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The USGS provides unbiased, objective, and impartial scientific information upon which our audiences, including resource managers, planners, and other entities, rely.
The USGS provides unbiased, objective, and impartial scientific information upon which our audiences, including resource managers, planners, and other entities, rely.
Browse more than 82,000 reports authored by our scientists over the past 100+ year history of the USGS and refine search by topic, location, year, and advanced search.
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Desert wetlands—Archives of a wetter past Desert wetlands—Archives of a wetter past
Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are finding evidence of a much wetter past in the deserts of the American Southwest using a most unlikely source—wetlands. Wetlands form in arid environments where water tables approach or breach the ground surface. Often thought of as stagnant and unchanging, new evidence suggests that springs and wetlands responded dynamically to past...
Authors
Jeffery S. Pigati, Kathleen B. Springer, Craig R. Manker
California State Waters map series — Offshore of Pigeon Point, California California State Waters map series — Offshore of Pigeon Point, California
Introduction In 2007, the California Ocean Protection Council initiated the California Seafloor Mapping Program (CSMP), designed to create a comprehensive seafloor map of high-resolution bathymetry, marine benthic habitats, and geology within the 3-nautical-mile limit of California’s State Waters. The CSMP approach is to create highly detailed seafloor maps through collection...
Authors
Guy R. Cochrane, Janet Watt, Peter Dartnell, H. Gary Greene, Mercedes D. Erdey, Bryan E. Dieter, Nadine E. Golden, Samuel Y. Johnson, Charles A. Endris, Stephen R. Hartwell, Rikk G. Kvitek, Clifton W. Davenport, Lisa M. Krigsman, Andrew C. Ritchie, Ray W. Sliter, David P. Finlayson, Katherine L. Maier
Qualitative assessment of selected areas of the world for undiscovered sediment-hosted stratabound copper deposits: Chapter Y in Global mineral resource assessment Qualitative assessment of selected areas of the world for undiscovered sediment-hosted stratabound copper deposits: Chapter Y in Global mineral resource assessment
A qualitative mineral resource assessment of sediment-hosted stratabound copper mineralized areas for undiscovered copper deposits was performed for 10 selected areas of the world. The areas, in alphabetical order, are (1) Belt-Purcell Basin, United States and Canada; (2) Benguela and Cuanza Basins, Angola; (3) Chuxiong Basin, China; (4) Dongchuan Group rocks, China; (5) Egypt–Israel...
Authors
Michael L. Zientek, Niki E. Wintzer, Timothy S. Hayes, Heather L. Parks, Deborah A. Briggs, J. Douglas Causey, Shyla A. Hatch, M. Christopher Jenkins, David J. Williams
Air- and stream-water-temperature trends in the Chesapeake Bay region, 1960-2014 Air- and stream-water-temperature trends in the Chesapeake Bay region, 1960-2014
Water temperature is a basic, but important, measure of the condition of all aquatic environments, including the flowing waters in the streams that drain our landscape and the receiving waters of those streams. Climatic conditions have a strong influence on water temperature, which is therefore naturally variable both in time and across the landscape. Changes to natural water-temperature...
Authors
John D. Jastram, Karen C. Rice
Sediment transport and evaluation of sediment surrogate ratings in the Kootenai River near Bonners Ferry, Idaho, Water Years 2011–14 Sediment transport and evaluation of sediment surrogate ratings in the Kootenai River near Bonners Ferry, Idaho, Water Years 2011–14
The Kootenai River white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) and other native fish species are culturally important to the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, but their habitat and recruitment have been affected by anthropogenic changes to the river. Although the interconnections among anthropogenic changes and their impacts on fish are complex, the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, in cooperation with other...
Authors
Molly S. Wood, Ryan L. Fosness, Alexandra B. Etheridge
Comparison of U.S. net import reliance for nonfuel mineral commodities—A 60-year retrospective (1954–1984–2014) Comparison of U.S. net import reliance for nonfuel mineral commodities—A 60-year retrospective (1954–1984–2014)
Introduction The economic vitality and national security of the United States depend on the reliable supply of numerous nonfuel mineral commodities. Over the past six decades, many of these commodities have been sourced increasingly from outside the United States. The mix of commodities for which the United States is import dependent has changed as technologies have advanced, as...
Authors
Steven M. Fortier, DeYoung, Elizabeth S. Sangine, Emily K. Schnebele
Shift in Global Tantalum Mine Production, 2000–2014 Shift in Global Tantalum Mine Production, 2000–2014
Introduction Tantalum has a unique set of properties that make it useful in a number of diverse applications. The ability of the metal to store and release electrical energy makes it ideally suited for use in certain types of capacitors that are widely used in modern electronics. Approximately 60 percent of global tantalum consumption is in the electronics industry. The ductility and...
Authors
Donald I. Bleiwas, John F. Papp, Thomas R. Yager
Hydrologic data for the Walker River Basin, Nevada and California, water years 2010–14 Hydrologic data for the Walker River Basin, Nevada and California, water years 2010–14
Walker Lake is a threatened and federally protected desert terminal lake in western Nevada. To help protect the desert terminal lake and the surrounding watershed, the Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Geological Survey have been studying the hydrology of the Walker River Basin in Nevada and California since 2004. Hydrologic data collected for this study during water years 2010 through 2014...
Authors
Michael T. Pavelko, Erin L. Orozco
Status and trends of land change in the Midwest–South Central United States—1973 to 2000 Status and trends of land change in the Midwest–South Central United States—1973 to 2000
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Professional Paper 1794–C is the third in a four-volume series on the status and trends of the Nation’s land use and land cover, providing an assessment of the rates and causes of land-use and land-cover change in the Midwest–South Central United States between 1973 and 2000. Volumes A, B, and D provide similar analyses for the Western United States, the...
Authors
Roger F. Auch, Krista A. Karstensen
smwrBase—An R package for managing hydrologic data, version 1.1.1 smwrBase—An R package for managing hydrologic data, version 1.1.1
This report describes an R package called smwrBase, which consists of a collection of functions to import, transform, manipulate, and manage hydrologic data within the R statistical environment. Functions in the package allow users to import surface-water and groundwater data from the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water Information System database and other sources. Additional...
Authors
David L. Lorenz
Indicators of climate impacts for forests: Recommendations for the U.S. National Climate Assessment Indicators system Indicators of climate impacts for forests: Recommendations for the U.S. National Climate Assessment Indicators system
The Third National Climate Assessment (NCA) process for the United States focused in part on developing a system of indicators to communicate key aspects of the physical climate, climate impacts, vulnerabilities, and preparedness to inform decisionmakers and the public. Initially, 13 active teams were formed to recommend indicators in a range of categories, including forest, agriculture...
Authors
Linda S. Heath, Sarah M. Anderson, Marla R. Emery, Jeffrey A. Hicke, Jeremy S. Littell, Alan Lucier, Jeffrey G. Masek, David L. Peterson, Richard Pouyat, Kevin M. Potter, Guy Robertson, Jinelle Sperry, A. Bytnerowicz, Sarah E. Jovan, Miranda H. Mockrin, Robert Musselman, Bethany K. Schulz, Robert J. Smith, Susan I. Stewart
Simulation of the effects of different inflows on hydrologic conditions in Lake Houston with a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model, Houston, Texas, 2009–10 Simulation of the effects of different inflows on hydrologic conditions in Lake Houston with a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model, Houston, Texas, 2009–10
Lake Houston, an important water resource for the Houston, Texas, area, receives inflows from seven major tributaries that compose the San Jacinto River Basin upstream from the reservoir. The effects of different inflows from the watersheds drained by these tributaries on the residence time of water in Lake Houston and closely associated physical and chemical properties including lake...
Authors
Samuel H. Rendon, Michael T. Lee