Microbial community composition of a hydrocarbon reservoir 40 years after a CO2 enhanced oil recovery flood
Jenna L. Shelton, Robert S. Andrews, Denise M. Akob, Christina A. DeVera, Adam C. Mumford, John E. McCray, Jennifer C. McIntosh
2018, FEMS Microbiology Ecology (94) 1-11
Injecting CO2 into depleted oil reservoirs to extract additional crude oil is a common enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) technique. However, little is known about how in situ microbial communities may be impacted by CO2 flooding, or if any permanent microbiological changes occur after flooding has ceased. Formation water was collected from an oil field...
Strike-slip 23 January 2018 MW 7.9 Gulf of Alaska rare intraplate earthquake: Complex rupture of a fracture zone system
Anne Krabbenhoeft, Roland von Huene, John J. Miller, Dietrich Lange, Felipe Vera
2018, Scientific Reports (8) 1-9
Large intraplate earthquakes in oceanic lithosphere are rare and usually related to regions of diffuse deformation within the oceanic plate. The 23 January 2018 MW 7.9 strike-slip Gulf of Alaska earthquake ruptured an oceanic fracture zone system offshore Kodiak Island. Bathymetric compilations show a muted topographic expression of the fracture zone...
Additional period and site class maps for the 2014 National Seismic Hazard Model for the conterminous United States
Allison Shumway, Mark D. Petersen, Peter M. Powers, Sanaz Rezaeian
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1111
The 2014 update of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM) for the conterminous United States (2014 NSHM; Petersen and others, 2014, 2015) included probabilistic ground motion maps for 2 percent and 10 percent probabilities of exceedance in 50 years, derived from seismic hazard curves for peak ground acceleration...
Prioritizing conserved areas threatened by wildfire and fragmentation for monitoring and management
Jeff A. Tracey, Carlton J. Rochester, Stacie A. Hathaway, Kristine L. Preston, Alexandra D. Syphard, Amy G. Vandergast, James E. Diffendorfer, Janet Franklin, Jason B. MacKenzie, Tomas A. Oberbauer, Scott Tremor, Clark S. Winchell, Robert N. Fisher
2018, PLoS ONE (13) 1-23
In many parts of the world, the combined effects of habitat fragmentation and altered disturbance regimes pose a significant threat to biodiversity. This is particularly true in Mediterranean-type ecosystems (MTEs), which tend to be fire-prone, species rich, and heavily impacted by human land use. Given the spatial complexity of overlapping...
Drought and land-cover conditions in the Great Plains
Heather J. Tollerud, Jesslyn F. Brown, Thomas Loveland, Rezaul Mahmood, Norman B. Bliss
2018, Earth Interactions (22) 1-25
Land–atmosphere interactions play a critical role in the Earth system, and a better understanding of these interactions could improve weather and climate models. The interaction among drought, vegetation productivity, and land cover is of particular significance. In a semiarid environment, such as the U.S. Great Plains, droughts can have a...
A 42 year inference of cloud base height trends in the Luquillo Mountains of northeastern Puerto Rico
Paul W. Miller, Thomas L. Mote, C.A. Ramseyer, Ashley E. Van Beusekom, Martha A. Scholl, Grizelle Gonzalez
2018, Climate Research (76) 87-94
The Luquillo Mountains of eastern Puerto Rico are home to the only tropical rainforest managed by the United States Forest Service, with cloud-immersed forests historically occupying the highest elevations. However, within the past 50 yr, studies of the Luquillo cloud forest have suggested an increase in cloud base heights (CBH), although...
Social–ecological landscape patterns predict woody encroachment from native tree plantings in a temperate grassland
V.M. Donvan, J.L. Burnett, C.H. Bielski, H.E. Birge, R. Bevans, D. Twidwell, Craig R. Allen
2018, Ecology and Evolution (8) 9624-9632
Afforestation is often viewed as the purposeful planting of trees in historically nonforested grasslands, but an unintended consequence is woody encroachment, which should be considered part of the afforestation process. In North America's temperate grassland biome, Eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana L.) is a native species used in tree plantings that aggressively...
Aerial surveys of sea otters (Enhydra lutris) in Lower Cook Inlet, Alaska, May, 2017
Joel Gerlach-Miller, George G. Esslinger, Ben Weitzman
2018, Report, USFWS Technical Report
Portions of two stocks of northern sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) occur in Lower Cook Inlet (LCI), Alaska. Sea otters on the west side of LCI are considered part of the southwest Alaska stock; sea otters occupying eastern LCI are considered part of the southcentral Alaska stock. Information...
High-water marks from Hurricane Sandy for coastal areas of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, October 2012
Lance J. Ostiguy, Timothy C. Sargent, Brittney Izbicki, Gardner C. Bent
2018, Data Series 1094
Because coastal areas in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts were heavily affected by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), under a mission agreement with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, collected storm tide high-water marks in those coastal areas. This effort was undertaken to better understand the...
Geologic map of the Timberville quadrangle, Virginia
Matthew J. Heller, Randall C. Orndorff, David A. Hubbard, Eugene K. Rader
2018, Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy Publication 186
This map of the Timberville 7.5-minute quadrangle in Rockingham and Shenandoah counties, Virginia shows the distribution of Paleozoic-age sedimentary rocks in map and cross-section. Surficial deposits including alluvium and colluvium are also shown. The characteristics of each map unit are described and a brief report discusses the stratigraphy,...
State‐space modelling of the flight behaviour of a soaring bird provides new insights to migratory strategies
Enrico Pirotta, Todd E. Katzner, Tricia A. Miller, Adam E. Duerr, Melissa A. Braham, Leslie New
2018, Functional Ecology (32) 2205-2215
Characterising the spatiotemporal variation of animal behaviour can elucidate the way individuals interact with their environment and allocate energy. Increasing sophistication of tracking technologies paired with novel analytical approaches allows the characterisation of movement dynamics even when an individual is not directly observable.In this study, high‐resolution movement data collected...
Brook Floater rapid assessment monitoring protocol
Sean Sterrett, Allison H. Roy, Peter Hazelton, Brian Watson, Beth Swartz, T. R. Russ, Lisa Holst, Mike Marchand, Jason Wisniewski, Matt Ashton, Barry Wicklow
2018, Cooperator Science Series 132-2018
The Brook Floater (Alasmidonta varicosa) is a small (<100 mm), stream dwelling freshwater mussel (Family: Unionidae) from Atlantic Slope drainages in the eastern U.S. (Nedeau 2008). Brook Floater have dramatically contracted in distribution over recent decades, and there is limited evidence of recruitment in most locations, despite minimal effort to...
Sediment transport and deposition
Joel B. Sankey, Amy E. East, Jason R. Kreitler, Christina (Naomi) Tague
2018, Book chapter, Central Coast Summary Report. California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment
Sediment transport and deposition (sedimentation) occurs from natural and anthropogenic sources in rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. Substantial changes in sediment transport (such as a major increase or decrease in sediment supply) can impact aquatic ecosystems that depend on a particular sediment quantity and particle size, for example, through altering stream-channel...
The risk of rodent introductions from shipwrecks to seabirds on Aleutian and Bering Sea islands
Martin Renner, Eric Nelson, Jordan Watson, Alan Haynie, Aaron Poe, Martin D. Robards, Steve C. Hess
2018, Biological Invasions (20) 2679-2690
Accidental introductions of rodents present one of the greatest threats to indigenous island biota, especially seabirds. On uninhabited remote islands, such introductions are likely to come from shipwrecks. Here we use a comprehensive database of shipwrecks in Western Alaska to model the frequency of shipwrecks per Aleutian and Bering Sea...
Kinematic, deformational, and thermochronologic conditions along the Gossan Lead and Fries shear zones: Constraining the western-eastern Blue Ridge boundary in northwestern North Carolina
Jamie S. F. Levine, Arthur J. Merschat, Ryan J. McAleer, G. Casale, K. R. Quillan, K. I. Fraser, T. G. BeDell
2018, Tectonics (37) 3500-3523
The fault boundary between the western and eastern Blue Ridge (WBR-EBR) in the southern Appalachians separates Mesoproterozoic basement rocks and their cover from Neoproterozoic to Paleozoic accreted rocks. Several northeast striking faults delineate the boundary, including the Gossan Lead shear zone in northwestern North Carolina. Varying tectonic interpretations of WBR-EBR...
Geologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources—Atlantic Coastal Plain and Eastern Mesozoic Rift Basins
William H. Craddock, Matthew D. Merrill, Tina L. Roberts-Ashby, Sean T. Brennan, Marc L. Buursink, Ronald M. Drake II, Peter D. Warwick, Steven M. Cahan, Christina A. DeVera, Philip A. Freeman, Mayur A. Gosai, Celeste D. Lohr
Peter D. Warwick, M.D. Corum, editor(s)
2018, Open-File Report 2012-1024-N
This chapter presents information pertinent to the geologic carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration potential within saline aquifers located in the Atlantic Coastal Plain and Eastern Mesozoic Rift Basins of the Eastern United States. The Atlantic Coastal Plain is underlain by a Jurassic to Quaternary succession of sedimentary strata that onlap westward...
Intensities, aftershock sequences, and the location of the 1936 Milton‐Freewater earthquake near the Oregon–Washington border, U.S.A.
Thomas M. Brocher, Brian L. Sherrod
2018, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (108) 2594-2613
The epicenter of the 16 July 1936 M">MM 6 Milton‐Freewater earthquake, also known as the State Line earthquake and the largest historical earthquake in northeastern Oregon or southeastern Washington, is uncertain. Various studies place the epicenter of...
Twelve questions for the participatory modeling community
Rebecca Jordan, Steven Gray, Moira Zellner, Pierre D. Glynn, Alexey Voinov, Beatrice Hedelin, Eleanor J. Sterling, Kirsten Leong, Laura Schmitt Olabisi, Klaus Hubacek, Pierre Bommel, Todd K. BenDor, Antonie J. Jetter, Bethany Laursen, Alison Singer, Philippe J. Giabbanelli, Nagesh Kolagani, Laura Basco Carrera, Karen Jenni, Christina Prell, National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center Participatory Modeling Pursuit Working Group
2018, Earth's Future (6) 1046-1057
Participatory modeling engages the implicit and explicit knowledge of stakeholders to create formalized and shared representations of reality and has evolved into a field of study as well as a practice. Participatory modeling researchers and practitioners who focus specifically on environmental resources met at the National Socio‐Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC)...
Divisions of geologic time—Major chronostratigraphic and geochronologic units
U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Names Committee
2018, Fact Sheet 2018-3054
IntroductionEffective communication in the geosciences requires a consistent nomenclature for stratigraphic units and, especially, for divisions of geologic time. A geologic time scale is composed of standard stratigraphic divisions based on rock sequences and is calibrated in years.Geologists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), State geological surveys, academia, and other...
Annual cycle of White-winged Scoters (Melanitta fusca) in eastern North America: Migratory phenology, population delineation, and connectivity
D.E. Meatey, S.R. McWilliams, P.W.C. Paton, C. Lepage, S.G. Gilliland, L. Savoy, Glenn H. Olsen, J.D. Osenkowski
2018, Canadian Journal of Zoology (96) 1353-1365
Understanding full annual cycle movements of long-distance migrants is essential for delineating populations, assessing connectivity, evaluating crossover effects between life stages, and informing management strategies for vulnerable or declining species. We used implanted satellite transmitters to track up to 2 years of annual cycle movements of 52 adult female White-winged...
Geologic map of the Castle Rock 7.5' quadrangle, Arizona and California
Kyle House, Barbara E. John, Daniel V. Malmon, Debra Block, L. Sue Beard, Tracey J. Felger, Ryan S. Crow, Jonathan E. Schwing, Colleen E. Cassidy
2018, Scientific Investigations Map 3411
The Castle Rock quadrangle is in the northeast corner of Chemehuevi Valley, California and Arizona. It includes the Colorado River’s entrance to the valley at the mouth of Topock Gorge and the northern outskirts of Lake Havasu City, Arizona, and the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe community of Havasu Lake, California. The...
Framework geologic map and structure sections along the Bartlett Springs fault zone and adjacent area from Round Valley to Wilbur Springs, northern Coast Ranges, California
Robert J. McLaughlin, Barry C. Moring, Christopher S. Hitchcock, Zenon C. Valin
2018, Scientific Investigations Map 3395
The geologic map and accompanying report describes the extent, complexity, architecture, and evolution of the Bartlett Springs Fault Zone between Clear Lake and Round Valley, California. This fault zone is the eastern-most known active member of the San Andreas transform margin in northern California. It is of particular interest for...
Modeling the Holocene slip history of the Wasatch fault (Utah): Coseismic and postseismic Coulomb stress changes and implications for paleoseismicity and seismic hazard
Meike Bagge, Hampel andrea, Ryan D. Gold
2018, GSA Bulletin (131) 43-57
The Wasatch fault zone defines the eastern boundary of the actively extending Basin and Range Province (Utah, western United States) and poses a significant seismic hazard to the metropolitan areas along the Wasatch Range. A wealth of paleoseismological data documents ∼24 surface-rupturing Mw ≥ 7 earthquakes along the Wasatch fault...
Evaluating the waterfowl breeding population and habitat survey for scaup
Michael L. Schummer, Alan D. Afton, Shannon S. Badzinski, Scott A. Petrie, Glenn H. Olsen, Mark A. Mitchell
2018, Journal of Wildlife Management (82) 1252-1262
Potential bias in breeding population estimates of certain duck species from the Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey (WBPHS) has been a concern for decades. The WBPHS does not differentiate between lesser (Aythya affinis) and greater (A. marila) scaup, but lesser scaup comprise 89% of the combined scaup population and their...
Liverworts from Attu Island, Near Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska (USA) with comparison to the Commander Islands (Russia)
Stephen S. Talbot, Wilfred B. Schofield, Jiri Vana, Sandra L. Talbot
2018, Botanica Pacifica (7) 127-141
The liverwort flora of Attu Island, the westernmost Aleutian Island in the United States, was studied to assess species diversity in the hyperoceanic sector of the northern boreal subzone. The field study was undertaken in sites selected to represent a spectrum of environmental variation, primarily within the eastern part of...
