Paleoceanographic perspectives on Arctic Ocean change
Emily Osborne, Thomas M. Cronin, Jesse Farmer
2017, Report
The Arctic Ocean is presently experiencing changes in ocean temperature and sea ice extent that are unprecedented in the observational time period (satellite observations: 1979-Present). To provide context for the current changes, scientists turn to paleo records of past climate to document and study natural variability in the Arctic system....
New method to integrate remotely sensed hydrothermal alteration mapping into quantitative mineral resource assessments
John C. Mars, Jane M. Hammarstrom, Gilpin R. Robinson Jr., Stephen Ludington, Lukas Zurcher, Helen W. Folger, Mark E. Gettings, Federico Solano, Thomas Kress
2017, Conference Paper
Hydrothermal alteration data mapped using the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) were compiled into hydrothermal alteration polygons for use in an assessment of porphyry copper mineral resource potential in the southwestern United States. Hydrothermal alteration polygons along with geochemistry, gravity and magnetic, lithologic,...
A pesticide paradox: Fungicides indirectly increase fungal infections
Jason R. Rohr, Jenise Brown, William A. Battaglin, Teagan A. McMahon, Rick A. Reylea
2017, Ecological Applications (27) 2290-2302
There are many examples where the use of chemicals have had profound unintended consequences, such as fertilizers reducing crop yields (paradox of enrichment) and insecticides increasing insect pests (by reducing natural biocontrol). Recently, the application of agrochemicals, such as agricultural disinfectants and fungicides, has been explored as an approach to...
Ecology of the Sand Roller (Percopsis transmontana) in a lower Snake River Reservoir, Washington
Kenneth F. Tiffan, John M. Erhardt, Tobyn N. Rhodes, Rulon J. Hemingway
2017, Northwestern Naturalist (98) 203-214
The Sand Roller (Percopsis transmontana), has not been abundant in the Snake River since it was first found in the system in the 1950s, but its population has apparently increased in recent years. As a result, we initiated a study to better understand its ecology in habitats of Lower Granite...
Evaluating methods to assess the body condition of female polar bears
Anthony M. Pagano, Karyn D. Rode, Stephen N. Atkinson
2017, Ursus (28) 171-181
An animal's body condition provides insight into its health, foraging success, and overall fitness. Measures of body composition including proportional fat content are useful indicators of condition. Isotopic dilution is a reliable non-destructive method for estimating the body composition of live mammals, but can require prolonged handling times. Alternatively, bioelectrical...
Simulated juvenile salmon growth and phenology respond to altered thermal regimes and stream network shape
Aimee H. Fullerton, Brian J. Burke, Joshua J. Lawler, Christian E. Torgersen, Joseph L. Ebersole, Scott G. Leibowitz
2017, Ecosphere (8)
It is generally accepted that climate change will stress coldwater species such as Pacific salmon. However, it is unclear what aspect of altered thermal regimes (e.g., warmer winters, springs, summers, or increased variability) will have the greatest effect, and what role the spatial properties of river networks play. Thermally diverse...
The efficacy of combined educational and site management actions in reducing off-trail hiking in an urban-proximate protected area
Karen S. Hockett, Jeffrey L. Marion, Yu-Fai Leung
2017, Journal of Environmental Management (203) 17-28
Park and protected area managers are tasked with protecting natural environments, a particularly daunting challenge in heavily visited urban-proximate areas where flora and fauna are already stressed by external threats. In this study, an adaptive management approach was taken to reduce extensive off-trail hiking along a popular trail through an...
Can thermoluminescence be used to determine soil heating from a wildfire?
Francis K. Rengers, Vasilis Pagonis, Shannon A. Mahan
2017, Radiation Measurements (107) 119-127
The Silverado wildfire occurred from September 12 to 20, 2014, burning 960 acres in Orange County, California. Soil samples from within the burn area were obtained and the thermoluminescence (TL) properties of those samples were compared against a control sample to understand wildfire heating. We performed a series of experiments...
3D Pressure‐limited approach to model and estimate CO2 injection and storage capacity: saline Mount Simon Formation
Hossein Jahediesfanjani, Peter D. Warwick, Steven T. Anderson
2017, Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology (7) 1080-1096
To estimate the carbon dioxide (CO2) injection and storage capacity of saline formations, we used Tough2‐ECO2N simulation software to develop a pressure‐limited (dynamic) simulation approach based on applying three‐dimensional (3D) numerical simulation only on the effective injection area (Aeff) surrounding each injection well. A statistical analysis was performed to account...
Tectonic evolution of the Central Andean Plateau and implications for the growth of plateaus
Carmala N. Garzione, Nadine McQuarrie, Nicholas D. Perez, Todd A. Ehlers, Susan L. Beck, Nandini Kar, Nathan Eichelberger, Alan D. Chapman, Kevin M. Ward, Mihai N. Ducea, Richard O. Lease, Christopher J. Poulsen, Lara S. Wagner, Joel E. Saylor, George Zandt, Brian K. Horton
2017, Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences (45) 529-559
Current end-member models for the geodynamic evolution of orogenic plateaus predict (a) slow and steady rise during crustal shortening and ablative subduction (i.e., continuous removal) of the lower lithosphere or (b) rapid surface uplift following shortening, which is associated with punctuated removal of dense lower lithosphere and/or lower crustal flow....
Single-beam bathymetry data collected in 2015 from Grand Bay, Alabama-Mississippi
Nancy T. DeWitt, Chelsea A. Stalk, Christopher G. Smith, Stanley D. Locker, Jake J. Fredericks, Terrence A. McCloskey, Cathryn J. Wheaton
2017, Data Series 1070
As part of the Sea-level and Storm Impacts on Estuarine Environments and Shorelines (SSIEES) project, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center conducted a single-beam bathymetry survey within the estuarine, open-bay, and tidal creek environments of Grand Bay, Alabama-Mississippi, from May to June...
Population trends, extinction risk, and conservation guidelines for ferruginous pygmy-owls in the Sonoran Desert
Aaron Flesch, Pamela L. Nagler, Christopher Jarchow, Richard B. Alexander
2017, Report
Climatic flux together with anthropogenic changes in land use and land cover pose major threats to wildlife, but our understanding of their combined impacts is limited. In arid southwestern North America, ferruginous pygmy-owls (Glaucidium brasilianum) are of major conservation concern due to marked declines in abundance linked to changes in land use...
Predictability and selection of hydrologic metrics in riverine ecohydrology
Ken Eng, Theodore E. Grantham, Daren M. Carlisle, David M. Wolock
2017, Freshwater Science (36) 915-926
The natural flow regime is critical to the health of riverine ecosystems. Many hydrologic metrics (HMs) have been developed to describe natural flow regimes, quantify flow alteration, and provide the hydrologic foundation for the development of environmental flow standards. Many applications require the use of models to predict expected natural...
A paleomagnetic age estimate for the draining of ancient Lake Alamosa, San Luis Valley, south-central Colorado, U.S.A.
Joshua K. Davis, Mark R. Hudson, V. J. S. Grauch
2017, Rocky Mountain Geology (52) 107-117
In September 2009, a 99.4-m (326-ft) deep well was drilled proximal to Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve to explore the history and subsurface geology of the San Luis Valley, Colorado. Of particular interest was deciphering the evolution of ancient Lake Alamosa, which filled much of the San Luis...
Effect of stocking and biotic and abiotic factors on Muskellunge recruitment in northern Wisconsin lakes
Todd S. Caspers, Michael J. Hansen, Steven W. Hewett
2017, Conference Paper, Muskellunge Management: Fifty Years of Cooperation Among Anglers, Scientists, and Fisheries Biologists
The Muskellunge Esox masquinongy is an important recreational fish species in North America. Some populations of Muskellunge are in decline, despite a reduction in harvest by anglers due largely to a growing catch-and-release ethic. Our objectives were to determine if Muskellunge recruitment was influenced by stocking, biotic factors, and abiotic...
A diatom voucher flora from selected southeast rivers (USA)
Ian W. Bishop, Rhea R.M. Esposito, Meredith Tyree, Sarah A. Spaulding
2017, Phytotaxa (332) 101-140
This flora is intended to serve as an image voucher for samples analyzed for the U.S. Geological Survey Southeast Stream Quality Assessment (SESQA). The SESQA study included measurement of watershed and water quality parameters to determine the factors that have the greatest potential to alter biotic condition. Algal samples were...
Iron isotope systematics of shale-derived soils as potentially influenced by small mineral particle loss
Carleton R. Bern, Tiffany Yesavage, Michael J. Pribil
2017, Conference Paper
Loss of small mineral particles from soil has been suggested as a process that can produce net isotopic fractionation in the remaining soil. We extracted water dispersible colloids (WDCs) from bulk soil collected at the Susquehanna/Shale Hills Critical Zone Observatory (SSHO) and measured their Fe isotopic composition for comparison to...
Geomechanical analysis of initial stage of gas production from interbedded hydrate-bearing sediment
Jeen-Shang Lin, Shun Uchida, Evgeniy Myshakin, Yongkoo Seol, Jonny Rutqvist, Ray Boswell, William F. Waite, Junbong Jang, Timothy S. Collett
2017, Conference Paper
Geomechanical stability of marine hydrate reservoirs during gas production by depressurization is the focus of this study. The reservoir considered here consists of thin hydrate rich sandy layers interbedded with mud layers. Because of the input parameter uncertainties involved, it is prudent from a geomechanical perspective to estimate the likely...
Geology of Kasatochi Volcano, Aleutian Islands, Alaska
Christopher J. Nye, William E. Scott, Owen K Neill, Christopher F. Waythomas, Cheryl E. Cameron, Andrew T. Calvert
2017, Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys Professional Report 123
Kasatochi is a small, isolated island volcano in the center of the Aleutian Island chain. It consists of a roughly circular cone ~3 km in diameter with a lake-filled central crater that is 1.2 km in diameter and extends from the highest point on the island to sea level. The...
Geophysical characterization of seismic station sites in the United States – The importance of a flexible, multi-method approach
Antony Martin, Alan Yong, William J. Stephenson, J. Boatwright, John Diehl
2017, Conference Paper
Noninvasive geophysical site characterization methods were used in two recent projects to obtain shear-wave velocity (VS) profiles to a minimum depth of 30 m and the time-averaged VS of the upper 30 meters (VS30) at seismic station sites. These projects include the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funded...
Preface: The lunar reconnaissance orbiter
John W Keller, Lisa R. Gaddis, Noah E. Petro, Oded Aharonson
2017, Icarus (298) 1-1
When the call for papers for a special issue of Icarus devoted to analysis of data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission was announced in March 2015 we envisioned a single issue with only a possibility of a second. We certainly were gratified by the response from within and outside...
Evidence that recent warming is reducing upper Colorado River flows
Gregory J. McCabe, David M. Wolock, Gregory T. Pederson, Connie A. Woodhouse, Stephanie A. McAfee
2017, Earth Interactions (21) 1-14
The upper Colorado River basin (UCRB) is one of the primary sources of water for the western United States, and increasing temperatures likely will elevate the risk of reduced water supply in the basin. Although variability in water-year precipitation explains more of the variability in water-year UCRB streamflow than water-year...
Genetic structure of muskellunge in the Great Lakes region and the effects of supplementation on genetic integrity of wild populations
Keith N. Turnquist, Wesley Larson, John M. Farrell, P.A. Hanchin, Kevin L. Kapuscinski, Loren M. Miller, Kim T. Scribner, Chris C. Wilson, Brian L. Sloss
2017, Journal of Great Lakes Research (43) 1141-1152
Muskellunge (Esox masquinongy) are important apex predators that support numerous recreational fisheries throughout the Great Lakes region. Declines in muskellunge abundance from historical overharvest and environmental degradation have threatened the viability of many populations and prompted significant restoration efforts that often include stocking. The goal of our study was to...
Determining quantity and quality of retained oil in mature marly chalk and marlstone of the Cretaceous Niobrara Formation by low-temperature hydrous pyrolysis
Michael Lewan, Mark D. Sonnenfeld
2017, Conference Paper, Unconventional Resources Technology Conference
Low-temperature hydrous pyrolysis (LTHP) at 300°C (572°F) for 24 h released retained oils from 12- to 20-meshsize samples of mature Niobrara marly chalk and marlstone cores. The released oil accumulated on the water surface of the reactor, and is compositionally similar to oil produced from the same well. The quantities...
Food web conceptual model
Rosemary Hartman, Larry R. Brown, Jim Hobbs
2017, Interagency Ecological Program Technical Report 91
This chapter describes a general model of food webs within tidal wetlands and represents how physical features of the wetland affect the structure and function of the food web. This conceptual model focuses on how the food web provides support for (or may reduce support for) threatened fish species. This...
