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Publications

Browse more than 160,000 publications authored by our scientists over the past 100+ year history of the USGS.  Publications available are: USGS-authored journal articles, series reports, book chapters, other government publications, and more.

Filter Total Items: 969

Wolves on the hunt: The behavior of wolves hunting wild prey

The interactions between apex predators and their prey are some of the most awesome and meaningful in nature—displays of strength, endurance, and a deep coevolutionary history. And there is perhaps no apex predator more impressive and important in its hunting—or more infamous, more misjudged—than the wolf. Because of wolves’ habitat, speed, and general success at evading humans, researchers have f

Bayesian models: A statistical primer for ecologists

Bayesian modeling has become an indispensable tool for ecological research because it is uniquely suited to deal with complexity in a statistically coherent way. This textbook provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the latest Bayesian methods—in language ecologists can understand. Unlike other books on the subject, this one emphasizes the principles behind the computations, giving

2014 update of the U.S. national seismic hazard maps

We held 8 regional and topical workshops across the U.S. to gather information for these maps. The maps were available to the public for comment during a 60-day period. A Steering Committee (9 experts) was assembled to review the inputs and results and provide additional insights. The maps have been presented at several professional meetings.   In this talk we discuss:   (1) CEUS, (2) WUS (outside

Magmatism, metasomatism, tectonism, and mineralization in the Humboldt Range, Pershing County, Nevada

Introduction The Humboldt Range, Pershing County, Nevada, predominantly consists of Mesozoic igneous and sedimentary rocks that were modified several times by magmatism, metasomatism, and tectonism, and contain a variety of metallic (Ag, Au, Pb, Zn, Sb, W, Hg) and non-metallic (dumortierite, pinite, fluorite) mineral deposits (Knopf, 1924; Kerr and Jenney, 1935; Kerr, 1938; Cameron, 1939; Campbe

Optimally managing water resources in large river basins for an uncertain future

Managers of large river basins face conflicting needs for water resources such as wildlife habitat, water supply, wastewater assimilative capacity, flood control, hydroelectricity, and recreation. The Savannah River Basin for example, has experienced three major droughts since 2000 that resulted in record low water levels in its reservoirs, impacting local economies for years. The Savannah River B

Diffusion-equation representations of landform evolution in the simplest circumstances: Appendix C

The diffusion equation is one of the three great partial differential equations of classical physics. It describes the flow or diffusion of heat in the presence of temperature gradients, fluid flow in porous media in the presence of pressure gradients, and the diffusion of molecules in the presence of chemical gradients. [The other two equations are the wave equation, which describes the propagati

Geomorphological Fieldwork

Geomorphological Fieldwork addresses a topic that always remains popular within the geosciences and environmental science. More specifically, the volume conveys a growing legacy of field-based learning for young geomorphologists that can be used as a student book for field-based university courses and postgraduate research requiring fieldwork or field schools. The editors have much experience of f

Freshwater mussels of Florida

An exhaustive guide to all aspects of the freshwater mussel fauna in Florida,Freshwater Mussels of Florida covers the ecology, biology, distribution, and conservation of the many species of bivalve mollusks in the Sunshine State. In the past three decades, researchers, the public, businesses that depend on wildlife, and policy makers have given more attention to the threatened natural diversity of

Stitching the western Piedmont of Virginia: Early Paleozoic tectonic history of the Ellisville Pluton and the Potomac and Chopawamsic Terranes

The theme of the 2014 Virginia Geological Field Conference is the tectonic development, economic geology, and seismicity of the western Piedmont of Louisa County, Virginia. It is timely for the conference to turn its attention here, for during the past decade these aspects of western Piedmont geology have garnered the renewed attention of researchers. In terms of regional tectonics, it has been hy

Sampling and monitoring for the mine life cycle

Sampling and Monitoring for the Mine Life Cycle provides an overview of sampling for environmental purposes and monitoring of environmentally relevant variables at mining sites. It focuses on environmental sampling and monitoring of surface water, and also considers groundwater, process water streams, rock, soil, and other media including air and biological organisms. The handbook includes an appe

List of recent land mammals from Mexico, 2014

We provide an updated list of the Recent land mammals of Mexico and include information on the taxonomy of certain species, and where appropriate, the endemic and threatened status of all species listed. Several taxonomic and nomenclatural changes have been made since publication of the last list of the Mexican terrestrial mammalian fauna. Within the period from 2005 to present, there have been at

Characteristics of sandhill crane roosts in the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta of California

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) region of California is an important wintering region for 2 subspecies of Pacific Flyway sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis): the Central Valley Population of the greater sandhill crane (G. c. tabida) and the Pacific Flyway Population of the lesser sandhill crane (G. c. canadensis). During the winters of 2007-08 and 2008-09 we conducted roost counts, roadside