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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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Using structured decision making to evaluate the tradeoffs of selective fish passage Using structured decision making to evaluate the tradeoffs of selective fish passage
Dams have dramatically altered rivers and are a major contributor to native fish population declines. However, many dams serve important ecological, social, and economic functions, such as flood control, invasive species control, and provision of recreational opportunities. Therefore, dam removal is often contentious among stakeholders and involves making tradeoffs among multiple...
Authors
Shane Flinn, Andrew M. Muir, Kelly Filer Robinson
Preface to the focus section on intraplate earthquakes Preface to the focus section on intraplate earthquakes
More than a half century after plate tectonics provided an overarching framework to explain earthquakes along active plate boundaries, numerous theories have been proposed to explain where, why, and how often earthquakes occur well away from active plate boundaries, but a paradigm remains elusive. Even the classification of earthquakes away from active plate boundaries as "intraplate"...
Authors
Trevor I. Allen, Susan E. Hough, Oliver S. Boyd, Felix Waldhauser, Marcelo Assumpcao
Post-wildfire water quality and aquatic ecosystem response in the U.S. Pacific Northwest: science and monitoring gaps Post-wildfire water quality and aquatic ecosystem response in the U.S. Pacific Northwest: science and monitoring gaps
An increase in the occurrence of large, high severity wildfires in the western Pacific Northwest (PNW), USA, has created an urgent need for science to better inform forest management and policy decisions to maintain source water quality in the region. The western PNW faces similar challenges to other regions with shifting wildfire regimes and large population centers reliant on surface...
Authors
Sara Wall, Jana E. Compton, Ashley A. Coble, Beth M. Haley, Jiajia Lin, Allison Myers-Pigg, Justin Kevin Reale, Katie Wampler, Allison Swartz, Kevan Moffett, Kevin D. Bladon, Kurt Carpenter, Heejun Chang, Junjie Chen, David Donahue, Chris S. Eckley, Amanda K. Hohner, Peter M. Kiffney, Lorrayne Miralha, Peter Regier, Joshua Seeds, Mark River
The petrogenesis of Þingmúli volcano, East Fjords, Iceland The petrogenesis of Þingmúli volcano, East Fjords, Iceland
In this work we revisit Þingmúli volcano (Þ = Th), a classic locality known as an example of a complete tholeiitic differentiation. Þingmúli is a ~ 9.5 Ma extinct central volcano located in the East Fjords of Iceland, in which the whole compositional spectrum from basalt to rhyolites have erupted. These volcanic products have been previously considered as petrogenetically related by an...
Authors
Amanda L. Hughes, Joaquín A. Cortès, Dave McGarvie, Richard J. Moscati, Valerie Olive
Ten new insights in climate science 2025 Ten new insights in climate science 2025
Interdisciplinary understanding is vital for delivering sound climate policy advice. However, navigating the ever-growing and increasingly diverse scholarly literature on climate change is challenging for any individual researcher. This annual synthesis highlights and explains recent advances across a variety of fields of climate change research. This year, the 10 insights focus on: (1)...
Authors
Daniel Ospina, Paula Mirazo, Richard P. Allan, Smriti Basnett, Ana Bastos, Nishan Bhattarai, Wendy Broadgate, Derik J. Broekhoff, Mercedes Bustamante, Deliang Chen, Yeonju Choi, Peter Cox, Luiz A. Domeignoz-Horta, Krislie Ebi, Pierre Friedlingstein, Thomas L. Frölicher, Sabine Fuss, Helge F. Goessling, Nicolas Gruber, Qingyou He, Sophie R. Hebden, Nadja Hedrich, Adrian Heilemann, Marina Hirota, Øivind Hodnebrog, Gustaf Hugelius, Santiago Izquierdo-Tort, Sirkku Juhola, Fumiko Kasuga, Piyu Ke, Douglas I. Kelley, Şiir Kilkiș, Maximilian Kotz, Nilushi Kumarasinghe, William F. Lamb, Shih-Yu Lee, Junguo Liu, Cara N. Maesano, Maria A. Martin, Guilherme G. Mazzochini, Christopher J. Merchant, Akira S. Mori, Jennifer Morris, Åsa Persson, Hans-Otto Pörtner, Benedict S. Probst, Justine Ramage, Estelle Razanatsoa, Aaron Redman, Johan Rockström, Regina Rodrigues, Sophie Ruehr, Sadie J. Ryan, Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, Peter Schlosser, William A. Scott, Jan C. Semenza, Hansjörg Seybold, Drew T. Shindell, Giles B. Sioen, Kathryn E. Smith, Youba Sokona, Annika H. Stechemesser, Thomas F. Stocker, Sophie H.L. Su, Djiby Thiam, Gregory Trencher, Anna-Maria Virkkala, Lila Warszawski, Sarah R. Weiskopf, Henry Wu, Shupeng Zhu
Synthesizing beaver coexistence messaging with the capability, opportunity, and motivation behavior model Synthesizing beaver coexistence messaging with the capability, opportunity, and motivation behavior model
In the western United States, conservation practitioners are increasingly working with private landowners to restore habitat for North American beavers (Castor canadensis) and to use nonlethal mitigation techniques when beavers damage crops and infrastructure. Effective communication is critical for promoting coexistence, yet on-the-ground conservation messaging seldom links to behavior...
Authors
Brian D. Erickson, Megan Siobhan Jones
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in waters associated with oil and gas development in the Denver Basin Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in waters associated with oil and gas development in the Denver Basin
Use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the petroleum industry could be a cause for concern due to the large volumes of produced water (PW) generated during oil and gas extraction, the reuse of these wastes in water-stressed regions, and adverse health outcomes related to PFAS exposures. However, PW PFAS characterization is nearly absent in the literature, and hydraulic...
Authors
Matthew S. Varonka, Aaron M. Jubb, Bonnie McDevitt, Jenna L. Shelton, Elliott P. Barnhart, Denise M. Akob, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli
Shifting winter atmospheric teleconnections to the North Pacific reconcile Younger-Dryas and Holocene δ18O signals Shifting winter atmospheric teleconnections to the North Pacific reconcile Younger-Dryas and Holocene δ18O signals
Using Alaskan lake sediment oxygen isotope records (δ18O), which trace the δ18O of precipitation, we establish that abrupt atmospheric shifts occurred during the last deglacial period in the North Pacific-Arctic. The robust lake δ18O chronologies confidently correlate Younger-Dryas (YD) atmospheric adjustments in Alaska with Greenland ice-core records and their seasonal sensitivity are...
Authors
Lesleigh Anderson, Bruce P. Finney, W. Brad Baxter
Out with the old: Empirical trends in U.S. land-based wind turbine decommissioning and repowering Out with the old: Empirical trends in U.S. land-based wind turbine decommissioning and repowering
A growing number of wind turbines (WTs) across the globe are now reaching or exceeding their expected service lifetime; WT decommissioning is on the rise. Accordingly, questions pertaining to WT end-of-life have risen in importance in policy and practice. Yet, research on the various factors relating to WT decommissioning is relatively sparse. Moreover, the key assumptions underpinning...
Authors
Joseph Rand, Louisa Kramer, Ben Hoen, James E. Diffendorfer, Christopher Garrity
Evaluating machine learning approaches to identify and predict oil and gas produced water lithium concentrations Evaluating machine learning approaches to identify and predict oil and gas produced water lithium concentrations
Recently, the demand for battery-grade lithium has substantially increased, largely due to electrification of the transportation sector. The search for new lithium sources has turned to produced waters (frequently brines), a large-volume wastewater by-product of oil and gas extraction. Geochemical analysis indicates the presence of varying concentrations of lithium from produced water...
Authors
Emil Attanasi, Bonnie McDevitt, Philip A. Freeman, Timothy Coburn
Abiotic and biotic controls of non-native perennial plant success in drylands Abiotic and biotic controls of non-native perennial plant success in drylands
Drivers of non-native plant success in drylands are poorly understood. Here we identify functional differences between dryland native and non-native perennial plants and assess how biotic, abiotic and anthropogenic factors shape the success of the latter. On the basis of plant community and functional trait data from 98 sites across 25 countries, we report a total of 41 non-native plant...
Authors
Soroor Rahmanian, Nico Eisenhauer, Yuanyuan Huang, Martin Hejda, Petr Pyšek, Hannes Feilhauer, David J. Eldridge, Nicholas Gross, Yoann Le Bagousse-Pinguet, Hugo Saiz, Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo, Miguel Berdugo, Victoria Ochoa, Beatriz Gozalo, Sergio Asensio, Emilio Guirado, Enrique Valencia, Miguel García-Gómez, Juan J. Gaitán, Betty J. Mendoza, César Plaza, Paloma Díaz-Martínez, Jaime Martínez-Valderrama, Mehdi Abedi, Negar Ahmadian, Rodrigo J. Ahumada, Fateh Amghar, Thiago Araújo, Antonio I. Arroyo, Farah Ben Salem, Niels Blaum, Enkhjargal Boldbat, Bazartseren Boldgiv, Matthew A. Bowker, Liesbeth van den Brink, Chongfeng Bu, Rafaella Canessa, Andrea P. Castillo-Monroy, Helena Castro, Patricio Castro-Quezada, Ghassen Chaieb, Roukaya Chibani, Abel A. Conceição, Yvonne C. Davila, Balázs Deák, David A. Donoso, Andrew David Dougill, Carlos Iván Espinosa, Alex Fajardo, Mohammad Farzam, Daniela Ferrante, Jorgelina Franzese, Lauchlan H. Fraser, Erika L. Geiger, Sofia Laura Gonzalez, Elizabeth Gusman Montalván, Robert Hering, Eugene Marais, Rosa Mary Hernández, Sandra Daniela Hernández-Valdez, Norbert Hölzel, Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald, Oswaldo Jadán, Anke Jentsch, Liana Kindermann, Melanie Köbel, Peter C. le Roux, Cintia V. Leder, Xinhao Li, Pierre Liancourt, Anja Linstädter, Jushan Liu, Michelle A. Louw, Gillian Maggs-Kölling, Thulani P. Makhalanyane, Oumarou Malam Issa, Antonio J. Manzaneda, Pierre Margerie, Raphaël Martin, Mitchel P. McClaran, João Vitor S. Messeder, Juan P. Mora, Gerardo Moreno, Seth M. Munson, Girish R. Nair, Alice Nunes, Gabriel Oliva, Salza Palpurina, Guadalupe Peter, Yolanda Pueyo, Emiliano Quiroga, Sasha C. Reed, Pedro J. Rey, Alexandra Rodríguez, Victor Rolo, Jan C. Ruppert, Ayman Salah, Shlomo Sarig, Brajesh K. Singh, Anthony M. Swemmer, Alberto L. Teixido, Andrew D. Thomas, Katja Tielbörger, Samantha K. Travers, Orsolya Valkó, Wanyoike Wamiti, Deli Wang, Lixin Wang, Glenda M. Wardle, Peter Wolff, Laura Yahdjian, Gastón R. Oñatibia, Reza Yari, Eli Zaady, Yuanming Zhang, Xiaobing Zhou, Fernando T. Maestre
Thiaminase I activity is high in grass and silver carp, but negligible in bighead and black carp Thiaminase I activity is high in grass and silver carp, but negligible in bighead and black carp
Bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis), black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus), grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), and silver carp (H. molitrix) have spurred wide concern of potential ecosystem disruption as they threaten to invade the Laurentian Great Lakes. Besides competition for resources, carp may also have disadvantageous nutrition for predators. One biochemical aspect to...
Authors
Freya Elizabeth Rowland, Curtis G. Byrd, Patrick Kroboth