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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.
Browse more than 65,000 articles 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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GIScience in the era of Artificial Intelligence: A research agenda towards Autonomous GIS GIScience in the era of Artificial Intelligence: A research agenda towards Autonomous GIS
The advent of generative AI exemplified by large language models (LLMs) opens new ways to represent and compute geographic information and transcends the process of geographic knowledge production, driving geographic information systems (GIS) towards autonomous GIS. Leveraging LLMs as the decision core, autonomous GIS can independently generate and execute geoprocessing workflows to...
Authors
Zhenlong Li, Huan Ning, Song Gao, Krzysztof Janowicz, Wenwen Li, Samantha T. Arundel, Chaowei Yang, Budhendra Bhaduri, Shaoweng Wang, A-Xing Zhu, Mark Gahegan, Shashi Shekhar, Xinyue Ye, Grant McKenzie, Guido Cervone, Michael Hodgson
Mechanics and statistics of postseismic shaking Mechanics and statistics of postseismic shaking
Analysis of two weeks of continuous post-seismic shaking after the 2019 M7.1 Ridgecrest, CA earthquake sequence using 4 nearby borehole seismometers reveals that continuous ground motions decay as Omori’s law in time and follow the Gutenberg-Richter distribution in logarithmic amplitude. The measured temporal decay in amplitudes agrees with predictions of the rate-and-state framework and...
Authors
Timothy Hugh Clements, Elizabeth S. Cochran, Sarah E. Minson, Nicholas van der Elst, Clara Yoon, Annemarie S. Baltay Sundstrom, Morgan T. Page
Did they feel it? Legacy maroseismic data illuminates an engimatic 20th century earthquake Did they feel it? Legacy maroseismic data illuminates an engimatic 20th century earthquake
The challenges and the importance of preserving legacy instrumental records of earthquakes are now well-recognized (e.g., Richards & Hellweg, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1785/0220200053). Seismologists may not be aware of parallel challenges and opportunities with legacy macroseismic data for earthquakes in the United States. For much of the 20th century, macroseismic data were collected by...
Authors
Susan E. Hough, Lori Dengler, Robert McPherson, Lijam Hagos, Margaret Hellweg
Shear surface undulations modulate clayey gouge strength and contribute to divergent landslide acceleration Shear surface undulations modulate clayey gouge strength and contribute to divergent landslide acceleration
Landslides display a spectrum of speeds for incompletely known reasons. Sliding occurs along slickensided undulatory shear surfaces within boundary shear gouge. Laboratory tests reveal that gouge shear strength generally decreases with finite cumulative displacement during relatively rapid failure and may increase or decrease with increasing shear rate; these behaviors can result in...
Authors
William H. Schulz, Gonghui Wang, Yao Jiang, Brian D. Collins, Mark E. Reid, Mason Muir Einbund
A comparison of deep-sea coral and sponge species distribution models and the impact of ocean currents in the Southern California Bight A comparison of deep-sea coral and sponge species distribution models and the impact of ocean currents in the Southern California Bight
Deep-sea corals and sponges (DSCS) are signature taxa of deep-water habitats, but ecological mechanisms that drive their geographic distributions can be difficult to uncover due to the challenges of surveying deep-water ecosystems and limited oceanographic data. A comparison of species distribution models was made for three DSCS (Antipathes dendochristos, Plumarella longispina, and an...
Authors
Nissa Kreidler, Andre Buchheister, David D. Huff, Jerome Fiechter, Mary Yoklavich, Mark J. Henderson
Sounds of Atlantic sturgeon spawning: First description and opportunities for riverine endangered species conservation with passive acoustic monitoring Sounds of Atlantic sturgeon spawning: First description and opportunities for riverine endangered species conservation with passive acoustic monitoring
Effective recovery plans for endangered species rely on insights into species’ ecology to identify risks and develop population recovery strategies. Data gaps pose challenges for many species of conservation concern, particularly those with cryptic behaviors or that occupy difficult-to-access habitats. Sounds produced by these species offer an effective means of observing many such...
Authors
Rebecca Cohen, Patrick J. Baker, Christopher Bowser, Matthew W. Breece, Alexander Flecker, Dewayne Fox, James Henne, Amanda Higgs, Maija Niemistö, Richard Pendleton, Suresh A Sethi, Shannon L. White, Aaron Rice
Factors influencing spatial and temporal patterns of Lanius ludovicianus (Loggerhead Shrike) occupancy at a grassland-sagebrush ecotone Factors influencing spatial and temporal patterns of Lanius ludovicianus (Loggerhead Shrike) occupancy at a grassland-sagebrush ecotone
Lanius ludovicianus (Loggerhead Shrike) is a predatory songbird that has experienced a severe population decline throughout its range since the 1940s, likely driven by a combination of factors, including habitat loss and fragmentation. Occupying larger territories compared to many other passerines, L. ludovicianus requires open habitat with interspersed trees and shrubs for nesting and...
Authors
Holly M. Todaro, Scott R. Loss, Robert Charles Lonsinger, Courtney J. Duchardt
Understanding market sensitivity: Estimation of supply and demand elasticities for non-fuel minerals Understanding market sensitivity: Estimation of supply and demand elasticities for non-fuel minerals
In today’s rapidly changing economic landscape, understanding market responsiveness to price changes and the factors influencing commodity prices has become increasingly relevant. Price elasticities serve as indicators of how variations in market conditions affect supply and demand, providing insights into the sensitivity of commodity markets to price fluctuations. This paper presents a
Authors
Ensieh Shojaeddini, Elisa Alonso, Nedal T. Nassar, David Pineault, Sydney M. Allen, Jamie L. Brainard, Dalton M. McCaffrey, Timothy M. O'Brien, Abraham J. Padilla, John W. Ryter
Predicting aquatic habitat connectivity across watershed boundaries: Implications for interbasin spread of nonindigenous aquatic species. Predicting aquatic habitat connectivity across watershed boundaries: Implications for interbasin spread of nonindigenous aquatic species.
Understanding habitat connectivity is critical for managing nonindigenous aquatic species (NAS) spread. Dams and watershed boundaries can be impassable to NAS during typical conditions but may become temporarily passable during flooding. The goal of our project was to develop an approach for identifying locations of aquatic connectivity at a fine spatial scale along watershed boundaries...
Authors
Peter J. Pfaff, Alison A. Coulter, Benjamin J. Schall, Tanner Davis, Steven R. Chipps, David P. Coulter
Factors structuring macrofaunal communities of hydrocarbon seeps along the Cascadia margin Factors structuring macrofaunal communities of hydrocarbon seeps along the Cascadia margin
Cold seeps, fueled by hydrocarbon-based chemosynthesis, support unique benthic communities that can vary across small spatial scales influenced by local geochemistry. We examined the community structure and function of macrofauna in cold seeps along the Cascadia margin on the edge of gas hydrate stability—a dynamic environment that may fluctuate as seafloor temperatures change. These...
Authors
Penny Jo Mccowen, Jill R. Bourque, Donald C. Behringer, Nancy G. Prouty, Amanda W.J. Demopoulos
An exploration of the relative influence of physical models for Omori’s law An exploration of the relative influence of physical models for Omori’s law
Omori’s law states that the rate of aftershocks decays as a function of inverse time. There are multiple physical explanations that we reduce into a nonlinear mixed effects relation of three terms: (1) a Rate/State expression that can account for static/dynamic and viscoelastic triggering caused directly by the mainshock, (2) a fluid diffusion triggering term, and (3) a randomized...
Authors
Thomas E. Parsons, Eric L. Geist, L. Malagnini
Detection and genetic characterization of red-spotted grouper nervous necrosis virus and a novel genotype of nervous necrosis virus in black sea bass from the U.S. Atlantic coast Detection and genetic characterization of red-spotted grouper nervous necrosis virus and a novel genotype of nervous necrosis virus in black sea bass from the U.S. Atlantic coast
Nervous necrosis virus (NNV) causes a neurologic disease in a wide range of marine fish and poses serious disease risks to marine aquaculture worldwide. Little is known about the presence of NNV along the Atlantic coast of the United States, aside from the presence of barfin flounder nervous necrosis virus (BFNNV) in coldwater species in the northern part of this range. Herein we...
Authors
Jan Lovy, Miriam Abbadi, Anna Toffan, Nilanjana Das, James Neugebauer, William Batts, Peter Clarke