Spatio-temporal evolution of distributed volcanic fields, case studies—Sierra Chichinautzin and Michoacán-Guanajuato, México
Carmen Jaimes-Viera, Amiel Nieto-Torres, Ana Lillian Martin Del Pozzo, Aurelie Germa, Chuck Connor, Michael H. Ort, Paul Layer, Jeff Benowitz
2025, Professional Paper 1890-I
An analysis of 1,375 volcanoes in the Michoacán-Guanajuato (1,148 volcanoes in a 26,200 square-kilometer area) and Sierra Chichinautzin (227 volcanoes in a 3,500 square-kilometer area) volcanic fields in central Mexico identified patterns in the spatial and temporal distribution of past eruptions. A cluster agglomerative hierarchical method and kernel analysis confirmed...
The effects of management practices on grassland birds—Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla)
Jill A. Shaffer, Lawrence D. Igl, Douglas H. Johnson, Marriah L. Sondreal, Christopher M. Goldade, Barry D. Parkin, Betty R. Euliss
2025, Professional Paper 1842-BB
Keys to Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla) management include providing shrub-dominated edge habitat adjacent to grasslands or grasslands with a shrub component (both of which must include dense grass and moderately high litter cover) and avoiding disturbances that eliminate woody vegetation. Field Sparrows have been reported to use habitats with 16–134...
The National Park Service Stratotype Inventory
Tim C. Henderson, Vince L. Santucci, Justin S. Tweet, Tim Connors, Nancy R. Stamm, Randall C. Orndorff, David R. Soller, Cullen Scheland
2025, Professional Paper 1879–2-B
Beginning in 2020, the National Park Service (NPS) began a systematic effort to document the occurrence of stratotypes exposed within, partially within, and near NPS administrative boundaries. The NPS stratotype inventory project represents an important component of a geologic resource inventory, as these designations are vital to our national geologic...
Stratigraphic notes—Volume 2, 2025
Randall C. Orndorff, Nancy R. Stamm, David R. Soller, editor(s)
2025, Professional Paper 1879-2
This is the second volume in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) series of reports on stratigraphy entitled “Stratigraphic Notes,” which consists of short papers that highlight stratigraphic studies, changes in stratigraphic nomenclature, and explanations of stratigraphic names and concepts used on published geologic maps. “Stratigraphic Notes” is a long-term (multiyear),...
Prospectivity mapping for geologic hydrogen
Sarah E. Gelman, Jane S. Hearon, Geoffrey S. Ellis
2025, Professional Paper 1900
Geologic, or naturally occurring, hydrogen has the potential to become a new, low-carbon, primary energy resource. Often referred to as “white” or “gold” hydrogen, this gas occurs naturally in the Earth’s subsurface, similar to petroleum resources. However, unlike petroleum, which releases carbon dioxide when burned, burning hydrogen only produces water...
Integrated water availability in the conterminous United States, 2010–20
Edward G. Stets, Matthew J. Cashman, Olivia L. Miller, Kathryn Powlen
2025, Professional Paper 1894-F
Water availability is defined as the spatial and temporal distribution of water quantity and quality as it relates to the needs of humans and ecosystems. Broad assessment of water availability requires the consideration of multiple indicators because water users have different sensitivities to the degradation of water conditions. This chapter...
Climate change and future water availability in the United States
Martha A. Scholl, Gregory J. McCabe, Carolyn G. Olson, Kathryn Powlen
2025, Professional Paper 1894-E
The steady rise in global temperature as a result of human activity is causing changes in Earth’s water cycle. The balance of water stored within and moving between vapor, liquid, and frozen states in the water cycle is shifting, with consequences for water availability that include increases in drought, fire...
Water use across the conterminous United States, water years 2010–20
Laura Medalie, Amy E. Galanter, Anthony J. Martinez, Althea A. Archer, Carol L. Luukkonen, Melissa A. Harris, Jonathan V. Haynes
2025, Professional Paper 1894-D
Withdrawals of water for human use are fundamental to the evaluation of the Nation’s water availability. This chapter provides an analysis of public supply, crop irrigation, and thermoelectric power water use for the conterminous United States (CONUS) during water years 2010–20. These three categories account for about 90 percent of...
Status of water-quality conditions in the United States, 2010–20
Melinda L. Erickson, Olivia L. Miller, Matthew J. Cashman, James R. Degnan, James E. Reddy, Anthony J. Martinez, Elmera Azadpour
2025, Professional Paper 1894-C
Degradation of water quality can make water harmful or unusable for humans and ecosystems. Although many studies have assessed the effect of individual constituents or narrow suites of constituents on freshwater systems, no consistent, comprehensive assessment exists over the wide range of water-quality effects on water availability. Using published studies,...
Water supply in the conterminous United States, Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, water years 2010–20
Galen Gorski, Edward G. Stets, Martha A. Scholl, James R. Degnan, John R. Mullaney, Amy E. Galanter, Anthony J. Martinez, Julie Padilla, Jacob H. LaFontaine, Hayley R. Corson-Dosch, Allen Shapiro
2025, Professional Paper 1894-B
We present an assessment of water supply across the conterminous United States (CONUS), Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico covering water years 2010–20. Our analysis drew on two national hydrologic models, the National Hydrologic Model Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System and the Weather Research and Forecasting model hydrologic modeling system. Both models produced...
The National integrated water availability assessment, water years 2010–20
Edward G. Stets, Althea A. Archer, James R. Degnan, Melinda L. Erickson, Galen Gorski, Laura Medalie, Martha A. Scholl
2025, Professional Paper 1894-A
Water availability is fundamentally important to human well-being, economic vitality, and ecosystem health. Because of its central importance, the U.S. Congress tasked the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and other Federal agencies with conducting regular, comprehensive assessments of water availability in the United States through the requirements under the SECURE Water...
U.S. Geological Survey Integrated Water Availability Assessment—2010–20
Edward G. Stets, editor(s)
2025, Professional Paper 1894
This professional paper is a multichapter report that assesses water availability in the United States for water years 2010–20. This work was conducted as part of the fulfillment of the mandates of Subtitle F of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-11), also known as...
Distributed volcanism—Characteristics, processes, and hazards
Michael P. Poland, Michael H. Ort, Wendy K. Stovall, R. Greg Vaughan, Charles B. Connor, M. Elise Rumpf, editor(s)
2024, Professional Paper 1890
IntroductionDistributed volcanism is defined by regions of dominantly, but not exclusively, monogenetic eruptive vents that are commonly mafic. Volcanic eruptions within distributed fields can range in composition from basalt to rhyolite and produce all types of volcanoes in all tectonic environments. This diversity in eruption composition and style reflects complex...
Temporal, spatial, and chemical evolution of Quaternary high-silica rhyolites in the Mineral Mountains, Utah
Tiffany A. Rivera, Brian R. Jicha, Stefan Kirby, Hannah B. Peacock
2024, Professional Paper 1890-K
The Mineral Mountains in southwestern Utah are a structurally controlled core complex at the confluence of the Colorado Plateau and the Basin and Range physiographic provinces. Aside from hosting Utah’s largest batholith, the Mineral Mountains host some of the State’s youngest high-silica rhyolites, which have been linked to a magma...
Facies variation within outcrops of the Triassic Shublik Formation, northeastern Alaska
Julie A. Dumoulin, Katherine J. Whidden, William A. Rouse, Christina A. DeVera
2024, Professional Paper 1814-H
The Shublik Formation (Middle to Upper Triassic) is a heterogeneous unit that is a major hydrocarbon source rock in northern Alaska and the largest known Triassic phosphate accumulation in the world. This formation, which occurs in the subsurface and crops out within the Arctic Alaska basin, was deposited on a...
New U-Pb geochronology and geochemistry of Paleozoic metaigneous rocks from western Yukon and eastern Alaska, cross-border synthesis, and implications for tectonic models
Cynthia Dusel-Bacon, James K. Mortensen
2024, Professional Paper 1888
The tectonic evolution of and relation between the Yukon-Tanana terrane and the Lake George assemblage, as well as other associated tectonic assemblages in western Yukon and eastern Alaska, have been debated for decades. The Yukon-Tanana terrane is widely considered to be an allochthonous rifted fragment derived from the Laurentian continental...
Stratigraphy, paleoflora, and tectonic setting of the Paleogene Sheep Creek volcanic field, central Alaska
Timothy White, David Sunderlin, Dwight Bradley
2024, Professional Paper 1814-G
In this paper, we provide new information on the stratigraphy and paleoflora of the Sheep Creek volcanic field in the Alaska Range that bolsters our understanding of a key interval in the tectonic, paleoclimate, and paleoenvironmental history of the northern Cordillera. Although the distribution and basic stratigraphy of these rocks...
Overview of the Cenozoic geology of the northern Harrat Rahat volcanic field, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Joel E. Robinson, Drew T. Downs
2023, Professional Paper 1862-R
The Harrat Rahat volcanic field, located in the west-central part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is one of the larger Cenozoic harrats among the more than 17 harrats situated upon the Arabia Plate. The map plate contained herein shows, at a scale of 1:100,000, the mapped volcanic geology of...
Probabilistic seismic-hazard analysis for the western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Ryota Kiuchi, Walter D. Mooney, Hani M. Zahran
2023, Professional Paper 1862-Q
We present a probabilistic seismic-hazard analysis (PSHA) for the west-central part of the Arabian Peninsula. Our study area includes the northern Harrat Rahat volcanic field and the nearby city of Al Madīnah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This young, active volcanic field experienced one historical eruption in 1256 C.E. (654 in...
Seismic hazard assessment for areas of volcanic activity in western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Hani M. Zahran, Vladimir Sokolov, Ian C. F. Stewart
2023, Professional Paper 1862-P
Earthquake swarms caused by volcanic activity, tectonic stresses, or industrial operations (oil and gas production) can pose considerable risk for nearby settlements. As a rule, a probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA) that is based on time-independent earthquakes does not take into account earthquake swarms because of their statistically time-dependent nature....
Ground-motion prediction equations for the western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Ryota Kiuchi, Walter D. Mooney, Hani M. Zahran
2023, Professional Paper 1862-O
Ground-motion prediction equations (GMPEs) for the western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are developed by employing a mixed-effects regression model to modify the Boore and others (2014) Next Generation Attenuation-West2 (NGA-West2) project GMPEs. NGA-West2 addressed several key issues concerning GMPEs for shallow crustal earthquakes in active tectonic regions. However, the NGA-West2...
Ambient seismic noise tomography of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Francesco Civilini, Walter D. Mooney, Martha K. Savage, John Townend
2023, Professional Paper 1862-N
Harrat Rahat is a Cenozoic volcanic field in the west-central part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 150 kilometers east of the Red Sea, and is the site of the most recent eruption in the country (1256 C.E.; 654 in the year of the Hijra). The city of Al Madīnah...
Thickness of the Saudi Arabian crust
Alexander R. Blanchette, Simon L. Klemperer, Walter D. Mooney, Hani M. Zahran
2023, Professional Paper 1862-M
As part of a joint Saudi Geological Survey (SGS) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) project, we analyzed P-wave receiver functions from seismic stations covering most of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to map the thickness of the crust across the Arabia Plate. We present an update of crustal-thickness estimates and...
Magnetotelluric investigation of northern Harrat Rahat, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Jared R. Peacock, Paul A. Bedrosian, Maher K. Al-Dhahry, Adel Shareef, Daniel W. Feucht, Cliff D. Taylor, Benjamin Bloss, Hani M. Zahran
2023, Professional Paper 1862-L
Volcanism within the harrats (Arabic for “volcanic field”) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia includes at least one historical eruption occurring close to the holy city of Al Madīnah in 1256 C.E. As part of a volcanic- and seismic-hazard assessment of northern Harrat Rahat, magnetotelluric (MT) data were collected to...
Depth to basement and crustal structure of the northern Harrat Rahat volcanic field, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from gravity and aeromagnetic data
Victoria E. Langenheim, Brent T. Ritzinger, Hani M. Zahran, Adel Shareef, Maher K. Al-Dhahry
2023, Professional Paper 1862-K
New gravity data reveal a prominent negative anomaly along the main vent axis of the northern Harrat Rahat volcanic field in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The gravity low continues north of the volcanic field onto exposures of Proterozoic rocks, indicating that the low is caused not only by the...
