Methane emissions from groundwater pumping in the USA
Justin T. Kulongoski, Peter B. McMahon
2019, Climate and Atmospheric Science (2) 1-8
Atmospheric methane accumulation contributes to climate change, hence quantifying methane emissions is essential to assess and model the impacts. Here we estimate methane emissions from groundwater pumping in the Los Angeles Basin (LAB), north-eastern Pennsylvania, and the Principal aquifers of the USA using the average concentrations of methane in groundwater...
Invasive buffelgrass detection using high-resolution satellite and UAV imagery on Google Earth Engine
Kaitlyn Elkind, Temuulen T. Sankey, Seth M. Munson, Clare E. Aslan
2019, Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation (5) 318-331
Methods to detect and monitor the spread of invasive grasses are critical to avoid ecosystem transformations and large economic costs. The rapid spread of non‐native buffelgrass(Pennisetum ciliare) has intensified fire risk and is replacing fire intolerant native vegetation in the Sonoran Desert of the southwestern US. Coarse‐resolution satellite imagery has had...
Regeneration of Metrosideros polymorpha forests in Hawaii after landscape‐level canopy dieback
Linda Mertelmeyer, James D. Jacobi, Dieter Mueller-Dombois, Kevin W. Brinck, Hans Juergen Boehmer
2019, Journal of Vegetation Science (30) 146-155
Questions(a) Have Metrosideros polymorpha trees become re‐established in Hawaiian forests previously impacted by canopy dieback in the 1970s? (b) Has canopy dieback expanded since the 1970s? (c) Can spatial patterns from this dieback be correlated with habitat factors to model future dieback in this area?<p class="article-section__sub-title...
Discovery of an extensive deep-sea fossil serpulid reef associated with a cold seep, Santa Monica Basin, California
Magdalena N Georgieva, Charles K. Paull, Crispin TS Little, Mary McGann, Diana Sahy, Daniel Condon, Lonny Lundsten, Jack Pewsey, David W Caress, Robert C Vrijenhoek
2019, Frontiers in Marine Science
Multi-beam mapping of the Santa Monica Basin in the eastern Pacific has revealed the existence of a number of elevated bathymetric features, or mounds, harboring cold seep communities. During 2013-2014, mounds at ~600 m water depth were observed for the first time and sampled by Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute’s...
Relationships between diatom metrics based on species nutrient traits and agricultural land use
Robert Pillsbury, R. Jan Stevenson, Mark D. Munn, Ian R. Waite
2019, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (191)
We assessed how diatom metrics were related to different ranges of agricultural land use. Diatom assemblage composition, nutrients, and landscape characteristics were determined at 232 sites in eight agriculturally dominated study areas of the continental United States. Two regional groups based on differences in diatom relations to human disturbance were...
The Missouri groundwater-level observation network
David C. Smith
2019, Fact Sheet 2019-3009
The Missouri groundwater-level observation well network is a series of wells across the State of Missouri in which groundwater levels are monitored in real time and periodically. The wells monitor the water levels in multiple key aquifers, such as the Ozark aquifer in the Salem and Springfield Plateaus and the...
Hawaiian hoary bat acoustic monitoring on U.S. Army O`ahu facilities
Frank Bonaccorso, Kristina Montoya-Aiona, Corinna A. Pinzari
2019, Hawaii Cooperative Studies Unit Technical Report 089
Acoustic sampling for occurrence of the endangered Hawaiian hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus semotus) was conducted at 12 locations on U. S. Army installations on O‘ahu Island, Hawai‘i. Bats were confirmed as present at 10 of these locations: Dillingham Military Reservation, Helemano Military Reservation, Kahuku Training Area, Kawailoa Training Area, Mākua...
Understanding organic matter heterogeneity and maturation rate by Raman spectroscopy
Seyedalireza Khatibi, Mehdi Ostadhassan, Paul C. Hackley, David Tuschel, Arash Abarghani, Bailey Bubach
2019, International Journal of Coal Geology (206) 46-64
Solid organic matter (OM) in sedimentary rocks produces petroleum and solid bitumen when it undergoes thermal maturation. The solid OM is a ‘geomacromolecule’, usually representing a mixture of various organisms with distinct biogenic origins, and can have high heterogeneity in composition. Programmed pyrolysis is a common method to reveal bulk geochemical characteristics of...
Climate, streamflow, and lake-level trends in the Great Lakes Basin of the United States and Canada, water years 1960–2015
Parker A. Norton, Daniel G. Driscoll, Janet M. Carter
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5003
Water levels in the Great Lakes fluctuate substantially because of complex interactions among inputs (precipitation and streamflow), outputs (evaporation and outflow), and other factors. This report by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative was completed to describe trends in climate, streamflow, lake levels, and...
Assessment of skin and liver neoplasms in white sucker (Catostomus commersonii) collected in the Sheboygan River Area of Concern, Wisconsin, in 2017
Vicki S. Blazer, Heather L. Walsh, Ryan P. Braham, Patricia M. Mazik
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1014
Two hundred adult white sucker (Catostomus commersonii), age 3 years and older, were collected from the lower Sheboygan River Area of Concern in 2017, during the spring spawning run. Fish were euthanized, weighed, and measured, and any visible abnormalities were documented. Pieces of raised skin lesions as well as five...
Diversity and abundance of wild bees in an agriculturally dominated landscape of eastern Colorado
H. S. Arathi, Mark W. Vandever, Brian S. Cade
2019, Journal of Insect Conservation (23) 187-197
Agricultural intensification has resulted in loss of natural and semi-natural habitats impacting several important ecosystem services. One group of organisms that has suffered greatly are the bees and hence pollination, the supporting ecosystem service they complete. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) has implemented conservation...
Comparison of aquatic invertebrate communities in near-shore areas with high or low boating activity
Bradley Smith, Steven R. Chipps, Jeff Grote, Jake Mecham, Tanner M. Stevens, Tobias Rapp
2019, Journal of Freshwater Ecology (34) 189-198
Lakeshore areas provide important habitat for aquatic invertebrates in shallow lakes. However, these zones are prone to anthropogenic disturbances that include shoreline development, urbanization, nutrient inputs, agricultural and(or) recreational use. Among recreational uses, public access sites are often developed to accommodate boaters and facilitate lake access via...
An introduced breeding population of Chrysemys picta marginata in the Kaibab National Forest, northern Arizona
Jeffrey E. Lovich, Bruce L. Christman, Kristy L. Cummings, Jenna Norris, Shellie R. Puffer, Christina Jones
2019, Current Herpetology (38) 91-98
The painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) is widely distributed from coast to coast in North America with each of four subspecies generally occupying different regions. In the southwestern USA and northern Mexico, where C. p. bellii is the expected native race, populations are small and widelyscattered. Introduced populations of other painted turtle subspecies...
Structure contour and overburden maps of the Niobrara interval of the Upper Cretaceous Cody Shale in the Wind River Basin, Wyoming
Thomas M. Finn
2019, Scientific Investigations Map 3427
The Wind River Basin in central Wyoming is one of many structural and sedimentary basins that formed in the Rocky Mountain foreland during the Laramide orogeny. The basin is bounded by the Washakie, Owl Creek, and southern Bighorn uplifts on the north, the Casper arch on the east, the Granite Mountains uplift on...
Spatial and temporal variability of harmful algal blooms in Milford Lake, Kansas, May through November 2016
Guy M. Foster, Jennifer L. Graham, Lindsey R. King
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5166
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), completed a study to quantify the spatial and temporal variability of cyanobacterial blooms in Milford Lake, Kansas, over a range of environmental conditions at various time scales (hours to months). A better understanding of the...
Assessing the lead solubility potential of untreated groundwater of the United States
Bryant C. Jurgens, David L. Parkhurst, Kenneth Belitz
2019, Environmental Science & Technology (53) 3095-3103
In the U.S., about 44 million people rely on self-supplied groundwater for drinking water. Because most self-supplied homeowners do not treat their water to control corrosion, drinking water can be susceptible to lead (Pb) contamination from metal plumbing. To assess the types and locations of susceptible groundwater, a geochemical reaction...
An assessment of plant species differences on cellulose oxygen isotopes from two Kenai Peninsula, Alaska peatlands: Implications for hydroclimatic reconstructions
Miriam Jones, Lesleigh Anderson, Katherine Keller, Bailey Nash, Virginia Littell, Matthew J. Wooller, Chelsea Jolley
2019, Frontiers in Earth Science (7)
Peat cores are valuable archives of past environmental change because they accumulate plant organic matter over millennia. While studies have primarily focused on physical, ecological, and some biogeochemical proxies, cores from peatlands have increasingly been used to interpret hydroclimatic change using stable isotope analyses of cellulose preserved in plant remains....
Isotopic and petrologic investigation, and a thermomechanical model of genesis of large-volume rhyolites in arc environments: Karymshina Volcanic Complex, Kamchatka, Russia
Ilya N. Bindeman, Vladimir L. Leonov, Dylan P. Colon, Aleksey N. Rogozin, Niccole Shipley, Brian Jicha, Matthew W. Loewen, Taras V. Gerya
2019, Frontiers in Earth Science (6)
The Kamchatka Peninsula of eastern Russia is currently one of the most volcanically active areas on Earth where a combination of >8 cm/yr subduction convergence rate and thick continental crust generates large silicic magma chambers, reflected by abundant large calderas and caldera complexes. This study examines the largest center of...
Geologic map of the Hartsel Quadrangle, Park County, Colorado
Peter E. Barkmann, Karen J. Houck, Marieke Dechesne, Jonathan R. Lovekin, Erinn P. Johnson
2019, Open-File Report 17-04
The Hartsel quadrangle sits nearly in the center of the complex South Park Laramide structural basin. Generally, the basin can be described as an asymmetrical down-faulted feature, dipping to the east. It is bounded by two northwest-trending uplifts: the Sawatch uplift to the west and the Front Range uplift to...
Lithologies, ages, and provenance of clasts in the Ordovician Fincastle Conglomerate, Botetourt County, Virginia, USA
Harvey E. Belkin, John E. Repetski, Frank T. Dulong, Nelson L. Hickling
2019, Stratigraphy (15) 1-20
The Fincastle Conglomerate is an Ordovician polymictic, poorly sorted, matrix- and clast-supported cobble to boulder-rich conglomerate located just north of Fincastle, Botetourt County, VA. At least nine other cobble and boulder conglomerates are located in a similar stratigraphic position from Virginia to Georgia west of the Blue Ridge structural front....
Lithospheric signature of late Cenozoic extension in electrical resistivity structure of the Rio Grande rift, New Mexico, USA
D. W. Feucht, Paul A. Bedrosian, Anne F Sheehan
2019, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (124) 2331-2351
We present electrical resistivity models of the crust and upper mantle from two‐dimensional (2‐D) inversion of magnetotelluric (MT) data collected in the Rio Grande rift, New Mexico, USA. Previous geophysical studies of the lithosphere beneath the rift identified a low‐velocity zone several hundred kilometers wide, suggesting that the upper mantle...
Constraining the early eruptive history of the Mono Craters rhyolites, California, based on 238U–230Th isochron dating of their explosive and effusive products
Mae Marcaida, Jorge A. Vazquez, Mark E. Stelten, Jonathan S. Miller
2019, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (20) 1539-1556
The Mono Craters are an overlapping chain of at least 28 domes and coulees located south of Mono Lake, east central California, and represent the most recent eruptions of high‐silica rhyolite magma in the Mono Lake‐Long Valley volcanic region. Regionally widespread tephra fall deposits from the Mono Craters serve as...
Effects of nest exposure and spring temperatures on golden eagle brood survival: An opportunity for mitigation
Michael N. Kochert, Karen Steenhof, Jessi L. Brown
2019, Journal of Raptor Research (53) 91-97
We examined Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) brood survival in relation to spring temperatures and exposure of nests to afternoon sun in southwestern Idaho from 1970 through 2012. Most (77%) nests classified as shaded in a subset of 96 nests had northwest to east aspects, and most (71%) nests classified as...
Life history of the endemic saddleback crayfish, Faxonius medius (Faxon, 1884), (Decapoda: Cambaridae) in Missouri, USA
Robert J. DiStefano, J.T. Westhoff, C.J. Rice, Amanda E. Rosenberger
2019, Freshwater Crayfish (24) 1-13
The saddleback crayfish, Faxonius medius (Faxon, 1884), is endemic to a single drainage in eastern Missouri, USA, that is affected by heavy metals mining, and adjacent to a rapidly-expanding urban area. We studied populations of F. medius in two small streams for 18 months to describe the annual reproductive...
Assessing vulnerability and threat from housing development to Conservation Opportunity Areas in State Wildlife Action Plans across the United States
Sarah K. Carter, Shelley S. Maxted, Tara L. E. Bergeson, David P. Helmers, Lori Scott, Volker C. Radeloff
2019, Landscape and Urban Planning (185) 237-245
Targeting conservation actions efficiently requires information on vulnerability of and threats to conservation targets, but such information is rarely included in conservation plans. In the U.S., recently updated State Wildlife Action Plans identify Conservation Opportunity Areas (COAs) selected by each state as priority areas for future action to conserve wildlife...
