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Can we avert an Amazon tipping point? The economic and environmental costs

The Amazon biome is being pushed by unsustainable economic drivers towards an ecological tipping point where restoration to its previous state may no longer be possible. This degradation is the result of self-reinforcing interactions between deforestation, climate change and fire. We assess the economic, natural capital and ecosystem services impacts and trade-offs of scenarios representing moveme
Authors
Onil Banerjee, Martin Cicowiez, Marcia N. Macedo, Ziga Malek, Peter H. Verburg, Sean Goodwin, Renato Vargas, Ludmila Rattis, Kenneth J. Bagstad, Paulo M. Brando, Michael T. Coe, Christopher Neill, Octavio Damiani Marti, Josue Avila Murillo

GCPs free photogrammetry for estimating tree height and crown diameter in Arizona cypress plantation using UAV-Mounted GNSS RTK

One of the main challenges of using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in forest data acquisition is the implementation of Ground Control Points (GCPs) as a mandatory step, which is sometimes impossible for inaccessible areas or within canopy closures. This study aimed to test the accuracy of a UAV-mounted GNSS RTK (real-time kinematic) system for calculating tree height and crown height without any
Authors
Morteza Pourreza, Fardin Moradi, Mohammad Khosravi, Azade Deljouei, Melanie K. Vanderhoof

Geochemical evidence for diachronous uplift and synchronous collapse of the high elevation Variscan hinterland

Competing end-member models for the late Paleozoic Variscan orogeny (ca. 360-290 Ma) alternatively suggest moderate 2-3 km elevations underlain by relatively thin crust (55 km) that supported high 4-5 km elevations. We tested these models and quantified the crustal thickness and elevation evolution of the Variscan orogeny using igneous trace element geochemical proxies. The data suggest that thick
Authors
Ian William Hillenbrand, Michael L. Williams

Contemporary (1984–2020) fire history metrics for the conterminous United States and ecoregional differences by land ownership

Background: Remotely sensed burned area products are critical to support fire modelling, policy, and management but often require further processing before use.Aim: We calculated fire history metrics from the Landsat Burned Area Product (1984–2020) across the conterminous U.S. (CONUS) including (1) fire frequency, (2) time since last burn (TSLB), (3) year of last burn, (4) longest fire-free interv
Authors
Melanie K. Vanderhoof, Todd Hawbaker, Casey Teske, Joe Noble, Jim Smith

Geologic map of the Mount Evans quadrangle, Clear Creek and Park Counties, Colorado

The Mount Evans 7.5’ quadrangle lies in Park and Clear Creek counties, Colorado, about 60 km west of Denver. The highest elevation in the quadrangle is 14,265 ft (4,348 m) at the top of Mount Evans. The lowest is at about 9,200 ft (2,804 m) on Guanella Pass Road at the southern edge of the quadrangle. Bedrock directly underlies most of the map area, with surficial deposits primarily in the valleys
Authors
Logan Powell, Asha A. Mahatma, Yvette Kuiper, Chester A. Ruleman

A multiscale approach for monitoring groundwater discharge to headwater streams by the U.S. Geological Survey Next Generation Water Observing System Program—An example from the Neversink Reservoir watershed, New York

Groundwater-stream connectivity across mountain watersheds is critical for supporting streamflow during dry times and keeping streams cool during warm times, yet U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) stream measurements are often sparse in headwaters. Starting in 2019, the USGS Next Generation Water Observing System Program developed a multiscale methods and technology testbed approach to monitoring groun
Authors
Martin A. Briggs, Christopher L. Gazoorian, Daniel H. Doctor, Douglas A. Burns

Tectonic subsidence modeling of diachronous transition from backarc to retroarc basin development and uplift during Cordilleran orogenesis, Patagonian-Fuegian Andes

Backstripped tectonic basin subsidence histories are critical for interpreting phases of lithospheric deformation and paleoenvironmental change from the stratigraphic record. This study presents new subsidence modeling of the Rocas Verdes Backarc Basin (RVB) and Magallanes-Austral retroarc foreland basin (MAB) of southernmost South America to evaluate along-strike changes in tectonic subsidence re
Authors
Rebecca A. VanderLeest, Julie C. Fosdick, Matthew A. Malkowski, Brian W. Romans, Matías C. Ghiglione, Theresa Maude Schwartz, Zachary T. Sickmann

Holocene paleohydrology from alpine lake sediment, Emerald Lake, Wasatch Plateau of central Utah, USA

Holocene sediments at Emerald Lake in central Utah (3090 m asl) document the paleohydroclimatic history of the western Upper Colorado River headwater region. Multi-proxy analyses of sediment composition, mineralogy, and stable isotopes of carbonate (δ18O and δ13C) show changes in effective moisture for the past ca. 10,000 years at millennial to decadal timescales. Emerald Lake originated as a shal
Authors
Lesleigh Anderson, Gary L. Skipp, Laura E. Strickland, Jeffrey S. Honke, Jeremy C Havens, D. Paco Van Sistine

Seasonality of precipitation in the southwestern United States during the late Pleistocene inferred from stable isotopes in herbivore tooth enamel

The late Pleistocene was a climatically dynamic period, with abrupt shifts between cool-wet and warm-dry conditions. Increased effective precipitation supported large pluvial lakes and long-lived spring ecosystems in valleys and basins throughout the western and southwestern U.S., but the source and seasonality of the increased precipitation are debated. Increases in the proportions of C4/(C4+ C3)
Authors
Matthew J. Kohn, Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffrey S. Pigati, Linda Reynard, Amanda E. Drewicz, Justin Crevier, Eric Scott

Last Glacial Maximum and early deglaciation in the Stura Valley, southwestern European Alps

We combined data from geomorphologic surveys, glacial modelling, and 10Be exposure ages of boulders on moraines, to investigate the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the early retreat glacial phases in the Stura Valley of the Maritime Alps. We used the exposure ages to reconstruct the timing of standstills or readvances which interrupted the post-LGM withdrawal, initiated ∼24 ka. We mapped and dated
Authors
Adriano Ribolini, Matteo Spagnolo, Andrew J. Cyr, Paolo Roberto Federici

Guide for interpreting and reporting luminescence dating results

The development and application of luminescence dating and dosimetry techniques have grown exponentially in the last several decades. Luminescence methods provide age control for a broad range of geological and archaeological contexts and can characterize mineral and glass properties linked to geologic origin, Earth-surface processes, and past exposure to light, heat, and ionizing radiation. The a
Authors
Shannon A. Mahan, Tammy M. Rittenour, Michelle S. Nelson, Nina Ataee, Nathan D. Brown, Regina DeWitt, Julie Durcan, Mary Evans, James K. Feathers, Marine Frouin, Guillaume Guérin, Maryam Heydari, Sebastien Huot, Mayank Jain, Amanda Keen-Zebert, Bo Li, Gloria I. López, Christina Neudorf, Naomi Porat, Kathleen Rodrigues, Andre O. Sawakuchi, Joel Q. G Spencer, Kristina Thomsen

The influence of soil development on the depth distribution and structure of soil microbial communities.

Although it has been shown that the interaction of climate and time shape the dynamics of soil organic matter (SOM) storage and preservation in soil, the role of soil microbial communities in this dynamic remains unclear. Microbial communities are present throughout soil profiles and likely play critical roles in SOM and nutrient cycling, however the influence of other factors such as soil develop
Authors
Mary-Catherine Leewis, Corey Lawrence, Marjorie S. Schulz, Malak M. Tfaily, Christian Orlando Ayala-Ortiz, Gilberto E. Flores, Rachel Mackelprang, Jack McFarland