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Publications

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

Filter Total Items: 16739

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances in groundwater used as a source of drinking water in the eastern United States Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances in groundwater used as a source of drinking water in the eastern United States

In 2019, 254 samples were collected from five aquifer systems to evaluate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) occurrence in groundwater used as a source of drinking water in the eastern United States. The samples were analyzed for 24 PFAS, major ions, nutrients, trace elements, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), pharmaceuticals, and tritium. Fourteen...
Authors
Peter B. McMahon, Andrea K. Tokranov, Laura M. Bexfield, Bruce D. Lindsey, Tyler D. Johnson, Melissa A. Lombard, Elise Watson

How much marsh restoration is enough to deliver wave attenuation coastal protection benefits? How much marsh restoration is enough to deliver wave attenuation coastal protection benefits?

As coastal communities grow more vulnerable to sea-level rise and increased storminess, communities have turned to nature-based solutions to bolster coastal resilience and protection. Marshes have significant wave attenuation properties and can play an important role in coastal protection for many communities. Many restoration projects seek to maximize this ecosystem service but how much...
Authors
Katherine A. Castagno, Neil K. Ganju, Michael W. Beck, Alison Bowden, Steven B. Scyphers

The occurrence of large floods in the United States in the modern hydroclimate regime: Seasonality, trends, and large-scale climate associations The occurrence of large floods in the United States in the modern hydroclimate regime: Seasonality, trends, and large-scale climate associations

Many studies investigate river floods by analyzing annual maximum series that record the largest flow of each year, including many within-bank events inconsequential for human communities. Fewer focus on larger floods, especially at the continental scale. Using 473 streamgages across the conterminous United States with near-natural flow from 1966 to 2015, we characterized the seasonality
Authors
Mathias Collins, Glenn A. Hodgkins, Stacey A. Archfield, Robert M. Hirsch

Human-in-the-Loop segmentation of earth surface imagery Human-in-the-Loop segmentation of earth surface imagery

Segmentation, or the classification of pixels (grid cells) in imagery, is ubiquitously applied in the natural sciences. Manual methods are often prohibitively time-consuming, especially those images consisting of small objects and/or significant spatial heterogeneity of colors or textures. Labeling complicated regions of transition that in Earth surface imagery are represented by...
Authors
Daniel D. Buscombe, Evan B. Goldstein, Christopher R. Sherwood, Cameron S Bodine, Jenna A. Brown, Jaycee Favela, Sharon Fitzpatrick, Christine J. Kranenburg, Jin-Si R. Over, Andrew C. Ritchie, Jonathan A. Warrick, Phillipe Alan Wernette

Thermodynamic insights into the production of methane hydrate reservoirs from depressurization of pressure cores Thermodynamic insights into the production of methane hydrate reservoirs from depressurization of pressure cores

We present results of slow (multiple day) depressurization experiments of pressure cores recovered from Green Canyon Block 955 in the northern Gulf of Mexico during The University of Texas at Austin Hydrate Pressure Coring Expedition (UT-GOM2-1). These stepwise depressurization experiments monitored the pressure and temperature within the core storage chamber during each pressure step...
Authors
Stephen C. Phillips, Peter B. Flemings, Kehua You, William F. Waite

Where groundwater seeps: Evaluating modeled groundwater discharge patterns with thermal infrared surveys at the river-network scale Where groundwater seeps: Evaluating modeled groundwater discharge patterns with thermal infrared surveys at the river-network scale

Predicting baseflow dynamics, protecting aquatic habitat, and managing legacy contaminants requires explicit characterization and prediction of groundwater discharge patterns throughout river networks. Using handheld thermal infrared (TIR) cameras, we surveyed 47 km of stream length across the Farmington River watershed (1,570 km2; CT and MA, USA), mapping locations of bank and waterline
Authors
Janet R. Barclay, Martin A. Briggs, Eric Moore, J. Jeffrey Starn, Ann E.H. Hanson, Ashley Helton

Mineral commodity summaries 2022 Mineral commodity summaries 2022

Introduction Each mineral commodity chapter of the 2022 edition of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Commodity Summaries (MCS) includes information on events, trends, and issues for each mineral commodity as well as discussions and tabular presentations on domestic industry structure, Government programs, tariffs, 5-year salient statistics, and world production, reserves, and...
Authors

Forecasting species distributions: Correlation does not equal causation Forecasting species distributions: Correlation does not equal causation

Aim Identifying the mechanisms influencing species' distributions is critical for accurate climate change forecasts. However, current approaches are limited by correlative models that cannot distinguish between direct and indirect effects.Location New Hampshire and Vermont, USA.Methods Using causal and correlational models and new theory on range limits, we compared current (2014–2019)...
Authors
Alexej Sirén, Christopher Sutherland, Ambarish V. Karmalkar, Matthew Duveneck, Toni Lyn Morelli

Optimization of salt marsh management at the Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge of the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex, Maine, through use of structured decision making Optimization of salt marsh management at the Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge of the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex, Maine, through use of structured decision making

Structured decision making is a systematic, transparent process for improving the quality of complex decisions by identifying measurable management objectives and feasible management actions; predicting the potential consequences of management actions relative to the stated objectives; and selecting a course of action that maximizes the total benefit achieved and balances tradeoffs among
Authors
Hilary A. Neckles, James E. Lyons, Jessica L. Nagel, Susan C. Adamowicz, Toni Mikula, Sara Williams

Streamflow, water quality, and constituent loads and yields, Scituate Reservoir drainage area, Rhode Island, water year 2019 Streamflow, water quality, and constituent loads and yields, Scituate Reservoir drainage area, Rhode Island, water year 2019

As part of a long-term cooperative program to monitor water quality within the Scituate Reservoir drainage area, the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Providence Water Supply Board collected streamflow and water-quality data at the Scituate Reservoir and tributaries. Streamflow and concentrations of chloride and sodium estimated from records of specific conductance were used...
Authors
Kirk P. Smith

Streamflow, water quality, and constituent loads and yields, Scituate Reservoir drainage area, Rhode Island, water year 2018 Streamflow, water quality, and constituent loads and yields, Scituate Reservoir drainage area, Rhode Island, water year 2018

As part of a long-term cooperative program to monitor water quality within the Scituate Reservoir drainage area, the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Providence Water Supply Board collected streamflow and water-quality data at the Scituate Reservoir and tributaries. Streamflow and concentrations of chloride and sodium estimated from records of specific conductance were used...
Authors
Kirk P. Smith

Modeling of barrier breaching during Hurricanes Sandy and Matthew Modeling of barrier breaching during Hurricanes Sandy and Matthew

Physical processes driving barrier island change during storms are important to understand to mitigate coastal hazards and to evaluate conceptual models for barrier evolution. Spatial variations in barrier island topography, landcover characteristics, and nearshore and back-barrier hydrodynamics can yield complex morphological change that requires models of increasing resolution and...
Authors
Christie Hegermiller, John C. Warner, Maitane Olabarrieta, Christopher R. Sherwood, Tarandeep S. Kalra
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