Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Publications

Filter Total Items: 1327

An inventory of three-dimensional geologic models—U.S. Geological Survey, 2004–22

A database of spatial footprints and characteristics of three-dimensional geological models that were constructed by the U.S. Geological Survey between 2004 and 2022 was compiled as part of ongoing development of subsurface geologic information by the USGS National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program. This initial inventory resulted in the compilation of 38 three-dimensional geological models tha
Authors
Donald S. Sweetkind, Kristine L. Zellman

Insights into glendonite formation from the upper Oligocene Sagavanirktok Formation, North Slope, Alaska

The type locality for the upper Oligocene Nuwok Member of the Sagavanirktok Formation (Carter Creek, North Slope, Alaska, USA) contains abundant occurrence of glendonite, a pseudomorph after the calcium carbonate mineral ikaite, which typically forms in the shallow subsurface of cold marine sediments. The region during the time of Nuwok Member deposition was located at a high latitude, similar to
Authors
John W. Counts, Madeleine Vickers, Martha (Rebecca) Stokes, Whittney Spivey, Kristina Frank Gardner, Jean Self-Trail, Jared T. Gooley, Ryan J. McAleer, Aaron M. Jubb, David W. Houseknecht, Richard O. Lease, Neil Patrick Griffis, Martin S. Vickers, Kasia Śliwińska, Hannah Gail Dooley Tompkins, Adam M. Hudson

Practical guide to measuring wetland carbon pools and fluxes

Wetlands cover a small portion of the world, but have disproportionate influence on global carbon (C) sequestration, carbon dioxide and methane emissions, and aquatic C fluxes. However, the underlying biogeochemical processes that affect wetland C pools and fluxes are complex and dynamic, making measurements of wetland C challenging. Over decades of research, many observational, experimental, and

Authors
Sheel Bansal, Irena F. Creed, Brian Tangen, Scott D. Bridgham, Ankur R. Desai, Ken Krauss, Scott C Neubauer, Gregory B. Noe, Donald O. Rosenberry, Carl C. Trettin, Kimberly Wickland, Scott T. Allen, Ariane Arias-Ortiz, Anna R. Armitage, Dennis Baldocchi, Kakoli Banerjee, David Bastviken, Peter Berg, Matthew J. Bogard, Alex T. Chow, William H. Conner, Christopher Craft, Courtney Creamer, Tonya Delsontro, Jamie Duberstein, Meagan J. Eagle, M. Siobhan Fennessey, Sarah A. Finkelstein, Mathias Goeckede, Sabine Grunwald, Meghan Halibisky, Ellen R. Herbert, Mohammad Jahangir, Olivia Johnson, Miriam C. Jones, Jeffrey Kelleway, Sarah Knox, Kevin D. Kroeger, Kevin Kuehn, David Lobb, Amanda Loder, Shizhou Ma, Damien Maher, Gavin McNicol, Jacob Meier, Beth A. Middleton, Christopher T. Mills, Purbasha Mistry, Abhijith Mitra, Courtney Mobilian, Amanda M. Nahlik, Sue Newman, Jessica O'Connell‬, Patty Oikawa, Max Post van der Burg, Charles A Schutte, Chanchung Song, Camille Stagg, Jessica Turner, Rodrigo Vargas, Mark Waldrop, Markus Wallin, Zhaohui Aleck Wang, Eric Ward, Debra A. Willard, Stephanie A. Yarwood, Xiaoyan Zhu

Arctic-boreal lakes of interior Alaska dominated by contemporary carbon

Northern high-latitude lakes are critical sites for carbon processing and serve as potential conduits for the emission of permafrost-derived carbon and greenhouse gases. However, the fate and emission pathways of permafrost carbon in these systems remain uncertain. Here, we used the natural abundance of radiocarbon to identify and trace the predominant sources of methane, carbon dioxide, dissolved
Authors
Fenix Garcia-Tigreros, Clayton D. Elder, Martin R. Kurek, Benjamin L. Miller, Xiaomei Xu, Kimberly Wickland, Cluadia I. Czimczik, Mark M. Dornblaser, Robert G. Striegl, Ethan D. Kyzivat, Laurence C. Smith, Robert G.M. Spencer, Charles E. Miller, David Butman

Rising wildfire risk to houses in the United States, especially in grasslands and shrublands

Wildfire risks to homes are increasing, especially in the wildland-urban interface (WUI), where wildland vegetation and houses are in close proximity. Notably, we found that more houses are exposed to and destroyed by grassland and shrubland fires than by forest fires in the United States. Destruction was more likely in forest fires, but they burned less WUI. The number of houses within wildfire p
Authors
V.C. Radeloff, M.H. Mockrin, D. Helmers, A. Ron Carlson, Todd Hawbaker, S. Martinuzzi, F. Schug, P.M. Alexandre, A.H. Kramer, A.M. Pidgeon

Georectified polygon database of ground-mounted large-scale solar photovoltaic sites in the United States

Over 4,400 large-scale solar photovoltaic (LSPV) facilities operate in the United States as of December 2021, representing more than 60 gigawatts of electric energy capacity. Of these, over 3,900 are ground-mounted LSPV facilities with capacities of 1 MWdc or more. Ground mounted LSPV installations continue increasing, with more than 400 projects appearing online in 2021 alone; however, a comprehe
Authors
Sydny K. Fujita, Zachary H. Ancona, Louisa Kramer, Mary Straka, Tandie E. Gautreau, Dana Robson, Christopher P. Garrity, Ben Hoen, James E. Diffendorfer

High-resolution geophysical and geochronological analysis of a relict shoreface deposit offshore central California: Implications for slip rate along the Hosgri fault

The Cross-Hosgri slope is a bathymetric lineament that crosses the main strand of the Hosgri fault offshore Point Estero, central California. Recently collected chirp seismic reflection profiles and sediment cores provide the basis for a reassessment of Cross-Hosgri slope origin and the lateral slip rate of the Hosgri fault based on offset of the lower slope break of the Cross-Hosgri slope. The Cr
Authors
Jared W. Kluesner, Samuel Y. Johnson, Stuart P. Nishenko, Elisa Medri, Alex Simms, Gary Greene, Harrison J. Gray, Shannon A. Mahan, Jason Scott Padgett, Emma Taylor Krolczyk, Daniel S. Brothers, James E. Conrad

Reconstructing the geomorphic evolution and sediment budget history of a dynamic barrier island: Anclote Key, Florida

Decadal to centennial variations in sediment availability are a primary driver of coastal change within barrier systems. Models help explore how barrier morphology relates to past changes in magnitude of sediment availability, but this requires insights and validation from field efforts. In this study, we investigate the progradation of Anclote Key via its morphostratigraphy, a presently dynamic b
Authors
Daniel J. Ciarletta, Jennifer L. Miselis, Julie Bernier, Arnell S. Forde, Shannon A. Mahan

Construction and modification of debris-flow alluvial fans as captured in the geomorphic and sedimentary record: Examples from the western Sangre de Cristo Mountains, south-central Colorado

Debris-flow alluvial fans are iconic features of dynamic landscapes and are hypothesized to record tectonic and climatic change. Here, we highlight their complex formation and evolution through an exemplary suite of Quaternary debris-flow alluvial fans emanating from the western range front of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in south-central Colorado, USA. To evaluate the constructive and modifying
Authors
Sylvia Nicovich, James Schmitt, Harrison J. Gray, Ralph E. Klinger, Shannon A. Mahan

Late glacial–Younger Dryas climate in interior Alaska as inferred from the isotope values of land snail shells

The isotope values of fossil snail shells can be important archives of climate. Here, we present the first carbon (δ13C) and oxygen (δ18O) isotope values of snail shells in interior Alaska to explore changes in vegetation and humidity through the late-glacial period. Snail shell δ13C values were relatively consistent through the late glacial. However, late-glacial shell δ13C values are 2.8‰ higher
Authors
Catherine B. Nield, Yurena Yanes, Joshua D. Reuther, Daniel R. Muhs, Jeffrey S. Pigati, Joshua D. Miller, Patrick. S. Druckenmiller

Progradational-to-retrogradational styles of Palaeogene fluvial fan successions in the San Juan Basin, New Mexico

Basin-scale outcrop analyses of fluvial architecture in the Palaeogene San Juan Basin, New Mexico, document lateral and vertical trends in channel, floodplain and palaeosol characteristics. Herein, the uppermost part of the Palaeocene Nacimiento Formation and lower Eocene Cuba Mesa and Regina Members of the San Jose Formation are identified as deposits of large fluvial fans based on trends observe
Authors
Kristine L. Zellman, Piret Plink-Bjorklund, Leland Robson Spangler

Independent age estimates resolve the controversy of ancient human footprints at White Sands

Human footprints at White Sands National Park, New Mexico, USA, reportedly date to between ~23,000 and 21,000 years ago according to radiocarbon dating of seeds from the aquatic plant Ruppia cirrhosa. These ages remain controversial because of potential old carbon reservoir effects that could compromise their accuracy. We present new calibrated 14C ages of terrestrial pollen collected from the sam
Authors
Jeffrey S. Pigati, Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffrey S. Honke, David Wahl, Marie Rhondelle Champagne, Susan R.H. Zimmerman, Harrison J. Gray, Vincent L. Santucci, Daniel Odess, David Bustos, Matthew R. Bennett