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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Usurpation and brooding of Least Tern (Sternula antillarum) chicks by Common Terns (Sterna hirundo) Usurpation and brooding of Least Tern (Sternula antillarum) chicks by Common Terns (Sterna hirundo)
While nest usurpation and subsequent incubation of eggs and even brooding of chicks from other species has been reported for Common Terns (Sterna hirundo), such behavior is considered rare. We report an observation of a Common Tern pair usurping the Least Tern (Sternula antillarum) nest and brooding the Least Tern chicks. While the Least Tern pair attempted to provide care for the chicks...
Authors
Jeffery D. Sullivan, Jonathan Irons, Anna Treadway, Ayla McDonough, Alyssa Lee, Amy O’Donnell, Carl R. Callahan, Peter C. McGowan, Diann J. Prosser
Automated construction of Streamflow-Routing networks for MODFLOW—Application in the Mississippi Embayment region Automated construction of Streamflow-Routing networks for MODFLOW—Application in the Mississippi Embayment region
In humid regions with dense stream networks, surface water exerts a fundamental control on the water levels and flow directions of shallow groundwater. Understanding interactions between groundwater and surface water is critical for managing groundwater resources and groundwater-dependent ecosystems. Representing streams in groundwater models has historically been arduous and error prone...
Authors
Andrew T. Leaf
Simulating groundwater flow in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain with a focus on the Mississippi Delta Simulating groundwater flow in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain with a focus on the Mississippi Delta
The Mississippi Alluvial Plain has become one of the most important agricultural regions in the United States but relies heavily on groundwater for irrigation. On average, more than 12 billion gallons are withdrawn daily from the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer. Declining groundwater levels, especially in the Delta region of northwest Mississippi and the Cache and Grand Prairie...
Authors
Andrew T. Leaf, Leslie L. Duncan, Connor J. Haugh, Randall J. Hunt, James R. Rigby
Updated estimates of water budget components for the Mississippi Embayment Region using a soil-water-balance model, 2000–2020 Updated estimates of water budget components for the Mississippi Embayment Region using a soil-water-balance model, 2000–2020
A Soil-Water-Balance (SWB) model for the Mississippi embayment region in Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana was constructed and calibrated to gain insight into potential recharge patterns for the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer, which has had substantial drawdown under intense pumping stress over the last several decades. An analysis of the net infiltration term...
Authors
Martha G. Nielsen, Stephen, M. Westenbroek
Trace metal and phosphorus loading from groundwater seepage into South Fork Coeur d’Alene River after remediation at the Bunker Hill Superfund Site, northern Idaho, 2022 Trace metal and phosphorus loading from groundwater seepage into South Fork Coeur d’Alene River after remediation at the Bunker Hill Superfund Site, northern Idaho, 2022
Widely dispersed waste products from historical mining in northern Idaho’s Coeur d’Alene mining district have long been a concern in the Coeur d’Alene River Basin in northern Idaho. The Central Impoundment Area (CIA), an unlined mining waste repository that is part of the Bunker Hill Superfund Site designated in 1983, is adjacent to the South Fork Coeur d’Alene River between Kellogg and
Authors
Erin M. Murray, Lauren M. Zinsser
Biophysical drivers of coastal treeline elevation Biophysical drivers of coastal treeline elevation
Sea level rise is leading to the rapid migration of marshes into coastal forests and other terrestrial ecosystems. Although complex biophysical interactions likely govern these ecosystem transitions, projections of sea level driven land conversion commonly rely on a simplified “threshold elevation” that represents the elevation of the marsh-upland boundary based on tidal datums alone. To...
Authors
Grace Molino, Joel A. Carr, Neil K. Ganju, Mathew Kirwan
A Buteo sp. hawk predates a hummingbird (Trochilidae) during autumn migration A Buteo sp. hawk predates a hummingbird (Trochilidae) during autumn migration
Predation can play a significant role on survival during migration as birds find themselves competing for resources in unfamiliar habitats. Here we describe the first documented observation of a Buteo platypterus (Broad-winged Hawk) predating an Archilochus colubris (Ruby-throated Hummingbird) during autumn migration. To our knowledge, this is the first documented record of any Buteo sp...
Authors
Theodore J. Zenzal, Emily J. Lain
The USGS 2023 Conterminous U.S. time‐independent earthquake rupture forecast The USGS 2023 Conterminous U.S. time‐independent earthquake rupture forecast
We present the 2023 U.S. Geological Survey time‐independent earthquake rupture forecast for the conterminous United States, which gives authoritative estimates of the magnitude, location, and time‐averaged frequency of potentially damaging earthquakes throughout the region. In addition to updating virtually all model components, a major focus has been to provide a better representation...
Authors
Edward H. Field, Kevin R. Milner, Alexandra Elise Hatem, Peter M. Powers, Frederick Pollitz, Andrea L. Llenos, Yuehua Zeng, Kaj M. Johnson, Bruce E. Shaw, Devin McPhillips, Jessica Ann Thompson Jobe, Allison Shumway, Andrew J. Michael, Zheng-Kang Shen, Eileen L. Evans, Elizabeth H. Hearn, Charles Mueller, Arthur D. Frankel, Mark D. Petersen, Christopher DuRoss, Richard W. Briggs, Morgan T. Page, Justin Rubinstein, Julie A. Herrick
Divergent physiological responses of hydric and mesic riparian plant species to a Colorado River experimental flow Divergent physiological responses of hydric and mesic riparian plant species to a Colorado River experimental flow
Riparian plant species can differ in their responses to streamflow variation in ways that strongly influence the composition and functioning of riparian plant communities. Quantifying these differences and the potential asymmetry of responses to low- versus high-flow phases of stream fluctuations is important for predicting and managing vegetation responses to variation in flow regimes...
Authors
Bradley J. Butterfield, Emily C. Palmquist
Integrated science strategy for assessing and monitoring water availability and migratory birds for terminal lakes across the Great Basin, United States Integrated science strategy for assessing and monitoring water availability and migratory birds for terminal lakes across the Great Basin, United States
Executive Summary In 2022, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) established the Saline Lake Ecosystems Integrated Water Availability Assessment (IWAAs) to monitor and assess the hydrology of terminal lakes in the Great Basin and the migratory birds and other wildlife dependent on those habitats. Scientists from across the USGS (with specialties in water quantity, water quality, limnology...
Authors
Rebecca J. Frus, Cameron L. Aldridge, Michael L. Casazza, Collin Eagles-Smith, Garth Herring, Scott A. Hynek, Daniel K. Jones, Susan K Kemp, Thomas M. Marston, Christopher M. Morris, Ramon C. Naranjo, Cee S. Nell, David R. O'Leary, Cory T. Overton, Bryce A. Pulver, Brian E. Reichert, Christine A. Rumsey, Rudy Schuster, Cassandra D. Smith
Microfossils and biostratigraphy of the Upper Cretaceous Coon Creek Formation Lagerstätte, Mississippi Embayment, USA Microfossils and biostratigraphy of the Upper Cretaceous Coon Creek Formation Lagerstätte, Mississippi Embayment, USA
The Upper Cretaceous Coon Creek Formation type-locality in McNairy County, Tennessee, is an exceptional marine invertebrate Lagerstätte that was deposited in a nearshore reentrant into the ancestral continent of Appalachia. Extensive taxonomic analysis of the macrofauna has been done for over 100 years. However, documentation of the microfossil component at the type-locality has largely...
Authors
Jean Self-Trail, Kristina Frank Gardner, Jennifer M K O’Keefe, Patricia H. Mason, Mark Puckett, Michael A. Gibson, Maeve McCarty
A comprehensive fault system inversion approach: Methods and application to NSHM23 A comprehensive fault system inversion approach: Methods and application to NSHM23
We present updated inversion‐based fault‐system solutions for the 2023 update to the National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM23), standardizing earthquake rate model calculations on crustal faults across the western United States. We build upon the inversion methodology used in the Third Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF3) to solve for time‐independent rates of earthquakes...
Authors
Kevin R. Milner, Edward H. Field