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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Arsenic and other geogenic contaminants in global groundwater Arsenic and other geogenic contaminants in global groundwater
Geogenic groundwater contaminants (GGCs) affect drinking-water availability and safety, with up to 60% of groundwater sources in some regions contaminated by more than recommended concentrations. As a result, an estimated 300–500 million people are at risk of severe health impacts and premature mortality. In this Review, we discuss the sources, occurrences and cycling of arsenic...
Authors
Abhijit Mukherjee, Poulomee Coomar, Soumyajit Sarkar, Karen H. Johannesson, Alan Fryar, Madeline Schreiber, Kazi M. Ahmed, Mohd. A. Alam, Prosun Bhattacharya, Jochen Bundschuh, William Burgess, Madhumita Chakraborty, Rachel Coyte, Abida Farooqi, Huaming Guo, Julian Ijumulana, Gh Jeelani, Debapriya Mondal, D. Kirk Nordstrom, Joel Podgorski, David Polya, Bridget R. Scanlon, Mohd. Shamsudduha, Joseline Tapia, Avner Vengosh
Influence of irrigation water and soil on annual mercury dynamics in Sacramento Valley rice fields Influence of irrigation water and soil on annual mercury dynamics in Sacramento Valley rice fields
Methylmercury (MeHg) is a human and environmental toxin produced in flooded soils. Little is known about MeHg in rice (Oryza Sativa L.) fields in Sacramento Valley, California. The objectives of this study were to quantify mercury fractions in irrigation water and within rice fields and to determine their mercury pools in surface water, soil, and grain. Soil, grain, and surface water...
Authors
Luke A. Salvato, Mark C. Marvin-DiPasquale, Jacob Fleck, Stephen A. McCord, Bruce A. Linquist
Cathodoluminescence differentiates sedimentary organic matter types Cathodoluminescence differentiates sedimentary organic matter types
High-resolution scanning electron microscopy (SEM) visualization of sedimentary organic matter is widely utilized in the geosciences for evaluating microscale rock properties relevant to depositional environment, diagenesis, and the processes of fluid generation, transport, and storage. However, despite thousands of studies which have incorporated SEM methods, the inability of SEM to...
Authors
Paul C. Hackley, Ryan J. McAleer, Aaron M. Jubb, Brett J. Valentine, Justin E. Birdwell
Sulphide petrology and ore genesis of the stratabound Sheep Creek sediment-hosted Zn–Pb–Ag–Sn prospect, and U–Pb zircon constraints on the timing of magmatism in the northern Alaska Range Sulphide petrology and ore genesis of the stratabound Sheep Creek sediment-hosted Zn–Pb–Ag–Sn prospect, and U–Pb zircon constraints on the timing of magmatism in the northern Alaska Range
The Sheep Creek prospect is a stratabound Zn–Pb–Ag–Sn massive sulfide occurrence in the Bonnifield mining district, northern Alaska Range. The prospect is within a quartz–sericite–graphite–chlorite schist unit associated with Devonian carbonaceous and siliceous metasedimentary rocks. Volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits in the district are hosted in felsic metavolcanic rocks (362...
Authors
Cynthia Dusel-Bacon, John N. Aleinikoff, Suzanne Paradise, John F. Slack
Chemistry, growth, and fate of the unique, short-lived (2019–2020) water lake at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii Chemistry, growth, and fate of the unique, short-lived (2019–2020) water lake at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii
Less than a year after the 2018 Kīlauea caldera collapse and eruption, water appeared in newly deepened Halemaʻumaʻu crater. The lake—unprecedented in the written record—grew to a depth of ∼50 m before lava from the December 2020 eruption boiled it away. Surface water heightened concerns of potential phreatic or phreatomagmatic explosions but also offered a new means of possibly...
Authors
Patricia A. Nadeau, Shaul Hurwitz, Sara Peek, Allan Lerner, Edward F. Younger, Matthew R. Patrick, David Damby, R. Blaine McCleskey, Peter J. Kelly
Trace silicon determination in biological samples by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS): Insight into volatility of silicon species in hydrofluoric acid digests for optimal sample preparation and introduction to ICP-MS Trace silicon determination in biological samples by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS): Insight into volatility of silicon species in hydrofluoric acid digests for optimal sample preparation and introduction to ICP-MS
A method for the determination of trace levels of silicon from biological materials by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) has been developed. The volatility of water-soluble silicon species, hexafluorosilicic acid (H2SiF6), and sodium metasilicate (Na2SiO3) was investigated by evaporating respective solutions (50 µg/mL silicon) in nitric acid (HNO3), nitric acid +...
Authors
Zikri Arslan, Heather A. Lowers
Deep learning for water quality Deep learning for water quality
Understanding and predicting the quality of inland waters are challenging, particularly in the context of intensifying climate extremes expected in the future. These challenges arise partly due to complex processes that regulate water quality, and arduous and expensive data collection that exacerbate the issue of data scarcity. Traditional process-based and statistical models often fall...
Authors
Wei Zhi, Alison P. Appling, Heather E. Golden, Joel Podgorski, Li Li
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Using global remote camera data of a solitary species complex to evaluate the drivers of group formation Using global remote camera data of a solitary species complex to evaluate the drivers of group formation
The social system of animals involves a complex interplay between physiology, natural history, and the environment. Long relied upon discrete categorizations of “social” and “solitary” inhibit our capacity to understand species and their interactions with the world around them. Here, we use a globally distributed camera trapping dataset to test the drivers of aggregating into groups in a...
Authors
Joshua P. Twining, Chris Sutherland, Andrzej Zalewski, Michael V. Cove, Johnny Birks, Oliver R. Wearn, Jessica Haysom, Anna Wereszczuk, Emiliano Manzo, Paola Bartolommei, Alessio Mortelliti, Bryn Evans, Brian D. Gerber, Thomas J. McGreevy, Laken S. Ganoe, Juliana Masseloux, Amy E. Mayer, Izabela Wierzbowska, Jan Loch, Jocelyn Akins, Donovan Drummey, William McShea, Stephanie Manke, Lain Pardo, Andy Boyce, Sheng Li, Roslina Binti Ragai, Ronglarp Sukmasuang, Alvaro Jose Villafane Trujillo, Carlos Lopez-Gonzalez, Nalleli Elvira Lara-Diaz, Olivia Cosby, Cristian N. Waggershauser, Jack Bamber, Frances Stewart, Jason Fisher, Angela K. Fuller, Kelly Perkins, Roger A. Powell
Habitat amount and edge effects, not perch proximity, nest exposure, or vegetation diversity affect cowbird parasitism in agricultural landscapes Habitat amount and edge effects, not perch proximity, nest exposure, or vegetation diversity affect cowbird parasitism in agricultural landscapes
Context Prior research documented relationships between brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) brood parasitism and edge effects, proximity of perches, and nest exposure. Those relationships have not been evaluated in agroecosystems containing extremes of fragmentation and vegetation diversity.Objectives We compared three existing hypotheses on how cowbirds locate host nests with two new...
Authors
Matthew D. Stephenson, Kyla L. Yuza, Lisa A. Schulte, Robert W. Klaver
Growth, survival, and cohort formation of juvenile Lost River (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose suckers (Chasmistes brevirostris) in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, and Clear Lake Reservoir, California—2021–22 monitoring report Growth, survival, and cohort formation of juvenile Lost River (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose suckers (Chasmistes brevirostris) in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, and Clear Lake Reservoir, California—2021–22 monitoring report
Executive Summary The work reported in this publication provides updated data and interpretation for sampling years 2015 and 2022 of the juvenile monitoring project. The study objectives, background, study area, species description, and methods remained the same or similar throughout the years, while the executive summary, results, and discussion were updated each year. Therefore much of...
Authors
Barbara A. Martin, John M. Caldwell, Jacob R. Krause, Alta C. Harris
Climate-induced tree-mortality pulses are obscured by broad-scale and long-term greening Climate-induced tree-mortality pulses are obscured by broad-scale and long-term greening
Vegetation greening has been suggested to be a dominant trend over recent decades, but severe pulses of tree mortality in forests after droughts and heatwaves have also been extensively reported. These observations raise the question of to what extent the observed severe pulses of tree mortality induced by climate could affect overall vegetation greenness across spatial grains and...
Authors
Yuchao Yan, Shilong Piao, William M. Hammond, Anping Chen, Songbai Hong, Xu Hao, Seth M. Munson, Ranga B. Myneni, Craig D. Allen