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.
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Mission Area Publications
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Evaluating machine learning approaches to identify and predict oil and gas produced water lithium concentrations Evaluating machine learning approaches to identify and predict oil and gas produced water lithium concentrations
Recently, the demand for battery-grade lithium has substantially increased, largely due to electrification of the transportation sector. The search for new lithium sources has turned to produced waters (frequently brines), a large-volume wastewater by-product of oil and gas extraction. Geochemical analysis indicates the presence of varying concentrations of lithium from produced water...
Authors
Emil Attanasi, Bonnie McDevitt, Philip A. Freeman, Timothy Coburn
Abiotic and biotic controls of non-native perennial plant success in drylands Abiotic and biotic controls of non-native perennial plant success in drylands
Drivers of non-native plant success in drylands are poorly understood. Here we identify functional differences between dryland native and non-native perennial plants and assess how biotic, abiotic and anthropogenic factors shape the success of the latter. On the basis of plant community and functional trait data from 98 sites across 25 countries, we report a total of 41 non-native plant...
Authors
Soroor Rahmanian, Nico Eisenhauer, Yuanyuan Huang, Martin Hejda, Petr Pyšek, Hannes Feilhauer, David J. Eldridge, Nicholas Gross, Yoann Le Bagousse-Pinguet, Hugo Saiz, Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo, Miguel Berdugo, Victoria Ochoa, Beatriz Gozalo, Sergio Asensio, Emilio Guirado, Enrique Valencia, Miguel García-Gómez, Juan J. Gaitán, Betty J. Mendoza, César Plaza, Paloma Díaz-Martínez, Jaime Martínez-Valderrama, Mehdi Abedi, Negar Ahmadian, Rodrigo J. Ahumada, Fateh Amghar, Thiago Araújo, Antonio I. Arroyo, Farah Ben Salem, Niels Blaum, Enkhjargal Boldbat, Bazartseren Boldgiv, Matthew A. Bowker, Liesbeth van den Brink, Chongfeng Bu, Rafaella Canessa, Andrea P. Castillo-Monroy, Helena Castro, Patricio Castro-Quezada, Ghassen Chaieb, Roukaya Chibani, Abel A. Conceição, Yvonne C. Davila, Balázs Deák, David A. Donoso, Andrew David Dougill, Carlos Iván Espinosa, Alex Fajardo, Mohammad Farzam, Daniela Ferrante, Jorgelina Franzese, Lauchlan H. Fraser, Erika L. Geiger, Sofia Laura Gonzalez, Elizabeth Gusman Montalván, Robert Hering, Eugene Marais, Rosa Mary Hernández, Sandra Daniela Hernández-Valdez, Norbert Hölzel, Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald, Oswaldo Jadán, Anke Jentsch, Liana Kindermann, Melanie Köbel, Peter C. le Roux, Cintia V. Leder, Xinhao Li, Pierre Liancourt, Anja Linstädter, Jushan Liu, Michelle A. Louw, Gillian Maggs-Kölling, Thulani P. Makhalanyane, Oumarou Malam Issa, Antonio J. Manzaneda, Pierre Margerie, Raphaël Martin, Mitchel P. McClaran, João Vitor S. Messeder, Juan P. Mora, Gerardo Moreno, Seth M. Munson, Girish R. Nair, Alice Nunes, Gabriel Oliva, Salza Palpurina, Guadalupe Peter, Yolanda Pueyo, Emiliano Quiroga, Sasha C. Reed, Pedro J. Rey, Alexandra Rodríguez, Victor Rolo, Jan C. Ruppert, Ayman Salah, Shlomo Sarig, Brajesh K. Singh, Anthony M. Swemmer, Alberto L. Teixido, Andrew D. Thomas, Katja Tielbörger, Samantha K. Travers, Orsolya Valkó, Wanyoike Wamiti, Deli Wang, Lixin Wang, Glenda M. Wardle, Peter Wolff, Laura Yahdjian, Gastón R. Oñatibia, Reza Yari, Eli Zaady, Yuanming Zhang, Xiaobing Zhou, Fernando T. Maestre
Estimating the magnitude and frequency of floods at ungaged locations on urban streams in Tennessee and parts of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina, using data through the 2022 water year Estimating the magnitude and frequency of floods at ungaged locations on urban streams in Tennessee and parts of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina, using data through the 2022 water year
In 2024, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Tennessee Department of Transportation, updated the methods for predicting the magnitude and frequency of floods at ungaged locations on streams in urban areas in Tennessee. The study area included 136 streamgages in urban areas in Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina that had at least 10...
Authors
Daniel M. Wagner, David E. Ladd
James Buttle Review: A synthesis of riparian plant water use over two decades in North American drylands James Buttle Review: A synthesis of riparian plant water use over two decades in North American drylands
Assessing riparian ecosystem water use, particularly transpiration from vegetation and evaporation from soils (‘plant water use’, hereafter), is key to developing sound water management approaches. In western North America, a multidecadal drought is reducing water availability and increasing the use of detailed water budgets. Questions related to both removal of vegetation for water...
Authors
Emily C. Palmquist, Pamela Nagler, Kiona Ogle, Claudia DiMartini, Jeffrey R. Kennedy, Joel B. Sankey
Flood- inundation maps for Río Grande De Loíza in and near Caguas, Puerto Rico, 2026 Flood- inundation maps for Río Grande De Loíza in and near Caguas, Puerto Rico, 2026
Digital flood- inundation maps for a 2.7- mile reach of Río Grande De Loíza in Caguas, Puerto Rico, were created by the U.S. Geological Survey. Water- surface profiles were computed for the stream reach by using a one- dimensional, steady- state, step- backwater model. The model was calibrated to the current (2025) stage- streamflow relation (rating curve) for the U.S. Geological Survey...
Authors
Chad J. Ostheimer, Legna M. Torres-Garcia, Julieta M. Gomez-Fragoso
Migration water temperature and heat stress assessments in western Alaska Chinook salmon overlapping the 2019 heatwave Migration water temperature and heat stress assessments in western Alaska Chinook salmon overlapping the 2019 heatwave
Chinook salmon population declines span their geographic range with climate hypothesized as a major driver. Concerns of warming freshwater temperatures in their northern range gained urgency during 2019 when a heatwave coincided with premature mortality. This study examined heat stress during the 2019 heatwave compared to subsequent years and described water temperatures in western...
Authors
Vanessa R. von Biela, Amy M. Regish, Stephen D. McCormick, Joseph Spaeder, Kevin Whitworth, Justin Leon, Daniel Gillikin, Zachary Liller, Renae Ivanoff, Jenefer Bell, Sean D. Larson, Michael P. Carey, Christian E. Zimmerman
Water-budget simulations for selected watersheds in Cameron County, Texas, 2022–23 Water-budget simulations for selected watersheds in Cameron County, Texas, 2022–23
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the City of Brownsville, Texas, configured and calibrated a set of hydrologic models for a 217-square-mile study area in Cameron County in south Texas during 2022–23. The models were used for estimating runoff and quantities of water diverted from the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo del Norte (hereinafter referred to as the “Rio Grande”) to maintain...
Authors
Darwin J. Ockerman, Namjeong Choi
Geochronologic data reveal Late Pleistocene to Holocene debris-flow history and wildfire association within Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, Klamath Mountains, northern California Geochronologic data reveal Late Pleistocene to Holocene debris-flow history and wildfire association within Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, Klamath Mountains, northern California
Understanding the local to regional history of extreme events such as debris flows and floods provides context to plan for and mitigate these hazards to life, property, and infrastructure. The Klamath Mountains of northwestern California have experienced both debris flows and devastating wildfires. Whiskeytown National Recreation Area (WHIS) is at the heart of this range and has a wealth...
Authors
John R. "Jack" Wood, Shannon A. Mahan, Amy E. East, Eric Leland Bilderback, Emma Taylor Krolczyk, Brian A. Rasmussen, Karina S. Zyatitsky, Leticia (Contractor) Hallas
Ensemble methods for history matching and uncertainty quantification with a watershed model Ensemble methods for history matching and uncertainty quantification with a watershed model
History matching of large hydrologic models is challenging due to data sparsity and non-unique process combinations (and associated parameters) that can produce similar model predictions. We develop an ensemble-based history matching (and uncertainty quantification) approach using an iterative ensemble smoother (iES) method for three cutouts of the National Hydrologic Model (NHM) and...
Authors
Michael N. Fienen, Andrew J. Long, Katherine H. Markovich, Adel E. Haj, Matthew Irwin Barker
A fresh perspective - Advancing fish immunotoxicology in a complex world A fresh perspective - Advancing fish immunotoxicology in a complex world
Understanding how environmental changes affect the health of organisms and ecosystems is complex, but recent interdisciplinary advances and the recognition of immune function as a dynamic mediator offer exciting progress. Environmental immunotoxicology in teleost fishes is evolving beyond cataloguing stressors towards a mechanistic, integrative framework that leverages omics, in vivo...
Authors
Cheyenne R. Smith, Laura Burattin, Nuria Ruiz Iglesias, Roisin Sullivan, Charles D. Rice, Helmut Segner, Lluis Tort
Cotton farming affects ileal virome in a sedentary wild passerine Cotton farming affects ileal virome in a sedentary wild passerine
Although a few studies have focused on avian gut virome variation in response to environmental stressors, none have assessed virome in relation to the production of chemically intensive crop-based agriculture that alters food resources and detrimentally affects various aspects of avian health and fitness. In this study, we used shotgun metatranscriptomics to assess whether exposure to...
Authors
Sergei V. Drovetski, Brian P. Bourke, Michelle L. Hladik, Carolina F. Ferreira, Koray Ergunay, Yvonne-Marie Linton, Dana W. Kolpin, Gary Voelker
Origins, evolutions, and future directions of Landsat science products for advancing global inland water and coastal ocean observations Origins, evolutions, and future directions of Landsat science products for advancing global inland water and coastal ocean observations
In April 2020, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center introduced a Level 2 provisional Aquatic Reflectance (AR) product for the Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI), marking the initial phase in developing a standardized global product for Landsat-derived surface water measurements. The goal of USGS EROS aquatic product research and...
Authors
Benjamin Page, Christopher J. Crawford, Saeed Arab, Gail Schmidt, Christopher Barnes, Danika F. Wellington