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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: 177046

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 On average, more than 12 billion gallons are withdrawn daily from the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer.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 A. Thompson Jobe, Allison M. Shumway, Andrew J. Michael, Zheng-Kang Shen, Eileen L. Evans, Elizabeth H. Hearn, Charles Mueller, Arthur D. Frankel, Mark D. Petersen, Christopher B. DuRoss, Richard W. Briggs, Morgan T. Page, Justin L. 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

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

Train, inform, borrow, or combine? Approaches to process-guided deep learning for groundwater-influenced stream temperature prediction Train, inform, borrow, or combine? Approaches to process-guided deep learning for groundwater-influenced stream temperature prediction

Although groundwater discharge is a critical stream temperature control process, it is not explicitly represented in many stream temperature models, an omission that may reduce predictive accuracy, hinder management of aquatic habitat, and decrease user confidence. We assessed the performance of a previously-described process-guided deep learning model of stream temperature in the...
Authors
Janet R. Barclay, Simon Nemer Topp, Lauren Elizabeth Koenig, Margaux Jeanne Sleckman, Alison P. Appling

A decade of death and other dynamics: Deepening perspectives on the diversity and distribution of sea stars and wasting A decade of death and other dynamics: Deepening perspectives on the diversity and distribution of sea stars and wasting

Mass mortality events provide valuable insight into biological extremes and also ecological interactions more generally. The sea star wasting epidemic that began in 2013 catalyzed study of the microbiome, genetics, population dynamics, and community ecology of several high-profile species inhabiting the northeastern Pacific but exposed a dearth of information on the diversity...
Authors
Michael Dawson, Paige Duffin, Melina Giakoumis, Lauren M Schiebelhut, Rodrigo Beas-Luna, Keith Bosley, Rita Castilho, Christine Ewers-Saucedo, Katie Gavenus, Aimee Keller, Brenda Konar, John L. Largier, Julio Lorda, Melissa Miner, Monica Moritsch, Sergio Navarette, Peter T. Raimondi, Sarah Beth Traiger, Monica Turner, John Wares
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