Linking the Ukinrek 1977 maar-eruption observations to the tephra deposits: New insights into maar depositional processes
Michael Ort, Nathalie Lefebvre, Christina A. Neal, Vicki McConnell, Ken Wohletz
2018, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (360) 36-60
The Ukinrek Maars erupted 30 March to 9 April 1977, forming two maars, a line of small pit craters and a tephra blanket extending to ~2 km from the vents. We combine photographic and written observations with stratigraphic analysis to reconstruct the eruption. The eruption began...
Modeling managed flows in the Sacramento/San Joaquin watershed, California, under scenarios of future change for CASCaDE2
Noah Knowles, Collin Cronkite-Ratcliff
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1101
Projections of managed flows from the Sacramento River/San Joaquin River watershed, California, into the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta under scenarios of future climate change are needed for evaluations of potential impacts on water supply and estuarine ecosystems. A new, multiple-model approach for achieving this is described. First,...
Geohydrology, geochemistry, and numerical simulation of groundwater flow and land subsidence in the Bicycle Basin, Fort Irwin National Training Center, California
Jill N. Densmore, Linda R. Woolfenden, Diane L. Rewis, Peter M. Martin, Michelle Sneed, Kevin M. Ellett, Michael Solt, David M. Miller
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5067
Groundwater pumping from Bicycle Groundwater Basin (referred to as Bicycle Basin) in the Fort Irwin National Training Center, California, began in 1967. From 1967 to December 2010, about 46,000 acre-feet of water had been pumped from the basin and transported to the Irwin Basin. During this time, not only did...
Near-field receiving-water monitoring of trace metals and a benthic community near the Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Control Plant in south San Francisco Bay, California—2017
Daniel J. Cain, Janet K. Thompson, Francis Parchaso, Sarah Pearson, A. Robin Stewart, Matthew A. Turner, David Barasch, Ane Slabic, Samuel N. Luoma
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1107
Trace-metal concentrations in sediment and in the clam Macoma petalum (formerly reported as Macoma balthica), clam reproductive activity, and benthic macroinvertebrate community structure were investigated in a mudflat 1 kilometer south of the discharge of the Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Control Plant (PARWQCP) in south San Francisco Bay, Calif....
Assessing the risk of diploid grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella in the certified triploid supply chain in Ohio
Bryan T. Kinter, Jill A. Jenkins, Jeff T. Tyson
2018, Journal of Great Lakes Research (44) 1093-1099
Non-native grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) have been stocked in the United States for vegetation control since the 1970s, and recent evidence suggests some natural reproduction in the Great Lakes basin. Despite all states and provinces bordering Lake Erie either banning grass carp or requiring imports of only sterile, U.S. Fish...
Combining nutrient, productivity, and landscape-based regressions improves predictions of lake nutrients and provides insight into nutrient coupling at macroscales
Tyler Wagner, Erin M. Schliep
2018, Limnology and Oceanography (63) 2372-2383
Empirical nutrient models that describe lake nutrient, productivity, and water clarity relationships among lakes play a prominent role in limnology. Landscape-based regressions are also used to understand macroscale variability of lake nutrients, clarity, and productivity (hereafter referred to as nutrient-productivity). Predictions from both models are used to inform eutrophication management...
Cadmium isotope fractionation during coal combustion: Insights from two U.S. coal-fired power plants
Fotio Fouskas, Ma Lin, Mark A. Engle, Leslie F. Ruppert, Nicholas J. Geboy, Matthew A. Costa
2018, Applied Geochemistry (96) 100-112
Coal combustion, one of the principal energy sources of electricity in the United States, produces over 100 million tons of coal combustion products (CCPs) per year in the U.S. The reuse and disposal of CCPs has the potential to release toxic trace elements, including cadmium (Cd), into the environment. In this study,...
Trends in water quality of selected streams and reservoirs used for water supply in the Triangle area of North Carolina, 1989–2013
Mary J. Giorgino, Thomas F. Cuffney, Stephen L. Harden, Toby D. Feaster
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5077
As the population of the Triangle area in central North Carolina increases, the demand for good quality drinking water from streams and lakes within the upper Neuse and upper Cape Fear River Basins also increases. The Triangle area includes Raleigh, Cary, Research Triangle Park, Durham, Chapel Hill, and the surrounding...
Monitoring the water-quality response of agricultural conservation practices in the Bucks Branch watershed, Sussex County, Delaware, 2014–16
Judith M. Denver, Alexander M. Soroka, Betzaida Reyes, Todd R. Lester, Deborah A. Bringman, M.S. Brownley
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5020
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of irrigation and cover crops as conservation practices on water quality in groundwater and streams. Bucks Branch, a stream in the Nanticoke River watershed in southwestern Delaware, was identified as having one of the highest concentrations of nitrate in all...
Exploring viable geologic interpretations of gravity models using distance-based global sensitivity analysis and kernel methods
Geoffrey Phelps, Celine Scheidt, Jef Caers
2018, Geophysics (5) G79-G92
We have explored ways to integrate alternative geologic interpretations into the modeling of gravity data. These methods are applied to the Vaca Fault east of Fairfield, California, USA, where the structure across the fault is in question, and the Vaca Fault is used as a case study to demonstrate the...
Post-fledging movements and habitat associations of White-tailed Sea Eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) in Central Asia
Evgeny A. Bragin, Sharon A. Poessel, Michael J. Lanzone, Todd E. Katzner
2018, Wilson Journal of Ornithology (130) 784-788
Behavior of young birds can have important consequences for population dynamics. We investigated the autumnal post-fledging movements of 3 White-tailed Sea Eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) hatched in Kazakhstan. All 3 eagles traveled south, flying on average 25–108 km/d. Movement was nonrandom, with eagles generally traveling near mosaics of forest, open areas,...
Meeting the mineral needs of the United States
Graham W. Lederer, Erin McCullough
2018, Eos, Earth and Space Science News
A recent report points out where the United States is most dependent on mineral imports and highlights some ways for reducing this dependence....
Landsat time series analysis of fractional plant cover changes on abandoned energy development sites
Eric K. Waller, Miguel L. Villarreal, Travis B. Poitras, Travis W. Nauman, Michael C. Duniway
2018, International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation (73) 407-419
Oil and natural gas development in the western United States has increased substantially in recent decades as technological advances like horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have made extraction more commercially viable. Oil and gas pads are often developed for production, and then capped, reclaimed, and left to recover when no...
The Future
David L. Blodgett, Alan H. Rea, Josh Lieberman
Jeffrey D. Simley, editor(s)
2018, Book chapter, GIS for surface water: Using the National Hydrography Dataset
No abstract available....
Conservation threats and priorities for raptors across Asia
Camille B. Conception, Keith L. Bildstein, Nigel J. Collar, Todd E. Katzner
2018, Book chapter, Birds of Prey
With long coastlines and some of the world’s most important rivers, mountain ranges, high-altitude plateaus, and islands, Asia is the largest and most populous continent in the world (Lyde 1904; Spencer 1954; Population Reference Bureau 2016). Asia supports all major terrestrial ecosystems and all major climatic types (Galloway et al....
Secondary hydrogeologic regions of the conterminous United States
Kenneth Belitz, Elise Watson, Tyler D. Johnson, Jennifer B. Sharpe
2018, Groundwater (57) 367-377
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) previously identified and mapped 62 Principal Aquifers (PAs) in the U.S., with 57 located in the conterminous states. Areas outside of PAs, which account for about 40% of the conterminous U.S., were collectively identified as “other rocks.” This paper, for the first time,...
Towards coordinated regional multi-satellite InSAR volcano observations: Results from the Latin America pilot project
Matthew Pritchard, Juliet Biggs, Christelle Wauthier, Eugenio Sansosti, David W. D. Arnold, Francisco Delgado, Susanna Ebmeier, Scott Henderson, Kristen Stephens, C. Cooper, Kendall Wnuk, Falk Amelung, Victor Rivera Aguilar, Patricia Mothes, Orlando Macedo, Luis E. Lara, Michael P. Poland, Simona Zoffoli
2018, Journal of Applied Volcanology (7)
Within Latin America, about 319 volcanoes have been active in the Holocene, but 202 of these volcanoes have no seismic, deformation or gas monitoring. Following the 2012 Santorini Report on satellite Earth Observation and Geohazards, the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) developed a 4-year pilot project (2013-2017) to demonstrate...
Controls on submarine canyon head evolution: Monterey Canyon, offshore central California
Katherine L. Maier, Samuel Y. Johnson, Patrick E. Hart
2018, Marine Geology (404) 24-40
The Monterey submarine canyon, incised across the continental shelf in Monterey Bay, California, provides a record of the link between onshore tectonism, fluvial transport, and deep-marine deposition. High-resolution seismic-reflection imaging in Monterey Bay reveals an extensive paleocanyon unit buried below the seafloor of the continental shelf around Monterey and Soquel...
Simulation of potential groundwater recharge for the glacial aquifer system east of the Rocky Mountains, 1980–2011, using the Soil-Water-Balance Model
Jared J. Trost, Jason L. Roth, Stephen M. Westenbroek, Howard W. Reeves
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5080
An understanding of the spatial and temporal extent of groundwater recharge is critical for many types of hydrologic assessments involving water quality, contaminant transport, ecosystem health, and sustainable use of groundwater. Annual potential groundwater recharge was simulated at a 1-kilometer resolution with the Soil-Water-Balance (SWB) model for the glacial aquifer...
Idaho water use, 2015
Erin M. Murray
2018, Fact Sheet 2018-3036
The ability to quantify water resources hinges on the understanding of water use by the population. The demand humans place on the water cycle varies across the United States, driven by both need and availability. The U.S. Geological Survey quantifies water use nationally, at the county scale, with estimates of...
Do economic values and expenditures for viewing waterfowl in the U.S. differ among species?
John Loomis, Michelle Haefele, James Dubovsky, Aaron M. Lien, Wayne E. Thogmartin, James E. Diffendorfer, Dale D. Humburg, Brady J. Mattsson, Kenneth J. Bagstad, Darius J. Semmens, Laura Lopez-Hoffman, Robert Merideth
2018, Human Dimensions of Wildlife (23) 587-596
Many economic studies value birdwatching in general and often do not account for potential differences in viewers’ benefits from observing different species. But, how different are economic values of viewing various bird species? To answer that question, we surveyed Ducks Unlimited (DU) members using an online questionnaire to estimate trip...
Past role and future outlook of the Conservation Reserve Program for supporting honey bees in the Great Plains
Clint Otto, Haochi Zheng, Alisa L. Gallant, Rich Iovanna, Benjamin L. Carlson, Matthew Smart, Skip Hyberg
2018, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (115) 7629-7634
Human dependence on insect pollinators continues to grow even as pollinators face global declines. The Northern Great Plains (NGP), a region often referred to as America’s last honey bee (Apis mellifera) refuge, has undergone rapid land-cover change due to cropland expansion and weakened land conservation programs. We conducted a trend...
Final report for climate effects on the culture and ecology of sugar maple
Toni Lyn Morelli, Kristina A. Stinson
2018, Report
Maple syrup is produced from the sap of sugar maple trees collected in the late winter and early spring. Native American tribes have collected and boiled down sap for centuries, and the tapping of maple trees is a cultural touchstone for many people in the northeast and Midwest. Because the...
Soil water dynamics at 15 locations distributed across a desert landscape: insights from a 27‐yr dataset
Michael C. Duniway, Matthew D. Petrie, Debra P. C. Peters, John P. Anderson, Keith Crossland, Jeffrey E. Herrick
2018, Ecosphere (9) 1-36
Desert ecosystems are primarily limited by water availability. Within a climatic regime, topography, soil characteristics, and vegetation are expected to determine how the combined effects of precipitation, temperature, and evaporative demand of the atmosphere shape the spatial and temporal patterns of water within the soil profile and across a landscape....
Turing-style tests for UCERF3 synthetic catalogs
Morgan T. Page, Nicholas van der Elst
2018, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (108) 729-741
Epidemic-Type Aftershock Sequence (ETAS) catalogs generated from the 3rd Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF3) model are unique in that they are the first to combine a complex, fault-based long-term forecast with short-term earthquake clustering statistics. We present Turing-style tests to examine whether these synthetic catalogs can successfully imitate observed...
