The chemistry of eolian quartz dust and the origin of chert
C. Blaine Cecil, Bruce Hemingway, Frank T. Dulong
2018, Journal of Sedimentary Research (88) 743-752
Among the numerous models that have been suggested for the primary and predominant source of silica for chert, we suggest that eolian dust is worthy of further considerations. Such considerations are supported by the common association of Phanerozoic chert with evaporites, limestones, dolomites, or other strata that were deposited within...
Nearshore sediment monitoring for the Stormwater Action Monitoring (SAM) Program, Puget Sound, western Washington
Robert W. Black, Abby Barnes, Colin Elliot, Jennifer Lanksbury
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5076
Chemicals such as metals and organics (polychlorinated biphenyl [PCBs], polybrominated diphenyl ethers [PBDEs], polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons [PAHs], and phthalates) continue to enter Puget Sound, western Washington, from point sources (such as industrial and municipal outfalls) and combined sewer outfalls and non-point sources (such as stormwater runoff). Runoff during storm...
Estimates of water use and trends in the Colorado River Basin, Southwestern United States, 1985–2010
Molly A. Maupin, Tamara I. Ivahnenko, Breton Bruce
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5049
The Colorado River Basin (CRB) drains 246,000 square miles and includes parts of California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, and all of Arizona (Basin States). This report contains water-use estimates by category of use for drainage basins (Hydrologic Unit Code 8; HUC‑8) within the CRB from 1985...
Local topography increasingly influences the mass balance of a retreating cirque glacier
Caitlyn Florentine, Joel T. Harper, Daniel B. Fagre, Johnnie Moore, Erich H. Peitzsch
2018, The Cryosphere (12) 2109-2122
Local topographically driven processes – such as wind drifting, avalanching, and shading – are known to alter the relationship between the mass balance of small cirque glaciers and regional climate. Yet partitioning such local effects from regional climate influence has proven difficult, creating uncertainty in the climate representativeness of some...
Using stereo satellite imagery to account for ablation, entrainment, and compaction in volume calculations for rock avalanches on Glaciers: Application to the 2016 Lamplugh Rock Avalanche in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska
Erin Bessette-Kirton, Jeffrey A. Coe, Wendy Zhou
2018, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (123) 622-641
The use of preevent and postevent digital elevation models (DEMs) to estimate the volume of rock avalanches on glaciers is complicated by ablation of ice before and after the rock avalanche, scour of material during rock avalanche emplacement, and postevent ablation and compaction of the rock avalanche deposit. We present...
Mercury on a landscape scale—Balancing regional export with wildlife health
Mark C. Marvin-DiPasquale, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Jacob A. Fleck, Joshua T. Ackerman, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Harry McQuillen
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1092
The Cosumnes River watershed requires a 57–64 percent reduction in loads to meet the new Delta methylmercury (MeHg) total maximum daily load allocation, established by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board. Because there are no large point sources of MeHg in the watershed, the focus of MeHg load...
Rapid departure of Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii) following large-scale nest failure
Jeffrey A. Spendelow, Adam J. Eichenwald
2018, Wilson Journal of Ornithology (130) 485-492
Nest failure of most pairs of Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii) at Falkner Island, Connecticut, in 2002-2003 (due mainly to predation by Black-crowned Night-herons [Nycticorax nycticorax]) was followed by the rapid departure of many of the failed individuals in both years. Nine failed pairs (16.7%) stayed while 40 (74.1%) of 54...
Acetylenotrophy: A hidden but ubiquitous microbial metabolism?
Denise M. Akob, John M. Sutton, Janna L. Fierst, Karl B. Haase, Shaun Baesman, George Luther, Laurence G. Miller, Ronald S. Oremland
2018, FEMS Microbiology Ecology (94) 1-14
Acetylene (IUPAC name: ethyne) is a colorless, gaseous hydrocarbon, composed of two triple bonded carbon atoms attached to hydrogens (C2H2). When microbiologists and biogeochemists think of acetylene, they immediately think of its use as an inhibitory compound of certain microbial processes and a tracer for nitrogen fixation. However, what is...
Environmentally relevant chemical mixtures of concern in waters of United States tributaries to the Great Lakes
Sarah M. Elliott, Mark E. Brigham, Richard L. Kiesling, Heiko L. Schoenfuss, Zachary G. Jorgenson
2018, Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management (14) 509-518
The North American Great Lakes are a vital natural resource that provide fish and wildlife habitat, as well as drinking water and waste assimilation services for millions of people. Tributaries to the Great Lakes receive chemical inputs from various point and nonpoint sources, and thus are expected to have complex...
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Eagle Ford Group and associated Cenomanian–Turonian Strata, U.S. Gulf Coast, Texas, 2018
Katherine J. Whidden, Janet K. Pitman, Ofori N. Pearson, Stanley T. Paxton, Scott A. Kinney, Nicholas J. Gianoutsos, Christopher J. Schenk, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Justin E. Birdwell, Michael E. Brownfield, Lauri A. Burke, Russell F. Dubiel, Katherine L. French, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Seth S. Haines, Phuong A. Le, Kristen R. Marra, Tracey J. Mercier, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Cheryl A. Woodall
2018, Fact Sheet 2018-3033
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 8.5 billion barrels of oil and 66 trillion cubic feet of gas in continuous accumulations in the Upper Cretaceous Eagle Ford Group and associated Cenomanian–Turonian strata in onshore lands of the U.S. Gulf Coast...
Fungal loop transfer of nitrogen depends on biocrust constituents and nitrogen form
Zachary T. Aanderud, Trevor B. Smart, Nan Wu, Alexander S. Taylor, Yuanming Zhang, Jayne Belnap
2018, Biogeosciences (15) 3831-3840
Besides performing multiple ecosystem services individually and collectively, biocrust constituents may also create biological networks connecting spatially and temporally distinct processes. In the fungal loop hypothesis rainfall variability allows fungi to act as conduits and reservoirs, translocating resources between soils and host plants. To evaluate the extent to which biocrust...
Extraction and development of inset models in support of groundwater age calculations for glacial aquifers
Daniel T. Feinstein, Leon J. Kauffman, Megan J. Haserodt, Brian R. Clark, Paul F. Juckem
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5038
The U.S. Geological Survey developed a regional model of Lake Michigan Basin (LMB). This report describes the construction of five MODFLOW inset models extracted from the LMB regional model and their application using the particle-tracking code MODPATH to simulate the groundwater age distribution of discharge to wells pumping from glacial...
Riparian spiders indicate the magnitude and sources of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination at a large contaminated sediment site
David M. Walters, Ryan R. Otter, Johanna M. Kraus, Marc A. Mills
2018, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (37) 2467-2474
We investigated PCB contamination at the Ashtabula River Area of Concern (AOC) following remedial dredging using araneid and tetragnathid spiders. PCB concentrations remain elevated in the AOC compared to reference conditions. Patterns of contamination were strikingly similar between taxa, but were higher in tetragnathids at the most contaminated sites. Spider...
Arsenic geochemistry of alluvial sediments and pore waters affected by mine tailings along the Belle Fourche and Cheyenne River floodplains
Bryce D. Pfeifle, John F. Stamm, James J. Stone
2018, Water, Air, & Soil Pollution (229) 1-18
Gold mining operations in the northern Black Hills of South Dakota resulted in the discharge of arsenopyrite-bearing mine tailings into Whitewood Creek from 1876 to 1977. Those tailings were transported further downstream along the Belle Fourche River, the Cheyenne River, and the Missouri River. An estimated 110 million metric tons...
Sediment supply to San Francisco Bay, water years 1995 through 2016: Data, trends, and monitoring recommendations to support decisions about water quality, tidal wetlands, and resilience to sea level rise
David H. Schoellhamer, Lester McKee, Sarah Pearce, Pete Kauhanen, Micha Saloman, Scott Dusterhoff, J. Letitia Grenier, Mathieu D. Marineau, Philip Trowbridge
2018, Report
Knowledge of the status and trends of sediment supply to San Francisco Bay is critically important for management decisions about dredging, marsh restoration, flood control, contaminants, water clarity (in relation to primary production), and sea level rise. Several sitespecific studies of sediment supply to San Francisco Bay have been conducted, but no synthesis of...
ShakeMap-based prediction of earthquake-induced mass movements in Switzerland calibrated on historical observations
Carlo Cauzzi, Donat Fah, David J. Wald, John Clinton, Stephane Losey, Stefan Wiemer
2018, Natural Hazards (92) 1211-1235
In Switzerland, nearly all historical Mw ~ 6 earthquakes have induced damaging landslides, rockslides and snow avalanches that, in some cases, also resulted in damage to infrastructure and loss of lives. We describe the customisation to Swiss conditions of a globally calibrated statistical approach originally developed to rapidly assess earthquake-induced landslide...
Tracing enhanced oil recovery signatures in casing gases from the Lost Hills oil field using noble gases
Peter H. Barry, Justin T. Kulongoski, Matthew K. Landon, R. L. Tyne, Janice M. Gillespie, Michael J. Stephens, D.J. Hillegonds, D.J. Byrne, C.J. Ballentine
2018, Earth and Planetary Science Letters (496) 57-67
Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and hydraulic fracturing practices are commonly used methods to improve hydrocarbon extraction efficiency; however the environmental impacts of such practices remain poorly understood. EOR is particularly prevalent in oil fields throughout California where water resources are in high demand and disposal of high volumes of produced...
Evidence for haemosporidian parasite infections in Spectacled Eiders (Somateria fischeri) sampled in Alaska during the breeding season
John A. Reed, Matthew G. Sexson, Matthew M. Smith, Joel A. Schmutz, Andrew M. Ramey
2018, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (54) 877-880
We assessed hematozoa infection in Spectacled Eiders (Somateria fischeri) at two areas in Alaska. No Haemoproteus or Plasmodium species were detected. Leucocytozoon prevalence was 6.5% for adults across sites and 41.9% for juveniles sampled in the Arctic, providing evidence for local transmission. All Leucocytozoon haplotypes were previously detected in waterfowl....
Experimental evidence of long-term reproductive costs in a colonial nesting seabird
Aly McKnight, Erik J. Blomberg, Gregory H. Golet, David B. Irons, Cyndy Loftin, Shawn T. McKinney
2018, Journal of Avian Biology (49)
Trade-offs between current and future reproduction are central to the evolution of life histories. Experiments that manipulate brood size provide an effective approach to investigating future costs of current reproduction. Most manipulative studies to date, however, have addressed only the short-term effects of brood size manipulation. Our goal was to...
Shoreline erosion at selected areas along Lake Sharpe on the Lower Brule Reservation in South Dakota, 1966–2015
Ryan F. Thompson, John F. Stamm
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5058
The Lower Brule Reservation in central South Dakota is losing land because of shoreline erosion along Lake Sharpe, a reservoir on the Missouri River, which has caused detrimental effects for the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe including losses of cultural sites, recreation access points, wildlife habitat, irrigated cropland, and landmass. To...
Response of mercury in an Adirondack (NY, USA) forest stream to watershed lime application
Geoffrey D. Millard, Charles T. Driscoll, Douglas A. Burns, Mario R. Montesdeoca, Karen Riva-Murray
2018, Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts (20) 607-620
Surface waters in Europe and North America previously impacted by acid deposition are recovering in conjunction with declining precursor emissions since the 1980s. Lime has been applied to some impacted watersheds to accelerate recovery. The response to liming can be considered a proxy for future recovery from acid deposition. Increases...
Stability of mercury concentration measurements in archived soil and peat samples
Tomas Navratil, Douglas A. Burns, Tereza Novakova, Jiri Kana, Jan Rohovec, Michal Roll, Vojtech Ettler
2018, Chemosphere (208) 707-711
Archived soil samples can provide important information on the history of environmental contamination and by comparison with recently collected samples, temporal trends can be inferred. Little previous work has addressed whether mercury (Hg) concentrations in soil samples are stable with long-term storage under standard laboratory conditions. In this study, we...
Use of Bank Swallow (Riparia riparia) burrows as shelter by Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) chicks
Peter C. McGowan, Kaitlyn Reintsma, Jeffery D. Sullivan, Katie P. DeVoss, Jennifer L. Wall, Mia D. Zimnik, Carl R. Callahan, Bill Schultz, Diann J. Prosser
2018, Waterbirds (41) 179-182
The availability of shelter to avoid predation and ameliorate physiologically stressful conditions is often important to the survival of avian hatchlings. However, as changes in habitat availability force birds to nest in nontraditional locations, young must quickly adapt to using novel sources of shelter. Two Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) colonies...
Regional spectral analysis of moderate earthquakes in northeastern North America—Final Report to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Project V6240, Task 3
Jack Boatwright
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1073
We analyze the Fourier spectra of S+Lg+surface wave groups from the horizontal and vertical components of broadband and accelerogram recordings of 120 small and moderate (2< Mw <6) earthquakes recorded by Canadian and American stations sited on rock at distances from 3 to 600 kilometers. There are seven Mw 4.0–4.5,...
High latitude Southern Hemisphere fire history during the mid-late Holocene (750- 6000 yr BP)
Dario Battistel, Natalie M. Kehrwald, Piero Zennaro, Giuseppe Pellegrino, Elena Barbaro, Roberta Zangrando, Xanthi X. Pedeli, Cristiano Varin, Andrea Spolaor, Paul T. Vallelonga, Andrea Gambaro, Carlo Barbante
2018, Climate of the Past (14) 871-886
We determined the specific biomass burning biomarker levoglucosan in an ice core from the TALos Dome Ice CorE drilling project (TALDICE) during the mid- to late Holocene (6000–750 BP). The levoglucosan record is characterized by a long-term increase with higher rates starting at ∼ 4000 BP and peaks between 2500 and 1500 BP. The...
