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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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Across-track tilt concept for sun glint mitigation in future Earth-observing missions Across-track tilt concept for sun glint mitigation in future Earth-observing missions
Sun glint is a major limitation for spaceborne optical remote sensing of aquatic environments, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions. By dominating the at-sensor radiance, sun glint complicates atmospheric correction and reduces the quality of aquatic reflectance products derived across Earth observation missions. This study presents a machine learning framework to quantify...
Authors
Saeed Arab, Christopher J. Crawford, Benjamin Page, Kevin Turpie, Peter Gege, David Thompson, Kelly Luis
Ecogeomorphologic response of a tidally restricted salt marsh to tidal restoration and sea-level rise Ecogeomorphologic response of a tidally restricted salt marsh to tidal restoration and sea-level rise
Diked marshes with decades of restricted tidal flow exhibit fundamentally altered hydrologic and ecologic dynamics that result in limited vertical accretion, land subsidence, and underdeveloped tidal channels. These changes complicate marsh restoration efforts and constrain the marsh's ability to build elevation in response to future sea levels. In this study, we developed an integrated
Authors
Kasra Naseri, Michelle A. Hummel, Kevin M. Befus, Timothy P. Smith, Meagan J. Eagle, Kevin D. Kroeger
Fipronil baits as emerging tools for flea control and plague mitigation: Experiments with cricetid mice on prairie dog colonies Fipronil baits as emerging tools for flea control and plague mitigation: Experiments with cricetid mice on prairie dog colonies
Plague is a zoonotic disease of mammalian hosts and flea vectors. Wildlife biologists most commonly mitigate plague by controlling flea populations. We evaluated the efficacy of edible baits for systemic flea control with two cricetid species on colonies of black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus): the western deer mouse (Peromyscus sonoriensis) and the northern grasshopper mouse
Authors
David A. Eads, Travis Livieri, Marc R. Matchett, Madisen Hartlaub, Jason Fly, Michelle L. Hladik, Shelli A. Dubay, Paul Roghair, Brooke Fricke, Phillip Dobesh, Ashley Merkel, Eddie Childers, John P. Hughes, Dean E. Biggins
Tectonically driven integration of the 4.8 Ma Colorado River USA tracked with detrital sanidine and fish genetics Tectonically driven integration of the 4.8 Ma Colorado River USA tracked with detrital sanidine and fish genetics
The development of the continental-scale Colorado River system, western USA, from 8 to 4.8 Ma, is revealed using 60-40 Ma detrital sanidine tracer grains and fish phylogeny. Here we show that precursor paleoriver segments became integrated north to south as traced by 60-40 Ma sand grains that were derived from the north and sequentially appeared in the 25-8 Ma Browns Park Formation of...
Authors
K. E. Karlstrom, M. Heizler, A. Aslan, Ian William Hillenbrand, S. Cather, T. F. Turner, M. Osborne, C. D. Henry, L. J. Crossey
The digital archivist: Automating legacy macroseismic data processing using large language models The digital archivist: Automating legacy macroseismic data processing using large language models
Macroseismic data are a key resource to investigate shaking and damage from preinstrumental and early instrumental eras. However, data are often stored as inconsistently formatted reports describing observed shaking and damage, making manually parsing and interpreting accounts labor‐intensive. We introduce a novel workflow using Google’s Gemini 2.5 Pro large language model (LLM) to...
Authors
Aarnav Agrawal, Susan E. Hough, Mostafa Mousavi, Margaret Hellweg, William Ellsworth, Clara Yoon, Salvador Blanco
High‐resolution surface deformation and slip distribution observations for the 2023 Kahramanmaraş, Türkiye, earthquake sequence help constrain the rupture process High‐resolution surface deformation and slip distribution observations for the 2023 Kahramanmaraş, Türkiye, earthquake sequence help constrain the rupture process
Splay, or branch, faults are a common geometric feature of earthquake surface ruptures and may provide constraints on the rupture behavior of an earthquake. The 2023 Mw 7.8 Pazarcık and Mw 7.5 Elbistan, Türkiye, earthquakes are examples of ruptures with multiple small splays, and the Pazarcık earthquake nucleated on a splay fault, the Narlı fault, before rupturing bilaterally on the East...
Authors
Nadine G. Reitman, M. Morow Tan, Paula Madeline Burgi, Alexandra Elise Hatem, Christopher B. DuRoss, Richard W. Briggs
Three new calcium formate reference materials for δ13C measurements and a redetermination of the R(13C/12C) ratio for VPDB based on proton nuclear magnetic resonance measurements Three new calcium formate reference materials for δ13C measurements and a redetermination of the R(13C/12C) ratio for VPDB based on proton nuclear magnetic resonance measurements
Rationale
Authors
David W. Hoffman, Cornelia Rasmussen, Arndt Schimmelmann, Lauren T Reid, Haiping Qi, Tyler B. Coplen
Mars as one system: Insights from the 8th international conference on Mars polar science and exploration Mars as one system: Insights from the 8th international conference on Mars polar science and exploration
The 8th International Conference on Mars Polar Science and Exploration (ICMPSE) provided new insights into the complex interplay between Martian ice, climate, and atmospheric dynamics. The conference emphasized a holistic view of Mars as a system, where surface processes, subsurface ice, atmospheric dynamics, and historical climate shifts are interconnected. Research updates spanned...
Authors
Isaac B. Smith, Chimira Andres, Shannon Hibbard, Stefano Nerozzi, Roberto Aguilar, Peter Buhler, Ben Cornford, Leslie Tamppari, Timothy N. Titus
High and dry: The persistence of diverse coastal marsh communities depends on available upland area and connection to surrounding waters High and dry: The persistence of diverse coastal marsh communities depends on available upland area and connection to surrounding waters
Sea-level-rise and alterations to natural hydrology have contributed to coastal land loss. To combat coastal land loss and maintain the ecosystem services provided by marshes, marsh creation has been broadly implemented. Marsh creation projects can be performed in conjunction with the construction of elevated terrestrial ridges that seek to mimic historic delta-formed distributary ridges...
Authors
Erik Naiti-Johnson, Jonathan M. Willis, Gregg A. Snedden, Giovanna McClenachan
A simplified two-station approach for modeling metabolism in dam tailwaters subject to diel flow variation A simplified two-station approach for modeling metabolism in dam tailwaters subject to diel flow variation
Tailwaters are ubiquitous and highly managed ecosystems whose food webs often rely disproportionately on autochthonous energy. In situ continuous dissolved oxygen data are increasingly being used to estimate gross primary productivity and ecosystem respiration in rivers, but this approach is complicated in tailwaters, where upriver discontinuities (i.e., dams) violate commonly employed...
Authors
Ian Wesley Bishop, Bridget Deemer, Theodore Kennedy, Robert A. Payn, Robert O. Hall, Charles B. Yackulic
Mercury biomagnification across food webs with varying non-native fish presence: Implications for native fish conservation in the upper Colorado River Basin Mercury biomagnification across food webs with varying non-native fish presence: Implications for native fish conservation in the upper Colorado River Basin
Environmental contaminants and non-native species introductions negatively affect aquatic ecosystem conservation. Mercury (Hg) accumulates within food webs where it can biomagnify to toxic concentrations, which can be affected by altered trophic relationships from non-native species. This study examined Hg concentrations (n samples = 655) and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope (n = 746)
Authors
Charles F. Wahl, Natalie K. Day, Travis S. Schmidt, James J. Roberts, Jessica E. Brandt, Craig A. Stricker
Seasonal estimates of nutrient loading, sources, and impacts on water availability in streams across the conterminous United States, 2000–2020 Seasonal estimates of nutrient loading, sources, and impacts on water availability in streams across the conterminous United States, 2000–2020
Excess riverine nutrients can limit water availability for humans and ecosystems. Nutrient monitoring on individual stream reaches provides important information about current and past conditions, yet most river reaches are unmonitored. Additionally, monitored data integrate effects of upstream sources, sinks, and pathways by which nutrients get into streams, making explicit planning for...
Authors
Olivia L. Miller, Noah M. Schmadel, Scott Ator, Matthew P. Miller, Dale M. Robertson, David A. Saad, Gregory E. Schwarz, Andrew J. Sekellick, Kenneth D. Skinner