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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.
The USGS provides unbiased, objective, and impartial scientific information upon which our audiences, including resource managers, planners, and other entities, rely.
Browse more than 82,000 reports 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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Use of a Numerical Model to Simulate the Hydrologic System and Transport of Contaminants Near Joint Base Cape Cod, Western Cape Cod, Massachusetts Use of a Numerical Model to Simulate the Hydrologic System and Transport of Contaminants Near Joint Base Cape Cod, Western Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Historical training and operational activities at Joint Base Cape Cod (JBCC) on western Cape Cod, Massachusetts, have resulted in the release of contaminants into an underlying glacial aquifer that is the sole source of water to the surrounding communities. Remedial systems have been installed to contain and remove contamination from the aquifer. Groundwater withdrawals for public supply...
Authors
Donald A. Walter, Timothy D. McCobb, Michael N. Fienen
Groundwater-Level Elevations in the Denver Basin Bedrock Aquifers of Elbert County, Colorado, 2015–18 Groundwater-Level Elevations in the Denver Basin Bedrock Aquifers of Elbert County, Colorado, 2015–18
Public and domestic water supplies in Elbert County, Colorado, rely on groundwater withdrawals from five bedrock aquifers in the Denver Basin aquifer system (lower Dawson, upper Dawson, Denver, Arapahoe, and Laramie-Fox Hills) to meet water demands. Increased pumping in response to regional population growth and development has led to declining groundwater levels in neighboring Douglas...
Authors
Colin A. Penn, Rhett R. Everett
Drought forecasting for streams and groundwaters in northeastern United States Drought forecasting for streams and groundwaters in northeastern United States
Background When rainfall is lower than normal over an extended period, streamflows decline, groundwater levels fall, and hydrological drought can occur. Droughts can reduce the water available for societal needs, such as public and private drinking-water supplies, farming, and industry, and for ecological health, such as maintenance of water quality and natural ecosystems. Recent...
Authors
Samuel H. Austin, Robert W. Dudley
Water-level data for the Albuquerque Basin and adjacent areas, central New Mexico, period of record through September 30, 2017 Water-level data for the Albuquerque Basin and adjacent areas, central New Mexico, period of record through September 30, 2017
The Albuquerque Basin, located in central New Mexico, is about 100 miles long and 25–40 miles wide. The basin is hydrologically defined as the extent of consolidated and unconsolidated deposits of Tertiary and Quaternary age that encompasses the structural Rio Grande Rift between San Acacia to the south and Cochiti Lake to the north. A 20-percent population increase in the basin from...
Authors
Joseph E. Beman, Andre B. Ritchie, Amy E. Galanter
Monitoring storm tide and flooding from Hurricane Irma along the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Southeastern United States, September 2017 Monitoring storm tide and flooding from Hurricane Irma along the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Southeastern United States, September 2017
Hurricane Irma skirted the northern coasts of the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, with maximum sustained winds of 185 miles per hour (mi/h) on September 6, 2017. The hurricane first made landfall in Florida near Cudjoe Key, in the lower Florida Keys, with maximum sustained winds of 130 mi/h on September 10, 2017. The hurricane made a second Florida landfall on Marco Island, Florida...
Authors
Michael J. Byrne, Mark R. Dickman
Assessment of Mesozoic tight-oil and tight-gas resources in the Sichuan Basin of China, 2018 Assessment of Mesozoic tight-oil and tight-gas resources in the Sichuan Basin of China, 2018
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 1.2 billion barrels of tight oil and 29.1 trillion cubic feet of tight gas in Mesozoic formations in the Sichuan Basin of China.
Authors
Christopher J. Potter, Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Thomas M. Finn, Cheryl A. Woodall, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Kristen R. Marra, Phuong A. Le, Ronald M. Drake, Michael E. Brownfield, Janet K. Pitman
Rare earth element mineral deposits in the United States Rare earth element mineral deposits in the United States
Because of their unique special chemical properties, many of the metals in the group of rare earth elements (REEs) have essential applications in 21st century technologies. Examples of products that use REEs are cell phones, computers, fluorescent and light-emitting-diode lights, flat-screen television and computer monitors, and in high-strength magnets used by clean energy technologies...
Authors
Bradley S. Van Gosen, Philip L. Verplanck, Poul Emsbo
Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Best Management Practice Implementation in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, 1985–2014 Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Best Management Practice Implementation in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, 1985–2014
Efforts to restore water quality in Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries often include extensive Best Management Practice (BMP) implementation on agricultural and developed lands. These BMPs include a variety of methods to reduce nutrient and sediment loads, such as cover crops, conservation tillage, urban filtering systems, and other practices. Estimates of BMP implementation throughout...
Authors
Andrew J. Sekellick, Olivia H. Devereux, Jennifer L. D. Keisman, Jeffrey S. Sweeney, Joel D. Blomquist
Groundwater quality and nutrient trends near Marsing, southwestern Idaho, 2018 Groundwater quality and nutrient trends near Marsing, southwestern Idaho, 2018
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, sampled groundwater from 15 wells during spring 2018 near the city of Marsing in rural northwestern Owyhee County, southwestern Idaho. Samples were analyzed for field parameters, nutrients, trace elements, major inorganics, and dissolved gas, including methane. To examine trends in individual...
Authors
Kenneth D. Skinner
Hurricane Sandy impacts on coastal wetland resilience Hurricane Sandy impacts on coastal wetland resilience
The goal of this research was to evaluate the impacts of Hurricane Sandy on surface elevation trends in estuarine marshes located across the northeast region of the United States from Virginia to Maine using data from an opportunistic (in other words, not strategic) and collaborative network (from here on, an opportunistic network) of surface elevation table-marker horizon (SET-MH)...
Authors
Donald R. Cahoon, Jennifer H. Olker, Alice G. Yeates, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, James B. Grace, Susan C. Adamowicz, Shimon C. Anisfeld, Andrew H. Baldwin, Nels Barrett, Leah Beckett, Alice Benzecry, Linda K. Blum, David M. Burdick, William Crouch, Marci Cole Ekberg, Sarah Fernald, Kristin Wilson Grimes, Joseph Grzyb, Ellen Kracauer Hartig, Danielle A. Kreeger, Marit Larson, Scott Lerberg, James C. Lynch, Nicole Maher, Martha Maxwell-Doyle, Laura R. Mitchell, Jordan Mora, Victoria O’Neill, Angela Padeletti, Diann J. Prosser, Tracy Quirk, Kenneth B. Raposa, William G. Reay, Drexel Siok, Christopher Snow, Adam Starke, J. Court Stevenson, Lorie Staver, Vincent Turner
Optimizing historical preservation under climate change—An overview of the optimal preservation model and pilot testing at Cape Lookout National Seashore Optimizing historical preservation under climate change—An overview of the optimal preservation model and pilot testing at Cape Lookout National Seashore
Adapting cultural resources to climate-change effects challenges traditional cultural resource decision making because some adaptation strategies can negatively affect the integrity of cultural resources. Yet, the inevitability of climate-change effects—even given the uncertain timing of those effects—necessitates that managers begin prioritizing resources for climate-change adaptation
Authors
Erin Seekamp, Max Post van der Burg, Sandra Fatoric, Mitchell J. Eaton, Xiao Xiao, Allie McCreary
Regional protocol framework for the inventory and monitoring of breeding Atlantic Coast Piping Plovers Regional protocol framework for the inventory and monitoring of breeding Atlantic Coast Piping Plovers
This regional protocol provides a framework for quantifying the number of breeding pairs and productivity of Atlantic Coast piping plover (Charadrius melodus) populations during the breeding season. A primary purpose of this protocol is to standardize piping plover monitoring during the breeding season. The survey techniques described herein involve repeated visual counts of adults...
Authors
Erin King, Rachel A. Katz, Kate E. Iaquinto, Kevin J. Suir, M.J. Baldwin, A. Hecht