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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 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.
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Geochemistry and mineralogy of metallurgical slag Geochemistry and mineralogy of metallurgical slag
Slag is a waste product from the pyrometallurgical processing of natural ores or the recycling of man-made materials. This chapter provides an overview of the geochemical and mineralogical characteristics of different types of slag. A review of the analytical methods used to determine these characteristics is also provided. Ferrous slags include blast furnace, steelmaking, and ferroalloy...
Authors
Nadine M. Piatak, Vojtech Ettler, Darryl Andre Hoppe
Middle and late Pleistocene pluvial history of Newark Valley, central Nevada, USA Middle and late Pleistocene pluvial history of Newark Valley, central Nevada, USA
Newark Valley lies between the two largest pluvial lake systems in the Great Basin, Lake Lahontan and Lake Bonneville. Soils and geomorphology, stratigraphic interpretations, radiocarbon ages, and amino acid racemization geochronology analyses were employed to interpret the relative and numerical ages of lacustrine deposits in the valley. The marine oxygen isotope stage (MIS) 2 beach...
Authors
Joanna L. Redwine, R. M. Burke, Marith C. Reheis, R. J. Bowers, Jordon Bright, D. S. Kaufman, R. M. Forester
Lakes of the western United States: Novel tools and new views Lakes of the western United States: Novel tools and new views
No abstract available.
Authors
Scott W. Starratt, Michael R. Rosen
Paleoclimate record for Lake Coyote, California, and the Last Glacial Maximum and deglacial paleohydrology (25 to 14 cal ka) of the Mojave River Paleoclimate record for Lake Coyote, California, and the Last Glacial Maximum and deglacial paleohydrology (25 to 14 cal ka) of the Mojave River
Lake Coyote, California, which formed in one of five basins along the Mojave River, acted both as a part of the Lake Manix basin and, after the formation of Afton Canyon and draining of Lake Manix ca. 24.5 calibrated (cal) ka, a side basin that was filled episodically for the next 10,000 yr. As such, its record of lake level is an important counterpart to the record of the other terminal...
Authors
David M. Miller, Stephanie L. Dudash, John P. McGeehin
Earth's coastlines Earth's coastlines
With approximately half the world’s population living less than 65 miles from the ocean, coastal ecosystems are arguably Earth’s most critical real estate. Yet coastlines are among the more difficult features to accurately map; until now, no comprehensive high-resolution geospatial dataset existed. This chapter presents a new map and ecological inventory of global coastlines developed by...
Authors
Roger Sayre, Madeline T. Martin, Jill Janene Cress, Kevin Butler, Keith Van Graafeiland, Sean Breyer, Dawn Wright, Charlie Frye, Deniz Karagulle, Tom Allen, Rebecca Allee, Rost Parsons, Bjorn Nyberg, Mark J. Costello, Frank Muller-Karger, Peter Harris
Steppe eagle Aquila nipalensis Steppe eagle Aquila nipalensis
The steppe eagle (Aquila nipalensis) is a globally endangered, full migrant raptor that breeds in the southern temperate zone from European Russia in the west to eastern Mongolia, Dauria and adjacent north-eastern China in the east. It winters in Africa, the Middle East and Southern and South-Eastern Asia, and migrations can sometimes entail journeys > 10,000 km in length. Kazakhstan...
Authors
Michael J. McGrady, Evgeny A. Bragin, Igor Karyakin, Nyambaya Batbayar, Todd E. Katzner
Red-footed Falcon Falco vespertinus Red-footed Falcon Falco vespertinus
Red-footed falcons (Falco vespertinus) are a small, long-distance and obligate migrant falcon that breeds at the forest-steppe interface in Eurasia and winters in Southern Africa. Research carried out with geolocators and satellite transmitters show that during the southbound migration Central Asian birds migrate through the Caucasus and the Middle East, while those from Eastern Europe...
Authors
Todd E. Katzner, Evgeny A. Bragin, Tricia A. Miller
Eastern Imperial Eagle Aquila heliaca Eastern Imperial Eagle Aquila heliaca
Eastern imperial eagles are a short-, medium-distance, partially-migratory, or even non-migratory, raptor that breeds at the forest-steppe interface in Eurasia and winters in Northern Africa, the Middle East or South Asia. Migratory strategies of imperial eagles are diverse. Eagles breeding in Central and Southeast Europe and south of the Black Sea usually are year-round residents or...
Authors
Evgeny Bragin, Marton Horvath, Sharon A. Poessel, Todd E. Katzner
Human-polar bear interactions Human-polar bear interactions
Human-wildlife interactions (HWI) are driven fundamentally by overlapping space and resources. As competition intensifies, the likelihood of interaction and conflict increases. In turn, conflict may impede conservation efforts by lowering social tolerance of wildlife, especially when human-wildlife conflict (HWC) poses a threat to human safety and economic well-being. Thus, mitigating...
Authors
Todd C. Atwood, James Wilder
Sea otter foraging behavior Sea otter foraging behavior
Sea otters are marine specialists but diet generalists, which feed primarily on benthic mega-invertebrates (i.e., body dimension >1 cm). They locate and capture epibenthic and infaunal prey with their forepaws by relying on vision and tactile sensitivity during short-duration dives (generally
Authors
Randall W. Davis, James L. Bodkin
Economic geology and environmental characteristics of antimony deposits Economic geology and environmental characteristics of antimony deposits
Antimony is commonly listed as a critical mineral, particularly in the United States and European Union [1]. Its criticality, or supply risk, is derived from a combination of economic vulnerability, disruption potential of supply, and trade exposure [2].Disruption potential relates a country’s ability and willingness to supply a commodity. Commodities for which supply is concentrated in...
Authors
Robert R. Seal,
2020 Status of the Lake Ontario lower trophic levels 2020 Status of the Lake Ontario lower trophic levels
Significant Findings for Year 2020: Note that due to covid-19 restrictions, offshore sampling was limited in 2020. 1) May – Oct total phosphorus (TP) in 2020 was 10.6 µg/L (offshore) and 7.7 µg/L (nearshore), higher than the long-term (1995-2019) average in the offshore (6.2 µg/L) and close to average in the nearshore (7.8 µg/L); mean TP values for the past decade (2010-2019) were 6.0 µg...
Authors
Kristen T. Holeck, Lars G. Rudstam, Christopher Hotaling, Dave Lemon, Web Pearsall, Jana Lantry, Mike Connerton, Chris Legard, Zy Biesinger, Brian F. Lantry, Brian Weidel, Brian O’Malley