina A. DeVera, Celeste D. Lohr
2014, Open-File Report 2012-1024-G
This is a report about the geologic characteristics of five storage assessment units (SAUs) within the Denver Basin of Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska. These SAUs are Cretaceous in age and include (1) the Plainview and Lytle Formations, (2) the Muddy Sandstone, (3) the Greenhorn Limestone, (4) the Niobrara Formation and...
Projecting climate effects on birds and reptiles of the Southwestern United States
Charles van Riper III, James R. Hatten, J. Tomasz Giermakowski, David Mattson, Jennifer A. Holmes, Matthew J. Johnson, Erika M. Nowak, Kirsten Ironside, Michael Peters, Paul Heinrich, K.L. Cole, C. Truettner, Cecil R. Schwalbe
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1050
We modeled the current and future breeding ranges of seven bird and five reptile species in the Southwestern United States with sets of landscape, biotic (plant), and climatic global circulation model (GCM) variables. For modeling purposes, we used PRISM data to characterize the climate of the Western United States between 1980...
Post-release behavior and movement patterns of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) after capture using alternative commercial fish gear, lower Columbia River, Washington and Oregon, 2013
Theresa L. Liedtke, Tobias J. Kock, Scott D. Evans, Gabriel S. Hansen, Dennis W. Rondorf
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1069
Commercial salmon Oncorhynchus spp. fishers traditionally have used gill nets, and more recently tangle nets, to capture adult salmon in the lower Columbia River, Washington and Oregon, but these gear types are not selective and can result in unintentional injury or death to non-target species, which is a problem when...
Noble gas isotopes in mineral springs within the Cascadia Forearc, Washington and Oregon
Patricia A. McCrory, James E. Constantz, Andrew G. Hunt
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1064
This U.S. Geological Survey report presents laboratory analyses along with field notes for a pilot study to document the relative abundance of noble gases in mineral springs within the Cascadia forearc of Washington and Oregon. Estimates of the depth to the underlying Juan de Fuca oceanic plate beneath the sample...
Distribution and extent of heavy metal accumulation in Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia), upper Santa Cruz River watershed, southern Arizona, 2011-12
Michael B. Lester, Charles van Riper III
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1072
Riparian ecosystems in arid environments provide critical habitat for breeding, migratory, and wintering birds, yet are often at risk of contamination by heavy metals. Birds and other animals living in contaminated areas are susceptible to adverse health effects as a result of long-term exposure and bioaccumulation of heavy metals. We...
Airborne geophysical surveys conducted in western Nebraska, 2010: contractor reports and data
U.S.Geological Survey Crustal Geophysical and Geochemical Science Center
2014, Open-File Report 2013-1268
This report contains three contractor reports and data files for an airborne electromagnetic survey flown from June 28 to July 7, 2010. The first report; “SkyTEM Survey: Nebraska, USA, Data” describes data aquisition and processing from a time-domain electromagnetic and magnetic survey performed by SkyTEM Canada, Inc. (the North American...
Soils, vegetation, and woody debris data from the 2001 Survey Line fire and a comparable unburned site, Tanana Flats region, Alaska
Kristen L. Manies, Jennifer W. Harden, Teresa N. Holingsworth
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1049
This report describes the collection and processing methodologies for samples obtained at two sites within Interior Alaska: (1) a location within the 2001 Survey Line burn, and (2) an unburned location, selected as a control. In 2002 and 2004 U.S. Geological Survey investigators measured soil properties including, but not limited...
Measurements of slope currents and internal tides on the Continental Shelf and slope off Newport Beach, California
Kurt J. Rosenberger, Marlene A. Noble, Benjamin Norris
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1041
An array of seven moorings housing current meters and oceanographic sensors was deployed for 6 months at 5 sites on the Continental Shelf and slope off Newport Beach, California, from July 2011 to January 2012. Full water-column profiles of currents were acquired at all five sites, and a profile of...
High-resolution geophysical data collected aboard the U.S. Geological Survey research vessel Rafael to supplement existing datasets from Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound, Massachusetts
Elizabeth A. Pendleton, Brian D. Andrews, William W. Danforth, David S. Foster
2014, Open-File Report 2013-1020
Geophysical and geospatial data were collected in Buzzards Bay, in the shallow-water areas of Vineyard Sound, and in the nearshore areas off the eastern Elizabeth Islands and northern coast of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, on the U.S. Geological Survey research vessel Rafael between 2007 and 2011, in a collaborative effort between...
