Low stress drops observed for aftershocks of the 2011 Mw 5.7 Prague, Oklahoma, earthquake
Danielle F. Sumy, Corrie J. Neighbors, Elizabeth S. Cochran, Katie M. Keranen
2017, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (122) 3813-3834
In November 2011, three Mw ≥ 4.8 earthquakes and thousands of aftershocks occurred along the structurally complex Wilzetta fault system near Prague, Oklahoma. Previous studies suggest that wastewater injection induced a Mw 4.8 foreshock, which subsequently triggered a Mw 5.7 mainshock. We examine source properties of aftershocks with a standard Brune-type spectral model and jointly solve for...
Disturbance of a rare seabird by ship-based tourism in a marine protected area
Timothy K. Marcella, Scott M. Gende, Daniel D. Roby, Arthur Allignol
2017, PLoS ONE (12) 1-23
Managers of marine protected areas (MPAs) must often seek ways to allow for visitation while minimizing impacts to the resources they are intended to protect. Using shipboard observers, we quantified the “zone of disturbance” for Kittlitz’s and marbled murrelets (Brachyramphus brevirostris and B. marmoratus) exposed to large cruise ships...
Automatic mapping of the base of aquifer — A case study from Morrill, Nebraska
Mats Lundh Gulbrandsen, Lyndsay B. Ball, Burke J. Minsley, Thomas Mejer Hansen
2017, Interpretation (5) T231-T241
When a geologist sets up a geologic model, various types of disparate information may be available, such as exposures, boreholes, and (or) geophysical data. In recent years, the amount of geophysical data available has been increasing, a trend that is only expected to continue. It is nontrivial (and often, in...
Coal-tar-based pavement sealants—a potent source of PAHs
Barbara Mahler, Peter C. Van Metre
2017, Lakeline (37) 13-18
P avement sealants are applied to the asphalt pavement of many parking lots, driveways, and even playgrounds in North America (Figure 1), where, when first applied, they render the pavement glossy black and looking like new. Sealant products used commercially in the central, eastern, and northern United States typically are...
Response of fish population dynamics to mitigation activities in a large regulated river
Carson J. Watkins, Tyler J. Ross, Michael C. Quist, Ryan S. Hardy
2017, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (146) 703-715
Extensive water development in large rivers has precipitated many negative ecological effects on native fish populations. Mitigation for such development often focuses on restoring biological integrity through remediation of the physical and chemical properties of regulated rivers. However, evaluating and defining the success of those programs can be difficult. We...
Global Positioning System data collection, processing, and analysis conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program
Jessica R. Murray, Jerry L. Svarc
2017, Seismological Research Letters (88) 916-925
The U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Science Center collects and processes Global Positioning System (GPS) data throughout the western United States to measure crustal deformation related to earthquakes and tectonic processes as part of a long‐term program of research and monitoring. Here, we outline data collection procedures and present the GPS...
Distribution and abundance of Millicoma Dace in the Coos River Basin, Oregon
Paul D. Scheerer, James T. Peterson, Shaun Clements
2017, Northwestern Naturalist (98) 39-47
The Millicoma Dace Rhinichthys cataractae is a form of Longnose Dace endemic to the Coos River drainage in southwestern Oregon. Sparse species records in the Oregon State University Ichthyology Collection and database and infrequent recent encounters prompted surveys to assess the current status and distribution of the species. In 2014, we surveyed...
Migratory behavior of adult sea lamprey and cumulative passage performance through four fishways
Theodore R. Castro-Santos, Xiaotao Shi, Alexander Haro
2017, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (5) 790-800
This article describes a study of PIT-tagged sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) ascending four fishways comprising three designs at two dams on the Connecticut River, USA. Migration between dams was rapid (median migration rate = 23 km·day−1). Movement through the fishways was much slower, however (median = 0.02–0.33 km·day−1). Overall delay...
Tropical river suspended sediment and solute dynamics in storms during an extreme drought
Kathryn E. Clark, James B. Shanley, Martha A. Scholl, Nicolas Perdrial, Julia N. Perdrial, Alain F. Plante, William H. McDowell
2017, Water Resources Research (53) 3695-3712
Droughts, which can strongly affect both hydrologic and biogeochemical systems, are projected to become more prevalent in the tropics in the future. We assessed the effects of an extreme drought during 2015 on stream water composition in the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico. We demonstrated that drought base flow in...
Matching watershed and otolith chemistry to establish natal origin of an endangered desert lake sucker
Deanna D. Strohm, Phaedra E. Budy, Todd A. Crowl
2017, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (146) 732-743
Stream habitat restoration and supplemental stocking of hatchery-reared fish have increasingly become key components of recovery plans for imperiled freshwater fish; however, determining when to discontinue stocking efforts, prioritizing restoration areas, and evaluating restoration success present a conservation challenge. In this study, we demonstrate that otolith microchemistry is an effective...
Neutron scattering measurements of carbon dioxide adsorption in pores within the Marcellus Shale: Implications for sequestration
Konstantinos L. Stefanopoulos, Tristan G. A. Youngs, Richard Sakurovs, Leslie F. Ruppert, Jitendra Bahadur, Yuri B. Melnichenko
2017, Environmental Science & Technology (51) 6515-6521
Shale is an increasingly viable source of natural gas and a potential candidate for geologic CO2sequestration. Understanding the gas adsorption behavior on shale is necessary for the design of optimal gas recovery and sequestration projects. In the present study neutron diffraction and small-angle neutron scattering measurements of adsorbed CO2 in Marcellus...
Advancing coastal ocean modelling, analysis, and prediction for the US Integrated Ocean Observing System
John L. Wilkin, Leslie Rosenfeld, Arthur Allen, Rebecca Baltes, Antonio Baptista, Ruoying He, Patrick Hogan, Alexander Kurapov, Avichal Mehra, Josie Quintrell, David Schwab, Richard P. Signell, Jane Smith
2017, Journal of Operational Oceanography (10) 115-126
This paper outlines strategies that would advance coastal ocean modelling, analysis and prediction as a complement to the observing and data management activities of the coastal components of the US Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®) and the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). The views presented are the consensus of a...
Guidelines for preparation of State water-use estimates for 2015
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1029
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has estimated the use of water in the United States at 5-year intervals since 1950. This report describes the water-use categories and data elements used for the national water-use compilation conducted as part of the USGS National Water-Use Science Project. The report identifies sources of...
Experimental evaluation of four ground-motion scaling methods for dynamic response-history analysis of nonlinear structures
Andrew P. O’Donnell, Yahya C. Kurama, Erol Kalkan, Alexandros A. Taflanidis
2017, Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering (15) 1899-1924
This paper experimentally evaluates four methods to scale earthquake ground-motions within an ensemble of records to minimize the statistical dispersion and maximize the accuracy in the dynamic peak roof drift demand and peak inter-story drift demand estimates from response-history analyses of nonlinear building structures. The scaling methods that are investigated...
Do we need demographic data to forecast plant population dynamics?
Andrew T. Tredennick, Mevin Hooten, Peter B. Adler
2017, Methods in Ecology and Evolution (8) 541-551
Rapid environmental change has generated growing interest in forecasts of future population trajectories. Traditional population models built with detailed demographic observations from one study site can address the impacts of environmental change at particular locations, but are difficult to scale up to the landscape and regional scales...
Landscape-scale quantification of fire-induced change in canopy cover following mountain pine beetle outbreak and timber harvest
T. Ryan McCarley, Crystal A. Kolden, Nicole M. Vaillant, Andrew T. Hudak, Alistair Smith, Jason R. Kreitler
2017, Forest Ecology and Management (391) 164-175
Across the western United States, the three primary drivers of tree mortality and carbon balance are bark beetles, timber harvest, and wildfire. While these agents of forest change frequently overlap, uncertainty remains regarding their interactions and influence on specific subsequent fire effects such as change in canopy cover. Acquisition of...
Freshwater mussels (Unionidae): Central and West Texas Final Report
Charles R. Randklev, Nathan Johnson, T. J. Miller, J.M. Morton, J. Dudding, K. Skow, B. Boseman, M. Hart, E.T. Tsakiris, K. Inoue, R.R. Lopez
2017, Report, Texas A&M Institute of Renewable Natural Resources
The goal of this study was two-fold: (1) assess the taxonomic identity and phylogenetic placement of Quadrula aurea (Golden Orb) [Federal Candidate], Quadrula houstonensis (Smooth Pimpleback) [Federal Candidate], and Quadrula petrina (Texas Pimpleback) [Federal Candidate] through mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequencing; and (2) provided additional information on the distribution and abundance for mussel species...
Different historical fire–climate patterns in California
Jon E. Keeley, Alexandra D. Syphard
2017, International Journal of Wildland Fire (26) 253-268
The relationship between annual variation in area burned and seasonal temperatures and precipitation was investigated for the major climate divisions in California. Historical analyses showed marked differences in fires on montane and foothill landscapes. Based on roughly a century of data, there are five important lessons on fire–climate relationships in...
Comparative precision of age estimates from two southern reservoir populations of paddlefish [Polyodon spathula (Walbaum, 1792)]
James M. Long, Ashley Nealis
2017, Journal of Applied Ichthyology (33) 819-820
The aim of the study was to determine whether location and sex affected the age precision estimates between two southern, reservoir populations of paddlefish [Polyodon spathula (Walbaum, 1792)]. From 589 paddlefish collected in Grand Lake and Keystone Lake, Oklahoma in 2011, ages from dentaries were estimated using three independent readers and...
Ecological regime shift drives declining growth rates of sea turtles throughout the West Atlantic
Karen A. Bjorndal, Alan B. Bolten, Milani Chaloupka, Vincent S. Saba, Claudio Bellini, Maria A.G. Marcovaldi, Armando J.B. Santos, Luis Felipe Wurdig Bortolon, Anne B. Meylan, Peter A. Meylan, Jennifer Gray, Robert Hardy, Beth Brost, Michael Bresette, Jonathan C. Gorham, Stephen Connett, Barbara Van Sciver Crouchley, Mike Dawson, Deborah Hayes, Carlos E. Diez, Robert P. van Dam, Sue Willis, Mabel Nava, Kristen M. Hart, Michael S. Cherkiss, Andrew Crowder, Clayton Pollock, Zandy Hillis-Starr, Fernando A. Munoz Teneria, Roberto Herrera-Pavon, Vanessa Labrada-Martagon, Armando Lorences, Ana Negrete-Philippe, Margaret M. Lamont, Allen M. Foley, Rhonda Bailey, Raymond R. Carthy, Russell Scarpino, Erin McMichael, Jane A. Provancha, Annabelle Brooks, Adriana Jardim, Milagros Lopez-Mendilaharsu, Daniel Gonzalez-Paredes, Andres Estrades, Alejandro Fallabrino, Gustavo Martinez-Souza, Gabriela M. Velez-Rubio, Ralf H. Boulon Jr., Jaime Collazo, Robert Wershoven, Vicente Guzman Hernandez, Thomas B. Stringell, Amdeep Sanghera, Peter B. Richardson, Annette C. Broderick, Quinton Phillips, Marta C. Calosso, John A.B. Claydon, Tasha L. Metz, Amanda L. Gordon, Andre M. Landry Jr., Donna J. Shaver, Janice Blumenthal, Lucy Collyer, Brendan J. Godley, Andrew McGowan, Matthew J. Witt, Cathi L. Campbell, Cynthia J. Lagueux, Thomas L. Bethel, Lory Kenyon
2017, Global Change Biology (23) 4556-4568
Somatic growth is an integrated, individual-based response to environmental conditions, especially in ectotherms. Growth dynamics of large, mobile animals are particularly useful as bio-indicators of environmental change at regional scales. We assembled growth rate data from throughout the West Atlantic for green turtles, Chelonia mydas, which are long-lived, highly migratory,...
Subsequent-year recaptures at winter sites in three species of shrubland sparrows (Emberizidae)
Steven T. Knick, Matthias Leu, Steve E. Hanser
2017, Southwestern Naturalist (62) 121-125
The tendency by individual birds to return to winter sites in subsequent years can be important in assessing the potential influence of habitat changes during the nonbreeding period. We recaptured five Brewer's (Spizella breweri), seven sagebrush (Artemisiospiza nevadensis), and three black-throated (Amphispiza bilineata) sparrows from 1–3 subsequent years at the...
Geologic map of Meridiani Planum, Mars
Brian M. Hynek, Gaetano Di Achille
2017, Scientific Investigations Map 3356
Introduction and BackgroundThe Meridiani Planum region of Mars—originally named due to its proximity to the Martian prime meridian—contains a variety of geologic units, including those that are crater‑related, that span the Early Noachian to Late Amazonian Epochs. Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) data indicate this area contains extensive layered deposits, some...
A practical method for the determination of total selenium in environmental samples using isotope dilution-hydride generation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry
Amy E. Kleckner, Evangelos Kakouros, A. Robin Stewart
2017, Limnology and Oceanography: Methods (15) 363-371
A safe, practical, and accurate method for the determination of selenium (Se) in range of environmental samples was developed. Small sample masses, 5–20 mg, were amended with 82Se enriched isotope for the isotope dilution (ID), preceding a multi-step wet digestion with nitric acid (HNO3) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Samples were...
Controls on the chemical composition of saline surface crusts and emitted dust from a wet playa in the Mojave Desert (USA)
Harland L. Goldstein, George N. Breit, Richard L. Reynolds
2017, Journal of Arid Environments (140) 50-66
Saline-surface crusts and their compositions at ephemeral, dry, and drying lakes are important products of arid-land processes. Detailed understanding is lacking, however, about interactions among locally variable hydrogeologic conditions, compositional control of groundwater on vadose zone and surface salts, and dust composition. Chemical and physical data from groundwater, sediments, and...
Using a full annual cycle model to evaluate long-term population viability of the conservation-reliant Kirtland's warbler after successful recovery
Donald J. Brown, Christine Ribic, Deahn M. Donner, Mark D. Nelson, Carol I. Bocetti, Christie M. Deloria-Sheffield
2017, Journal of Applied Ecology (54) 439-449
Long-term management planning for conservation-reliant migratory songbirds is particularly challenging because habitat quality in different stages and geographic locations of the annual cycle can have direct and carry-over effects that influence the population dynamics. The Neotropical migratory songbird Kirtland's warbler Setophaga kirtlandii (Baird 1852) is listed as...
