Grassland bird and butterfly responses to Sericea lespedeza control via late-season grazing pressure
Sarah Ogden, David A. Haukos, K. C. Olson, Jack Lemmon, Jonathan Alexander, Garth A. Gatson
2019, American Midland Naturalist (181) 147-169
Sericea lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata) is a high-tannin, late-season invasive forb species that reduces biodiversity in tallgrass prairie ecosystems. The largest tallgrass prairie remnant exists in the Flint Hills of Kansas and Oklahoma, where the most common grazing management practice involves prescribed fire in early spring followed by intensive stocking with...
Strike-slip fault interactions at Ivanpah Valley, California and Nevada
David M. Miller, Victoria E. Langenheim, Kevin Denton, David A. Ponce
2019, Conference Paper
Ivanpah Valley is flanked by high mountain ranges, and represents one of the most imposing valleys of the eastern Mojave Desert. Its sinuous shape implies a complex origin as does the fact that it is not bordered by prominent range-front normal faults like valleys of the Basin and Range Province....
Movements of immature bald eagles: Implications for bird aircraft strike hazard
Tricia A. Miller, Jeff L Cooper, Adam E. Duerr, Melissa A. Braham, James T. Anderson, Todd E. Katzner
2019, Journal of Wildlife Management (83) 879-892
Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) aircraft strikes have increased dramatically over the last 20 years as their populations have recovered to near historic sizes. Their attraction to airfields and their large body size makes them a danger to aircraft and therefore important to airfield wildlife managers. However, their management is complicated...
Evaluation of ground motion models for USGS seismic hazard forecasts: Induced and tectonic earthquakes in the Central and Eastern U.S.
Daniel E. McNamara, Mark D. Petersen, Eric M. Thompson, Peter M. Powers, Allison M. Shumway, Susan M. Hoover, Morgan P. Moschetti, Emily Wolin
2019, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (109) 322-335
Ground motion model (GMM) selection and weighting introduces a significant source of uncertainty in United States Geological Survey (USGS) seismic hazard models. The increase in moderate moment magnitude induced earthquakes (Mw 4 to 5.8) in Oklahoma and Kansas since 2009, due to increased wastewater injection related to oil and...
Distributed fault slip in the eastern California shear zone: Adding pieces to the puzzle near Barstow, California
Elizabeth K. Haddon, David M. Miller, Victoria Langenheim, Shannon A. Mahan
2019, Conference Paper, Exploring the ends of eras in the eastern Mojave Desert: 2019 Desert symposium field guide and proceedings
We investigate the dextral Lockhart and Mt. General faults, which are among four active structures in the northwestern portion of the eastern California shear zone (ECSZ). Early mapping depicts the Lockhart and Mt. General faults as discontinuous fault traces that continue northwest of the Lenwood Fault. Recent work indicates that...
Estimated 2016 groundwater level and drawdown from predevelopment to 2016 in the Santa Fe Group Aquifer System in the Albuquerque Area, Central New Mexico
Amy E. Galanter, Lucas T.S. Curry
2019, Scientific Investigations Map 3433
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (ABCWUA), has developed a series of maps and associated reports to document changes in the groundwater level in the production zone of the Santa Fe Group aquifer system in the Albuquerque, New Mexico, area. The current...
The Appalachian Geo-STEM Camp: Learning about geology through experiential adventure recreation
Robert Burns, Mark W. Carter, John Brock, Jonas Leveque, Emily Bunse, Monica Palaseanu-Lovejoy, Gerald F. Guala, Nathan Harlan, Mitchel Blake, Jasmine Moreira, Jim Britton, Kenny Ashton, Barnes Nugent, Michael Marketti
2019, Professional Geologist (56) 27-31
The inaugural Appalachian Geo-STEM Camp (AGC) was a partnership between West Virginia University (WVU), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey (WVGES). Designed to engage high school students in geoscience-oriented Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) activities through adventure-based outdoor recreation, the inaugural...
Overview of future USGS Gulf of Mexico buoyant storage assessment project
Sean T. Brennan
2019, Conference Paper
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is a member of a U.S. Department of Energy-funded partnership headed by the University of Texas Bureau of Economic Geology that is working to assess the feasibility of offshore geologic carbon dioxide (CO2) storage in the Gulf of Mexico. The role of the...
Erosion monitoring along selected bank locations of the Coosa River in Alabama using terrestrial light detection and ranging (T–lidar) technology, 2014–17
Richard J. Huizinga, Daniel M. Wagner
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5023
The Alabama Power Company operates a series of dams on the Coosa River in east central Alabama. Seven dams impound the river to form six reservoirs: Weiss Lake, H Neely Henry Lake, Logan Martin Lake, Lay Lake, Lake Mitchell, and Lake Jordan. Streamflow below these reservoirs is primarily controlled by...
Streamflow Gain and Loss, Hydrograph Separation, and Water Quality of Abandoned Mine Lands in the Daniel Boone National Forest, Eastern Kentucky, 2015–17
Mac A. Cherry
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5006
During 2015–17, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service (Forest Service), carried out a study to characterize the hydrology and water chemistry in two study areas within the Daniel Boone National Forest. One study area was within the Rock Creek drainage and the...
Geochemical and mineralogical maps, with interpretation, for soils of the conterminous United States
David B. Smith, Federico Solano, Laurel G. Woodruff, William F. Cannon, Karl J. Ellefsen
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5118
Between 2007 and 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted a low-density (1 site per 1,600 square kilometers, 4,857 sites) geochemical and mineralogical survey of soils in the conterminous United States. The sampling protocol for the national-scale survey included, at each site, a sample from a depth of 0 to 5...
Geochemistry and mineralogy of soils collected in the lower Rio Grande valley, Texas
Helen A. Whitney, Federico Solano, Bernard E. Hubbard
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1010
Presented in this report are the chemical and mineralogical results of a soil study conducted in the lower Rio Grande valley, Texas. Samples were collected from soils formed on Holocene alluvial flood-plain and distributary channel deposits of the Rio Grande, flood plain and meander-belt deposits of the Pliocene Goliad...
Calibration of Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) to simulate prefire and postfire hydrologic response in the upper Rio Hondo Basin, New Mexico
Kyle R. Douglas-Mankin, C. David Moeser
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5022
The Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) is widely used to simulate the effects of climate, topography, land cover, and soils on landscape-level hydrologic responses and streamflow. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, developed procedures to apply the PRMS model...
Efficacy of eDNA as an early detection indicator for Burmese pythons in the ARM Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in the Greater Everglades Ecosystem
Margaret Hunter, Gaia Meigs-Friend, Jason Ferrante, Brian Smith, Kristen Hart
2019, Ecological Indicators (102) 617-622
Environmental DNA (eDNA) detection of invasive species can be used to delimited occupied ranges and estimate probabilities to inform management decisions. Environmental DNA is shed into the environment through skin cells and bodily fluids and can be detected in water samples collected from lakes, rivers, and swamps. In south Florida,...
Fault slip associated with the 2 September 2017 M 5.3 Sulphur Peak, Idaho, earthquake and aftershock sequence
Frederick Pollitz, Charles Wicks, William L. Yeck, James E. Evans
2019, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (109) 875-887
The 2 September 2017 M 5.3 Sulphur Peak, Idaho, earthquake is one of the largest earthquakes in southern Idaho since the 1983 M 6.9 Borah Peak earthquake. It was followed by a vigorous aftershock sequence for nearly two weeks that included five events above M 4.5. The coseismic and early postseismic deformation was...
Ordovician Point Pleasant/Utica-Lower Paleozoic Total Petroleum System—Revisions to the Utica-Lower Paleozoic Total Petroleum System in the Appalachian Basin Province
Catherine B. Enomoto, Michael H. Trippi, Debra K. Higley
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5025
Hydrocarbon reserves and technically recoverable undiscovered resources in continuous accumulations are present in Upper Ordovician strata in the Appalachian Basin Province. The province includes parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. The Upper Ordovician strata are part of the previously defined Utica-Lower...
Evolution of the Arctic Alaska Sedimentary Basin
David W. Houseknecht
2019, Book chapter, Sedimentary Basins of the United States and Canada
The Arctic Alaska basin occupies the eastern part of the Arctic Alaska – Chukotka microplate, which rifted from the Canadian Arctic margin during opening of the Canada Basin. Stratigraphy comprises four tectonostratigraphic sequences. (1) The Devonian and older Franklinian sequence consists of sedimentary and metasedimentary rocks deposited on the Arctic...
Drinking water health standards comparison and chemical analysis of groundwater for 72 domestic wells in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, 2016
John W. Clune, Charles A. Cravotta III
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5170
Pennsylvania has the second highest number of residential wells of any state in the Nation with approximately 2.4 million residents that depend on groundwater for their domestic water supply. Despite the widespread reliance on groundwater in rural areas of the state, publicly available data to characterize the quality of private...
Use of a Numerical Model to Simulate the Hydrologic System and Transport of Contaminants Near Joint Base Cape Cod, Western Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Donald A. Walter, Timothy D. McCobb, Michael N. Fienen
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5139
Historical training and operational activities at Joint Base Cape Cod (JBCC) on western Cape Cod, Massachusetts, have resulted in the release of contaminants into an underlying glacial aquifer that is the sole source of water to the surrounding communities. Remedial systems have been installed to contain and remove contamination from...
Birth and evolution of the Virgin River fluvial system: ∼1 km of post–5 Ma uplift of the western Colorado Plateau
Cory Walk, Karl Karlstrom, Ryan S. Crow, Matt Heizler
2019, Geosphere (15) 759-782
The uplift history of the Colorado Plateau has been debated for over a century with still no unified hypotheses for the cause, timing, and rate of uplift. 40Ar/39Ar and K/Ar dating of recurrent basaltic volcanism over the past ∼6 Ma within the Virgin River drainage system, southwest Utah, northwest Arizona, and...
Carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery and residual oil zone studies at the U.S. Geological Survey
Peter D. Warwick, Emil D. Attanasi, Madalyn S. Blondes, Sean T. Brennan, Marc L. Buursink, Colin A. Doolan, Philip A. Freeman, Hossein Jahediesfanjani, C. Ozgen Karacan, Celeste D. Lohr, Matthew D. Merrill, Ricardo A. Olea, Jacqueline N. Roueche, Jenna L. Shelton, Ernie Slucher, Brian A. Varela, Mahendra K. Verma
2019, Conference Paper
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is preparing a national resource assessment of the potential hydrocarbons recoverable after injection of carbon dioxide (CO2) into conventional oil reservoirs in the United States. The implementation of CO2-enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) techniques can increase hydrocarbon production, and lead to incidental retention of CO2 in...
Eastern Carpenter Bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae): Nest structure, nest cell provisions, and trap nest acceptance in Rhode Island
Sara K Tucker, Howard S. Ginsberg, Steven R. Alm
2019, Environmental Entomology (48) 702-710
Analysis of pollen provisions in Xylocopa virginica (L.) nests in southern Rhode Island showed that this species produced pollen loaves from 21 different genera of plants in 2016, 19 in 2017, and 39 in 2018. Antirrhinium majus L. (garden snapdragon) pollen was the most common type collected in all three years (21.4%). Overall, wind-pollinated...
Stratigraphic and structural relations in trench exposures and geomorphology at the Big Burn, Lily Lake, and Lester Ranch sites, Bear River Fault Zone, Utah and Wyoming
Suzanne Hecker, Christopher B. DuRoss, David P. Schwartz, Francesca R. Cinti, Riccardo Civico, William R. Lund, Adam I. Hiscock, Michael W. West, Tarka Wilcox, Alivia R. Stoller
2019, Scientific Investigations Map 3430
This report provides trench photomosaics, logs and related site information, age data, and earthquake event evidence from three paleoseismic trench sites on the Bear River Fault Zone. Our motivation for studying the Bear River Fault Zone—a nascent normal fault in the Rocky Mountains east of the Basin and Range physiographic...
Three-dimensional basin and fault structure from a detailed seismic velocity model of Coachella Valley, Southern California
Rasheed Ajala, Patricia Persaud, Joann M. Stock, Gary S. Fuis, John A. Hole, Mark Goldman, Daniel S. Scheirer
2019, Journal of Geophysical Research (124) 4728-4750
The Coachella Valley in the northern Salton Trough is known to produce destructive earthquakes, making it a high seismic hazard area. Knowledge of the seismic velocity structure and geometry of the sedimentary basins and fault zones is required to improve earthquake hazard estimates in this region. We simultaneously inverted first...
Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Best Management Practice Implementation in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, 1985–2014
Andrew J. Sekellick, Olivia H. Devereux, Jennifer L. D. Keisman, Jeffrey S. Sweeney, Joel D. Blomquist
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5171
Efforts to restore water quality in Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries often include extensive Best Management Practice (BMP) implementation on agricultural and developed lands. These BMPs include a variety of methods to reduce nutrient and sediment loads, such as cover crops, conservation tillage, urban filtering systems, and other practices.Estimates of...
