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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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The rainfall intensity-duration control of debris flows after wildfire The rainfall intensity-duration control of debris flows after wildfire
Increased wildfire activity in the western United States has exposed regional gaps in our understanding of postfire debris-flow generation. To address this problem, we characterized flows in an unstudied area to test the rainfall intensity-duration control of the hazard. Our rainfall measurements and field observations from the northern Sierra Nevada (California, USA) show that debris...
Authors
Matthew A. Thomas, Donald N. Lindsay, David B. Cavagnaro, Jason W. Kean, Scott W. McCoy, Andrew Paul Graber
Rapid characterization of the February 2023 Kahramanmaraş, Turkey, earthquake sequence Rapid characterization of the February 2023 Kahramanmaraş, Turkey, earthquake sequence
The 6 February 2023 Mw 7.8 Pazarcık and subsequent Mw 7.5 Elbistan earthquakes generated strong ground shaking that resulted in catastrophic human and economic loss across south‐central Türkiye and northwest Syria. The rapid characterization of the earthquakes, including their location, size, fault geometries, and slip kinematics, is critical to estimate the impact of significant seismic...
Authors
Dara Elyse Goldberg, Tuncay Taymaz, Nadine G. Reitman, Alexandra Elise Hatem, Seda Yolsal-Cevikbilen, William D. Barnhart, Tahir Serkan Irmak, David J. Wald, Taylan Ocalan, William L. Yeck, Berkan Ozkan, Jessica A. Thompson Jobe, David R. Shelly, Eric M. Thompson, Christopher B. DuRoss, Paul S. Earle, Richard W. Briggs, Harley M. Benz, Ceyhun Erman, Ali Hasan Dogan, Cemali Altuntas
Effects of population density and environmental conditions on life-history prevalence in a migratory fish Effects of population density and environmental conditions on life-history prevalence in a migratory fish
Individual variation in life-history traits can have important implications for the ability of populations to respond to environmental variability and change. In migratory animals, flexibility in the timing of life-history events, such as juvenile emigration from natal areas, can influence the effects of population density and environmental conditions on habitat use and population...
Authors
Mark H. Sorel, Andrew R. Murdoch, Richard W. Zabel, Cory M. Kamphaus, Eric R. Buhle, Mark David Scheuerell, Sarah J. Converse
Influence of increased freshwater inflow on nitrogen and phosphorus budgets in a dynamic subtropical estuary, Barataria Basin, Louisiana Influence of increased freshwater inflow on nitrogen and phosphorus budgets in a dynamic subtropical estuary, Barataria Basin, Louisiana
Coastal Louisiana is currently experiencing high rates of wetland loss and large-scale ecosystem restoration is being implemented. One of the largest and most novel restoration projects is a controlled sediment diversion, proposed to rebuild and sustain wetlands by diverting sediment- and nutrient-rich water from the Mississippi River. However, the impact of this proposed sediment...
Authors
Hoonshin Jung, William K. Nuttle, Melissa Millman Baustian, Tim J. B. Carruthers
Coral restoration for coastal resilience: Integrating ecology, hydrodynamics, and engineering at multiple scales Coral restoration for coastal resilience: Integrating ecology, hydrodynamics, and engineering at multiple scales
The loss of functional and accreting coral reefs reduces coastal protection and resilience for tropical coastlines. Coral restoration has potential for recovering healthy reefs that can mitigate risks from coastal hazards and increase sustainability. However, scaling up restoration to the large extent needed for coastal protection requires integrated application of principles from...
Authors
T. Shay Viehman, Borja Reguero, Hunter Lenihan, Johanna H. Rosman, Curt D. Storlazzi, Elizabeth Goergen, Miguel F. Canals Silander, Sarah H. Groves, Daniel Holstein, Andrew Bruckner, Jane Carrick, Brian Haus, Julia Royster, Melissa Duvall, Walter Torres, Jim Hench
Spatiotemporal patterns and environmental drivers of eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) abundance along the Missouri River, USA Spatiotemporal patterns and environmental drivers of eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) abundance along the Missouri River, USA
Context: Changes in disturbance regimes, including reductions in flooding and geomorphic dynamism from dam construction and flow regulation, have facilitated invasion by eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana L.), an upland tree species, in the understory of floodplain forests along the Missouri National Recreational River (MNRR). Objectives: Our aim was to determine the spatiotemporal...
Authors
Nadeesha D. Illeperuma, Mark D. Dixon, Caroline M. Elliott, Kimberly I. Magnuson, Miyuraj H H. Withanage, James E. Vogelmann
Captivity, reintroductions, and the rewilding of amphibian-associated bacterial communities Captivity, reintroductions, and the rewilding of amphibian-associated bacterial communities
Many studies have noted differences in microbes associated with animals reared in captivity compared to their wild counterparts, but few studies have examined how microbes change when animals are reintroduced to the wild after captive rearing. As captive assurance populations and reintroduction programs increase, a better understanding of how microbial symbionts respond during animal
Authors
Timothy Korpita, Erin L. Muths, Mary Kay Watry, Valerie J. McKenzie
Laboratory simulation of earthquake-induced damage in lava dome rocks Laboratory simulation of earthquake-induced damage in lava dome rocks
Earthquakes can impart varying degrees of damage and permanent, inelastic strain on materials, potentially resulting in ruptures that may promote hazards such as landslides and other collapse events. However, the accumulation of damage in rocks under the frequency and amplitude of shaking experienced during earthquake events is rarely systematically measured due to technical limitations...
Authors
Lauren N. Schaefer, Jackie E. Kendrick, Yan Lavallee, Jenny Schauroth, Oliver D. Lamb, Anthony Lamur, Takahiro Miwa, Ben M. Kennedy
No evidence for cottonwood forest decline along a flow-augmented western U.S. river No evidence for cottonwood forest decline along a flow-augmented western U.S. river
In contrast to many other arid region rivers, streamflow in the South Platte River is heavily augmented by trans-basin water imports and irrigation return flows. Hydrological changes began in the 1880s, resulting in channel narrowing and the development of a continuous Populus-Salix forest by the mid-twentieth century. We assessed the composition, structure and regeneration status of the...
Authors
Cetan Christensen, Gabrielle L. Katz, Jonathan M. Friedman, Miranda D. Redmond, Andrew S. Norton
Operational forecasts of wave-driven water levels and coastal hazards for US Gulf and Atlantic coasts Operational forecasts of wave-driven water levels and coastal hazards for US Gulf and Atlantic coasts
Predictions of total water levels, the elevation of combined tides, surge, and wave runup at the shoreline, are necessary to provide guidance on potential coastal erosion and flooding. Despite the importance of early warning systems for these hazards, existing real-time meteorological and oceanographic forecast systems at regional and national scales, until now, have lacked estimates of...
Authors
Hilary F Stockdon, Joseph W. Long, Margaret L. Palmsten, Andre Van der Westhuysen, Kara S. Doran, Richard J. Snell
Remotely sensed short-crested breaking waves in a laboratory directional wave basin Remotely sensed short-crested breaking waves in a laboratory directional wave basin
Short-crested breaking waves that result from directionally spread wave conditions dissipate energy and generate turbulence within the surf zone, altering sediment transport processes, wave runup, and forces on structures. Additionally, vertical vorticity generated near crest ends during breaking, which depends on the gradient in wave height along a crest, may enhance nearshore...
Authors
Christine Baker, Melissa Moulton, Margaret L. Palmsten, Katherine Brodie, Emma Nuss, C. Christopher Chickadel
Comparison of nonergodic ground-motion components from CyberShake and NGA-West2 datasets in California Comparison of nonergodic ground-motion components from CyberShake and NGA-West2 datasets in California
In this study, we compare the Southern California Earthquake Center CyberShake platform against the Next Generation Attenuation‐West2 empirical datasets. Because the CyberShake and empirical datasets cover very different magnitude ranges and site conditions, we develop ground‐motion models (GMMs) for CyberShake datasets to compare trends with empirical GMMs and decompose the residuals...
Authors
Xiaofeng Meng, Christine Goulet, Kevin R. Milner, Robert Graves, Scott Callaghan