A new sulfur and carbon degassing inventory for the Southern Central American Volcanic Arc: The importance of accurate time-series datasets and possible tectonic processes responsible for temporal variations in arc-scale volatile emissions
Maarten de Moor, Christoph Kern, Geoffroy Avard, Cyril Muller, Sandro Aiuppa, Armando Saballos, Martha Ibarra, Peter LaFemina, Mario Protti, Tobias Fischer
2017, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (18) 4437-4468
This work presents a new database of SO2 and CO2 fluxes from the Southern Central American Volcanic Arc (SCAVA) for the period 2015–2016. We report ∼300 SO2 flux measurements from 10 volcanoes and gas ratios from 11 volcanoes in Costa Rica and Nicaragua representing the most extensive available assessment of this ∼500 km...
An intertebrate ecosystem engineer likely covered under the umbrella of sage-grouse conservation
Jason D. Carlisle, David R. Stewart, Anna D. Chalfoun
2017, Western North American Naturalist (77) 450-463
Conservation practitioners often rely on areas designed to protect species of greatest conservation priority to also conserve co-occurring species (i.e., the umbrella species concept). The extent to which vertebrate species may serve as suitable umbrellas for invertebrate species, however, has rarely been explored. Sage-grouse (Centrocercus spp.) have high conservation priority throughout...
Early-career experts essential for planetary sustainability
Michelle Lim, Abigail J. Lynch, Alvaro Fernandez-Llamazares, Lenke Balint, Zeenatul Basher, Ivis Chan, Pedro Jaureguiberry, A.A.A. Mohamed, Tuyeni H. Mwampamba, Ignacio Palomo, Patricio Pliscoff, R.A. Salimov, Aibek Samakov, Odirilwe Selomane, Uttam B. Shrestha, Anna A. Sidorovich
2017, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability (29) 151-157
Early-career experts can play a fundamental role in achieving planetary sustainability by bridging generational divides and developing novel solutions to complex problems. We argue that intergenerational partnerships and interdisciplinary collaboration among early-career experts will enable emerging sustainability leaders to contribute fully to a sustainable future. We review 16 international, interdisciplinary,...
USGS assessment of water and proppant requirements and water production associated with undiscovered petroleum in the Bakken and Three Forks Formations
Seth S. Haines, Brian A. Varela, Sarah J. Hawkins, Nicholas J. Gianoutsos, Marilyn E. Tennyson
2017, Conference Paper, SPE/AAPG/SEG Unconventional Resources Technology Conference
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has conducted an assessment of water and proppant requirements, and water production volumes, associated with possible future production of undiscovered petroleum resources in the Bakken and Three Forks Formations, Williston Basin, USA. This water and proppant assessment builds directly from the 2013 USGS petroleum assessment...
First evidence that paired Roseate Terns may travel together during spring migration
Jeffrey A. Spendelow, Gabriel Lugo
2017, North American Bird Bander (42) 60-62
A mated pair of colorbanded Roseate Terns from the Northwest Atlantic Ocean breeding population was photographed on 12 May 2010 while staging near Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. This represents the first evidence that mated pairs of this species may travel together during their northward spring migration...
Rapid 3-week transition from migration to incubation in a female Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii)
Jeffrey A. Spendelow
2017, North American Bird Bander (42) 62-64
A female Roseate Tern that staged in Puerto Rico on 10 May 2008 on its migration north was first observed in the nesting area at Bird Island, Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts on 21 May. It was incubating a complete clutch of two eggs by 1 June and likely had initiated laying...
Vulnerability of coral reefs to bioerosion from land-based sources of pollution
Nancy G. Prouty, Anne Cohen, Kimberly K. Yates, Curt D. Storlazzi, Peter W. Swarzenski, Darla White
2017, Journal of Geophysical Research C: Oceans (122) 9319-9331
Ocean acidification (OA), the gradual decline in ocean pH and [ ] caused by rising levels of atmospheric CO2, poses a significant threat to coral reef ecosystems, depressing rates of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) production, and enhancing rates of bioerosion and dissolution. As...
Birds choose long-term partners years before breeding
Claire S. Teitelbaum, Sarah J. Converse, Thomas Mueller
2017, Animal Behaviour (134) 147-154
Pair bonds can provide social benefits to long-term monogamous species alongside their benefits for reproduction. However, little is known about when these bonds form, in particular how long they are present before breeding. Previous studies of pair formation in long-term monogamous birds have been rather data-limited, but for many migratory...
Geochemical and mineralogical characterization of the Eagle Ford Shale: Results from the USGS Gulf Coast #1 West Woodway core
Justin E. Birdwell, Adam Boehlke, Stanley T. Paxton, Katherine J. Whidden, Ofori N. Pearson
2017, Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions (67) 391-395
The Eagle Ford shale is a major continuous oil and gas resource play in southcentral Texas and a source for other oil accumulations in the East Texas Basin. As part of the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) petroleum system assessment and research efforts, a coring program to obtain several immature, shallow...
Effects of thermal variability on broadband seismometers: Controlled experiments, observations, and implications
Claire Doody, Adam T. Ringler, Robert Anthony, David C. Wilson, Austin Holland, Charles R. Hutt, Leo Sandoval
2017, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (108) 493-502
Isolating seismic instruments from temperature fluctuations is routine practice within the seismological community. However, the necessary degree of thermal stability required in broadband installations to avoid generating noise or compromising the fidelity in the seismic records is largely unknown and likely application dependent. To quantify the temperature sensitivity of seismometers...
Dynamic rupture modeling of the M7.2 2010 El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake: Comparison with a geodetic model
Christos Kyriakopoulos, David D. Oglesby, Gareth J. Funning, Kenneth Ryan
2017, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (122) 10263-10279
The 2010 Mw 7.2 El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake is the largest event recorded in the broader Southern California-Baja California region in the last 18 years. Here we try to analyze primary features of this type of event by using dynamic rupture simulations based on a multifault interface and later compare our results with space...
Foundations of translational ecology
Carolyn A. F. Enquist, Stephen T. Jackson, Gregg M. Garfin, Frank W. Davis, Leah R. Gerber, Jeremy S. Littell, Jennifer L. Tank, Adam Terando, Tamara U. Wall, Benjamin S. Halpern, J. Kevin Hiers, Toni L. Morelli, Elizabeth McNie, Nathan L. Stephenson, Matthew A. Williamson, Connie A. Woodhouse, Laurie Yung, Mark W. Brunson, Kimberly R. Hall, Lauren M. Hallett, Dawn M. Lawson, Max A. Moritz, Koren R. Nydick, Amber Pairis, Andrea J. Ray, Claudia M. Regan, Hugh D. Safford, Mark W. Schwartz, M. Rebecca Shaw
2017, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment (15) 541-550
Ecologists who specialize in translational ecology (TE) seek to link ecological knowledge to decision making by integrating ecological science with the full complement of social dimensions that underlie today's complex environmental issues. TE is motivated by a search for outcomes that directly serve the needs of natural resource managers and...
Groundwater model of the Great Basin carbonate and alluvial aquifer system version 3.0: Incorporating revisions in southwestern Utah and east central Nevada
Lynette E. Brooks
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5072
The groundwater model described in this report is a new version of previously published steady-state numerical groundwater flow models of the Great Basin carbonate and alluvial aquifer system, and was developed in conjunction with U.S. Geological Survey studies in Parowan, Pine, and Wah Wah Valleys, Utah....
Use of fish telemetry in rehabilitation planning, management, and monitoring in Areas of Concern in the Laurentian Great Lakes
J.L. Brooks, C. Boston, Susan E. Doka, Dimitry Gorsky, K. Gustavson, Darryl W. Hondorp, Daniel A. Isermann, Jonathan D. Midwood, T. C. Pratt, Andrew M. Rous, J. L. Withers, C.C. Krueger, S. J. Cooke
2017, Environmental Management (60) 1139-1154
Freshwater ecosystems provide many ecosystem services; however, they are often degraded as a result of human activity. To address ecosystem degradation in the Laurentian Great Lakes, Canada and the United States of America established the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA). In 1987, 43 highly polluted and impacted areas were...
Cobalt—Styles of deposits and the search for primary deposits
Murray W. Hitzman, Arthur A. Bookstrom, John F. Slack, Michael L. Zientek
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1155
Cobalt (Co) is a potentially critical mineral. The vast majority of cobalt is a byproduct of copper and (or) nickel production. Cobalt is increasingly used in magnets and rechargeable batteries. More than 50 percent of primary cobalt production is from the Central African Copperbelt. The Central African Copperbelt is the...
Groundwater flux and nutrient loading in the northeast section of Bear Lake, Muskegon County, Michigan, 2015
Alexander R. Totten, Jessica A. Maurer, Joseph W. Duris
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5092
Bear Lake in North Muskegon, Michigan, is listed as part of the Muskegon Lake area of concern as designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This area of concern was designated as a result of eutrophication and beneficial use impairments. On the northeast end of Bear Lake, two man-made retention...
Development of the next generation of seismic design value maps for the 2020 NEHRP Provisions
Ronald Hamburger, David Bonneville, C.B. Crouse, James D. Dolan, Ben Enfield, Julie Furr, Robert Hanson, James A. Harris, John Heintz, William Holmes, Jon Hooper, Charles Kircher, Nico Luco, Steven McCabe, Robert Pekelnicky, Jon Siu, Sanaz Rezaeian, Philipp Schneider, Jonathan P. Stewart, Siamak Sattar, Mai Tong, Jiqiu Yuan
2017, Report
During the period January 2015 through August 2018, a joint committee of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) representatives and National Institute of Building Sciences Building Seismic Safety Council (BSSC) volunteers and staff formed a committee to conduct Project 17. The purpose of Project 17 was to formulate recommendations for the rules...
North American Breeding Bird Survey in Mississippi
Daniel J. Twedt, Keith L. Pardieck
2017, Mississippi Kite (47) 70-83
Does it seem like you are hearing fewer Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) calls in recent years than you remember when you were younger? Conversely, have you also noticed hearing more “cooing” of Eurasian Collared-Doves (Streptopelia decaocto)? Do such experiences reflect changes in bird populations or are they false impressions? Well,...
Evidence for migratory spawning behavior by morphologically distinct Cisco (Coregonus artedi) from a small inland lake
Alexander J. Ross, Brian Weidel, Mellisa Leneker, Christopher T. Solomon
2017, The American Midland Naturalist (178) 237-244
Conservation and management of rare fishes relies on managers having the most informed understanding of the underlying ecology of the species under investigation. Cisco (Coregonus artedi), a species of conservation concern, is a cold-water pelagic fish that is notoriously variable in morphometry and life history. Published reports indicate, at spawning...
Sage grouse
Shawna Zimmerman, Jennifer M. Timmer, Cameron L. Aldridge, Sara J. Oyler-McCance, Clait E. Braun, Jessica R. Young
2017, Book chapter, Colorado Encyclopedia
Sage grouse are a group of chicken-sized birds with a unique breeding behavior and dependence on sagebrush shrubs (genus Artemisia) for food and shelter throughout their life cycle. In the last century, human population expansion throughout western North America has reduced the amount of sagebrush and degraded and fragmented the...
Potential for Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems applications for identifying groundwater-surface water exchange in a meandering river reach
H. Pai, H. Malenda, Martin A. Briggs, K. Singha, R. González-Pinzón, M. Gooseff, S.W. Tyler, AirCTEMPS Team
2017, Geophysical Research Letters (44) 11868-11877
The exchange of groundwater and surface water (GW-SW), including dissolved constituents and energy, represents a critical yet challenging characterization problem for hydrogeologists and stream ecologists. Here, we describe the use of a suite of high spatial-resolution remote-sensing techniques, collected using a small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS), to provide novel and...
Impact-related microspherules in Late Pleistocene Alaskan and Yukon “muck” deposits signify recurrent episodes of catastrophic emplacement
Jonathan T. Hagstrum, Richard B. Firestone, Allen West, James C. Weaver, Ted E. Bunch
2017, Scientific Reports (7)
Large quantities of impact-related microspherules have been found in fine-grained sediments retained within seven out of nine, radiocarbon-dated, Late Pleistocene mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) and bison (Bison priscus) skull fragments. The well-preserved fossils were recovered from frozen “muck” deposits (organic-rich silt) exposed within the Fairbanks and Klondike mining districts of Alaska,...
EROD activity, chromosomal damage, and oxidative stress in response to contaminants exposure in tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) nestlings from Great Lakes Areas of Concern
Thomas W. Custer, Christine M. Custer, Paul M. Dummer, Emilie Bigorgne, Elias Oziolor, Natalie K. Karouna-Renier, Sandra L. Schultz, Richard A. Erickson, Kevin Aagaard, Cole W. Matson
2017, Ecotoxicology (26) 1392-1407
Tree swallow, Tachycineta bicolor, nestlings were collected from 60 sites in the Great Lakes, which included multiple sites within 27 Areas of Concern (AOCs) and six sites not listed as AOCs from 2010 to 2014. Nestlings, approximately 12 days-of-age, were evaluated for ethoxyresorufin-O-dealkylase (EROD) activity, chromosomal damage, and six measures...
Polar bears, Ursus maritimus
Karyn D. Rode, Ian Stirling
2017, Book chapter, Encyclopedia of marine mammals
Polar bears are the largest of the eight species of bears found worldwide and are covered in a pigment-free fur giving them the appearance of being white. They are the most carnivorous of bear species consuming a high-fat diet, primarily of ice-associated seals and other marine mammals. They...
Bacterial sulfur disproportionation constrains timing of neoproterozoic oxygenation
Marcus Kunzmann, Thi Hao Bui, Peter W. Crockford, Galen P. Halverson, Clint Scott, Timothy W. Lyons, Boswell A. Wing
2017, Geology (45) 207-210
Various geochemical records suggest that atmospheric O2 increased in the Ediacaran (635–541 Ma), broadly coincident with the emergence and diversification of large animals and increasing marine ecosystem complexity. Furthermore, geochemical proxies indicate that seawater sulfate levels rose at this time too, which has been hypothesized to reflect increased sulfide oxidation in...
