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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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Synthetic aperture radar volcanic flow maps (SAR VFMs): A simple method for rapid identification and mapping of volcanic mass flows Synthetic aperture radar volcanic flow maps (SAR VFMs): A simple method for rapid identification and mapping of volcanic mass flows
Volcanic mass flows, including lava, pyroclastic density currents, and lahars, account for the bulk of fatalities and infrastructure damage caused by volcanic eruptions. Mapping these flows soon after their emplacement is vital to understanding their impact and to forecasting the likely behavior of potential future flows. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) can provide useful information...
Authors
Michael Poland
Rotenone use and subsequent prey loss lowers Osprey fledging rates via brood reduction Rotenone use and subsequent prey loss lowers Osprey fledging rates via brood reduction
Fisheries managers used the fish toxicant rotenone to eradicate an undesirable brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus) population and all other fish species at Hyatt Reservoir, Oregon, on 12 October 1989. This 4-yr study (1988–1990, 1992) compared effects of that rotenone project on Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) nesting at Hyatt Reservoir and nearby Howard Prairie Reservoir (untreated...
Authors
Charles J. Henny, James L Kaiser
Selecting the optimal fine-scale historical climate data for assessing current and future hydrological conditions Selecting the optimal fine-scale historical climate data for assessing current and future hydrological conditions
High-resolution historical climate grids are readily available and frequently used as inputs for a wide range of regional management and risk assessments, including water supply, ecological processes, and as baseline for climate change impact studies that compare them to future projected conditions. Because historical gridded climates are produced using various methods, their portrayal...
Authors
Michelle A. Stern, Lorraine E. Flint, Alan L. Flint, Ryan M Boynton, Joseph A E Stewart, Jessica W Wright, James H. Thorne
State of stress in areas of active unconventional oil and gas development in North America State of stress in areas of active unconventional oil and gas development in North America
In this paper, we present comprehensive data on stress orientation and relative magnitude in areas throughout North America where unconventional oil and gas are currently being developed. We find excellent agreement between maximum horizontal principal stress (SHmax) orientations over a wide range of depths, using multiple methods. In all basins studied, we observed coherent stress...
Authors
Jens-Erik Lundstern, Mark D. Zoback
Simple relationships between residence time and annual nutrient retention, export, and loading for estuaries Simple relationships between residence time and annual nutrient retention, export, and loading for estuaries
Simple mathematical models are derived from mass balances for water and transported substance to provide insight into the relationships between import, export, transport, and internal removal for nonconservative substances in an estuary. Extending previous work, our models explicitly include water and substance inputs from the ocean and are expressed in terms of timescales (i.e., mean...
Authors
Jian Shen, Jiabi Du, Lisa V. Lucas
Biomass allocation of tidal freshwater marsh species in response to natural and manipulated hydroperiod in coastal deltaic floodplains Biomass allocation of tidal freshwater marsh species in response to natural and manipulated hydroperiod in coastal deltaic floodplains
Deltaic floodplains are highly vulnerable to relative sea level rise (RSLR) depending on the sediment supply from river channels that provides elevation capital as adaptation mechanism. In river channels where levees have restricted sediment supply to coastal deltaic floodplains, river sediment diversions have been proposed as a restoration strategy to increase elevation allowing for...
Authors
Andre S. Rovai, Robert R. Twilley, Alexandra Christiensen, Annabeth McCall, Daniel J. Jensen, Gregg A. Snedden, James T. Morris, John A. Cavell
Bright spots for inland fish and fisheries to guide future hydropower development Bright spots for inland fish and fisheries to guide future hydropower development
Hydropower production is one of the greatest threats to fluvial ecosystems and freshwater biodiversity. Now that we have entered the Anthropocene, there is an opportunity to reflect on what might constitute a ‘sustainable’ Anthropocene in the context of hydropower and riverine fish populations. Considering elements of existing practices that promote favorable social-ecological outcomes...
Authors
William M. Twardek, Ian G. Cowx, Nicolas W.R. Lapointe, Craig P. Paukert, T. Douglas Beard, Elena M. Bennett, David Browne, Andrew K. Carlson, Keith D. Clarke, Zeb Hogan, Kai Lorenzen, Abigail J. Lynch, Peter B. McIntyre, Paulo S. Pompeu, Mark W. Rogers, Alexis Sakas, William W. Taylor, Taylor D. Ward, Zeenatul Basher, Steven J. Cooke
Isotopic discrimination of natural and anthropogenic perchlorate sources in groundwater in a semi-arid region of northeastern Oregon (USA) Isotopic discrimination of natural and anthropogenic perchlorate sources in groundwater in a semi-arid region of northeastern Oregon (USA)
Perchlorate (ClO4−) has synthetic and natural sources. Synthetic ClO4− is released to the environment from its use as an oxidant in military and aerospace applications, and from its presence in a variety of common commercial products, such as safety flares, chlorate herbicides, and fireworks. Natural sources of ClO4− in the environment include imported nitrate fertilizers derived from...
Authors
Paul B. Hatzinger, J.K. Bohlke, W.A. Jackson, Baohua Gu, Stanley J. Mroczkowski, Neil C. Sturchio
Taking a macroscale perspective to improve understanding of shallow lake total phosphorus and chlorophyll a Taking a macroscale perspective to improve understanding of shallow lake total phosphorus and chlorophyll a
We conducted a macroscale study of 2210 shallow lakes (mean depth ≤ 3 m or a maximum depth ≤ 5 m) in the Upper Midwestern and Northeastern USA. We asked the following: What are the patterns and drivers of shallow lake total phosphorus (TP), chlorophyll a (CHLa), and TP–CHLa relationships at the macroscale, how do these differ from those for 4360 non-shallow lakes, and do results differ...
Authors
Kendra Spence Cheruvelil, Katherine Webster, Katelyn King, Autumn C. Poisson, Tyler Wagner
Active forest management accelerates carbon storage in plantation forests in Lishui, southern China Active forest management accelerates carbon storage in plantation forests in Lishui, southern China
Background
Authors
Jiaojiao Diao, Jinxun Liu, Zhiliang Zhu, Xinyuan Wei, Mingshi Li
Quantifying the sensitivity of microearthquake slip inversions to station distribution using a dense nodal array Quantifying the sensitivity of microearthquake slip inversions to station distribution using a dense nodal array
To investigate the sensitivity of slip inversions to station distribution and choice of empirical Green’s function (EGF), we examine three microearthquakes that occurred within the high‐density LArge‐n Seismic Survey in Oklahoma (LASSO) nodal seismic array. The LASSO array’s dense distribution of 1825 geophones provides an exceptional level of spatial and azimuthal coverage, allowing for...
Authors
Colin Nathanael Pennington, Hilary Chang, Justin L. Rubinstein, Rachel E. Abercrombie, Nori Nakata, Takahiko Uchide, Elizabeth S. Cochran
Lessons learned from 20 y of monitoring suburban development with distributed stormwater management in Clarksburg, Maryland, USA Lessons learned from 20 y of monitoring suburban development with distributed stormwater management in Clarksburg, Maryland, USA
Urban development is a well-known stressor for stream ecosystems, presenting a challenge to managers tasked with mitigating its effects. For the past 20 y, streamflow, water quality, geomorphology, and benthic communities were monitored in 5 watersheds in Montgomery County, Maryland, USA. This study presents a synthesis of multiple studies of monitoring efforts in the study area and new...
Authors
Kristina G. Hopkins, Sean Woznicki, Brianna M. Williams, Charles C. Stillwell, Eric Naibert, Marina J. Metes, Daniel K. Jones, Dianna M. Hogan, Natalie Celeste Hall, Rosemary M. Fanelli, Aditi S. Bhaskar