Results of hydrologic monitoring on landslide-prone coastal bluffs near Mukilteo, Washington
Joel B. Smith, Rex L. Baum, Benjamin B. Mirus, Abigail R. Michel, Ben Stark
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1095
A hydrologic monitoring network was installed to investigate landslide hazards affecting the railway corridor along the eastern shore of Puget Sound between Seattle and Everett, near Mukilteo, Washington. During the summer of 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey installed monitoring equipment at four sites equipped with instrumentation to measure rainfall and...
Modern landscape processes affecting archaeological sites along the Colorado River corridor downstream of Glen Canyon Dam, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Arizona
Amy E. East, Joel B. Sankey, Helen C. Fairley, Joshua J. Caster, Alan Kasprak
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5082
The landscape of the Colorado River through Glen Canyon National Recreation Area formed over many thousands of years and was modified substantially after the completion of Glen Canyon Dam in 1963. Changes to river flow, sediment supply, channel base level, lateral extent of sedimentary terraces, and vegetation in the post-dam...
Water resources of Parowan Valley, Iron County, Utah
Thomas M. Marston
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5033
Parowan Valley, in Iron County, Utah, covers about 160 square miles west of the Red Cliffs and includes the towns of Parowan, Paragonah, and Summit. The valley is a structural depression formed by northwest-trending faults and is, essentially, a closed surface-water basin although a small part of the valley at...
Landslide monitoring in the Atlantic Highlands area, New Jersey
Pamela A. Reilly, Francis X. Ashland, Alex R. Fiore
2017, Fact Sheet 2017-3068
Shallow and deep-seated landslides have occurred episodically on the steep coastal bluffs of the Atlantic Highlands area (Boroughs of Atlantic Highlands and Highlands) in New Jersey. The oldest documented deep-seated landslide occurred in April 1782 and significantly changed the morphology of the bluff. However, recent landslides have been mostly shallow...
Change in morphology and modern sediment thickness on the inner continental shelf offshore of Fire Island, New York between 2011 and 2014: Analysis of hurricane impact
William C. Schwab, Wayne E. Baldwin, John C. Warner, Jeffrey H. List, Jane F. Denny, Maria Liste Munoz, Ilgar Safak
2017, Marine Geology (391) 48-64
Seafloor mapping investigations conducted on the lower shoreface and inner continental shelf offshore of Fire Island, New York in 2011 and 2014, the period encompassing the impacts of Hurricanes Irene and Sandy, provide an unprecedented perspective regarding regional inner continental shelf sediment dynamics during large storm events. Analyses of these studies demonstrate that...
Balancing habitat delivery for breeding marsh birds and nonbreeding waterfowl: An integrated waterbird management and monitoring approach at Clarence Cannon National Wildlife Refuge, Missouri
Brian W. Loges, James E. Lyons, Brian G. Tavernia
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1051
The Clarence Cannon National Wildlife Refuge (CCNWR) in the Mississippi River flood plain of eastern Missouri provides high quality emergent marsh and moist-soil habitat benefitting both nesting marsh birds and migrating waterfowl. Staff of CCNWR manipulate water levels and vegetation in the 17 units of the CCNWR to provide conditions...
Satellite-tagged osprey nearly sets longevity record and productivity response to initial captures
Charles J. Henny, Mark S. Martell
2017, Journal of Raptor Research (51) 180-183
We equipped adult Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) from 24 nests in Oregon/Washington with satellite-tracked battery-powered radios, known as platform transmitter terminals (PTTs), in 1996–1999. These Ospreys from the lower Columbia River (river miles 76–286), and the Willamette Valley in western Oregon were part of a larger study of Osprey fall migration,...
Geologic field-trip guide to Mount Shasta Volcano, northern California
Robert L. Christiansen, Andrew T. Calvert, Timothy L. Grove
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5022-K3
The southern part of the Cascades Arc formed in two distinct, extended periods of activity: “High Cascades” volcanoes erupted during about the past 6 million years and were built on a wider platform of Tertiary volcanoes and shallow plutons as old as about 30 Ma, generally called the “Western Cascades.”...
Field-trip guide to mafic volcanism of the Cascade Range in Central Oregon—A volcanic, tectonic, hydrologic, and geomorphic journey
Natalia I. Deligne, Daniele Mckay, Richard M. Conrey, Gordon E. Grant, Emily R. Johnson, Jim O’Connor, Kristin Sweeney
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5022-H
The Cascade Range in central Oregon has been shaped by tectonics, volcanism, and hydrology, as well as geomorphic forces that include glaciations. As a result of the rich interplay between these forces, mafic volcanism here can have surprising manifestations, which include relatively large tephra footprints and extensive lava flows, as...
Water-level altitudes 2017 and water-level changes in the Chicot, Evangeline, and Jasper Aquifers and compaction 1973–2016 in the Chicot and Evangeline Aquifers, Houston-Galveston region, Texas
Mark C. Kasmarek, Jason K. Ramage
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5080
Most of the land-surface subsidence in the Houston-Galveston region, Texas, has occurred as a direct result of groundwater withdrawals for municipal supply, commercial and industrial use, and irrigation that depressured and dewatered the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers, thereby causing compaction of the aquifer sediments, mostly in the fine-grained silt and...
Overview for geologic field-trip guides to volcanoes of the Cascades Arc in northern California
L.J. Patrick Muffler, Julie M. Donnelly-Nolan, Timothy L. Grove, Michael A. Clynne, Robert L. Christiansen, Andrew T. Calvert, Juliet Ryan-Davis
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5022-K
The California Cascades field trip is a loop beginning and ending in Portland, Oregon. The route of day 1 goes eastward across the Cascades just south of Mount Hood, travels south along the east side of the Cascades for an overview of the central Oregon volcanoes (including Three Sisters and...
Detecting temporal change in land-surface altitude using robotic land-surveying techniques and geographic information system applications at an earthen dam site in Southern Westchester County, New York
Michael L. Noll, Anthony Chu
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1028
In 2005, the U.S. Geological Survey began a cooperative study with New York City Department of Environmental Protection to characterize the local groundwater-flow system and identify potential sources of seeps on the southern embankment at the Hillview Reservoir in southern Westchester County, New York. Monthly site inspections at the reservoir...
Dam removal: Listening in
Melissa M. Foley, James Bellmore, James E. O'Connor, Jeffrey J. Duda, Amy E. East, Gordon G. Grant, Chauncey W. Anderson, Jennifer A. Bountry, Mathias J. Collins, Patrick J. Connolly, Laura S. Craig, James E. Evans, Samantha Greene, Francis J. Magilligan, Christopher S. Magirl, Jon J. Major, George R. Pess, Timothy J. Randle, Patrick B. Shafroth, Christian E. Torgersen, Desiree D. Tullos, Andrew C. Wilcox
2017, Water Resources Research (53) 5229-5246
Dam removal is widely used as an approach for river restoration in the United States. The increase in dam removals—particularly large dams—and associated dam-removal studies over the last few decades motivated a working group at the USGS John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis to review and synthesize available...
Reconstructing Common Era relative sea-level change on the Gulf Coast of Florida
Matthew J. Gerlach, Simon E. Engelhart, Andrew C. Kemp, Ryan P. Moyer, Joseph M. Smoak, Christopher E. Bernhardt, Niamh Cahill
2017, Marine Geology (390) 254-269
To address a paucity of Common Era data in the Gulf of Mexico, we reconstructed ~ 1.1 m of relative sea-level (RSL) rise over the past ~ 2000 years at Little Manatee River (Gulf Coast of Florida, USA). We applied a regional-scale foraminiferal transfer function to fossil assemblages preserved in a core of salt-marsh...
Field-trip guide to Columbia River flood basalts, associated rhyolites, and diverse post-plume volcanism in eastern Oregon
Mark L. Ferns, Martin J. Streck, Jason D. McClaughry
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5022-O
The Miocene Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG) is the youngest and best preserved continental flood basalt province on Earth, linked in space and time with a compositionally diverse succession of volcanic rocks that partially record the apparent emergence and passage of the Yellowstone plume head through eastern Oregon during...
Field-trip guide to the geologic highlights of Newberry Volcano, Oregon
Robert A. Jensen, Julie M. Donnelly-Nolan
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5022-J2
Newberry Volcano and its surrounding lavas cover about 3,000 square kilometers (km2) in central Oregon. This massive, shield-shaped, composite volcano is located in the rear of the Cascades Volcanic Arc, ~60 km east of the Cascade Range crest. The volcano overlaps the northwestern corner of the Basin and...
Geochemical characterization of groundwater discharging from springs north of the Grand Canyon, Arizona, 2009–2016
Kimberly R. Beisner, Fred D. Tillman, Jessica R. Anderson, Ronald C. Antweiler, Donald J. Bills
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5068
A geochemical study was conducted on 37 springs discharging from the Toroweap Formation, Coconino Sandstone, Hermit Formation, Supai Group, and Redwall Limestone north of the Grand Canyon near areas of breccia-pipe uranium mining. Baseline concentrations were established for the elements As, B, Li, Se, SiO2, Sr, Tl, U, and V....
Distribution and migration chronology of Eastern population sandhill cranes
David L. Fronczak, David E. Andersen, Everett E. Hanna, Thomas R. Cooper
2017, Journal of Wildlife Management (81) 1021-1032
The Eastern Population (EP) of greater sandhill cranes (Antigone canadensis tabida; cranes) is expanding in size and geographic range. Little information exists regarding the geographic extent of breeding, migration, and wintering ranges, migration chronology, or use of staging areas for cranes in the EP. To obtain these data, we attached...
Characterizing meteorological and hydrologic conditions associated with shallow landslide initiation in the coastal bluffs of the Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey
Francis Ashland, Alex R. Fiore, Pamela A. Reilly
Jerome V. De Graff, Abdul Shakoor, editor(s)
2017, Conference Paper, Landslides: Putting Experience, Knowledge and Emerging Technologies into Practice:Special Publication 27
Meteorological and hydrologic conditions associated with shallow landslide initiation in the coastal bluffs of the Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey remain undocumented despite a history of damaging slope movement extending back to at least 1903. This study applies an empirical approach to quantify the rainfall conditions leading to shallow landsliding based...
Winter habitat associations of eastern spotted skunks in Virginia
Emily D. Thorne, Charles Waggy, David S. Jachowski, Marcella J. Kelly, W. Mark Ford
2017, Journal of Wildlife Management (81) 1042-1050
Eastern spotted skunk (Spilogale putorius) populations have declined throughout much of their range in the eastern United States over recent decades. Declines have been attributed to habitat loss or change, increased competition with sympatric mesocarnivore species, or disease. To better understand the extant distribution of spotted skunks in the Appalachian...
Retrospective analysis of seasonal ocean growth rates of two sea winter Atlantic Salmon in eastern Maine using historic scales
Lisa K. Izzo, Joseph D. Zydlewski
2017, Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management, and Ecosystem Science (9) 357-372
Substantial declines of anadromous Atlantic Salmon Salmo salar have occurred throughout its range, with many populations at the southern extent of the distribution currently extirpated or endangered. While both one sea winter (1SW) and two sea winter (2SW) spawner numbers for the North American stocks have declined since the 1950s, the decline...
High-resolution seismic profiling reveals faulting associated with the 1934 Ms 6.6 Hansel Valley earthquake (Utah, USA)
Pier Paolo G. Bruno, Christopher B. DuRoss, Sotirios Kokkalas
2017, GSA Bulletin (129) 1227-1240
The 1934 Ms 6.6 Hansel Valley, Utah, earthquake produced an 8-km-long by 3-km-wide zone of north-south−trending surface deformation in an extensional basin within the easternmost Basin and Range Province. Less than 0.5 m of purely vertical displacement was measured at the surface, although seismologic data suggest mostly strike-slip faulting at...
Drilling, construction, geophysical log data, and lithologic log for boreholes USGS 142 and USGS 142A, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho
Brian V. Twining, Mary K.V. Hodges, Kyle Schusler, Christopher Mudge
2017, Data Series 1058
Starting in 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, drilled and constructed boreholes USGS 142 and USGS 142A for stratigraphic framework analyses and long-term groundwater monitoring of the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer at the Idaho National Laboratory in southeast Idaho. Borehole USGS...
The first 50 years of the North American Breeding Bird Survey
John R. Sauer, David Ziolkowski Jr., Keith L. Pardieck, Adam C. Smith, Marie-Anne R. Hudson, Vicente Rodriguez, Humberto Berlanga, Daniel Niven, William A. Link
2017, The Condor (119) 576-593
The vision of Chandler (Chan) S. Robbins for a continental-scale omnibus survey of breeding birds led to the development of the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS). Chan was uniquely suited to develop the BBS. His position as a government scientist had given him experience with designing and implementing continental-scale...
Shallow marine response to global climate change during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, Salisbury Embayment, USA
Jean Self-Trail, Marci M. Robinson, Timothy J. Bralower, Jocelyn A. Sessa, Elizabeth A. Hajek, Lee R. Kump, Sheila M. Trampush, Debra A. Willard, Lucy E. Edwards, David S. Powars, Gregory A. Wandless
2017, Paleoceanography (32) 710-728
The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) was an interval of extreme warmth that caused disruption of marine and terrestrial ecosystems on a global scale. Here we examine the sediments, flora, and fauna from an expanded section at Mattawoman Creek-Billingsley Road (MCBR) in Maryland and explore the impact of warming at a...
