Numerical model of geochronological tracers for deposition and reworking applied to the Mississippi subaqueous delta
Justin J. Birchler, Courtney K. Harris, Tara A. Kniskern, Christopher R. Sherwood
2018, Journal of Coastal Research (Special Issue 85) 456-460
Measurements of naturally occurring, short-lived radioisotopes from sediment cores on the Mississippi subaqueous delta have been used to infer event bed characteristics such as depositional thicknesses and accumulation rates. Specifically, the presence of Beryllium-7 (7Be) indicates recent riverine-derived terrestrial sediment deposition; while Thorium-234 (234Th) provides evidence of recent suspension in...
Groundwater-level data from an earthen dam site in southern Westchester County, New York
Michael L. Noll, Anthony Chu
2018, Data Series 1075
In 2005, the U.S. Geological Survey began a cooperative study with New York City Department of Environmental Protection to characterize the local groundwater-flow system and identify potential sources of seeps on the southern embankment of the Hillview Reservoir in Westchester County, New York. Groundwater levels were collected at 49 wells...
Operational nowcasting of electron flux levels in the outer zone of Earth's radiation belt
Tim Coleman, James P. McCollough, Shawn L. Young, E. Joshua Rigler
2018, Space Weather (16) 501-518
We describe a lightweight, accurate nowcasting model for electron flux levels measured by the Van Allen probes. Largely motivated by Rigler et al. (2004, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003SW000036), we turn to a time‐varying linear filter of previous flux levels and Kp. We train and test this model on data gathered from the 2.10 MeV channel...
Multi-year high-frequency hydrothermal monitoring of selected high-threat Cascade Range volcanoes
I.M. Crankshaw, Stacey A. Archfield, A. C. Newman, Deborah Bergfeld, Laura E. Clor, Peter J. Kelly, William C. Evans, Kurt R. Spicer, Steven E. Ingebritsen
2018, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (356) 24-35
From 2009 to 2015 the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) systematically monitored hydrothermal behavior at selected Cascade Range volcanoes in order to define baseline hydrothermal and geochemical conditions. Gas and water data were collected regularly at 25 sites on 10 of the highest-risk volcanoes in the Cascade Range. These sites include...
Estimating fluvial discharges coincident with 21st century coastal storms modeled with CoSMoS
Li H. Erikson, Andrea C. O'Neill, Patrick L. Barnard
2018, Journal of Coastal Research (Special Issue No. 85) 791-795
On the open coast, flooding is largely driven by tides, storm surge, waves, and in areas near coastal inlets, the magnitude and co-occurrence of high fluvial discharges. Statistical methods are typically used to estimate the individual probability of coastal storm and fluvial discharge occurrences for use in sophisticated flood hazard...
Atmospheric and surface climate associated with 1986–2013 wildfires in North America
Steven W. Hostetler, Patrick J. Bartlein, Jay R. Alder
2018, Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences (123) 1588-1609
We analyze climate simulations conducted with the RegCM3 regional climate model on 50‐ and 15‐km model grids to diagnose the dependence of wildfire incidence and area burned variations on monthly climate long‐term means and anomalies over North America for the period 1986–2013. We created a new wildfire database by merging...
Interaction between hydraulic fracture and a preexisting fracture under triaxial stress conditions
Saied Mighani, David A. Lockner, Brian D. Kilgore, Farrokh Sheibani, Brian Evans
2018, Conference Paper, SPE Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Conference and Exhibition
Enhanced reservoir connectivity generally requires maximizing the intersection between hydraulic fracture (HF) and preexisting underground natural fractures (NF), while having the hydraulic fracture cross the natural fractures (and not arrest). We have studied the interaction between a hydraulic fracture and a polished saw-cut fault. The experiments include a hydraulic fracture...
Identifying and eliminating sources of recreational water quality degradation along an urban coast
Meredith B. Nevers, Muruleedhara Byappanahalli, Dawn Shively, Paul M. Buszka, P. Ryan Jackson, Mantha S. Phanikumar
2018, Journal of Environmental Quality (47) 1042-1050
Restoration of highly degraded urban coastal waters often requires large-scale, complex projects, but in the interim, smaller-scale efforts can provide immediate improvements to water quality conditions for visitor use. We examined short-term efforts to improve recreational water quality near the Grand Calumet River (GC) in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Identified...
The influence of sea level rise on the regional interdependence of coastal infrastructure
Ruo-Quian Wang, Mark T. Stacey, Liv M. Herdman, Patrick L. Barnard, Li H. Erikson
2018, Earth's Future (6) 677-688
Sea level rise (SLR) is placing both immediate and long‐term pressures on coastal communities to take protective actions. Projects in the United States, and in many locations throughout the world, generally involve local jurisdictions raising the elevation of shoreline protection elements, with limited or no analysis of the feedback between...
Effects of water-level management and hatchery supplementation on kokanee recruitment in Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho
Steven L. Whitlock, Michael C. Quist, Andrew M. Dux
2018, Article
Resource managers have been attempting to recover the kokanee (Oncorhynchus nerka) population in Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho for more than three decades using an annual stocking program and an experimental water-level management strategy. This study evaluated the effect of both management actions on kokanee recruitment. A bootstrap-based generalized Ricker model...
Warming is driving decreases in snow fractions while runoff efficiency remains mostly unchanged in snow-covered areas of the western United States
Gregory J. McCabe, David M. Wolock, Melissa Valentin
2018, Journal of Hydrometeorology (19) 803-814
Winter snowfall and accumulation is an important component of the surface water supply in the western United States. In these areas, increasing winter temperatures T associated with global warming can influence the amount of winter precipitation P that falls as snow S. In this study we examine long-term trends in the fraction of winter P that falls...
Research, monitoring, and evaluation of emerging issues and measures to recover the Snake River fall Chinook salmon ESU
Kenneth Tiffan, John M. Plumb, Russell W. Perry, John Erhardt, Rulon J. Hemingway, Brad Bickford, Tobyn N. Rhodes, William P. Connor, Frank L. Mullins
2018, Report
The portion of the Snake River fall Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ESU that spawns upstream of Lower Granite Dam transitioned from low to high abundance during 1992–2017 in association with U.S. Endangered Species Act recovery efforts and other federally mandated actions. This annual report focuses on (1) numeric and habitat...
Wetlands receiving water treated with coagulants improve water quality by removing dissolved organic carbon and disinfection byproduct precursors
Angela M. Hansen, Tamara E. C. Kraus, Sandra M. Bachand, William R. Horwath, Philip Bachand
2018, Science of the Total Environment (622-623) 603-613
Constructed wetlands are used worldwide to improve water quality while also providing critical wetland habitat. However, wetlands have the potential to negatively impact drinking water quality by exporting dissolved organic carbon (DOC) that upon disinfection can form disinfection byproducts (DBPs) like trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs). We used a replicated field-scale study located on organic rich...
Genetic structure in Elk persists after translocation
Lisa I Muller, Jennifer L. Murrow, Jason L. Lupardus, Joseph D. Clark, Joseph G. Yarkovich, William H. Stiver, E. Kim Delozier, Brittany L. Slabach, John L. Cox, Bradley F. Miller
2018, Journal of Wildlife Management (82) 1124-1134
Elk (Cervus canadensis) translocation success is thought to be facilitated by high post‐release herd cohesion and limited movements; both should ensure genetic mixing following release. Such mixing is important to reduce potential effects of inbreeding or genetic drift, which can be especially important in small founding...
Forecasting an invasive species’ distribution with global distribution data, local data, and physiological information
Catherine S. Jarnevich, Nicholas E. Young, Marian Talbert, Colin Talbert
2018, Ecosphere (9) 1-12
Understanding invasive species distributions and potential invasions often requires broad‐scale information on the environmental tolerances of the species. Further, resource managers are often faced with knowing these broad‐scale relationships as well as nuanced environmental factors related to their landscape that influence where an invasive species occurs and potentially could occur....
Response of moose to a high‐density road network
David W. Wattles, Katherine A. Zeller, Stephen DeStefano
2018, Journal of Wildlife Management (82) 929-939
Road networks and the disturbance associated with vehicle traffic alter animal behavior, movements, and habitat selection. The response of moose (Alces americanus) to roads has been documented in relatively rural areas, but less is known about moose response to roads in more highly roaded landscapes. We examined road‐crossing frequencies and...
Rivers are social–ecological systems: Time to integrate human dimensions into riverscape ecology and management
Jason B. Dunham, Paul L. Angermeier, Shelley D. Crausbay, Amanda E. Cravens, Hannah Gosnell, Jamie McEvoy, Max A. Moritz, Nejem Raheem, Todd Sanford
2018, WIREs Water (5) 1-10
Incorporation of concepts from landscape ecology into understanding and managing riverine ecosystems has become widely known as riverscape ecology. Riverscape ecology emphasizes interactions among processes at different scales and their consequences for valued ecosystem components, such as riverine fishes. Past studies have focused strongly on understanding the ecological processes in...
Book review: Handbook of cyanobacterial monitoring and cyanotoxin analysis
Jennifer L. Graham, Keith A. Loftin
2018, Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin (27) 61-62
Review of Meriluoto, Jussi, Lisa Spoof, and GeoffreyA. Codd [eds.]. 2017. Handbook of Cyanobacterial Monitoring and Cyanotoxin Analysis. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.: Chichester, West Sussex, UK, ISBN 978‐1‐119‐06868‐6 (978‐1‐119‐06876‐1 eBook), DOI 10.1002/9781119068761....
Demographic response of Louisiana Waterthrush, a stream obligate songbird of conservation concern, to shale gas development
Mack W. Frantz, Petra B. Wood, James Sheehan, Gregory George
2018, Condor (120) 265-282
Shale gas development continues to outpace the implementation of best management practices for wildlife affected by development. We examined demographic responses of the Louisiana Waterthrush (Parkesia motacilla) to shale gas development during 2009–2011 and 2013–2015 in a predominantly forested landscape in West Virginia, USA. Forest cover across the study area...
Taiga bean goose: Harvest assessment for the Central Management Unit: 2018
Fred A. Johnson, Gitte Hoj Jensen, Mikko Alhainen, Anthony D. Fox, Jesper Madsen
2018, Report
In 2016 the European Goose Management International Working Group (EGM IWG) began development of an adaptive harvest management program for Taiga Bean Geese (TBG). In 2017, the EGM IWG adopted an interim harvest strategy consisting of a constant harvest rate (on adults) of 3% for the Central Management of Taiga...
A suite of exercises for verifying dynamic earthquake rupture codes
Ruth A. Harris, Michael Barall, Brad T. Aagaard, Shuo Ma, Daniel Roten, Kim Olsen, Benchun Duan, Dunyu Liu, Bin Luo, Kangchen Bai, Jean-Paul Ampuero, Yoshihiro Kaneko, Alice-Agnes Gabriel, Kenneth Duru, Thomas Ulrich, Stephanie Wollherr, Zheqiang Shi, Eric Dunham, Sam Bydlon, Zhenguo Zhang, Xiaofei Chen, Surendra N. Somala, Christian Pelties, Josue Tago, Victor Manuel Cruz-Atienza, Jeremy Kozdon, Eric Daub, Khurram Aslam, Yuko Kase, Kyle Withers, Luis Dalguer
2018, Seismological Research Letters (89) 1146-1162
We describe a set of benchmark exercises that are designed to test if computer codes that simulate dynamic earthquake rupture are working as intended. These types of computer codes are often used to understand how earthquakes operate, and they produce simulation results that include earthquake size, amounts of fault slip,...
Quantifying temporal trends in fisheries abundance using Bayesian dynamic linear models: A case study of riverine Smallmouth Bass populations
Megan K. Schall, Vicki S. Blazer, Robert M. Lorantas, Geoffrey Smith, John E. Mullican, Brandon J. Keplinger, Tyler Wagner
2018, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (38) 493-501
Detecting temporal changes in fish abundance is an essential component of fisheries management. Because of the need to understand short‐term and nonlinear changes in fish abundance, traditional linear models may not provide adequate information for management decisions. This study highlights the utility of Bayesian dynamic linear models (DLMs) as a...
Fight and air exposure times of caught and released salmonids from the South Fork Snake River
Curtis J. Roth, Daniel J. Schill, Michael C. Quist
2018, Fisheries Research (201) 38-42
Catch-and-release regulations are among the most common types of fishing regulations. In recent years, concerns have arisen regarding the exposure of fish to air during catch-and-release angling. The purpose of our study was to quantify the length of time angled fish were exposed to air by anglers in a typical...
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Susitna Basin, southern Alaska, 2017
Richard G. Stanley, Christopher J. Potter, Kristen A. Lewis, Paul G. Lillis, Anjana K. Shah, Peter J. Haeussler, Jeffrey D. Phillips, Zenon C. Valin, Christopher J. Schenk, Timothy R. Klett, Michael E. Brownfield, Ronald M. Drake II, Thomas M. Finn, Seth S. Haines, Debra K. Higley, David W. Houseknecht, Phuong A. Le, Kristen R. Marra, Tracey J. Mercier, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Stanley T. Paxton, Ofori N. Pearson, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Cheryl A. Woodall, Margarita V. Zyrianova
2018, Fact Sheet 2018-3017
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently completed an assessment of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources in the Susitna Basin of southern Alaska. Using a geology-based methodology, the USGS estimates that mean undiscovered volumes of about 2 million barrels of oil and nearly 1.7 trillion cubic feet of gas...
Discharge, sediment, and water chemistry in Clear Creek, western Nevada, water years 2013–16
Jena M. Huntington, Daniel J. Riddle, Angela P. Paul
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5050
Clear Creek is a small stream that drains the eastern Carson Range near Lake Tahoe, flows roughly parallel to the Highway 50 corridor, and discharges to the Carson River near Carson City, Nevada. Historical and ongoing development in the drainage basin is thought to be affecting Clear Creek and...
