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Book Chapters

Browse more than 5,500 book chapters authored by our scientists over the past 100+ year history of the USGS and refine search by topic, location, year, and advanced search.

Filter Total Items: 6197

Coral reef diseases in the Atlantic-Caribbean Coral reef diseases in the Atlantic-Caribbean

Coral reefs are the jewels of the tropical oceans. They boast the highest diversity of all marine ecosystems, aid in the development and protection of other important, productive coastal marine communities, and have provided millions of people with food, building materials, protection from storms, recreation and social stability over thousands of years, and more recently, income, active
Authors
Caroline S. Rogers, Ernesto Weil

Potential effects of coalbed natural gas development on fish and aquatic resources Potential effects of coalbed natural gas development on fish and aquatic resources

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a summary of issues and findings related to the potential effects of coalbed natural gas (CBNG) development on fish and other aquatic resources. We reviewed CBNG issues from across the United States and used the Powder River Basin of Wyoming as a case study to exemplify some pertinent issues. The quality of water produced during CBNG extraction...
Authors
Aida M. Farag, David D. Harper, Anna C. Senecal, Arthur E. Hubert

Large reservoirs: Chapter 17 Large reservoirs: Chapter 17

Large impoundments, defined as those with surface area of 200 ha or greater, are relatively new aquatic ecosystems in the global landscape. They represent important economic and environmental resources that provide benefits such as flood control, hydropower generation, navigation, water supply, commercial and recreational fisheries, and various other recreational and esthetic values...
Authors
Leandro E. Miranda, Phillip William Bettoli

Natural bitumen and extra-heavy oil Natural bitumen and extra-heavy oil

Natural bitumen and extra-heavy oil are characterised by high viscosity, high density (low API gravity), and high concentrations of nitrogen, oxygen, sulphur, and heavy metals. These characteristics result in higher costs for extraction, transportation, and refining than are incurred with conventional oil. Despite their cost and technical challenges, major international oil companies...
Authors
Emil D. Attanasi, Richard F. Meyer

The effects of land cover and land use change on the contemporary carbon balance of the arctic and boreal terrestrial ecosystems of northern Eurasia The effects of land cover and land use change on the contemporary carbon balance of the arctic and boreal terrestrial ecosystems of northern Eurasia

Recent changes in climate, disturbance regimes and land use and management systems in Northern Eurasia have the potential to disrupt the terrestrial sink of atmospheric CO2 in a way that accelerates global climate change. To determine the recent trends in the carbon balance of the arctic and boreal ecosystems of this region, we performed a retrospective analysis of terrestrial carbon...
Authors
Daniel J. Hayes, A. David McGuire, David W. Kicklighter, Todd J. Burnside, Jerry M. Melillo

Introduction Introduction

No abstract available.
Authors
Alice Aureli, A. Ivan Johnson, Laura Carbognin, Keith R. Prince, Frans B. Barends, Dora Carreon-Freyre, Devin L. Galloway, Giuseppe Gambolati, Jane Frankenfield Zanin

Ancient earthquakes from archaeoseismic evidence during the Visigothic and Islamic periods in the archaeological site of “Tolmo de Minateda” (SE Spain) Ancient earthquakes from archaeoseismic evidence during the Visigothic and Islamic periods in the archaeological site of “Tolmo de Minateda” (SE Spain)

The ruins of the ancient settlement of “El Tolmo de Minateda” are one of the best representative archaeological sites within the Albacete Province (SE Spain), characterized by a well-preserved record for the last ~3800 yr. The present ruins record an almost continuous of occupation from the Late Bronze Age (Iberian Culture, from ca. third century B.C.) to the High Middle Ages, including
Authors
M. A. Rodriguez-Pascua, P. G. Silva, Victor H. Garduno-Monroy, R. Perez-Lopez, I. Israde-Alcántara, J. L. Giner-Robles, James L. Bischoff, J. P. Calvo

Ordovician volcanic-arc terrane in the Central Appalachian Piedmont of Maryland and Virginia: SHRIMP U-Pb geochronology, field relations, and tectonic significance Ordovician volcanic-arc terrane in the Central Appalachian Piedmont of Maryland and Virginia: SHRIMP U-Pb geochronology, field relations, and tectonic significance

U-Pb zircon geochronology and field relations provide insights into metavolcanic and associated rocks in the Central Appalachian Piedmont of Maryland and northern Virginia. Ordovician ages were determined for volcanic-arc rocks of the James Run Formation (Churchville Gneiss Member, 458 ± 4 Ma; Carroll Gneiss Member, 462 ± 4 Ma), Relay Felsite (458 ± 4 Ma), Chopawamsic Formation (453 ± 4...
Authors
J. Wright Horton,, John N. Aleinikoff, Avery A. Drake, C. Mark Fanning

Adaptation and survival of plants in high stress habitats via fungal endophyte conferred stress tolerance Adaptation and survival of plants in high stress habitats via fungal endophyte conferred stress tolerance

From the Arctic to the Antarctic, plants thrive in diverse habitats that impose different levels of adaptive pressures depending on the type and degree of biotic and abiotic stresses inherent to each habitat (Stevens, 1989). At any particular location, the abundance and distribution of individual plant species vary tremendously and is theorized to be based on the ability to tolerate a...
Authors
Rusty J. Rodriguez, Claire Woodward, Regina S. Redman
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