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Publications

These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.

Filter Total Items: 16759

Evaluation of remote-sensing techniques to measure decadal-scale changes of Hofsjokull ice cap, Iceland Evaluation of remote-sensing techniques to measure decadal-scale changes of Hofsjokull ice cap, Iceland

Dynamic surficial changes and changes in the position of the firn line and the areal extent of Hofsjökull ice cap, Iceland, were studied through analysis of a time series (1973–98) of synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) and Landsat data. A digital elevation model of Hofsjökull, which was constructed using SAR interferometry, was used to plot the SAR backscatter coefficient (σ°) vs elevation...
Authors
D.K. Hall, R.S. Williams, J.S. Barton, O. Sigurdsson, L.C. Smith, J.B. Garvin

Portable coastal observatories Portable coastal observatories

Ocean observational science is in the midst of a paradigm shift from an expeditionary science centered on short research cruises and deployments of internally recording instruments to a sustained observational science where the ocean is monitored on a regular basis, much the way the atmosphere is monitored. While satellite remote sensing is one key way of meeting the challenge of real...
Authors
Daniel Frye, Bradford Butman, Mark Johnson, Keith von der Heydt, Steven Lerner

Holocene and recent sediment accumulation rates in southern Lake Michigan Holocene and recent sediment accumulation rates in southern Lake Michigan

Rates of sediment accumulation in Lake Michigan are a key component of its geologic history and provide important data related to societal concerns such as shoreline erosion and the fate of anthropogenic pollutants. Previous attempts to reconstruct Holocene rates of sediment accumulation in Lake Michigan, as well as in the other Laurentian Great Lakes, have been bedeviled by the effect...
Authors
Steven M. Colman, J.W. King, Glenn A. Jones, R. L. Reynolds, Michael H. Bothner

Modern pollen deposition in Long Island Sound Modern pollen deposition in Long Island Sound

Palynological analyses of 20 surface sediment samples collected from Long Island Sound show a pollen assemblage dominated by Carya, Betula, Pinus, Quercus, Tsuga, and Ambrosia, as is consistent with the regional vegetation. No trends in relative abundance of these pollen types occur either from west to east or associated with modern riverine inputs throughout the basin. Despite the large...
Authors
Kristina R.M. Beuning, Lindsey Fransen, Berna Nakityo, Ellen L. Mecray, Marilyn R. Buchholtz ten Brink

Trends and status of flow, nutrients, and sediments for selected nontidal sites in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, 1985-98 Trends and status of flow, nutrients, and sediments for selected nontidal sites in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, 1985-98

Data from 30 stream sites in nontidal portions of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed were analyzed to document annual nutrient and sediment loads and trends for the period 1985 through 1998 as part of an annual water-quality update for the Chesapeake Bay Program. Annual loads were estimated by use of the U.S. Geological Survey ESTIMATOR model and are available upon request. Trends were...
Authors
Michael J. Langland, Joel D. Blomquist, Lori A. Sprague, Robert E. Edwards

Sm-Nd dating of the giant Sullivan Pb-Zn-Ag deposit, British Columbia Sm-Nd dating of the giant Sullivan Pb-Zn-Ag deposit, British Columbia

We report here Sm and Nd isotope data for hydrothermal tourmalinites and sulfide ores from the giant Sullivan Pb-Zn-Ag deposit, which occurs in the lower part of the Mesoproterozoic Purcell (Belt) Supergroup. Whole-rock samples of quartz-tourmaline tourmalinite from the footwall alteration pipe yield a Sm-Nd isochron age of 1470 ± 59 Ma, recording synsedimentary B metasomatism of clastic...
Authors
Shao-Yong Jiang, John F. Slack, Martin R. Palmer

Panola Mountain, Georgia: A Water, Energy, and Biogeochemical Budgets Program Site Panola Mountain, Georgia: A Water, Energy, and Biogeochemical Budgets Program Site

The Panola Mountain Research Watershed (PMRW) is a 41-hectare forested watershed in the southern Piedmont physiographic province near Atlanta, Georgia. The watershed contains a naturally regenerated second-growth forest on abandoned agricultural land, typical of the Piedmont. Research at PMRW has focused on how streamflow is generated, and in particular, on how water and solutes move...
Authors
Norman E. Peters, Richard P. Hooper, Thomas G. Huntington, Brent T. Aulenback

The potential for calcium depletion in forest ecosystems of southeastern United States: Review and analysis The potential for calcium depletion in forest ecosystems of southeastern United States: Review and analysis

Biogeochemical mass balance assessments of calcium status in southeastern forests indicate that losses through harvesting and soil leaching often exceed inputs from atmospheric deposition and weathering. Many forest soils of the southeastern United States are particularly sensitive because these soils and the underlying saprolite from which these soils are derived are largely depleted of
Authors
Thomas G. Huntington

Naturally occurring radionuclides in the ground water of southeastern Pennsylvania Naturally occurring radionuclides in the ground water of southeastern Pennsylvania

Naturally occurring radionuclides in the ground water of southeastern Pennsylvania may pose a health hazard to some residents, especially those drinking water from wells drilled in the Chickies Quartzite. Water from 46 percent of wells sampled in the Chickies Quartzite and 7 percent of wells sampled in other geologic formations exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)...
Authors
Ronald A. Sloto

Evaluation of geophysical logs and slug tests, phase II, at AIW Frank/Mid-County Mustang Superfund Site, Chester County, Pennsylvania Evaluation of geophysical logs and slug tests, phase II, at AIW Frank/Mid-County Mustang Superfund Site, Chester County, Pennsylvania

Between September 1997 and October 1998, nine monitor wells were drilled at the AIW Frank/Mid-County Mustang Superfund Site in Chester County, Pa., to determine the horizontal and vertical distribution of contaminated ground water migrating from known contaminant sources. The U.S. Geological Survey conducted borehole geophysical logging and borehole television surveys in these boreholes...
Authors
R.W. Conger, D.J. Goode, R. A. Sloto
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