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.
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: 174960
Discovery of an active forearc fault in an urban region: Holocene rupture on the XEOLXELEK-Elk Lake fault, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Discovery of an active forearc fault in an urban region: Holocene rupture on the XEOLXELEK-Elk Lake fault, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Subduction forearcs are subject to seismic hazard from upper plate faults that are often invisible to instrumental monitoring networks. Identifying active faults in forearcs therefore requires integration of geomorphic, geologic, and paleoseismic data. We demonstrate the utility of a combined approach in a densely populated region of Vancouver Island, Canada, by combining remote sensing
Authors
Nicolas Harrichhausen, Theron Finley, Kristin D. Morell, Christine Regalla, Scott E.K. Bennett, Lucinda J. Leonard, Edwin Nissen, Eleanor McLeod, Emerson M. Lynch, Guy Salomon, Israporn Sethanant
Simulation modeling to assess line transect distance sampling under a range of translocation scenarios Simulation modeling to assess line transect distance sampling under a range of translocation scenarios
The accuracy of posttranslocation population monitoring methods is critical to assessing long-term success in translocation programs. Translocation can produce unique challenges to monitoring efforts; therefore, it is important to understand the flexibility and robustness of commonly used monitoring methods. In Florida, USA, thousands of gopher tortoises Gopherus polyphemus have been...
Authors
Max D. Jones, Lora L. Smith, Katherine Gentry Richardson, J. Nicole DeSha, Traci Castellón, Dan Hipes, Alex Kalfin, Neal T. Halstead, Elizabeth Ann Hunter
Blue snowflakes in a warming world: Karner blue butterfly climate change vulnerability synthesis and best practices for adaptation Blue snowflakes in a warming world: Karner blue butterfly climate change vulnerability synthesis and best practices for adaptation
This report—developed at the request of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service-led Karner Blue Butterfly Recovery Team by Recovery Team members and partners—provides a Karner blue butterfly climate change vulnerability synthesis, explores a range of potential responses, and presents best practices for climate change-informed conservation of the species. The three decades since the...
Authors
Gregor W. Schuurman, Christopher L. Hoving, Anna N. Hess, Lainey V. Bristow, Philip J. Delphey, Jessica J. Hellmann, Heather L. Keough, Randy L. Knutson, Annie Kellner
Sonoran desert tortoise: Gopherus morafkai Sonoran desert tortoise: Gopherus morafkai
Sonoran Desert Tortoise Gopherus morafkai has most recently been assessed for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2019. Gopherus morafkai is listed as Vulnerable under criteria A2abce+4abce.
Authors
R.C. Averill-Murray, P.C. Rosen, C.A. Jones, T.R. Jones, R. A. Lara-Resendiz, Taylor Edwards, A. Karl, Kristin H. Berry
Detrending Great Basin elevation to identify structural patterns for identifying geothermal favorability Detrending Great Basin elevation to identify structural patterns for identifying geothermal favorability
Topography provides information about the structural controls of the Great Basin and therefore information that may be used to identify favorable structural settings for geothermal systems. The Nevada Machine Learning Project (NVML) tested the use of a digital elevation map (DEM) of topography as an input feature to predict geothermal system favorability. A recent study re-examines the...
Authors
Jacob DeAngelo, Erick R. Burns, Stanley Paul Mordensky, Cary Ruth Lindsey
Modeling extreme water levels in the Salish Sea: The importance of including remote sea level anomalies for application in hydrodynamic simulations Modeling extreme water levels in the Salish Sea: The importance of including remote sea level anomalies for application in hydrodynamic simulations
Extreme water-level recurrence estimates for a complex estuary using a high-resolution 2D model and a new method for estimating remotely generated sea level anomalies (SLAs) at the model boundary have been developed. The hydrodynamic model accurately resolves the dominant physical processes contributing to extreme water levels across the Washington State waters of the Salish Sea...
Authors
Eric E. Grossman, Babak Tehranirad, Kees Nederhoff, Sean Crosby, Andrew W. Stevens, Nathan R. VanArendonk, Daniel J. Nowacki, Li H. Erikson, Patrick L. Barnard
A simple approach to modeling light attenuation in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta using commonly available data A simple approach to modeling light attenuation in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta using commonly available data
The diffuse attenuation coefficient of photosynthetically active radiation (KdPAR) is commonly used to predict light attenuation in aquatic productivity models, but obtaining measurements of PAR to compute KdPAR is difficult. In situ calculations of KdPAR require multiple measurements of PAR through the water column, and these measurements are infeasible for real-time recording. Instead
Authors
Emily T. Richardson, Keith Bouma-Gregson, Katy O’Donnell, Brian A. Bergamaschi
Divergent responses of western Alaska salmon to a changing climate Divergent responses of western Alaska salmon to a changing climate
HeadlinesWestern Alaska salmon abundance reached historic extremes during 2021-22, with record lows for Chinook and chum salmon (81% and 92% below the 30-year mean, respectively) and record highs for sockeye salmon (98% above the 30-year mean).Salmon are maturing at smaller sizes. Since the 1970s, for example, Yukon River Chinook salmon have decreased an estimated 6% in mean adult body...
Authors
Erik Schoen, Kathrine G. Howard, James Murphy, Daniel Schindler, Peter A. H. Westley, Vanessa R. von Biela
Comparison of δ13C analyses of individual foraminifer (Orbulina universa) shells by secondary ion mass spectrometry and gas source mass spectrometry Comparison of δ13C analyses of individual foraminifer (Orbulina universa) shells by secondary ion mass spectrometry and gas source mass spectrometry
Rationale: The use of secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) to perform micrometer-scale in situ carbon isotope (δ13C) analyses of shells of marine microfossils called planktic foraminifers holds promise to explore calcification and ecological processes. The potential of this technique, however, cannot be realized without comparison to traditional whole-shell δ13C values measured by gas...
Authors
Jody Brae Wycech, Daniel Clay Kelly, Reinhard Kozdon, Akizumi Ishida, Kouki Kitajima, Howard J. Spero, John W. Valley
Bridging the gap between mathematical biology and undergraduate education using applicable natural resource modeling Bridging the gap between mathematical biology and undergraduate education using applicable natural resource modeling
Mathematical biology is a wide field of study with many venues that undergraduate students can access through research. However, the topics of study for these students can be overwhelming, and many topics of study yield either only trivial results or abstract outcomes that are nonintuitive and diffcult to understand. We have used natural resource modeling, and more specifically, a...
Authors
Richard A. Erickson, Douglas Baumann, Barbara Bennie, Wako Bungula, Aaron R. Cupp, James E. Diffendorfer, Eric A. Eager, Roger J. Haro, Kathi Jo Jankowski, Danelle M. Larson, Greg J. Sandland, Molly Van Appledorn, James P Peirce
Insights into glendonite formation from the upper Oligocene Sagavanirktok Formation, North Slope, Alaska Insights into glendonite formation from the upper Oligocene Sagavanirktok Formation, North Slope, Alaska
The type locality for the upper Oligocene Nuwok Member of the Sagavanirktok Formation (Carter Creek, North Slope, Alaska, USA) contains abundant occurrence of glendonite, a pseudomorph after the calcium carbonate mineral ikaite, which typically forms in the shallow subsurface of cold marine sediments. The region during the time of Nuwok Member deposition was located at a high latitude...
Authors
John W. Counts, Madeleine Vickers, Martha Stokes, Whittney Spivey, Kristina Frank Gardner, Jean Self-Trail, Jared T. Gooley, Ryan J. McAleer, Aaron M. Jubb, David W. Houseknecht, Richard O. Lease, Neil Patrick Griffis, Martin S. Vickers, Kasia Sliwinska, Hannah Gail Dooley Tompkins, Adam M. Hudson
A continuous classification of the 476,697 lakes of the conterminous US based on geographic archetypes A continuous classification of the 476,697 lakes of the conterminous US based on geographic archetypes
A variety of classification approaches are used to facilitate understanding, prediction, monitoring, and the management of lakes. However, broad-scale applicability of current approaches is limited by either the need for in situ lake data, incompatibilities among approaches, or a lack of empirical testing of approaches based on ex situ data. We developed a new geographic classification...
Authors
Jean-Francois Lapierre, Katherine E. Webster, Ephraim Hanks, Tyler Wagner, Patricia A. Soranno, Ian M. McCullough, Kaitlin L. Reinl, Marcella Domka, Noah R. Lotting