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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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Field geology under the sea with a remotely operated vehicle: Mona Rift, Puerto Rico Field geology under the sea with a remotely operated vehicle: Mona Rift, Puerto Rico
We implemented concepts of field geology at great ocean depths by constructing virtual outcrops from a string of overlapping video frames collected by remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). This lower-cost alternative to drilling boreholes allows stratigraphic extension into the offshore and regional interpretation of marine seismic profiles. The imagery was collected along a dive transect...
Authors
Uri S. ten Brink, Or M. Bialik, Jason Chaytor, Claudia Flores, Marcie Purkey Phillips
Penguin colony georegistration using camera pose estimation and phototourism Penguin colony georegistration using camera pose estimation and phototourism
Satellite-based remote sensing and uncrewed aerial imagery play increasingly important roles in the mapping of wildlife populations and wildlife habitat, but the availability of imagery has been limited in remote areas. At the same time, ecotourism is a rapidly growing industry and can yield a vast catalog of photographs that could be harnessed for monitoring purposes, but the inherently...
Authors
Haoyu Wu, Clare Flynn, Carole Hall, Christian Joseph Che-Castaldo, Dimitris Samaras, Mathew Schwaller, Heather J. Lynch
Density estimation using spatial capture-recapture analyses: Application to vaccination of prairie dogs against sylvatic plague Density estimation using spatial capture-recapture analyses: Application to vaccination of prairie dogs against sylvatic plague
Prairie dogs are notoriously difficult to enumerate, with previously methods including visual counts, mark-resight, burrow counts, and catch per unit effort. Unlike those methods, spatial capture-recapture (SCR) analyses allow for formal estimation of density along with associated estimates of uncertainty, detection probability, and the size of the average area over which an individual...
Authors
Robin E. Russell, Dan W. Tripp, Katherine Richgels, Tonie E. Rocke
Spatial distribution patterns of invasive silver carp can inform removal efforts in an oxbow lake of the Mississippi River Spatial distribution patterns of invasive silver carp can inform removal efforts in an oxbow lake of the Mississippi River
Oxbow lakes are highly productive waterbodies that host multiple life stages of many freshwater aquatic species. These lakes also provide foraging and rearing habitat to the invasive silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) enabling populations to grow in biomass and abundance that can add propagule pressure to connected waterways and oxbows within the Mississippi River Basin...
Authors
Jordan C. Besson, Leandro E. Miranda, Michael E. Colvin, Corey Garland Dunn, Dennis K. Riecke
Identifying and filling critical knowledge gaps can optimize financial viability of blue carbon projects in tidal wetlands Identifying and filling critical knowledge gaps can optimize financial viability of blue carbon projects in tidal wetlands
One of the world’s largest “blue carbon” ecosystems, Louisiana’s tidal wetlands on the US Gulf of Mexico coast, is rapidly being lost. Louisiana’s strong legal, regulatory, and monitoring framework, developed for one of the world’s largest tidal wetland systems, provides an opportunity for a programmatic approach to blue carbon accreditation to support restoration of these ecologically...
Authors
Tim J.B. Carruthers, S. Beaux Jones, Megan K. Terrell, Jonathan F. Scheibly, Brendan J. Player, Valerie A. Black, Justin R. Ehrenwerth, Patrick D. Biber, Rod M. Connolly, Steve Crooks, Jason P. Curole, Kelly M. Darnell, Alyssa M. Dausman, Allison L. DeJong, Shawn M. Doyle, Christopher R. Esposito, Daniel A. Friess, James W. Fourqurean, Ioannis Y. Georgiou, Gabriel D. Grimsditch, Songjie He, Eva R. Hillmann, Guerry O. Holm, Jennifer Howard, Hoonshin Jung, Stacy D. Jupiter, Erin P. Kiskaddon, Ken Krauss, Paul S. Lavery, Bingqing Liu, Catherine E. Lovelock, Sarah K. Mack, Peter I. Macreadie, Karen J. McGlathery, J. Patrick Megonigal, Brian J. Roberts, Scott Settelmyer, Lorie W. Staver, Hilary J. Stevens, Ariana Eileen Sutton-Grier, Jorge A. Villa, John R. White, Michelle Waycott
Predictive modeling reveals elevated conductivity relative to background levels in freshwater tributaries within the Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA Predictive modeling reveals elevated conductivity relative to background levels in freshwater tributaries within the Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA
Elevated conductivity (i.e., specific conductance or SC) causes osmotic stress in freshwater aquatic organisms and may increase the toxicity of some contaminants. Indices of benthic macroinvertebrate integrity have declined in urban areas across the Chesapeake Bay watershed (CBW), and more information is needed about whether these declines may be due to elevated conductivity. A...
Authors
Rosemary M. Fanelli, Joel Moore, Charles C. Stillwell, Andrew J. Sekellick, Richard Walker
Mitigating climate change by abating coal mine methane: A critical review of status and opportunities Mitigating climate change by abating coal mine methane: A critical review of status and opportunities
Methane has a short atmospheric lifetime compared to carbon dioxide (CO2), ∼decade versus ∼centuries, but it has a much higher global warming potential (GWP), highlighting how reducing methane emissions can slow the rate of climate change. When considering the contribution of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to current global warming (2010–2019) relative to the industrial revolution (1850...
Authors
C. Özgen Karacan, Robert A. Field, Maria Olczak, Malgorzata Kasprzak, Felicia Ruiz, Stefan Schwietzke
A systematic review of laboratory investigations into the pathogenesis of avian influenza viruses in wild avifauna of North America A systematic review of laboratory investigations into the pathogenesis of avian influenza viruses in wild avifauna of North America
The lack of consolidated information regarding the response of wild bird species to infection with avian influenza virus (AIV) is a challenge to both conservation managers and researchers alike, with related sectors also impacted, such as public health and commercial poultry. Using two independent searches, we reviewed published literature for studies describing wild bird species...
Authors
Matthew Brandon Gonnerman, Christina Leyson, Jeffery D. Sullivan, Mary J. Pantin-Jackwood, Erica Spackman, Jennifer M. Mullinax, Diann J. Prosser
Intraspecific trait variability in wild populations predicts neither variability nor performance in a common garden Intraspecific trait variability in wild populations predicts neither variability nor performance in a common garden
Dryland restoration requires plant materials capable of performing well despite difficult growing conditions. Selecting plant materials with higher intraspecific trait variability (ITV) may support successful outcomes by enhancing the performance of those materials in restoration settings. However, maintaining ITV from wild populations is not well understood and requires further...
Authors
Ella M. Samuel, Rachel M. Mitchell, Daniel E. Winkler, Zoe M. Davidson, Shannon Joy Lencioni, Robert Massatti
Inventorying ponds through novel size-adaptive object mapping using Sentinel-1/2 time series Inventorying ponds through novel size-adaptive object mapping using Sentinel-1/2 time series
Ponds are an important source of greenhouse gases (GHGs) to the atmosphere, yet evaluating their role in global biogeochemical cycling is currently hampered by limitations in quantifying their global distribution. Existing satellite-derived estimates of lake distributions have difficulty identifying small lakes (5–10 ha) and ponds (
Authors
Denghong Liu, Xioalin Zhu, Meredith Holgerson, Sheel Bansal, Xiangtao Xu
Investigating the chemical space coverage of multiple chromatographic and ionization methods using non-targeted analysis on surface and drinking water collected using passive sampling Investigating the chemical space coverage of multiple chromatographic and ionization methods using non-targeted analysis on surface and drinking water collected using passive sampling
Multiple non-targeted analysis tools were used to look for a broad range of possible chemical contaminants present in surface and drinking water using liquid chromatography separation and high-resolution mass spectrometry detection, including both quadrupole time of flight (Q-ToF) and Orbitrap instruments. Two chromatographic techniques were evaluated on an LC-Q-ToF with electrospray...
Authors
Angela L. Batt, Laura D. Brunelle, Natalia S. Quinete, Eva K. Stebel, Brian Ng, Piero Gardinali, Alex Chao, Anna Huba, Susan T. Glassmeyer, David A. Alvarez, Dana W. Kolpin, Edward T. Furlong, Marc A. Mills
Zircon constraints on the eruptive sequence and magma evolution of rhyolites at South Sister volcano, Oregon Zircon constraints on the eruptive sequence and magma evolution of rhyolites at South Sister volcano, Oregon
We present 230Th-238U crystallization ages and trace element compositions for zircons spanning the late Pleistocene to Holocene rhyolite eruptive record at South Sister volcano in the central Oregon Cascade Range. Most zircon ages are between 100 and 20 ka, with very few in secular equilibrium (>350 ka). The weighted mean of zircon ages for the two oldest South Sister rhyolites, 31.5 ± 2...
Authors
Annika E. Dechert, Nathan Lee Andersen, Josef Dufek, Christine E. Jilly-Rehak