Seismic hazard of American Samoa and neighboring South Pacific Islands--methods, data, parameters, and results
Mark D. Petersen, Stephen C. Harmsen, Kenneth S. Rukstales, Charles S. Mueller, Daniel E. McNamara, Nicolas Luco, Melanie Walling
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1087
American Samoa and the neighboring islands of the South Pacific lie near active tectonic-plate boundaries that host many large earthquakes which can result in strong earthquake shaking and tsunamis. To mitigate earthquake risks from future ground shaking, the Federal Emergency Management Agency requested that the U.S. Geological Survey prepare seismic...
Sea-floor character and sedimentary processes of Block Island Sound, offshore Rhode Island
L.J. Poppe, W. W. Danforth, K.Y. McMullen, M.A. Blankenship, K.A. Glomb, D.B. Wright, S. M. Smith
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1005
Gridded multibeam bathymetry covers approximately 634 square kilometers of sea floor in Block Island Sound. Although originally collected for charting purposes during National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hydrographic surveys H12009, H12010, H12011, H12015, H12033, H12137, and H12139, these combined acoustic data and the sea-floor sediment sampling and photography stations subsequently...
Modeling of depth to base of Last Glacial Maximum and seafloor sediment thickness for the California State Waters Map Series, eastern Santa Barbara Channel, California
Florence L. Wong, Eleyne L. Phillips, Samuel Y. Johnson, Ray W. Sliter
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1161
Models of the depth to the base of Last Glacial Maximum and sediment thickness over the base of Last Glacial Maximum for the eastern Santa Barbara Channel are a key part of the maps of shallow subsurface geology and structure for offshore Refugio to Hueneme Canyon, California, in the California...
Global prediction of continuous hydrocarbon accumulations in self-sourced reservoirs
Jennifer D. Eoff
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1091
This report was first presented as an abstract in poster format at the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) 2012 Annual Convention and Exhibition, April 22-25, Long Beach, Calif., as Search and Discovery Article no. 90142. Shale resource plays occur in predictable tectonic settings within similar orders of magnitude of...
The Cedars ultramafic mass, Sonoma County, California
M. Clark Blake Jr., Edgar H. Bailey, Carl M. Wentworth
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1164
The Cedars ultramafic mass is a mantle fragment that consists of partially serpentinized spinel harzburgite and dunite. Compositional layering and a chromite lineation define a penetrative metamorphic foliation that almost certainly formed in the upper mantle. Although detailed petrofabric and mineral chemistry are presently lacking, it seems reasonable that the...
A multiple-point geostatistical method for characterizing uncertainty of subsurface alluvial units and its effects on flow and transport
C. Cronkite-Ratcliff, G. A. Phelps, A. Boucher
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1065
This report provides a proof-of-concept to demonstrate the potential application of multiple-point geostatistics for characterizing geologic heterogeneity and its effect on flow and transport simulation. The study presented in this report is the result of collaboration between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Stanford University. This collaboration focused on improving...
Stuart R. Stidolph diatom atlas
S.R. Stidolph, F.A.S. Sterrenburg, K. E. L. Smith, A. Kraberg
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1163
The "Stuart R. Stidolph Diatom Atlas" is a comprehensive volume of diatom taxa identified and micrographed by Stuart R. Stidoph during the 1980s and 1990s. The samples were collected from marine coasts of various geographic regions within tropical and subtropical climates. The plates included within this report have never been...
Sea-floor geology in central Rhode Island Sound south of Sakonnet Point, Rhode Island
K.Y. McMullen, L.J. Poppe, S.D. Ackerman, C.R. Worley, M.A. Nadeau, M. V. Van Hoy
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1004
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are working together to study the sea floor along the northeastern coast of the United States. NOAA collected multibeam-echosounder data during hydrographic survey H11995 in a 63-square-kilometer area in central Rhode Island Sound, south of Sakonnet Point,...
Groundwater quality in the Genesee River Basin, New York, 2010
James E. Reddy
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1135
Water samples collected from eight production wells and eight private residential wells in the Genesee River Basin from September through December 2010 were analyzed to characterize the groundwater quality in the basin. Eight of the wells were completed in sand and gravel aquifers, and eight were finished in bedrock aquifers....
Waterbird nest monitoring program in San Francisco Bay (2005-10)
Joshua T. Ackerman, Mark P. Herzog
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1145
Historically, Forster’s Terns (Sterna forsteri), American Avocets (Recurvirostra americana), and Black-necked Stilts (Himantopus mexicanus) were uncommon residents of San Francisco Bay, California (Grinnell and others, 1918; Grinnell and Wythe, 1927; Sibley, 1952). Presently, however, avocets and stilts are the two most abundant breeding shorebirds in San Francisco Bay (Stenzel and...
Radon-222 content of natural gas samples from Upper and Middle Devonian sandstone and shale reservoirs in Pennsylvania—preliminary data
E. L. Rowan, T. F. Kraemer
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1159
Samples of natural gas were collected as part of a study of formation water chemistry in oil and gas reservoirs in the Appalachian Basin. Nineteen samples (plus two duplicates) were collected from 11 wells producing gas from Upper Devonian sandstones and the Middle Devonian Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania. The samples...
Assessment of soil-gas contamination at the 17th Street landfill, Fort Gordon, Georgia, 2011
W. Fred Falls, Andral W. Caldwell, Wladmir G. Guimaraes, W. Hagan Ratliff, John B. Wellborn, James Landmeyer
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1127
Assessments of contaminants in soil gas were conducted in two study areas at Fort Gordon, Georgia, in July and August of 2011 to supplement environmental contaminant data for previous studies at the 17th Street landfill. The two study areas include northern and eastern parts of the 17th Street landfill and...
Model of whooping crane energetics as foundation for development of a method to assess potential take during migration
Aaron T. Pearse, Sarena M. Selbo
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1156
A whooping crane energetic model was developed as a component of a larger effort to ascertain potential take, as defined by the Endangered Species Act, of whooping cranes from proposed development of wind-energy infrastructure in the Great Plains of North America. The primary objectives of this energetic model were to...
Assessment of soil-gas and groundwater contamination at the Gibson Road landfill, Fort Gordon, Georgia, 2011
W. Fred Falls, Andral W. Caldwell, Wladmir G. Guimaraes, W. Hagan Ratliff, John B. Wellborn, James Landmeyer
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1128
Soil-gas and groundwater assessments were conducted at the Gibson Road landfill in 201 to provide screening-level environmental contamination data to supplement the data collected during previous environmental studies at the landfill. Passive samplers were used in both assessments to detect volatile and semivolatile organic compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in...
Probability and volume of potential postwildfire debris flows in the 2012 Waldo Canyon Burn Area near Colorado Springs, Colorado
Kristine L. Verdin, Jean A. Dupree, John G. Elliott
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1158
This report presents a preliminary emergency assessment of the debris-flow hazards from drainage basins burned by the 2012 Waldo Canyon fire near Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado. Empirical models derived from statistical evaluation of data collected from recently burned basins throughout the intermountain western United States were used...
National climate assessment technical report on the impacts of climate and land use and land cover change
Thomas Loveland, Rezaul Mahmood, Toral Patel-Weynand, Krista Karstensen, Kari Beckendorf, Norman Bliss, Andrew Carleton
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1155
This technical report responds to the recognition by the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) and the National Climate Assessment (NCA) of the importance of understanding how land use and land cover (LULC) affects weather and climate variability and change and how that variability and change affects LULC. Current published,...
Temperature and petroleum generation history of the Wilcox Formation, Louisiana
Janet K. Pitman, Elisabeth L. Rowan
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1046
A one-dimensional petroleum system modeling study of Paleogene source rocks in Louisiana was undertaken in order to characterize their thermal history and to establish the timing and extent of petroleum generation. The focus of the modeling study was the Paleocene and Eocene Wilcox Formation, which contains the youngest source rock...
The fluorescent tracer experiment on Holiday Beach near Mugu Canyon, Southern California
Nicole Kinsman, J. P. Xu
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1131
After revisiting sand tracer techniques originally developed in the 1960s, a range of fluorescent coating formulations were tested in the laboratory. Explicit steps are presented for the preparation of the formulation evaluated to have superior attributes, a thermoplastic pigment/dye in a colloidal mixture with a vinyl chloride/vinyl acetate copolymer. In...
Probability and volume of potential postwildfire debris flows in the 2012 High Park Burn Area near Fort Collins, Colorado
Kristine L. Verdin, Jean A. Dupree, John G. Elliott
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1148
This report presents a preliminary emergency assessment of the debris-flow hazards from drainage basins burned by the 2012 High Park fire near Fort Collins in Larimer County, Colorado. Empirical models derived from statistical evaluation of data collected from recently burned basins throughout the intermountain western United States were used to...
Map showing extent of glaciation in the Eagle quadrangle, east-central Alaska
Florence R. Weber, Frederic H. Wilson
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1138
This map covers the Eagle 1:250,000-scale quadrangle in the northeastern part of the Yukon-Tanana Upland in Alaska. It shows the extent of five major glacial advances, former glacial lakes, and present fragmented terrace deposits related to the advances. The Yukon-Tanana Upland is an area of about 116,550 km2 between the...
Thermal and hydrological observations near Twelvemile Lake in discontinuous permafrost, Yukon Flats, interior Alaska, September 2010-August 2011
Steven M. Jepsen, Joshua C. Koch, Joshua R. Rose, Clifford I. Voss, Michelle Ann Walvoord
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1121
A series of ground-based observations were made between September 2010 and August 2011 near Twelvemile Lake, 19 kilometers southwest of Fort Yukon, Alaska, for use in ongoing hydrological analyses of watersheds in this region of discontinuous permafrost. Measurements include depth to ground ice, depth to water table, soil texture, soil...
Preliminary surficial geologic map of the Newberry Springs 30' x 60' quadrangle, California
G. A. Phelps, D. R. Bedford, D. J. Lidke, D. M. Miller, K. M. Schmidt
2012, Open-File Report 2011-1044
The Newberry Springs 30' x 60' quadrangle is located in the central Mojave Desert of southern California. It is split approximately into northern and southern halves by I-40, with the city of Barstow at its western edge and the town of Ludlow near its eastern edge. The map area spans...
Airborne digital-image data for monitoring the Colorado River corridor below Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona, 2009 - Image-mosaic production and comparison with 2002 and 2005 image mosaics
Philip A. Davis
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1139
Airborne digital-image data were collected for the Arizona part of the Colorado River ecosystem below Glen Canyon Dam in 2009. These four-band image data are similar in wavelength band (blue, green, red, and near infrared) and spatial resolution (20 centimeters) to image collections of the river corridor in 2002 and...
Independent technical review and analysis of hydraulic modeling and hydrology under low-flow conditions of the Des Plaines River near Riverside, Illinois
Thomas M. Over, Timothy D. Straub, Jon Hortness, Elizabeth A. Murphy
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1143
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has operated a streamgage and published daily flows for the Des Plaines River at Riverside since Oct. 1, 1943. A HEC-RAS model has been developed to estimate the effect of the removal of Hofmann Dam near the gage on low-flow elevations in the reach approximately...
Potential For Denitrification near Reclaimed Water Application Sites in Orange County, Florida, 2009
Michael J. Byrne Sr., Richard L. Smith, Deborah A. Repert
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1123
The potential for denitrification was tested in water samples from four Upper Floridan aquifer wells near a reclaimed water application site, in west Orange County Florida, and two adjacent springs. Results of the study indicate that denitrifying bacteria are present in the groundwater and spring water samples, and that these...