Coalbed natural gas exploration, drilling activities, and geologic test results, 2007-2010
Arthur C. Clark
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1004
The U.S. Geological Survey, in partnership with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the North Slope Borough, and the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation conducted a four-year study designed to identify, define, and delineate a shallow coalbed natural gas (CBNG) resource with the potential to provide locally produced, affordable power to...
Preliminary interpretation of pre-2014 landslide deposits in the vicinity of Oso, Washington
Ralph A. Haugerud
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1065
High-resolution topographic surveys allow fairly precise mapping of landslide deposits and their relative ages. Relative ages are determined by cross-cutting relations and the amount of smoothing—more smoothed slide deposits are older—of these deposits. The Tulalip Tribes, in partnership with the Puget Sound Lidar Consortium, acquired a high-resolution lidar (light detection...
Hydrologic Drought Decision Support System (HyDroDSS)
Gregory E. Granato
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1003
The hydrologic drought decision support system (HyDroDSS) was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Rhode Island Water Resources Board (RIWRB) for use in the analysis of hydrologic variables that may indicate the risk for streamflows to be below user-defined flow targets at a designated site...
Monitoring fine-sediment volume in the Colorado River ecosystem, Arizona: construction and analysis of digital elevation models
Matt Kaplinski, Joseph E. Hazel Jr., Paul E. Grams, Philip A. Davis
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1052
Digital elevation models (DEMs) of eleven 2–5 kilometer reaches of the Colorado River ecosystem (CRE) in Grand Canyon were constructed from repeat bathymetric and topographic surveys collected between August 2000 and December 2004. The DEMs will be used by researchers to study the effects of Glen Canyon Dam (GCD) operations...
The 1946 Unimak Tsunami Earthquake Area: revised tectonic structure in reprocessed seismic images and a suspect near field tsunami source
John J. Miller, Roland E. von Huene, Holly F. Ryan
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1024
In 1946 at Unimak Pass, Alaska, a tsunami destroyed the lighthouse at Scotch Cap, Unimak Island, took 159 lives on the Hawaiian Islands, damaged island coastal facilities across the south Pacific, and destroyed a hut in Antarctica. The tsunami magnitude of 9.3 is comparable to the magnitude 9.1 tsunami that...
Petrophysical properties, mineralogy, fractures, and flow tests in 25 deep boreholes at Yucca Mountain, Nevada
Philip H. Nelson, Joyce E. Kibler
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1023
As part of a site investigation for the disposal of radioactive waste, numerous boreholes were drilled into a sequence of Miocene pyroclastic flows and related deposits at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. This report contains displays of data from 25 boreholes drilled during 1979–1984, relatively early in the site investigation program. Geophysical...
Magnetic and gravity studies of Mono Lake, east-central, California
Noah D. Athens, David A. Ponce, Angela S. Jayko, Matt Miller, Bobby McEvoy, Mae Marcaida, Margaret T. Mangan, Stuart K. Wilkinson, James S. McClain, Bruce A. Chuchel, Kevin M. Denton
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1043
From August 26 to September 5, 2011, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collected more than 600 line-kilometers of shipborne magnetic data on Mono Lake, 20 line-kilometers of ground magnetic data on Paoha Island, 50 gravity stations on Paoha and Negit Islands, and 28 rock samples on Paoha and Negit Islands,...
Analysis of pharmaceutical and other organic wastewater compounds in filtered and unfiltered water samples by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry
Steven D. Zaugg, Patrick J. Phillips, Steven G. Smith
2014, Open-File Report 2013-1297
Research on the effects of exposure of stream biota to complex mixtures of pharmaceuticals and other organic compounds associated with wastewater requires the development of additional analytical capabilities for these compounds in water samples. Two gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analytical methods used at the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality...
Water-quality, bed-sediment, and biological data (October 2011 through September 2012) and statistical summaries of data for streams in the Clark Fork Basin, Montana
Kent A. Dodge, Michelle I. Hornberger, Jessica Dyke
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1034
Water, bed sediment, and biota were sampled in streams from Butte to near Missoula, Montana, as part of a monitoring program in the upper Clark Fork Basin of western Montana. The sampling program was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to characterize...
Summary and abstracts of the Planetary Data Workshop, June 2012
Lisa R. Gaddis, Trent M. Hare, Ross Beyer
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1056
The recent boom in the volume of digital data returned by international planetary science missions continues to both delight and confound users of those data. In just the past decade, the Planetary Data System (PDS), NASA’s official archive of scientific results from U.S. planetary missions, has seen a nearly 50-fold...
Evaluation of coral pathogen growth rates after exposure to atmospheric African dust samples
John T. Lisle, Virginia H. Garrison, Michael A. Gray
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1017
Laboratory experiments were conducted to assess if exposure to atmospheric African dust stimulates or inhibits the growth of four putative bacterial coral pathogens. Atmospheric dust was collected from a dust-source region (Mali, West Africa) and from Saharan Air Layer masses over downwind sites in the Caribbean [Trinidad and Tobago and...
Progress report: baseline monitoring of indicator species (butterflies) at tallgrass prairie restorations
Larry Allain, Malcolm Vidrine
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1044
This project provides baseline data of butterfly populations at two coastal prairie restoration sites in Louisiana, the Duralde Unit of Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge (hereafter, the Duralde site) and the Cajun Prairie Restoration Project in Eunice (hereafter, the Eunice site). In all, four distinct habitat types representing different planting methods...
Mercury in fishes from 21 national parks in the Western United States: inter- and intra-park variation in concentrations and ecological risk
Collin A. Eagles-Smith, James J. Willacker, Colleen M. Flanagan Pritz
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1051
Mercury (Hg) is a global contaminant and human activities have increased atmospheric Hg concentrations 3- to 5-fold during the past 150 years. This increased release into the atmosphere has resulted in elevated loadings to aquatic habitats where biogeochemical processes promote the microbial conversion of inorganic Hg to methylmercury, the bioavailable...
Sea-floor geology in northwestern Block Island Sound, Rhode Island
Katherine Y. McMullen, Lawrence J. Poppe, Seth D. Ackerman, Dann S. Blackwood, D.A. Woods
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1018
Multibeam-echosounder and sidescan-sonar data, collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in a 69-square-kilometer area of northwestern Block Island Sound, are used with sediment samples, and still and video photography of the sea floor, collected by the U.S. Geological Survey at 43 stations within this area, to interpret the...
Combined multibeam and bathymetry data from Rhode Island Sound and Block Island Sound: a regional perspective
Lawrence J. Poppe, Katherine Y. McMullen, William W. Danforth, Mark R. Blankenship, Andrew R. Clos, Kimberly A. Glomb, Peter G. Lewit, Megan A. Nadeau, Douglas A. Wood, Castleton E. Parker
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1012
Detailed bathymetric maps of the sea floor in Rhode Island and Block Island Sounds are of great interest to the New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts research and management communities because of this area's ecological, recreational, and commercial importance. Geologically interpreted digital terrain models from individual surveys provide important benthic...
Soil compaction vulnerability at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona
Robert H. Webb, Kenneth E. Nussear, Shinji Carmichael, Todd C. Esque
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1048
Compaction vulnerability of different types of soils by hikers and vehicles is poorly known, particularly for soils of arid and semiarid regions. Engineering analyses have long shown that poorly sorted soils (for example, sandy loams) compact to high densities, whereas well-sorted soils (for example, eolian sand) do not compact, and...
Passage and survival probabilities of juvenile Chinook salmon at Cougar Dam, Oregon, 2012
John W. Beeman, Scott D. Evans, Philip V. Haner, Hal C. Hansel, Amy C. Hansen, Collin D. Smith, Jamie M. Sprando
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1038
This report describes studies of juvenile-salmon dam passage and apparent survival at Cougar Dam, Oregon, during two operating conditions in 2012. Cougar Dam is a 158-meter tall rock-fill dam used primarily for flood control, and passes water through a temperature control tower to either a powerhouse penstock or to a...
Contaminants of emerging concern in the lower Stillaguamish River Basin, Washington, 2008-11
Richard J. Wagner, Patrick W. Moran, Steven D. Zaugg, Jennifer M. Sevigny, Judy M. Pope
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1028
A series of discrete water-quality samples were collected in the lower Stillaguamish River Basin near the city of Arlington, Washington, through a partnership with the Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians. These samples included surface waters of the Stillaguamish River, adjacent tributary streams, and paired inflow and outflow sampling at three wastewater...
Evaluation of juvenile salmonid behavior near a prototype weir box at Cowlitz Falls Dam, Washington, 2013
Tobias J. Kock, Theresa L. Liedtke, Brian K. Ekstrom, Ryan G. Tomka, Dennis W. Rondorf
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1042
Collection of juvenile salmonids at Cowlitz Falls Dam is a critical part of the effort to restore salmon in the upper Cowlitz River because the majority of fish that are not collected at the dam pass downstream and enter a large reservoir where they become landlocked and lost to the...
Monitoring of wild fish health at selected sites in the Great Lakes Basin: methods and preliminary results
Vicki Blazer, Patricia M. Mazik, Luke R. Iwanowicz, Ryan Braham, Cassidy Hahn, Heather L. Walsh, Adam Sperry
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1027
During fall 2010 and spring 2011, a total of 119 brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus), 136 white sucker (Catostomus commersoni), 73 smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu), and 59 largemouth bass (M. salmoides) were collected from seven Great Lakes Basin Areas of Concern and one Reference Site. Comprehensive fish health assessments were conducted...
2013 update on sea otter studies to assess recovery from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, Prince William Sound, Alaska
Brenda E. Ballachey, Daniel H. Monson, George G. Esslinger, Kimberly A. Kloecker, James L. Bodkin, Lizabeth Bowen, A. Keith Miles
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1030
On March 24, 1989, the tanker vessel Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spilling an estimated 42 million liters of Prudhoe Bay crude oil. Oil spread in a southwesterly direction and was deposited on shores and waters in western Prince William Sound (WPWS). The sea otter (Enhydra...
Logs and data from trenches across the Berryessa Fault at the Jerd Creek site, northeastern Napa County, California, 2011-2012
James J. Lienkaemper, Carla M. Rosa, Ian J. Cappelle, Evan M. Wolf, Nichole E. Knepprath, Lucille A. Piety, Sarah A. Derouin, Liam M. Reidy, Joanna L. Redwine, Robert R. Sickler
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1033
The primary purpose of this report is to provide drafted field logs of exploratory trenches excavated across the Berryessa Fault section of the northern Green Valley Fault (Lienkaemper, 2012; Lienkaemper and others, 2013) in 2011 and 2012 that show evidence for at least one surface-rupturing earthquake in the past few...
Precipitation variability of the Grand Canyon region, 1893 through 2009, and its implications for studying effects of gullying of Holocene terraces and associated archeological sites in Grand Canyon, Arizona
Richard Hereford, Glenn E. Bennett, Helen C. Fairley
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1006
A daily precipitation dataset covering a large part of the American Southwest was compiled for online electronic distribution (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2014/1006/). The dataset contains 10.8 million observations spanning January 1893 through January 2009 from 846 weather stations in six states and 13 climate divisions. In addition to processing the data...
Photomosaics and event evidence from the Frazier Mountain paleoseismic site, trench 1, cuts 1–4, San Andreas Fault Zone, southern California (2007–2009)
Katherine M. Scharer, Tom E. Fumal, Ray J. Weldon II, Ashley R. Streig
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1002
The Frazier Mountain paleoseismic site is located at the northwest end of the Mojave section of the San Andreas Fault, in a small, closed depression at the base of Frazier Mountain near Tejon Pass, California (lat 34.8122° N., long 118.9034° W.). The site was known to contain a good record...
Groundwater quality at Alabama Plating and Vincent Spring, Vincent, Alabama, 2007–2008
Mike Bradley, Amy C. Gill
2014, Open-File Report 2013-1298
The former Alabama Plating site in Vincent, Alabama, includes the location where the Alabama Plating Company operated an electroplating facility from 1956 until 1986. The operation of the facility generated waste containing cyanide, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, zinc, and other heavy metals. Contamination resulting from the site operations was...
