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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: 176904

Zircon petrochronology fingerprints mantle sources of magmatic rare earth element deposits Zircon petrochronology fingerprints mantle sources of magmatic rare earth element deposits

The mantle sources of carbonatite and alkaline magmatic systems that host rare earth element (REE) deposits are difficult to constrain because whole-rock compositions are commonly altered. Alteration-resistant zircon trace-element compositions are used to fingerprint mantle sources at Mountain Pass, California, the largest REE deposit in the United States, and extend this approach to a...
Authors
Ian W. Hillenbrand, Erin Kay Benson, Kathryn E. Watts, Jay M. Thompson

Hydrothermal manganese-oxide mineralization of a carbonate ooze, Samoan hotspot region, South Pacific Ocean Hydrothermal manganese-oxide mineralization of a carbonate ooze, Samoan hotspot region, South Pacific Ocean

Low-temperature hydrothermal manganese oxides occur throughout the global oceans. However, the hydrothermal replacement of a carbonate ooze by manganese oxides is described here for the first time. The 24 samples dredged from three locations around the Territory of American Samoa in the South Pacific Ocean include six samples with remnant carbonate and volcaniclastic sediments, which we...
Authors
James R. Hein, Amy Gartman, Kira Mizell, Mark Baskaran, Anthony Koppers, Hubert Staudigel

When best intentions are not enough - A collaboration between scientists, policymakers, and an agricultural community When best intentions are not enough - A collaboration between scientists, policymakers, and an agricultural community

Rocky Mountain National Park is a Congressionally mandated Clean Air Act Class I Area, but years of research have documented evidence of biogeochemical and ecological change caused by atmospheric deposition of nitrogen. A coalition of government agencies—National Park Service, the Environmental Protection Agency Region 8, and the State of Colorado—developed the 2007 Nitrogen Deposition...
Authors
Jill Baron, Sarah Lindley, Jeffrey Collett, Lillian Naimie

Evaluation of submersible pressure transducers for streamflow monitoring in small streams Evaluation of submersible pressure transducers for streamflow monitoring in small streams

Compact streamgages requiring minimal infrastructure and equipped with submersible pressure transducers (PTs) are increasingly used to monitor small streams, yet disparate implementations obscure their accuracy under real-world conditions. This study isolated instrumentation-derived uncertainty in stage monitoring by co-locating various combinations of commercial vented and unvented PTs...
Authors
Maxwel Fredrick Schwid, Kyle W. Blasch, Jennifer H. Fair, Brandon Overstreet, Laura A. Hempel, Michael Allen

Evaluation and synthesis of the Yolo Bypass fish monitoring program Evaluation and synthesis of the Yolo Bypass fish monitoring program

The Yolo Bypass is the largest functional remnant floodplain of the Sacramento River, providing benefits to aquatic taxa of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta (hereafter, Bay-Delta). Because of the Yolo Bypass’s vital role in flood control and its ecological effects, the California Department of Water Resources started the Yolo Bypass Fish Monitoring Program (YBFMP)...
Authors
Matthew J. Young, Brock M. Huntsman, Nicole Kwan

Synthesizing a twelve-year sediment trap time series of planktic foraminiferal flux in the Gulf of America (Mexico) Synthesizing a twelve-year sediment trap time series of planktic foraminiferal flux in the Gulf of America (Mexico)

Sediment trap time series provide powerful frameworks for testing hypotheses about planktic foraminiferal assemblage composition, seasonality, and geochemical responses to environmental variability, all of which are central to improving paleoceanographic reconstructions. We present high resolution foraminiferal assemblage data from a long-running sediment trap (2008–2020) in the northern...
Authors
Julie N. Richey, Caitlin E. Reynolds, Emily B. Osborne, Maoli N. Vizcaino, Eric J. Tappa

Polystyrene microplastics alter the accumulation and elimination dynamics of silver nanoparticles in Daphnia magna Polystyrene microplastics alter the accumulation and elimination dynamics of silver nanoparticles in Daphnia magna

Rationale Microplastics (MPs) can interact with engineered nanomaterials and alter their environmental fate and bioavailability. However, their influence on the bioaccumulation dynamics of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in aquatic filter feeders under environmentally relevant conditions remains poorly understood. We hypothesized that polystyrene microplastics (PS-MPs) alter the uptake...
Authors
Sara Kamanmalek, Piper MacDonald, Hannah Hutton, Noor Sheikh, Marie Noele Croteau, Mahbub Alam, Mohammed Baalousha, Niveen Ismail

Evolution of arsenic speciation during thermal treatment simulating wildfire heating in arsenic-rich sediments Evolution of arsenic speciation during thermal treatment simulating wildfire heating in arsenic-rich sediments

Understanding arsenic transformations during wildfires can help better constrain the environmental impacts of increased wildfire intensity, frequency, and burned area. Previous studies have monitored the evolution of metal(loid) speciation at specific time/temperature endpoints, hampering the comprehension of the dynamic transformations of metal(loid)s during wildfires. Here, a novel...
Authors
Mohammed Baalousha, Morgane Desmau, Andrea L. Foster

Future of the Colorado River phase 2: Integrated operation of the Powell/Grand Canyon/Mead segment for water supply, hydropower, and river ecosystems Future of the Colorado River phase 2: Integrated operation of the Powell/Grand Canyon/Mead segment for water supply, hydropower, and river ecosystems

State and federal agencies are negotiating water-supply agreements that may govern water supply and storage in the Colorado River Basin through 2046. Current operating policies in the Colorado River primarily focus on water supply implications with less focus on the potential effects to other resources. Models that forecast the response of multiple resources over the short- and long-term...
Authors
John C. Schmidt, Charles B. Yackulic

Long-term effects of rangeland improvements on cattle distribution: A ranch-scale case study Long-term effects of rangeland improvements on cattle distribution: A ranch-scale case study

Resource matching can be a common assumption that underlies anthropogenic rangeland improvements for wildlife or livestock. Countless resources are spent on targeted vegetation manipulations for both livestock and wildlife, but selection for improved areas has not been well quantified in livestock. This case study investigates whether cattle exhibit preferential use of historically...
Authors
Sebastian Schreiber, Erica Francis Stuber, Juan J Villalba, Eric Thacker

Widespread landslide activity in an extreme wet season and implications for regional sediment management, eastern San Francisco Bay area, California Widespread landslide activity in an extreme wet season and implications for regional sediment management, eastern San Francisco Bay area, California

Watershed sediment production is expected to increase in a warmer future with more extreme rain, with cascading effects throughout drainage and sediment-transport networks. This study investigated landscape-scale sediment movement in the eastern San Francisco Bay area, California, USA, during the extreme 2016–2017 wet season that brought major rainfall, landslides, and flooding. Mapping...
Authors
Amy E. East, Amy Foxgrover, Skye C. Corbett, Brian D. Collins, Andrew C. Ritchie

Microclimate mediates the strength and direction of avian biotic interactions Microclimate mediates the strength and direction of avian biotic interactions

Theory predicts that that the strength and direction of species interactions can shift from being competitive in benign environments toward being facilitative in stressful environments. However, the environmental context dependency of species interactions has rarely been tested in animal communities. We capitalized on a 15-year, landscape-scale dataset, collected annually in a relatively...
Authors
Sarah J. Frey, Brian Daniel Gerber, Adam S. Hadley, Hankyu Kim, Madison Sutton, Nina C. Ferrari, Matthew G. Betts
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