Publications
Browse more than 160,000 publications authored by our scientists over the past 100+ year history of the USGS. Publications available are: USGS-authored journal articles, series reports, book chapters, other government publications, and more.
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Science Quality and Integrity
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Mission Area Publications
We are focused on some of the most significant issues society faces, and our science is making a substantial contribution to the well-being of the Nation and the world. Learn more about the major topics our research covers and the programs focused on those topics.
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Fifty years of Landsat science and impacts Fifty years of Landsat science and impacts
Since 1972, the Landsat program has been continually monitoring the Earth, to now provide 50 years of digital, multispectral, medium spatial resolution observations. Over this time, Landsat data were crucial for many scientific and technical advances. Prior to the Landsat program, detailed, synoptic depictions of the Earth's surface were rare, and the ability to acquire and work with...
Authors
Michael A. Wulder, David P. Roy, Volker C. Radeloff, Thomas Loveland, Martha C. Anderson, David M. Johnson, Sean Healey, Zhe Zhu, Theodore A. Scambos, Nima Pahlevan, Matthew Hansen, Noel Gorelick, Christopher J. Crawford, Jeffery G. Masek, Txomin Hermosilla, JoAnn C. White, Alan S. Belward, Crystal Schaaf, Curtis E. Woodcock, Justin L. Huntington, Leo Lymburner, Patrick Hostert, Feng Gao, Alexi Lyapustin, Jean-Francois Pekel, Peter Strobl, Eric Vermote, Bruce D. Cook
Comparisons of the NGA-Subduction ground motion models Comparisons of the NGA-Subduction ground motion models
In this article, ground-motion models (GMMs) for subduction earthquakes recently developed as part of the Next Generation Attenuation-Subduction (NGA-Sub) project are compared. The four models presented in this comparison study are documented in their respective articles submitted along with this article. Each of these four models is based on the analysis of the large NGA-Sub database...
Authors
Nick Gregor, Kofi O. Addo, Norman A. Abrahamson, Linda Al Atik, Gail M. Atkinson, David Boore, Yousef Bozorgnia, Kenneth W. Campbell, Brian S.-J. Chiou, Zeynep Gulerce, Behzad Hassani, Tadahiro Kishida, Nicolas Kuehn, Silvia Mazzoni, Saburoh Midorikawa, Grace Alexandra Parker, Hongjun Si, Jonathan P. Stewart, Robert R. Youngs
Island of misfit tortoises: Waif gopher tortoise health assessment following translocation Island of misfit tortoises: Waif gopher tortoise health assessment following translocation
Translocation, the intentional movement of animals from one location to another, is a common management practice for the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus). Although the inadvertent spread of pathogens is a concern with any translocation effort, waif tortoises—individuals that have been collected illegally, injured and rehabilitated or have unknown origins—are generally excluded from
Authors
Rebecca K. McKee, Kurt. A. Buhlmann, Clinton T. Moore, Matthew C. Allender, Nicole I. Stacy, Tracey D. Tuberville
Field-trip guide to continental arc to rift volcanism of the southern Rocky Mountains—Southern Rocky Mountain, Taos Plateau, and Jemez Mountains volcanic fields of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico Field-trip guide to continental arc to rift volcanism of the southern Rocky Mountains—Southern Rocky Mountain, Taos Plateau, and Jemez Mountains volcanic fields of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico
The southern Rocky Mountains of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado preserve the Oligocene to Pleistocene record of North American continental arc to rift volcanism. The 35–23 million year old (Ma) southern Rocky Mountain volcanic field (SRMVF), spectacularly preserved in the San Juan Mountains of southern Colorado, records the evolution of large andesitic stratovolcanoes to...
Authors
Ren A. Thompson, Kenzie J. Turner, Peter W. Lipman, John A. Wolff, Michael A. Dungan
Groundwater-level monitoring from January 17 to March 3, 2022, Hālawa area, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i Groundwater-level monitoring from January 17 to March 3, 2022, Hālawa area, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i
A reported fuel release in November 2021 at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility within the naval reservation at Red Hill led to the shutdown of several production wells in the Hālawa area, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i. Red Hill Shaft—one of the high-capacity production wells that shut down—was reactivated on January 29, 2022. Submersible pressure transducers were deployed at 20 wells in the Hālawa...
Authors
Rylen K. Nakama, Jackson N. Mitchell, Delwyn S. Oki
Effects of warming winter embryo incubation temperatures on larval cisco (Coregonus artedi) survival, growth, and critical thermal maximum Effects of warming winter embryo incubation temperatures on larval cisco (Coregonus artedi) survival, growth, and critical thermal maximum
Freshwater whitefishes, Salmonidae Coregoninae, are cold stenothermic fishes of ecological and socio-economic importance in northern hemisphere lakes that are warming in response to climate change. To address the effect of warming waters on coregonine reproduction we experimentally evaluated different embryo incubation temperatures on post-hatching survival, growth, and critical thermal...
Authors
Taylor R. Stewart, Mark Vinson, Jason D. Stockwell
The new lava dome growth of Nevado del Ruiz (2015–2021) The new lava dome growth of Nevado del Ruiz (2015–2021)
The morphology of the summit of Nevado del Ruiz volcano (Colombia) and its active Arenas crater is the product of complex interactions between effusive and explosive eruptions, and the dynamics of the summit glacier. Here, we document the morphologic evolution of the summit of Nevado del Ruiz, and the growth of its dome, from a variety of methods: monitoring data (2010 to 2021)...
Authors
Milton Ordonez, Carlos La Verde, Maurizio Battaglia
Implications of habitat-driven survival and dispersal on recruitment in a spatially structured piping plover population Implications of habitat-driven survival and dispersal on recruitment in a spatially structured piping plover population
Natal survival and dispersal have important consequences for populations through the movement of genes and individuals. Metapopulation theory predicts either balanced natal dispersal among regions or source–sink dynamics, which can dramatically change population structure. For species reliant on dynamic, early-successional habitats, availability and location of habitat will shift from...
Authors
Rose J. Swift, Michael J. Anteau, Kristen S. Ellis, Megan M. Ring, Mark H. Sherfy, Dustin L. Toy, David N. Koons
Comparison of structures used to estimate age and growth of Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout Comparison of structures used to estimate age and growth of Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout
Understanding age and growth of fishes is critical for making meaningful management decisions. Obtaining useful information is dependent on using the best structure (e.g., scale, otolith). The objective of this study was to evaluate precision and reader confidence in age estimates from sagittal otoliths (i.e., whole, sectioned) and scales for Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout Oncorhynchus...
Authors
Michael C. Quist, Darcy K. McCarrick, Lynsey Harris
Groundwater quality in selected Stream Valley aquifers, eastern United States Groundwater quality in selected Stream Valley aquifers, eastern United States
Groundwater provides nearly 50 percent of the Nation’s drinking water. To help protect this vital resource, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project assesses groundwater quality in aquifers that are important sources of drinking water (Burow and Belitz, 2014). The stream-valley aquifers constitute one of the important aquifer systems being...
Authors
James A. Kingsbury
Temporal and spatial relationships of Yellowfin Tuna to deepwater petroleum platforms in the northern Gulf of Mexico Temporal and spatial relationships of Yellowfin Tuna to deepwater petroleum platforms in the northern Gulf of Mexico
In 2006–2007, 110 Yellowfin Tuna Thunnus albacares were tagged with acoustic transmitters near deepwater oil platforms and one drillship in the northern Gulf of Mexico off the Mississippi River delta to determine the extent to which platforms act as fish aggregating devices (FADs). Vemco acoustic receivers were installed on six deepwater platforms to detect the presence of tagged...
Authors
Melissa E. Price, Michael T. Randall, Kenneth J. Sulak, Randy E. Edwards, Margaret Lamont
Community established best practice recommendations for tephra studies— From collection through analysis Community established best practice recommendations for tephra studies— From collection through analysis
Tephra is a unique volcanic product with an unparalleled role in understanding past eruptions, long-term behavior of volcanoes, and the effects of volcanism on climate and the environment. Tephra deposits also provide spatially widespread, high-resolution time-stratigraphic markers across a range of sedimentary settings and thus are used in numerous disciplines (e.g., volcanology...
Authors
Kristi L. Wallace, Marcus Bursik, Stephen Kuehn, Andrei Kurbatov, Peter Abbot, Contanza Bonadonna, Katharine Cashman, Siwan Davies, Britta J.L. Jensen, Christine Lane, Gill Plunkett, Victoria Smith, Emma Tomlinson, Thor Thordarsson, J. Douglas Walker