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.
Science Quality and Integrity
Science Quality and Integrity
The USGS provides unbiased, objective, and impartial scientific information upon which our audiences, including resource managers, planners, and other entities, rely.
Mission Area Publications
Mission Area Publications
We are focused on some of the most significant issues society faces, and our science is making a substantial contribution to the well-being of the Nation and the world. Learn more about the major topics our research covers and the programs focused on those topics.
Filter Total Items: 177638
Water and endangered fish in the Klamath River basin revisited: Does old age or Upper Klamath Lake surface elevation and water quality affect adult Lost River Sucker and Shortnose Sucker survival? A response to Kann and Walker Water and endangered fish in the Klamath River basin revisited: Does old age or Upper Klamath Lake surface elevation and water quality affect adult Lost River Sucker and Shortnose Sucker survival? A response to Kann and Walker
Our update responds to recent scientific critiques and again finds no evidence that lake levels or water conditions influence adult sucker survival. This reaffirms our prior work (Krause et al., 2022) and suggests that recent declines in adult survival may reflect an aging population.
Authors
Jacob Richard Krause, Eric C. Janney, Summer M. Burdick, John Michael Caldwell, Brian S. Hayes
Characterization of subsurface groundwater pathways from treated wastewater effluent infiltration along the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, USA Characterization of subsurface groundwater pathways from treated wastewater effluent infiltration along the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, USA
Recharge of treated wastewater to the environment is increasingly becoming a component of water resources management, especially in water-limited areas such as the Grand Canyon. Treated wastewater from the Grand Canyon South Rim Wastewater Treatment Plant has been discharged to a dry wash located along the surface expression of a fault for decades, but the fate of the wastewater is...
Authors
Kimberly R. Beisner, Nicholas V. Paretti, Jay Cederberg, Skyler Pendleton Mavor, Ryan S. Crow, Michaelah C. Wilson
Blind spots in our understanding of the tropical nitrogen cycle Blind spots in our understanding of the tropical nitrogen cycle
Understanding environmental controls on tropical nitrogen (N) cycling is critical for projecting flux rates and modeling ecosystem responses to rising CO2. Here, we ask whether geographic bias in field sampling may shape our understanding of N cycling by failing to capture the breadth of environmental heterogeneity within the tropics. We mapped empirical sampling locations of two major...
Authors
Kate Nelson, Samti Luk, Sian Kou-Giesbrecht, Michelle Y. Wong, Cara Flynn, J van Oorschot, Carla R. Reis Ely, Steven S. Perakis, Sarah A. Batterman, Cory C. Cleveland, Timothy E. Crews, Katherine A. Dynarski, Maria G. Gei, Michael J. Gundale, Duncan N.L. Menge, Mark B. Peoples, Sasha C. Reed, Emilio Rodriguez-Caballero, Anika P. Staccone, Benton N. Taylor, Bettina Weber, Nina Wurzburger, Fiona M. Soper
Groundwater nutrient contributions to surface water in the upper Maumee River basin Groundwater nutrient contributions to surface water in the upper Maumee River basin
Harmful algal blooms triggered by nutrient loading have negatively affected Lake Erie water quality for decades, but the role groundwater plays in transporting nutrients to tributary streams is unclear. Here, we apply a multi-scale approach to investigate groundwater nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) dynamics at the field scale, along a groundwater flow path, and at the Maumee River basin...
Authors
Shawn Naylor, Matthew P. Miller, Christopher Green, Myles T. Moore, Amy Story, Matthew John Hardebeck, Edward G. Dobrowolski
EMIT reveals elevated calcite signatures in shorelines of Lake Powell and Lake Mead exposed by drought and Colorado River management EMIT reveals elevated calcite signatures in shorelines of Lake Powell and Lake Mead exposed by drought and Colorado River management
Nearly half of Earth’s seasonal freshwater storage variability occurs in human-managed reservoirs, resulting in large areas of reservoir-bed that are episodically inundated or subaerially exposed. Here we use hyperspectral data from NASA’s Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) mission to map calcite mineral assemblages across exposed surfaces in two large U.S. reservoirs...
Authors
Michael Raymond Fischella, Joel B. Sankey, Raymond F. Kokaly, Amy E. East, Alan Kasprak, Joshua Caster, Bridget R. Deemer, Ryan S. Crow, Skyler Mavor, Derek V. Mallia
Drivers of ecosystem metabolism in an anthropogenically modified delta Drivers of ecosystem metabolism in an anthropogenically modified delta
Estuaries are under threat globally from a wide range of stressors, with rates of ecosystem metabolism – respiration (R), gross primary production (GPP), and net ecosystem metabolism (NEM) – representing a way for resource managers to quantify their impacts. In this study, we assessed how natural and anthropogenic stressors have altered metabolism within the extensively modified...
Authors
Martin P. Volaric, Brian A. Bergamaschi, Ariella Chelsky, David Senn, Stephen G. Monosmith
Microgravity measurements spanning 2019–2022 indicate no change in magma supply or storage during Kilauea's reawakening Microgravity measurements spanning 2019–2022 indicate no change in magma supply or storage during Kilauea's reawakening
After more than 2 years of quiescence following its major 2018 flank lava effusion and summit caldera collapse, Kīlauea, Hawaiʻi, returned to frequent eruptive activity in late 2020. Microgravity measurements from the summit region in 2019 and 2022 span this reawakening and indicate a gravity increase of up to hundreds of microgals near the center of the summit caldera. Much of this...
Authors
Michael P. Poland, Elske de Zeeuw-van Dalfsen, Marco Bagnardi, Ashton F. Flinders, Ingrid A. Johanson, Andria P. Ellis, Michael H. Zoeller
Phase evolution and elemental partitioning in impact melts from Meteor Crater, Arizona Phase evolution and elemental partitioning in impact melts from Meteor Crater, Arizona
The impact of the Canyon Diablo iron meteorite in Arizona ∼61,000 years ago resulted in partial vaporization of the meteorite and target rocks, producing a vapor plume and melt particles with taenite, olivine and clinopyroxene in glassy matrix. The resulting Meteor Crater is ∼1.2 km in diameter and ∼200 m deep. Although the crater has been the natural laboratory for impact cratering, the
Authors
Lung S. Chan, Hans-Rudolf Wenk, Amber L. Gullikson, A. Kattenmalavadi, W. Alvarez, E. L. Grant
How Indigenous socio-cultural systems resist, accept, or direct ecological transformation: A research agenda How Indigenous socio-cultural systems resist, accept, or direct ecological transformation: A research agenda
Anthropogenic ecological transformations are challenging conventional environmental management paradigms, as maintaining historical ecological structures and functions becomes increasingly untenable. The resist–accept–direct (RAD) framework offers a strategic tool to navigate these shifts. However, as a product of the dominant socio-cultural system, the RAD framework risks perpetuating...
Authors
Anthony Warren Ciocco, Gregor W. Schuurman, Brian W. Miller, Stefan Gabriel Tangen
Assessment of Undiscovered Conventional Gas Resources in the Northern Alaska Province, 2026 Assessment of Undiscovered Conventional Gas Resources in the Northern Alaska Province, 2026
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean conventional resources of 96 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Northern Alaska Province.
Authors
William H. Craddock, Jared T. Gooley, Katherine J. Whidden, John W. Counts, Christopher D. Connors, David W. Houseknecht, Rebecca A. Smith, Jade Harper, William A. Rouse, Richard O. Lease, Samuel J. Heller, Tracey J. Mercier, Christopher J. Schenk
Geophysical insights into Kīlauea’s eruptive reawakening after its 2018 eruption and caldera collapse Geophysical insights into Kīlauea’s eruptive reawakening after its 2018 eruption and caldera collapse
A little more than two years after the destructive 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption and summit collapse ended, renewed volcanic activity began at Kīlauea volcano, Hawaiʻi. During 2020–2025, activity at the volcano included six eruptions in the summit caldera, one in the Southwest Rift Zone, and one in the middle East Rift Zone, as well as multiple non-eruptive intrusions in all three...
Authors
Andria P. Ellis, Michael P. Poland, Ingrid A. Johanson, Marco Bagnardi, Jefferson C. Chang, Michael H. Zoeller
A strategic method for expanding the Pacific Flyway Motus network A strategic method for expanding the Pacific Flyway Motus network
Understanding the movement and survival of birds of conservation concern during migration is critical for guiding conservation action. Unfortunately, the migratory life stage is understudied in many bird species because of the challenges of following such species over large distances, particularly those with small body sizes. One established method for tracking movement of small avian...
Authors
Patricia J. Wohner, Josée S. Rousseau, Joan Hagar, James T. Peterson