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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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Marine paleoseismic evidence for seismic and aseismic slip along the Hayward-Rodgers Creek fault system in northern San Pablo Bay Marine paleoseismic evidence for seismic and aseismic slip along the Hayward-Rodgers Creek fault system in northern San Pablo Bay

Distinguishing between seismic and aseismic fault slip in the geologic record is difficult, yet fundamental to estimating the seismic potential of faults and the likelihood of multi-fault ruptures. We integrated chirp sub-bottom imaging with targeted cross-fault coring and core analyses of sedimentary proxy data to characterize vertical deformation and slip behavior within an extensional...
Authors
Janet Watt, Mary McGann, Renee K. Takesue, Thomas Lorenson

Progress in protecting air travel from volcanic ash clouds Progress in protecting air travel from volcanic ash clouds

The Eyjafjallajökull eruption of 2010 demonstrated the far-reaching impact of ash clouds and the vulnerability of our jet-based society to them, prompting a review of procedures to detect, warn, and forecast ash cloud hazards to aviation. The years since 2010 have seen marked improvements in satellite technology, more accurate ash-dispersion models that integrate simulations with...
Authors
Larry G. Mastin, Michael J. Pavolonis, Samantha Engwell, Rory Clarkson, Claire Witham, Greg Brock, Ian Lisk, Marianne C. Guffanti, Andrew C. Tupper, David J. Schneider, Frances Beckett, Thomas J. Casadevall, Graham Rennie

Post-seismic relaxation following the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake sequence Post-seismic relaxation following the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake sequence

The 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake sequence involved predominantly right‐lateral strike slip on a northwest–southeast‐trending subvertical fault in the 6 July M 7.1 mainshock, preceded by left‐lateral strike slip on a northeast–southwest‐trending subvertical fault in the 4 July M 6.4 foreshock. To characterize the postseismic deformation, we assemble displacements measured by...
Authors
Frederick Pollitz, Charles Wicks, Jerry L. Svarc, Ellen L. Phillips, Benjamin A. Brooks, Mark Hunter Murray, Ryan C. Turner

Strengthening local volcano observatories through global collaborations Strengthening local volcano observatories through global collaborations

We consider the future of volcano observatories in a world where new satellite technologies and global data initiatives have greatly expanded over the last two decades. Observatories remain the critical tie between the decision-making authorities and monitoring data. In the coming decade, the global scientific community needs to continue to collaborate in a manner that will strengthen...
Authors
Jacob B. Lowenstern, John W. Ewert, Andrew Lockhart

Volcanic air pollution and human health: Recent advances and future directions Volcanic air pollution and human health: Recent advances and future directions

Volcanic air pollution from both explosive and effusive activity can affect large populations as far as thousands of kilometers away from the source, for days to decades or even centuries. Here, we summarize key advances and prospects in the assessment of health hazards, effects, risk, and management. Recent advances include standardized ash assessment methods to characterize the...
Authors
Carol Stewart, David Damby, Claire J. Horwell, Tamar Elias, Evgenia Ilyinskaya, Ines Tomasek, Bernadette Longo, Anja Schmidt, Hanne Carlsen, Emily Mason, Peter J. Baxter, Shane Cronin, Claire Witham

Plant community succession following ungulate exclusion in a temperate rainforest Plant community succession following ungulate exclusion in a temperate rainforest

Ecosystem structure and processes of coastal temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest are thought to be strongly influenced by herbivory primarily of Roosevelt elk (Cervus elaphus roosevelti) and secondarily of Columbian black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus). Two large (0.5-ha) exclosures were built in old-growth coniferous rainforest communities in Olympic National...
Authors
Andrea Woodward, Kurt Jenkins, Mark E Harmon

Fatal infection with Versteria sp. in a muskrat, with implications for human health Fatal infection with Versteria sp. in a muskrat, with implications for human health

The Taeniidae tapeworms are a family of helminths that have a similar life cycle, with intermediate hosts developing characteristic cysts in visceral organs. We describe here a case in Pennsylvania, USA, of fatal Versteria infection in a muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus), which, to our knowledge, has not been reported to develop disease associated with infection. Postmortem examination...
Authors
Kevin D. Niedringhaus, Laken S. Ganoe, Matthew Lovallo, W. David Walter, Michael J. Yabsley, Justin Brown

Genetic variation in sea otters (Enhydra lutris) from the North Pacific with relevance to the threatened Southwest Alaska Distinct Population Segment Genetic variation in sea otters (Enhydra lutris) from the North Pacific with relevance to the threatened Southwest Alaska Distinct Population Segment

For the sea otter (Enhydra lutris), genetic population structure is an area of research that has not received significant attention, especially in Southwest Alaska where that distinct population segment has been listed as threatened since 2005 pursuant to the U.S. Endangered Species Act. In this study, 501 samples from 14 locations from Prince William Sound, Alaska to the Commander...
Authors
Blair G. Flannery, Ora L. Russ, Michelle St. Martin, William S. Beatty, Kristen Worman, Joel Garlich-Miller, Verena A. Gill, Patrick R. Lemons, Daniel Monson, Kimberly A. Kloecker, Daniel Esler, John Wenburg

Capture vulnerability of sea turtles on recreational fishing piers Capture vulnerability of sea turtles on recreational fishing piers

Capture vulnerability of commercial and recreational fishes has been associated with behavioral, morphological, and life-history traits; however, relationships with non-target species, such as sea turtles, have not been adequately studied. We examined species composition, timing of captures, morphological variables including body size and head width, and body condition of sea turtles...
Authors
Margaret Lamont, Robert Michael Mollenhauer, Allen M. Foley

Estimating actual evapotranspiration over croplands using vegetation index methods and dynamic harvested area Estimating actual evapotranspiration over croplands using vegetation index methods and dynamic harvested area

Advances in estimating actual evapotranspiration (ETa) with remote sensing (RS) have contributed to improving hydrological, agricultural, and climatological studies. In this study, we evaluated the applicability of Vegetation-Index (VI) -based ETa (ET-VI) for mapping and monitoring drought in arid agricultural systems in a region where a lack of ground data hampers ETa work. To map ETa...
Authors
Neda Abbasi, Hamideh Nouri, Kamel Didan, Armando Barreto Munez, Sattar Chavoshi Borujeni, Hamidreza Salemi, Christian Opp, Stefan Siebert, Pamela L. Nagler

Effects of stream intermittency on minnow (Leuciscidae) and darter (Percidae) trophic dynamics in an agricultural watershed Effects of stream intermittency on minnow (Leuciscidae) and darter (Percidae) trophic dynamics in an agricultural watershed

Stream intermittency is predicted to increase where water withdrawals and climate warming are increasing. In regions coupled with high fish diversity, understanding how intermittency influences fish trophic ecology is critical for informing ecosystem function. This study compared fish diets across seasons in perennial and intermittent streams to estimate the immediate and cumulative...
Authors
Christine E. Fallon, Krista A. Capps, Mary Freeman, Chelsea R. Smith, Stephen W. Golladay

Late Holocene environmental change in Celestun Lagoon, Yucatan, Mexico Late Holocene environmental change in Celestun Lagoon, Yucatan, Mexico

Epikarst estuary response to hydroclimate change remains poorly understood, despite the well-studied link between climate and karst groundwater aquifers. The influence of sea-level rise and coastal geomorphic change on these estuaries obscures climate signals, thus requiring careful development of paleoenvironmental histories to interpret the paleoclimate archives. We used foraminifera...
Authors
Kyle Hardage, Joseph Street, Jorge A. Herrera-Silveira, Ferdinand K.J. Oberle, Adina Paytan
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