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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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Predicting larval alewife transport in Lake Michigan using hydrodynamic and Lagrangian particle dispersion models Predicting larval alewife transport in Lake Michigan using hydrodynamic and Lagrangian particle dispersion models
Several species of fish in large lakes and marine environments have a pelagic larval stage, and are subject to variable transport that can ultimately regulate survival and recruitment success. Alewife, Alosa pseudoharengus, are subject to transport by complex coastal currents during their pelagic larval stage (~ 30 d). We assessed backward-trajectory simulations, consisting of a...
Authors
Mark D Rowe, Sara E Prendergast, Karen M Alofs, David B. Bunnell, Edward S. Rutherford, Eric J. Anderson
Remote sensing application for landslide detection, monitoring along eastern Lake Michigan (Miami Park, MI) Remote sensing application for landslide detection, monitoring along eastern Lake Michigan (Miami Park, MI)
We assessed the nature and spatial and temporal patterns of deformation over the Miami Park bluffs on the eastern margin of Lake Michigan and investigated the factors controlling its observed deformation. Our approach involved the following steps: (1) extracting bluff deformation rates (velocities along the line of sight of the satellite) using a stack of Sentinel-1A radar imagery in...
Authors
Guzalay Sataer, Mohamed Sultan, Mustafa Kemal Emil, John A. Yellich, Monica Palaseanu-Lovejoy, Richard Becker, Esayas Gebremichael, Karem Abdelmohsen
The evolution of rock friction is more sensitive to slip than elapsed time, even at near-zero slip rates The evolution of rock friction is more sensitive to slip than elapsed time, even at near-zero slip rates
For many decades, frictional strength increase at low slip rates has been ascribed to time-dependent contact-area growth across the sliding interface. As a result, phenomenological models that correctly predict contact-area growth, as observed in laboratory experiments, have also been widely assumed to be appropriate descriptors of frictional strength evolution. We present experiments...
Authors
Pathikrit Bhattacharyaa, Allan Rubin, Terry Tullis, Nicholas M. Beeler, Keishi Okazaki
Geologic framework, anthropogenic impacts, and hydrodynamics contribute to variable sediment availability and shoreface morphology at the Rockaway Peninsula, NY Geologic framework, anthropogenic impacts, and hydrodynamics contribute to variable sediment availability and shoreface morphology at the Rockaway Peninsula, NY
Recent field and modeling studies have shown that barrier island resiliency is sensitive to sediment fluxes from the shoreface, making it important to evaluate how shoreface sediment availability varies in coastal systems. To do this, we assessed shoreface geology and morphology along the Rockaway Peninsula, NY, USA. We find that spatial variability in shoreface volume is influenced by...
Authors
Emily A. Wei, Jennifer L. Miselis
Fitness homeostasis across an experimental water gradient predicts species' geographic range and climatic breadth Fitness homeostasis across an experimental water gradient predicts species' geographic range and climatic breadth
Species range sizes and realized niche breadths vary tremendously. Understanding the source of this variation has been a long-term aim in evolutionary ecology and is a major tool in efforts to ameliorate the impacts of changing climates on species distributions. Species ranges that span a large climatic envelope can be achieved by a collection of specialized genotypes locally adapted to...
Authors
Ian S. Pearse, Patrick J. McIntyre, N. Ivalu Cacho, Sharon Y Strauss
Fuels and vegetation changes in southwestern, unburned portions of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA, 2003-2019 Fuels and vegetation changes in southwestern, unburned portions of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA, 2003-2019
Overstory basal area, ericaceous shrub cover (Kalmia latifolia L. and Rhododendron maximum L.), and fuels (i.e., woody fuel loads and depths and O Horizon thickness) were assessed within Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA, in 2003 − 2004. Due to recent wildfire activity within the southern Appalachian Mountain region (including Great Smoky Mountains National Park), the potential...
Authors
T. Adam Coates, W. Mark Ford
Infrasound observations and constraints on the 2018 eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii Infrasound observations and constraints on the 2018 eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii
The 2018 eruption of Kīlauea Volcano was a dynamic event involving explosions, collapses, and fountaining at multiple vents spread over tens of kilometers. The permanent infrasound network operated by the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) was well prepared to observe the collapse of the summit, and additional deployments permitted infrasound observations during fissuring in the...
Authors
Weston Thelen, Gregory P. Waite, John J. Lyons, David Fee
Achievements and prospects of global broadband seismographic networks after 30 years of continuous geophysical observations Achievements and prospects of global broadband seismographic networks after 30 years of continuous geophysical observations
Global seismographic networks (GSNs) emerged during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, facilitated by seminal international developments in theory, technology, instrumentation, and data exchange. The mid- to late-twentieth century saw the creation of the World-Wide Standardized Seismographic Network (1961) and International Deployment of Accelerometers (1976), which...
Authors
Adam T. Ringler, Robert Anthony, R. C. Aster, C. J. Ammon, S. Arrowsmith, Harley M. Benz, C. Ebeling, A. Frassetto, W. Y. Kim, Paula Koelemeijer, H. C. P. Lau, V. Lekic, J. P. Montagner, P. G. Richards, D. P. Schaff, M. Vallee, William L. Yeck
Gull plumages are, and are not, what they appear to human vision Gull plumages are, and are not, what they appear to human vision
Clear correlations between human and bird visual assessments of color have been documented, and are often assumed, despite fundamental differences in human and avian visual physiology and morphology. Analyses of plumage colors with avian perceptual models have shown widespread hidden inter-sexual and inter-specific color variation among passerines perceived as monochromatic to humans...
Authors
Muir D Eaton, Pilar Benites, Luke Campillo, Robert E. Wilson, Sarah A. Sonsthagen
Comprehensive pressure core analysis for hydrate-bearing sediments from Gulf of Mexico Green Canyon Block 955, including assessments of geomechanical viscous behavior and nuclear magnetic resonance permeability Comprehensive pressure core analysis for hydrate-bearing sediments from Gulf of Mexico Green Canyon Block 955, including assessments of geomechanical viscous behavior and nuclear magnetic resonance permeability
Quantifying the petrophysical and geomechanical properties of gas hydrate reservoirs is essential for understanding the natural hydrate system and predicting gas production behavior for future resource development. Pressure-core analysis tools were used to characterize methane hydrate–bearing sediments recovered from the Gulf of Mexico Green Canyon Block 955, under an international...
Authors
Jun Yoneda, Yusuke Jin, Michihiro Muraoka, Motoi Oshima, Kiyofumi Suzuki, William F. Waite, Peter Flemings
Evidence of increased mussel abundance related to the Pacific marine heatwave and sea star wasting Evidence of increased mussel abundance related to the Pacific marine heatwave and sea star wasting
Mussels occupy a key middle trophic position in nearshore food webs linking primary producers to predators. Climate-related environmental changes may synergistically combine with changes in predator abundance to affect intertidal ecosystems. We examined the influence of two major events on mussel (Mytilus trossulus) abundance in the northern Gulf of Alaska: the recent Pacific marine...
Authors
Sarah Beth Traiger, James L. Bodkin, Heather Coletti, Brenda Ballachey, Dean Thomas, Daniel Esler, Katrin Iken, Brenda Konar, Mandy Lindeberg, Daniel Monson, Brian H. Robinson, Robert M. Suryan, Ben Weitzman
Relocated beaver can increase water storage and decrease stream temperature in headwater streams Relocated beaver can increase water storage and decrease stream temperature in headwater streams
Many areas are experiencing increasing stream temperatures due to climate change, and some are experiencing reduced summer stream flows and water availability. Because dam building and pond formation by beaver can increase water storage, stream cooling, and riparian ecosystem resilience, beaver have been proposed as a potential climate adaption tool. Despite the large number of studies...
Authors
Benjamin J. Dittbrenner, Jason W. Schilling, Christian E. Torgersen, Joshua J. Lawler