The long-term legacy of geomorphic and riparian vegetation feedbacks on the dammed Bill Williams River, Arizona, USA
Li Kui, John C. Stella, Patrick B. Shafroth, Kyle House, Andrew C. Wilcox
2017, Ecohydrology (10)
On alluvial rivers, fluvial landforms and riparian vegetation communities codevelop as a result of feedbacks between plants and abiotic processes. The influence of vegetation on river channel and floodplain geomorphology can be particularly strong on dammed rivers with altered hydrology and reduced flood disturbance. We used a 56-year...
Land area change in coastal Louisiana (1932 to 2016)
Brady R. Couvillion, Holly Beck, Donald Schoolmaster, Michelle Fischer
2017, Scientific Investigations Map 3381
Coastal Louisiana wetlands are one of the most critically threatened environments in the United States. These wetlands are in peril because Louisiana currently experiences greater coastal wetland loss than all other States in the contiguous United States combined. The analyses of landscape change presented here have utilized historical surveys, aerial,...
Ecohydrological role of biological soil crusts across a gradient in levels of development
Kristen M. Whitney, Enrique R. Vivoni, Michael C. Duniway, John B. Bradford, Sasha C. Reed, Jayne Belnap
2017, Ecohydrology (10)
Though biological soil crusts (biocrusts) form abundant covers in arid and semiarid regions, their competing effects on soil hydrologic conditions are rarely accounted for in models. This study presents the modification of a soil water balance model to account for the presence of biocrusts at different levels of development (LOD)...
Coupling gene-based and classic veterinary diagnostics improves interpretation of health and immune function in the Agassiz’s desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii)
K. Kristina Drake, Lizabeth Bowen, Rebecca L. Lewison, Todd C. Esque, Kenneth Nussear, Josephine Braun, Shannon C. Waters-Dynes, A. Keith Miles
2017, Conservation Physiology (5)
The analysis of blood constituents is a widely used tool to aid in monitoring of animal health and disease. However, classic blood diagnostics (i.e. hematologic and plasma biochemical values) often do not provide sufficient information to determine the state of an animal’s health. Field studies on wild tortoises and other...
The effects of varying injection rates in Osage County, Oklahoma, on the 2016 Mw5.8 Pawnee earthquake
Andrew J. Barbour, Jack H. Norbeck, Justin L. Rubinstein
2017, Seismological Research Letters (88) 1040-1053
The 2016 Mw 5.8 Pawnee earthquake occurred in a region with active wastewater injection into a basal formation group. Prior to the earthquake, fluid injection rates at most wells were relatively steady, but newly collected data show significant increases in injection rate in the years leading up to earthquake. For the same...
Dispersal hazards of Pseudogymnoascus destructans by bats and human activity at hibernacula in summer
Anne Ballmann, Miranda R. Torkelson, Elizabeth A. Bohuski, Robin E. Russell, David S. Blehert
2017, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (53) 725-735
Bats occupying hibernacula during summer are exposed to Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), the causative agent of white-nose syndrome (WNS), and may contribute to its dispersal. Furthermore, equipment and clothing exposed to cave environments are a potential source for human-assisted spread of Pd. To explore dispersal hazards for Pd during the nonhibernal season, we tested samples that...
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources in the West Korea Bay–North Yellow Sea Basin, North Korea and China, 2017
Christopher J. Schenk, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Tracey J. Mercier, Sarah J. Hawkins, Thomas M. Finn, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Kristen R. Marra, Timothy R. Klett, Phuong A. Le, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Cheryl A. Woodall
2017, Fact Sheet 2017-3041
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean undiscovered, technically recoverable conventional resources of 1.1 billion barrels of oil and 2.2 trillion cubic feet of gas in the West Korea Bay–North Yellow Sea Basin, North Korea and China....
Synthesis of data from high-frequency nutrient and associated biogeochemical monitoring for the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, northern California
Bryan D. Downing, Brian A. Bergamaschi, Tamara E.C. Kraus
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5066
Executive SummaryThis report is the second in a series of three reports that provide information about high-frequency (HF) nutrient and biogeochemical monitoring in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta of northern California (Delta). The purpose of this report is to synthesize the data available from a nutrient and water-quality HF (about...
Map of the approximate inland extent of saltwater at the base of the Biscayne aquifer in the Model Land Area of Miami-Dade County, Florida, 2016
Scott T. Prinos
2017, Scientific Investigations Map 3380
The inland extent of saltwater at the base of the Biscayne aquifer in the Model Land Area of Miami-Dade County, Florida, was mapped in 2011. Since that time, the saltwater interface has continued to move inland. The interface is near several active well fields; therefore, an updated approximation of the...
Designing a high-frequency nutrient and biogeochemical monitoring network for the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, northern California
Brian A. Bergamaschi, Bryan D. Downing, Tamara E.C. Kraus, Brian A. Pellerin
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5058
Executive SummaryThis report is the third in a series of three reports that provide information about how high-frequency (HF) nutrient monitoring may be used to assess nutrient inputs and dynamics in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, California (Delta). The purpose of this report is to provide the background, principles, and...
An introduction to high-frequency nutrient and biogeochemical monitoring for the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, northern California
Tamara E.C. Kraus, Brian A. Bergamaschi, Bryan D. Downing
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5071
Executive SummaryThis report is the first in a series of three reports that provide information about high-frequency (HF) nutrient and biogeochemical monitoring in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta of northern California (Delta). This first report provides an introduction to the reasons for and fundamental concepts behind collecting HF measurements, and...
Revised tephra volumes for Cascade Range volcanoes
Manuel Nathenson
2017, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (341) 42-52
Isopach maps from tephra eruptions from Mount St. Helens were reported in Carey et al. (1995) and for tephra eruptions from Glacier Peak in Gardner et al. (1998). For exponential thinning, the isopach data only define a single slope on a log thickness versus square root of area plot. Carey...
Landscape context and the biophysical response of rivers to dam removal in the United States
Melissa M. Foley, Francis J. Magilligan, Christian E. Torgersen, Jon J. Major, Chauncey W. Anderson, Patrick J. Connolly, Daniel J. Wieferich, Patrick B. Shafroth, James E. Evans, Dana M. Infante, Laura Craig
2017, PLoS ONE (7)
Dams have been a fundamental part of the U.S. national agenda over the past two hundred years. Recently, however, dam removal has emerged as a strategy for addressing aging, obsolete infrastructure and more than 1,100 dams have been removed since the 1970s. However, only 130 of these removals had any...
Water quality and quantity and simulated surface-water and groundwater flow in the Laurel Hill Creek Basin, southwestern Pennsylvania, 1991–2007
Daniel G. Galeone, Dennis W. Risser, Lee W. Eicholtz, Scott A. Hoffman
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5082
Laurel Hill Creek is considered one of the most pristine waterways in southwestern Pennsylvania and has high recreational value as a high-quality cold-water fishery; however, the upper parts of the basin have documented water-quality impairments. Groundwater and surface water are withdrawn for public water supply and the basin has been...
Increased Arctic sea ice drift alters adult female polar bear movements and energetics
George M. Durner, David C. Douglas, Shannon Albeke, John P. Whiteman, Steven C. Amstrup, Evan Richardson, Ryan H. Wilson, Merav Ben-David
2017, Global Change Biology (23) 3460-3473
Recent reductions in thickness and extent have increased drift rates of Arctic sea ice. Increased ice drift could significantly affect the movements and the energy balance of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) which forage, nearly exclusively, on this substrate. We used radio-tracking and ice drift data to quantify the influence of...
Spatio-temporal evolution of the 2011 Prague, Oklahoma aftershock sequence revealed using subspace detection and relocation
Nicole D McMahon, Richard C. Aster, William L. Yeck, Daniel E. McNamara, Harley M. Benz
2017, Geophysical Research Letters (44) 7149-7158
The 6 November 2011 Mw 5.7 earthquake near Prague, Oklahoma is the second largest earthquake ever recorded in the state. A Mw 4.8 foreshock and the Mw 5.7 mainshock triggered a prolific aftershock sequence. Utilizing a subspace detection method, we increase by fivefold the number of precisely located events between 4 November and 5 December 2011....
Thermal regimes of Rocky Mountain lakes warm with climate change
James Roberts, Kurt D. Fausch, Travis S. Schmidt, David M. Walters
2017, PLoS ONE (12) 1-17
Anthropogenic climate change is causing a wide range of stresses in aquatic ecosystems, primarily through warming thermal conditions. Lakes, in response to these changes, are experiencing increases in both summer temperatures and ice-free days. We used continuous records of lake surface temperature and air temperature to create statistical models of...
The application of microtextural and heavy mineral analysis to discriminate between storm and tsunami deposits
Pedro J.M. Costa, Guy R. Gelfenbaum, Sue Dawson, SeanPaul La Selle, F Milne, J. Cascalho, C. Ponte Lira, C. Andrade, M. C. Freitas, Bruce E. Jaffe
2017, Geological Society, London, Special Publications (456) 167-190
Recent work has applied microtextural and heavy mineral analyses to sandy storm and tsunami deposits from Portugal, Scotland, Indonesia and the USA. We looked at the interpretation of microtextural imagery (scanning electron microscopy) of quartz grains and heavy mineral compositions. We consider inundation events of different chronologies and sources...
Coastal habitat and biological community response to dam removal on the Elwha River
Melissa M. Foley, Jonathan A. Warrick, Andrew C. Ritchie, Andrew W. Stevens, Patrick B. Shafroth, Jeffrey J. Duda, Matthew M. Beirne, Rebecca Paradis, Guy R. Gelfenbaum, Randall McCoy, Erin S. Cubley
2017, Ecological Monographs (87) 552-577
Habitat diversity and heterogeneity play a fundamental role in structuring ecological communities. Dam emplacement and removal can fundamentally alter habitat characteristics, which in turn can affect associated biological communities. Beginning in the early 1900s, the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams in Washington, USA, withheld an estimated 30 million tonnes of...
Examples of storm impacts on barrier islands
Nathaniel G. Plant, Kara S. Doran, Hilary F. Stockdon
2017, Book chapter, Coastal storms: Processes and impacts
This chapter focuses on the morphologic variability of barrier islands and on the differences in storm response. It describes different types of barrier island response to individual storms, as well as the integrated response of barrier islands to many storms. The chapter considers case study on the Chandeleur Island chain,...
Geologic map of the northern White Hills, Mohave County, Arizona
Keith A. Howard, Susan S. Priest, Scott C. Lundstrom, Debra L. Block
2017, Scientific Investigations Map 3372
IntroductionThe northern White Hills map area lies within the Kingman Uplift, a regional structural high in which Tertiary rocks lie directly on Proterozoic rocks as a result of Cretaceous orogenic uplift and erosional stripping of Paleozoic and Mesozoic strata. The Miocene Salt Spring Fault forms the major structural boundary in...
Fluid-driven uplift at Long Valley Caldera, California: Geologic perspectives
Edward Hildreth
2017, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (341) 269-286
Since persistent seismicity began in the Sierra Nevada adjacent to Long Valley caldera in 1978–1980, intracaldera unrest has been marked by (1) episodes of uplift totaling ~ 83 cm, centered on the middle Pleistocene resurgent dome, and (2) recurrent earthquake swarms along a 12-km-long segment...
Building a state-space life cycle model for naturally produced Snake River fall Chinook salmon
Russell Perry, John Plumb, Kenneth Tiffan, William P. Connor, Thomas D. Cooney, William Young
2017, Report
In 1992, Snake River basin fall Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) were listed for protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (NMFS 1992) and the population remained below 1000 individuals until 2000. Since then, returns from natural production has rebounded to over 20,000 spawners owing to a host of factors including...
Factors affecting marsh vegetation at the Liberty Island Conservation Bank in the Cache Slough region of the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, California
James L. Orlando, Judith Z. Drexler
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1077
The Liberty Island Conservation Bank (LICB) is a tidal freshwater marsh restored for the purpose of mitigating adverse effects on sensitive fish populations elsewhere in the region. The LICB was completed in 2012 and is in the northern Cache Slough region of the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta. The wetland vegetation at...
Mapping burned areas using dense time-series of Landsat data
Todd Hawbaker, Melanie K. Vanderhoof, Yen-Ju G. Beal, Joshua Takacs, Gail L. Schmidt, Jeff T. Falgout, Brad Williams, Nicole M. Brunner, Megan K. Caldwell, Joshua J. Picotte, Stephen M. Howard, Susan Stitt, John L. Dwyer
2017, Remote Sensing of Environment (198) 504-522
Complete and accurate burned area data are needed to document patterns of fires, to quantify relationships between the patterns and drivers of fire occurrence, and to assess the impacts of fires on human and natural systems. Unfortunately, in many areas existing fire occurrence datasets are known to be incomplete. Consequently,...
