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This report contains 10 interpretive cross sections and an integrated text describing the geology of parts of the Colorado, White River, and Death Valley regional ground-water flow systems, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. The primary purpose of the report is to provide geologic framework data for input into a numerical ground-water...

Long-distance migration, one of the most physically demanding events in the animal kingdom, is well developed in many species of Charadriidae and Scolopacidae. Some shorebirds renowned for their extraordinary long-distance migrations, notably American Golden-Plover (Pluvialis dominica), Red Knot (Calidris canutus rufa), and White-rumped Sandpiper (C. fuscicollis), travel as many as...

We provide the first evidence for chronic effects of disturbance by commercial vessels on the spatial distribution and abundance of fishes in the channels of a large river. Most of the world's large rivers are intensively managed to satisfy increasing demands for commercial shipping, but little research has been conducted...

We examined diets of fishes from gillnet and egg pump collections conducted on reefs in western Lake Erie during walleye (Sander vitreus) egg incubation periods from 1994–1999 and 2004 to assess incidence of walleye eggs in fish diets. We collected no potential egg predators in samples taken in 1994 but...

We measured fresh body mass, total body fat, and fat-free dry mass (FFDM) of three species of Arctic-nesting calidrid sandpipers (Baird's Sandpiper [Calidris bairdii], hereafter “BASA”; Semipalmated Sandpiper [C. pusilla], hereafter “SESA”; and White-rumped Sandpiper [C. fuscicollis], hereafter “WRSA”) during spring stopovers in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North...

Eight sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) were vaccinated with a commercial equine West Nile virus vaccine (Fort Dodge Animal Health, Fort Dodge, Iowa, USA) at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, Maryland, USA. Three doses of the vaccine were given, the first dose (day 0) was followed by a...

The 1:24,000-scale geologic map of the Pinedale 7.5' quadrangle lies in the western part of the Grants uranium mineral belt, which was mapped and studied under a cooperative agreement between the USGS and the U.S. Department of Energy. A spectacular panoramic view of the southern half of the Pinedale quadrangle...

In 1994, the Kootenai River white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) was listed as an Endangered Species as a direct result of two related observations. First, biologists observed that the white sturgeon population in the Kootenai River was declining. Second, they observed a decline in recruitment of juvenile sturgeon beginning in the...

Outcrop exposures of sedimentary rocks at the Opportunity landing site (Meridiani Planum) form a set of genetically related strata defined here informally as the Burns formation. This formation can be subdivided into lower, middle, and upper units which, respectively, represent eolian dune, eolian sand sheet, and mixed eolian sand sheet...

Characterization of sediment transport of the Kootenai River in the white sturgeon spawning reach is needed by the Kootenai River White Sturgeon Recovery Team to predict sediment-transport conditions that improve spawning conditions for the white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) in the Kootenai River near Bonners Ferry, Idaho. The decreasing population and...

Sediment cores were collected from five locations in the southwest coastal area of Everglades National Park, Florida, in May 2004 for the purpose of determining the ecosystem history of the area and the impacts of changes in flow through the Shark River Slough. An understanding of natural cycles of change...

Recent construction for Interstate Highway 99 (I?99) exposed pyrite and associated Zn-Pb sulfide minerals beneath a >10-m thick gossan to oxidative weathering along a 40-60-m deep roadcut through a 270-m long section of the Ordovician Bald Eagle Formation at Skytop, near State College, Centre County, Pennsylvania. Nearby Zn-Pb deposits hosted...

This paper investigates injection of CO2 into non-dome-shaped geological structures that do not provide the traps traditionally deemed necessary for the development of artificial CO2 reservoirs. We have developed a conceptual and two numerical models of the geology and groundwater along a cross-section lying approximately NW-SE and in the vicinity...

The age of the St. Peter Sandstone in the central and northern Midcontinent has long been considered equivocal because of the general absence of biostratigraphically useful fossils. Conodonts recovered from the St. Peter Sandstone in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Kansas for this study help place some age constraints on this...

Several anecdotal accounts provide compelling evidence that liquefaction occurred at several sites in Illinois during the 1811-1812 New Madrid sequence, as much as 250 km north of the New Madrid seismic zone (NMSZ). At one Wabash Valley location, sand blows are still evident near Big Prairie, Illinois, a location described...

Despite evidence of annual spawning by white sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus in rivers of the northwestern United States and Canada, in some years and locations little or no recruitment of age-0 white sturgeon has been observed. We examined the vulnerability of white sturgeon larvae and juveniles to predation to further understand...

Many local, State, and Federal agencies have concerns over the declining population of white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) in the Kootenai River and the possible effects of the closure and subsequent operation of Libby Dam in 1972. In 1994, the Kootenai River white sturgeon was listed as an Endangered Species. A...

Surveys with a submersible at offshore islands and banks in southern California found that white abalone were most abundant at depths between 43 and 60 m. This is deeper than estimates taken when white abalone were more abundant. Densities were highest at sites far from fishing ports. Controlling for depth...

The 40Ar/39Ar laser step-heating method potentially can be used to provide absolute ages for a number of formerly undatable, low-temperature ore deposits. This study demonstrates the use of this method by determining absolute ages for Zn-Pb-Ag sediment-hosted massive sulfide deposits and vein-breccia occurrences found throughout a 300-km-long, east-west-trending belt in...

Adult movement and natal dispersal data demonstrate that Northern Goshawks (Accipiter gentilis) are able to travel over long distances, suggesting a large functional population. However, these data are unable to determine whether these movements contribute to gene flow among adjacent breeding areas. We used eight microsatellite DNA loci and mitochondrial...

American agriculture has provided abundant high-energy foods for migratory and resident wildlife populations since the onset of modern wildlife management. Responding to anecdotal evidence that corn residues are declining in cropland, we remeasured waste corn postharvest in the Central Platte River Valley (CPRV) of Nebraska during 1997 and 1998 to...

This paper presents a suite of two-dimensional mathematical models of basin-scale groundwater flow and heat transfer for the middle Proterozoic Midcontinent Rift System. The models were used to assess the hydrodynamic driving mechanisms responsible for main-stage stratiform copper mineralization of the basal Nonesuch Formation during the post-volcanic/pre-compressional phase of basin...

American agriculture has provided abundant high-energy foods for migratory and resident wildlife populations since the onset of modern wildlife management. Responding to anecdotal evidence that corn residues are declining in cropland, we remeasured waste corn post-harvest in the Central Platte River Valley (CPRV) of Nebraska during 1997 and 1998 to...

Analysis of Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) data covering the Big Rock Candy Mountain area of the Marysvale volcanic field, west-central Utah, identified abundant rocks and soils bearing jarosite, goethite, and chlorite associated with volcanic rocks altered to propylitic grade during the Miocene (2321 Ma). Propylitically-altered rocks rich in...

New 1:24,000-scale geologic map of the Horse Mountain 7.5' quadrangle, in support of the USGS Western Colorado I-70 Corridor Cooperative Geologic Mapping Project, summarizes available geologic information for the quadrangle. It provides new interpretations of the stratigraphy, structure, and geologic hazards in the area of the southwest flank of the...