Unique thermal mixing patterns in Lake Ontario revealed by novel year-round observations of thermal stratification
Mathew Wells, Tim B. Johnson, Rylie Robinson, Jon Midwood, Yulu Shi, Sarah M. Larocque, Adam Eddie, Brian O’Malley, Kyle Morton, Dimitri Gorsky, Bruce Tufts
2025, Limnology and Oceanography (70) 3401-3416
Year-round records of thermal stratification in the Great Lakes are rare, and there are few observations of thermal stratification during winter. In this paper, we analyze temperature data from 13 temperature logger chains and from over 130 benthic acoustic receivers that were deployed across Lake Ontario for 2 yr. The...
Different data for different goals: Exploring trade-offs and synergies in the use of spatial data inputs to optimize conservation action in sagebrush ecosystems
Jessica E. Shyvers, Bryan C. Tarbox, Adrian P. Monroe, Nicholas J. Van Lanen, Benjamin Seward Robb, Erin K. Buchholtz, Courtney J. Duchardt, David R. Edmunds, Michael S. O’Donnell, Nathan D. Van Schmidt, Julie A. Heinrichs, Cameron L. Aldridge
2025, Ecology and Evolution (15)
Ecosystems worldwide continue to experience rapid rates of habitat and species loss. Management actions to conserve and restore functional habitats are needed to reduce these declines, but funding and resources for such actions are limited. Spatial conservation prioritization (SCP) can facilitate strategic decision-making for targeted conservation planning and delivery, but...
Beaver dams and their effects on urban streams in the Tualatin River Basin, northwestern Oregon
Krista L. Jones, Cassandra D. Smith, James S. White, Stewart A. Rounds, Micelis C. Doyle, Erin K. Leahy
2025, Fact Sheet 2025-3022
Introduction In response to growing interest in beaver-assisted restoration in the Tualatin River Basin of northwestern Oregon, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in partnership with Clean Water Services, collected data from 2016–17 and completed a series of studies to: (1) inventory known locations of beaver dams and activity in the Tualatin...
Effects of beaver dams and ponds on water quality in urban streams of the Tualatin River Basin, northwestern Oregon
Cassandra D. Smith, Erin K. Leahy, Krista L. Jones, Stewart A. Rounds
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5039-D
Significant Findings American beavers (Castor canadensis) are native to the Pacific Northwest, and their populations have increased in many locations after being nearly removed by historical trapping. Beaver dams have well-documented effects on water quality in forested streams, but their effects on water quality in urban streams have not been well...
Effects of beaver dams and ponds on the transport and deposition of suspended sediment in urban streams of the Tualatin River Basin, northwestern Oregon
Micelis C. Doyle, Cassandra D. Smith, Krista L. Jones, Alexandria E. Costello
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5039-C
Significant Findings This study investigated the effects of natural beaver dams and ponds on sediment transport and deposition in two urban beaver-affected reaches in the Tualatin River Basin, northwestern Oregon. Data were collected during 2016–17 from Fanno Creek at Greenway Park (between SW Hall Boulevard and SW Pearson Court) and Bronson...
Effects of beaver dams and ponds on hydrologic and hydraulic responses of storm flows in urban streams of the Tualatin River Basin, northwestern Oregon
James S. White, Krista L. Jones, Stewart A. Rounds
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5039-B
Significant Findings American beaver (Castor canadensis) dams fundamentally alter stream hydraulics and hydrology by temporarily impounding water in stream channels. Water managers are interested in how this impoundment translates to changes in hydrograph dynamics, particularly regarding the magnitude and duration of high flows, the temporary storage of storm water, and the...
Stream network capacity to support beaver dams in the Tualatin River Basin, northwestern Oregon
James S. White, Cassandra D. Smith, Krista L. Jones, Stewart A. Rounds
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5039-A
Significant Findings Beaver dams can help streams connect to their floodplains. These floodplain connections can expand the range of available aquatic habitats and aid in the restoration of stream and floodplain function and processes. American beavers (Castor canadensis) occupy a wide variety of aquatic habitats; however, their ability to build dams,...
Beavers in the Tualatin River Basin, northwestern Oregon
Krista L. Jones, Cassandra D. Smith, editor(s)
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5039
Growing interest in beaver-assisted restoration in the Tualatin River Basin of northwestern Oregon motivated a series of studies by the U.S. Geological Survey to assess the capacity of the stream network to support beaver dams and to evaluate the effects of beaver dams and ponds on urban streams. This multichapter...
The role of street cleaning on the water-quality performance of a stormwater treatment pond in Madison, Wisconsin
William R. Selbig, Sean Thiboldeaux, Phillip Gaebler
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5096
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the City of Madison, evaluated how street cleaning frequency influences the pollutant removal efficiency of a stormwater treatment pond in Madison, Wisconsin (2020–24). Paired influent and effluent samples were analyzed for nutrients, sediment, and chloride under...
Channel and floodplain cross-section and bed-elevation analyses of the Green River in Echo, Island, and Rainbow Parks, Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado and Utah
David J. Dean, Paul E. Grams, Shannon Leigh Sartain, Christy M. Leonard, Ronald E. Griffiths, Joel A. Unema, David J. Topping, John C. Schmidt
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5078
This report by the U.S. Geological Survey focuses on describing geomorphic changes in the alluvial segments of the Green River within Echo, Island, and Rainbow Parks of Dinosaur National Monument, between the 1990s and 2019. Substantial channel change occurred within these meandering alluvial segments following the construction and closure of...
Controls on sediment transport and storage in the Little Snake, Yampa, and Green Rivers in the vicinities of Dinosaur National Monument and Ouray National Wildlife Refuge, Colorado and Utah, with implications for fish habitat in the middle Green River
David J. Topping, Ronald E. Griffiths, Joel A. Unema, David J. Dean
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5075
The transport of sand and finer sediment in the Yampa and Green river network is typically in disequilibrium with the local sediment supply because of the partial decoupling of the sources of water and sediment: most of the water is supplied farther upstream than most of the sediment. This decoupling...
Potential risks of vegetation treatments to introduce and increase invasive annual grasses in rangelands of Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota—A science synthesis to inform National Environmental Policy Act analyses
Aaron N. Johnston, David J. A. Wood, Kyle Ebenhoch, Tait K. Rutherford, Logan M. Maxwell, Sarah K. Carter
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5058
The U.S. Geological Survey is working with Federal land management agencies to develop a series of planned structured science syntheses to support environmental effects analyses that agencies conduct under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This report synthesizes science information relevant to environmental effects analyses concerned with potential increases in...
Proceedings of the Deepwater Hydrate Coring Expedition UT-GOM2-2
Peter Flemings, Carla Thomas, Stephen C. Phillips, Timothy Collett, Ann E. Cook, Evan Solomon, Frederick S. Colwell, Joel E. Johnson, David Awwiller, Irita Aylward, Athma Bhandari, Donald Brooks, Jessica Z. Buser-Young, Alejandro Cardona, Michael Casso, Rachel Coyte, Tom Darrah, Marcy Davis, Brandon Dugan, Dan Duncan, John T. Germaine, Melanie Holland, Jesse Houghton, Saffron Martin, N. Tanner Mills, Michael Mimitz, Daniel Minarich, Yuki Morono, Zachary Murphy, Joshua O’Connell, Ethan Petrou, Tom Pettigrew, John W. Pohlman, Alexey Portnov, Marcie Purkey Phillips, Thomas Redd, Derek E. Sawyer, Peter Schultheiss, Kelly Shannon, Cathal Small, Camille Sullivan, Kayla Tozier, Man-Yin Tsang, Camila Van Der Maal, William F. Waite, Taylor Walton
2025, Report
This report was the result of a scientific collaboration between the following institutions The University of Texas at Austin (UT), DOE, NETL, the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), The Ohio State University, Columbia University, University of New Hampshire, Oregon State University, University of...
Rebuilding a volcano one lava flow at a time—Visualizing the lava dome-building eruption in the crater of Mount St. Helens, 1982–1986
Joseph A. Bard, Christina M. Friedle, Lorie Bartee, Brett C. Dierker, Joseph M. Ganick, Nichola M. Gregory, Kenton R. Hill, Jude G. Klug, Aerial Kruger, Dawson T. Mooney, Reun T. Morrison, Isa I. Rojas, Phil Rollo, Shawn A. Stanton, Bre Stewart, Blair E. Stuhlmuller, Adam D. Zyla
2025, General Information Product 262
Between 1980 and 1986, the U.S. Geological Survey made a series of 1:2,000-scale topographic contour maps from aerial photographic surveys to monitor the eruption. These maps were made for operational purposes and were not intended for publication. Since then, advances in technology made it possible to digitize the original, highly...
Computing discharge using the entropy-based probability concept
John W, Fulton, Frank L. Engel, Jack R. Eggleston, Chao-Lin Chiu
2025, Techniques and Methods 3-A26
This report describes the techniques and methods for computing the mean-channel velocity and discharge using the entropy-based probability concept (probability concept). The method is an alternative to or augments standard streamgaging methods adopted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Although sensor technology for measuring the mean velocity and discharge has...
Developing empirical fragility functions for lava flow building damage
Elinor S. Meredith, Susanna F. Jenkins, Josh L. Hayes, Denny J. Chee, David Lallemant, Natalia I. Deligne, Stravos Meletlidis, Alicia Felpeto
2025, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction
Fragility functions are vital tools in volcanic risk assessments to evaluate the probability of damage to structures at given hazard intensities. Traditionally, lava flow damage is assumed to be binary, whereby in contact with lava results in complete destruction and not in contact with lava remains undamaged. However, past studies present...
An approach to modeling abundance of marine wildlife over space and time using unstructured aerial surveys
Timothy A. Gowan, Jennifer Moore, Holly Edwards, Ashley B.C. Goode, Julien Martin
2025, The Journal of Wildlife Management
Estimating spatial and temporal patterns in abundance is often a goal of ecological studies and can be useful for informing management decisions, such as determining the optimal placement of wildlife protection zones. However, estimating abundance can be difficult in practice, especially over large areas, because of imperfect detection, where individuals...
Regional hydraulic geometry characteristics of stream channels in the Boston Mountains in Arkansas
Daniel E. Kroes, Laura Suzanne Ruhl-Whittle, Allegra C. Pieri, Aaron L. Pugh
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5083
Many stream-channel infrastructure, habitat enhancement, and restoration projects are undertaken on streams throughout Arkansas by Federal, State, and local agencies as well as by private organizations and businesses with limited data on local geomorphology and streamflow conditions. Equations that relate drainage area above stable stream reaches to the basin characteristics,...
Petrogenesis and mineralization potential of spinifex komatiitic basalts in the Bradley Peak greenstone terrane, Wyoming Province
Lisa Joanne Zieman, Michael Jenkins, Jacob Evan Poletti
2025, Precambrian Research (430)
Komatiitic volcanic rocks are important hosts of Ni sulfide mineralization and record early Earth evolution; however, those in the well-studied Archean Wyoming Province have received little attention. Here, we elucidate the timing and petrogenesis of the Bradley Peak komatiitic volcanic rocks using field and textural observations, geochronology, and geochemistry. Detrital...
An expert elicitation to inform coastal management decision-making for mitigating future hazards
Davina Passeri, Matthew Richardson, Julien Martin, Simeon Yurek, Karim Alizad, Matthew V. Bilskie, James Flocks, Donya P. Frank-Gilchrist, Robert Jenkins, Rangley C. Mickey, Margaret L. Palmsten, Christopher F. Smith, Kathryn Smith, Sara Zeigler
2025, Journal of Environmental Management (394)
A scientific expert elicitation was conducted to address the feasibility of restoring coastal environments in response to future hazards to best meet management objectives. Subject matter experts produced probabilistic estimates of coastal change metrics used to evaluate decision objectives and alternatives informed by a stakeholder advisory group. Changes in salt...
Hot stops, cool looks: Aesthetic solutions for thermal comfort at transit stops
Logan Steinharter, Peter Christian Ibsen, Tzeng Yih Lam, Lorien Nesbit, Keunhyun Park, Melissa McHale
2025, Urban Climate (64)
Increased urban heat intensifies thermal discomfort, particularly in critical public spaces such as transit stops. This study investigated the predictors of transit users' thermal perceptions in Denver, Colorado—a semi-arid city. Sixty bus stops spanning a gradient of land cover compositions were selected for study. Micrometeorological data, including thermal comfort indices,...
Estimated average annualized losses from potential building damage and fatalities due to earthquake-generated tsunamis in the United States
Nathan J. Wood, Anne Sheehan, Douglas Bausch, Cadie Goulette Yeager, Casey Zuzak, Jennifer Sims, Ashley Hoke
2025, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction (130)
Earthquake-generated tsunamis represent substantial economic threats to states and territories in the United States (U.S.), but we are unaware of any effort to quantify potential impacts at the national level. This gap is partially due to the lack of nationally consistent data on tsunamigenic sources and associated return periods. This...
Multidecadal change in pesticide concentrations relative to human health benchmarks in the Nation’s groundwater
Sarah M. Stackpoole, Bruce D. Lindsey, Cee S. Nell
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5081
Groundwater-quality trend assessments identify aquifers that are responding to changes in pesticide use and the compounds that may pose a threat to water availability. The U.S. Geological Survey has been monitoring pesticide concentrations in groundwater for 25 principal aquifers across the conterminous United States since 1993. The groundwater well locations...
Bathymetric and acoustic-backscatter mapping of Lake Sammamish, Washington, during USGS field activity 2021-656-FA
Peter Dartnell, Daniel S. Brothers, Brian Sherrod, Gerry A. Hatcher, Daniel C. Powers, Jenna C. Hill, Jackson E. Currie, Peter Dal Ferro
2025, Data Report 1207
In 2021, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) acquired bathymetric and acoustic-backscatter data within Lake Sammamish, Washington. Mapping was completed to find evidence of past earthquakes such as underwater landslides and is part of a larger USGS project to understand the overall geologic hazards history of the Cascadia Margin...
Colored shaded-relief bathymetry and acoustic backscatter of Lake Sammamish, Washington
Peter Dartnell, Daniel S. Brothers, Brian Sherrod, Gerry A. Hatcher, Daniel C. Powers, Jenna C. Hill, Jackson E. Currie, Peter Dal Ferro
2025, Scientific Investigations Map 3537
Evidence of strong earthquakes (such as underwater landslides and associated deposits) may be recorded within the lacustrine sediments of Pacific Northwest lakes. The floor of Lake Sammamish, Wash., an approximately 11 kilometer (6.8 mile) long, 2 kilometer (1.2 mile) wide, and 35 meter (114.8 feet) deep lake located in a...
