A snapshot of women of the U.S. Geological Survey in STEM and related careers
Susan C. Aragon-Long, Virginia R. Burkett, Holly S. Weyers, Susan M. Haig, Marjorie S. Davenport, Kelly L. Warner
2018, Circular 1443
IntroductionThe term “STEM” has been used to group together the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and to describe education and professions related to these fields. The professional fields connected to STEM education are thought of as engineering, medicine, and computer technology. Yet these professional fields are merely the...
What goes up must come down: Integrating air and water quality monitoring for nutrients
Helen M Amos, Chelcy Miniat, Jason A. Lynch, Jana Compton, Pamela H. Templer, Lori A. Sprague, Denice M Shaw, Douglas A. Burns, Anne Rea, Dave Whitall, LaToya Myles, David A. Gay, Mark A. Nilles, John W. Walker, Anita K Rose, Jerad Bales, Jeffrey R. Deacon, Rich Pouyet
2018, Environmental Science and Technology (52) 11441-11448
Excess nitrogen and phosphorus (“nutrients”) loadings continue to affect ecosystem function and human health across the U.S. Our ability to connect atmospheric inputs of nutrients to aquatic end points remains limited due to uncoupled air and water quality monitoring. Where connections...
Submarine deposition of a subaerial landslide in Taan Fiord, Alaska
Peter J. Haeussler, S. P. S Gulick, N. McCall, Maureen A. L. Walton, R. Reece, C. Larson, D. H. Shugar, M. Geertsema, J. G. Venditti, Keith A. Labay
2018, Journal of Geophysical Research (123) 2443-2463
A large subaerial landslide entered Taan Fiord, Alaska, on 17 October 2015 producing a tsunami with runup to 193 m. We use LiDAR data to show the slide volume to be 76 + 3/−4 million cubic meters and that 51,000,000 m3 entered Taan Fiord. In 2016, we mapped the fjord with multibeam bathymetry and high‐resolution...
Evaluating airsoft electric guns for control of invasive brown treesnakes
Adam J Knox, Bjorn Lardner, Amy Yackel, Robert Reed
2018, Wildlife Society Bulletin (42) 534-539
Firearms are often used in lethal control of invasive vertebrates, but safety and regulatory aspects limit the circumstances under which they can be used. During August 2016 at the Brown Treesnake Project laboratory on Guam, we evaluated hobby‐grade Airsoft Electric Guns (AEGs)—a lower powered, less‐hazardous, and...
A digital elevation model for simulating the 1945 Makran tsunami in Karachi Harbour
Haider Hasan, Brian F. Atwater, Shoaib Ahmed
2018, Geoscience Letters (5)
The digital elevation model documented here provides a tool for calibrating tsunami models to effects of the 1945 Makran tsunami that were observed in Karachi Harbour. The DEM bathymetry is derived from soundings made mainly during the first 8 years post-tsunami. While deficient in its portrayal of...
Tradeoffs of a portable, field-based environmental DNA platform for detecting invasive northern pike (Esox lucius) in Alaska
Adam J. Sepulveda, Patrick R. Hutchins, Robert L. Massengill, Kristine J. Dunker
2018, Management of Biological Invasions (9) 253-258
Environmental DNA (eDNA) has improved detection probabilities of aquatic invasive species but lab-based analyticalplatforms for eDNA analyses slow opportunities for rapid response. Effective approaches that address this analyticalbottleneck and improve capacity for rapid response are urgently needed. We tested the sensitivity of a portable, field-basedeDNA platform relative to widely used...
A bioenergetics evaluation of temperature‐dependent selection for the spawning phenology by Snake River fall Chinook salmon
John M. Plumb
2018, Ecology and Evolution (62) 351-354
High water temperatures can increase the energetic cost for salmon to migrate and spawn, which can be important for Snake River fall‐run Chinook salmon because they migrate great distances (>500 km) at a time when river temperatures (18–24°C) can be above their optimum temperatures (16.5°C). Average river temperatures and random combinations...
Survey-based assessment of the frequency and potential impacts of recreation on polar bears
Karyn D. Rode, Jennifer K. Fortin, Dave Garshelis, Markus Dyck, Vicki Sahanatien, Todd C. Atwood, Stanislav Belikov, Kristin L. Laidre, Susanne Miller, Martyn E. Obbard, Dag Vongraven, Jasmine V. Ware, James Wilder
2018, Biological Conservation (227) 121-132
Conservation plans for polar bears (Ursus maritimus) typically cannot prescribe management actions to address their primary threat: sea ice loss associated with climate warming. However, there may be other stressors that compound the negative effects of sea ice loss which can be mitigated. For example, Arctic tourism has increased concurrent with polar bears increasingly...
Developing hydro-meteorological thresholds for shallow landslide initiation and early warning
Benjamin B. Mirus, Michael D. Morphew, Joel B. Smith
2018, Water (10) 1-19
Consistent relations between shallow landslide initiation and associated rainfall characteristics remain difficult to identify, due largely to the complex hydrological and geological processes causing slopes to be predisposed to failure and those processes that subsequently trigger failures. Considering the importance of hillslope hydrology for rainfall-induced landsliding, we develop and test...
Decadal topographic change in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica: Thermokarst subsidence, glacier thinning, and transfer of water storage from the cryosphere to the hydrosphere
J.S. Levy, A.G. Fountain, Maciej Obryk, J. Telling, C. Glennie, R. Pettersson, M. Gooseff, D.J. van Horn
2018, Geomorphology (323) 80-97
Recent local-scale observations of glaciers, streams, and soil surfaces in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica (MDV) have documented evidence for rapid ice loss, glacial thinning, and ground surface subsidence associated with melting of ground ice. To evaluate the extent, magnitude, and location of decadal-scale landscape change in the MDV, we collected airborne lidar elevation data in...
Hydrologic conditions in Kansas, water year 2017
Bradley S. Lukasz
2018, Fact Sheet 2018-3060
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Federal, State, and local agencies, maintains a long-term network of hydrologic monitoring stations in Kansas. These data and associated analyses provide a unique overview of the hydrologic conditions and help improve the understanding of Kansas’ water resources. Yearly assessments of hydrologic conditions are...
Holocene fault reactivation in the eastern Cascades, Washington
Benjamin L. Carlson, Elizabeth R. Schermer, Colin B. Amos, William J. Stephenson, Brian Sherrod, Shannon A. Mahan
2018, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (108) 2614-2633
Significant uncertainty remains concerning how and where crustal shortening occurs throughout the eastern Cascade Range in Washington State. Using light detection and ranging (lidar) imagery, we identified an ∼5‐km‐long">∼5‐km‐long lineament in Swakane canyon near Wenatchee, roughly coincident...
Lessons from Mexico’s earthquake early warning system
Richard M. Allen, Elizabeth S. Cochran, Thomas J. Huggins, Scott Miles, Diego Otegui
2018, Eos, Earth and Space Science News (99)
The devastating 2017 Puebla quake provides an opportunity to assess how citizens perceive and use the Mexico City earthquake early warning system....
A database of natural monthly streamflow estimates from 1950 to 2015 for the conterminous United States
Matthew P. Miller, Daren M. Carlisle, David M. Wolock, Michael Wieczorek
2018, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (54) 1258-1269
Quantifying and understanding the natural streamflow regime, defined as expected streamflow that would occur in the absence of anthropogenic modification to the hydrologic system, is critically important for the development of management strategies aimed at protecting aquatic ecosystems. Water balance models have been applied frequently to estimate natural flows, but...
Identifying physics‐based thresholds for rainfall‐induced landsliding
Matthew A. Thomas, Benjamin B. Mirus, Brian D. Collins
2018, Geophysical Research Letters (45) 9651-9661
Most regional landslide warning systems utilize empirically derived rainfall thresholds that are difficult to improve without recalibration to additional landslide events. To address this limitation, we explored the use of synthetic rainfall to generate thousands of possible storm patterns and coupled them with a physics‐based hydrology and slope stability model...
Rhizophagy cycle: An oxidative process in plants for nutrient extraction from symbiotic microbes
James F. White, Kathryn L. Kingsley, Satish Kumar Verma, Kurt P. Kowalski
2018, Microorganisms (6) 1-20
In this paper, we describe a mechanism for the transfer of nutrients from symbiotic microbes (bacteria and fungi) to host plant roots that we term the ‘rhizophagy cycle.’ In the rhizophagy cycle, microbes alternate between a root intracellular endophytic phase and a free-living soil phase. Microbes acquire soil nutrients in...
Mapping the relationships between trail conditions and experiential elements of long-distance hiking
Brian A. Peterson, Matthew T.J. Brownlee, Jeffrey L. Marion
2018, Landscape and Urban Planning (180) 60-75
Trail users that experience acceptable social and ecological conditions are more likely to act as trail stewards, exhibit proper trail etiquette, and use low-impact practices. However, the relationships between specific trail conditions and experiential elements of long-distance hiking are not well understood. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to...
Science for a risky world—A U.S. Geological Survey plan for risk research and applications
K. A. Ludwig, David W. Ramsey, Nathan J. Wood, A.B. Pennaz, Jonathan W. Godt, Nathaniel G. Plant, Nico Luco, Todd A. Koenig, Kenneth W. Hudnut, Donyelle K. Davis, Patricia R. Bright
2018, Circular 1444
Executive SummaryNatural hazards—including earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, landslides, hurricanes, droughts, floods, wildfires, geomagnetic storms, and pandemics—can wreak havoc on human communities, the economy, and natural resources for years following an initial event. Hazards can claim lives and cause billions of dollars in damage to homes and infrastructure as well...
Continuous stream discharge, salinity, and associated data collected in the lower St. Johns River and its tributaries, Florida, 2016
Patrick J. Ryan
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1108
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, plans to deepen the St. Johns River channel in Jacksonville, Florida, from 40 to 47 feet along 13 miles of the river channel, beginning at the mouth of the river at the Atlantic Ocean, to accommodate larger, fully loaded cargo vessels. The...
Integrated diet analyses reveal contrasting trophic niches for wild and hatchery juvenile Chinook Salmon in a large river delta
Melanie J. Davis, Isa Woo, Christopher S. Ellings, Sayre Hodgson, David A. Beauchamp, Glynnis Nakai, Susan E.W. De La Cruz
2018, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (147) 818-841
Hatchery programs have been used as a conservation tool to bolster declining populations of Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha along much of the North American Pacific coast. In many watersheds, hatchery stocks are released concurrently with the wild population, thus raising the potential for density‐dependent effects. Competition for prey resources during the critical...
Inferring watershed hydraulics and cold-water habitat persistence using multi-year air and stream temperature signals
Martin A. Briggs, Zachary C. Johnson, Craig D. Snyder, Nathaniel P. Hitt, Barret L. Kurylyk, Laura K. Lautz, Dylan J. Irvine, Stephen T. Hurley, John W. Lane Jr.
2018, Science of the Total Environment (636) 1117-1127
Streams strongly influenced by groundwater discharge may serve as “climate refugia” for sensitive species in regions of increasingly marginal thermal conditions. The main goal of this study is to develop paired air and stream water annual temperature signal analysis techniques to elucidate the relative groundwater contribution to stream water and...
Mercury and lead exposure in avian scavengers from the Pacific Northwest suggest risks to California condors: Implications for reintroduction and recovery
Garth Herring, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Daniel E. Varland
2018, Environmental Pollution (243) 610-619
Mercury (Hg) and lead (Pb) are widespread contaminants that pose risks to avian scavengers. In fact, Pb exposure is the primary factor limiting population recovery in the endangered California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) and Hg can impair avian reproduction at environmentally relevant exposures. The Pacific Northwest region of the US was historically part...
Weathering of oil in a surficial aquifer
Mary Jo Baedecker, Robert P. Eganhouse, Haiping Qi, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Jared J. Trost, Barbara A. Bekins
2018, Groundwater (56) 797-809
The composition of crude oil in a surficial aquifer was determined in two locations at the Bemidji, MN, spill site. The abundances of 71 individual hydrocarbons varied within 16 locations sampled. Little depletion of these hydrocarbons (relative to the pipeline oil) occurred in the first 10 years after the spill,...
Incorporating teleseismic tomography data into models of upper mantle slab geometry
Daniel E. Portner, Gavin P. Hayes
2018, Geophysical Journal International (215) 325-332
Earthquake-based models of slab geometry are limited by the distribution of earthquakes within a subducting slab, which is often heterogeneous. The fast seismic velocity signature of slabs in tomography studies is independent of the distribution of earthquakes within the slab, providing a critical constraint on slab geometry when earthquakes are...
Microbial community composition of a hydrocarbon reservoir 40 years after a CO2 enhanced oil recovery flood
Jenna L. Shelton, Robert S. Andrews, Denise M. Akob, Christina A. DeVera, Adam C. Mumford, John E. McCray, Jennifer C. McIntosh
2018, FEMS Microbiology Ecology (94) 1-11
Injecting CO2 into depleted oil reservoirs to extract additional crude oil is a common enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) technique. However, little is known about how in situ microbial communities may be impacted by CO2 flooding, or if any permanent microbiological changes occur after flooding has ceased. Formation water was collected from an oil field...
