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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: 174606

Evaluating Laramide orogenesis via flexural basin response in the San Juan basin, New Mexico and Colorado Evaluating Laramide orogenesis via flexural basin response in the San Juan basin, New Mexico and Colorado

A challenge in interpreting the location, timing, and magnitude of ancient orogenic events is that ongoing uplift and erosion in the hinterlands often destroys much of the primary record of these events. However, basin-thickness patterns in the sedimentary record can provide complimentary evidence of uplift via flexural effects. Here, we deploy well-log correlation, isochores, basin...
Authors
Kurt Rudolph, Ryan Leary, Tyson Smith, Kristine Zellman

Amphibian diversity of the western Colorado canyonlands including potential threats from nonnative bullfrogs and disease Amphibian diversity of the western Colorado canyonlands including potential threats from nonnative bullfrogs and disease

Throughout the canyons of the Colorado and Uncompahgre Plateaus, water is a limited resource for wildlife, with patchy distribution and seasonal availability. Tributary creeks within these canyons drain into mainstem rivers, providing habitat and breeding sites for native amphibians. Yet, little is known about the diversity and distribution of amphibians that live in these harsh, dynamic
Authors
Denita M Weeks, David Pilliod, Madeline (Nikki) Grant-Hoffman, Anjelica F Quintana Spencer, Daniel Neubaum, Paul Hampton, Michaela Grossklaus, Matthew B Laramie, Erin L. Muths

Effects of flow on pesticides in water and zooplankton in the northern Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Effects of flow on pesticides in water and zooplankton in the northern Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

Zooplankton are a key food source for juvenile fishes in estuaries worldwide, including California’s Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta (hereafter Delta); both zooplankton quality and quantity are critical to ecosystem health. Zooplankton may be affected by pesticides in water and the food web, and the Delta is known to contain complex pesticide mixtures. In this study, we evaluated pesticide
Authors
James Orlando, Laura Twardochleb, David Bosworth, Michelle Hladik, Corey Sanders, Matt De Parsia, Brittany Davis

Drone-based radiometric surveys provide high-resolution mine waste characterization Drone-based radiometric surveys provide high-resolution mine waste characterization

Airborne radiometric surveys use passive geophysical techniques to characterize geochemical variations at or near earth’s surface. These methods have been used for a variety of mapping applications, including mineral resource evaluation. However, detailed characterization of smaller geologic targets, including mine waste features, requires flying at lower altitudes and with tighter line...
Authors
Chloe Danielle Gustafson, Anjana Shah, Matthew Burgess, Josip Adams, Virginia McLemore, Evan Owen

The Mammoth magnetic anomaly, Pinal County, Arizona The Mammoth magnetic anomaly, Pinal County, Arizona

A high-resolution Earth Mapping Resources Initiative airborne geophysical survey was flown in the southwest North American porphyry copper province to improve bedrock geologic maps and to identify areas that have unrecognized critical mineral resource potential. During the review of the aeromagnetic data, a distinctly monopolar-shaped, negative magnetic anomaly was observed at a flight...
Authors
Callum Walter, Daniel Scheirer, Carl Joseph Beno, Jackson Borchardt, Dylan Mark Connell

Measurement of in situ-produced cosmogenic nuclides in fine-grained quartz from shale Measurement of in situ-produced cosmogenic nuclides in fine-grained quartz from shale

In situ-produced 10Be in quartz is widely used to constrain exposure ages and denudation rates, traditionally measured in sand-sized grains. Here we report a new method for isolating fine-grained quartz from shale and demonstrate its reliability for grain sizes down to single microns. Sequential dissolution tests and analyses of grain size separates show that meteoric 10Be is eliminated...
Authors
Xianmei Huang, Darryl Granger, William Odom, Brody Conner, Lan Luo

Freshwater turtle assemblages and densities in agricultural ditches and aquaculture ponds of eastern Arkansas Freshwater turtle assemblages and densities in agricultural ditches and aquaculture ponds of eastern Arkansas

The Mississippi Alluvial Plain (MAP) of Arkansas is a landscape where many wetlands have been altered for use as aquaculture ponds or agricultural ditches. Commercial harvest of freshwater turtles within the MAP is not restricted or limited, with reported harvest numbers for 2019 alone exceeding 4000 for spiny softshell turtles (Apalone spinifera) and 39,000 for red-eared sliders...
Authors
Andrhea Massey, John Willson, Brett DeGregorio

Ultralong, supershear rupture of the 2025 Mw 7.7 Mandalay earthquake reveals unaccounted risk Ultralong, supershear rupture of the 2025 Mw 7.7 Mandalay earthquake reveals unaccounted risk

The 28 March 2025 moment magnitude (Mw) 7.7 earthquake in Mandalay, Burma (Myanmar), ruptured 475 kilometers of the Sagaing Fault, which was more than twice the length predicted by magnitude scaling relationships. Kinematic slip models and observation of a Rayleigh Mach wave that passed through parts of Thailand confirmed that rupture occurred at supershear velocities of greater than 5...
Authors
Dara Goldberg, William Yeck, Catherine Elise Hanagan, James Atterholt, Haiyang Kehoe, Nadine Reitman, William Barnhart, David Shelly, Alexandra Hatem, David Wald, Paul Earle

A spatiotemporal interrogation of hydrologic drought model performance for machine learning model interpretability A spatiotemporal interrogation of hydrologic drought model performance for machine learning model interpretability

The predictive accuracy of regional hydrologic models often varies across both time and space. Interpreting relationships between watershed characteristics, hydrologic regimes, and model performance can reveal potential areas for model improvement. In this study, we use machine learning to assess model performance of a regional hydrologic model to forecast the occurrence of streamflow...
Authors
Ali Dadkhah, Scott Hamshaw, Ryan van der Heijden, Donna Rizzo

Insight 4. Climate change and biodiversity loss amplify each other Insight 4. Climate change and biodiversity loss amplify each other

Key messages: • Climate change is impacting biodiversity from local to global scales, and growing evidence suggests that further loss of biodiversity can contribute to climate change, creating a destabilizing feedback. • Loss of plant diversity due to climate and land-use change can weaken ecosystem functioning, leading to a decrease in biomass accumulation and reduced carbon storage. •...
Authors
Luiz Domeignoz-Horta, Guilherme Mazzochini, Akira Mori, Estelle Razanatsoa, Sarah Weiskopf, Adrian Heilemann

Earthquake stress-drop values delineate spatial variations in maximum shear stress in the Japanese forearc lithosphere Earthquake stress-drop values delineate spatial variations in maximum shear stress in the Japanese forearc lithosphere

Earthquake stress drop (Δσ) may increase with depth and stress in the brittle lithosphere. However, the range of uncertainty in Δσ and the lack of constraints on absolute stress make it difficult to establish whether they are correlated. Here, we investigate Δσ dependence on depth and maximum shear stress (τmax) based on ~11 years of seismicity in the northeastern Japanese forearc...
Authors
Gian Maria Bocchini, Armin Dielforder, Kilian Kemna, Rebecca Harrington, Elizabeth Cochran

Climatological effects on survival, recruitment, and possible extirpation of a Sierra Nevada anuran Climatological effects on survival, recruitment, and possible extirpation of a Sierra Nevada anuran

The drivers of population dynamics are a primary interest of ecologists, and predicting the consequences of climate variability on wildlife populations benefits from an understanding of how weather causes variation in the vital rates of populations. Given recent and projected extremes in annual precipitation in the Sierra Nevada of California, USA, including two severe droughts, we...
Authors
Brian Halstead, Patrick Kleeman, Jonathan Rose, Robert Grasso, Gary Fellers
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