Augusta Warden
Science and Products
Stable Isotope Natural Gas Reference Materials
Scientists, resource managers, and industry have new natural gas standards available, courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey. These reference gases are the replacement for the prior standards maintained by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology.
The natural gas standards are intended to serve as the primary carbon and hydrogen stable isotope reference materials for...
Petrology and geochronology of 1.48 to 1.45 Ga igneous rocks in the St. Francois Mountains terrane, southeast Missouri
The igneous geology of the St. Francois Mountains terrane in southeast Missouri is dominated by the products of 1.48 to 1.45 billion year old volcanic and plutonic magmatism but also includes volumetrically minor, compositionally bimodal contributions added during plutonism between 1.34 and 1.27 billion years ago. The 1.48 to 1.45 billion year old...
du Bray, Edward A.; Aleinikoff, John N.; Day, Warren C.; Neymark, Leonid A.; Burgess, Seth D.
Mangrove species’ response to sea-level rise across Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia
Mangrove forests are likely vulnerable to accelerating sea-level rise; however, we lack the tools necessary to understand their future resilience. On the Pacific island of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia, mangroves are habitat to endangered species and provide critical ecosystem services that support local communities. We developed a...
Buffington, Kevin J.; MacKenzie, Richard A.; Carr, Joel A.; Apwong, Maybeleen; Krauss, Ken W.; Thorne, Karen M.
Patterns of bubble bursting and weak explosive activity in an active lava lake—Halema‘uma‘u, Kīlauea, 2015
The rise of the Halemaʻumaʻu lava lake in 2013–2018 to depths commonly 40 meters or less below the rim of the vent was an excellent opportunity to study outgassing and the link to associated eruptive activity. We use videography to investigate the rise and bursting of bubbles through the free surface of the lake in 2015. We focus on low-energy...
Mintz, Bianca G.; Houghton, Bruce F.; Llewellin, Edward W.; Orr, Tim R.; Taddeucci, Jacopo; Carey, Rebecca J.; Kueppers, Ulrich; Gaudin, Damien; Patrick, Matthew R.; Burton, Michael; Scarlato, Piergiorgio; La Spina, Alessandro
Documentation of methods and inventory of irrigation information collected for the 2015 U.S. Geological Survey estimated use of water in the United States
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Use Science Project strives to report water-use estimates using the best available information for the period of the estimates. The information available on water used for irrigation activities varies from State to State and in some areas from county to county within a State, which results in many...
Painter, Jaime A.; Brandt, Justin T.; Caldwell, Rodney R.; Haynes, Jonathan V.; Read, Amy L.
Drought stress and hurricane defoliation influence mountain clouds and moisture recycling in a tropical forest
Mountain ranges generate clouds, precipitation, and perennial streamflow for water supplies, but the role of forest cover in mountain hydrometeorology and cloud formation is not well understood. In the Luquillo Experimental Forest of Puerto Rico, mountains are immersed in clouds nightly, providing a steady precipitation source to support the...
Scholl, Martha A.; Bassiouni, Maoya; Torres-Sanchez, Angel J.
Multilevel groundwater monitoring of hydraulic head, water temperature, and chemical constituents in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho, 2014–18
Radiochemical and chemical wastewater discharged to infiltration ponds and disposal wells since the early 1950s at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), southeastern Idaho, has affected the water quality of the eastern Snake River Plain (ESRP) aquifer. In 2006, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy,...
Twining, Brian V.; Bartholomay, Roy C.; Fisher, Jason C.; Anderson, Calvin
Spatial and temporal variability of nutrients and algae in the Republican River and Milford Lake, Kansas, June through November 2017 and May through November 2018
Milford Lake has been listed as impaired and designated hypereutrophic because of excessive nutrient loading, specifically biologically available orthophosphate. It is the largest lake by surface area in Kansas and is a reservoir built for purposes including water supply and recreation. In 2015, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (...
Leiker, Brianna M.; Abel, Justin R.; Graham, Jennifer L.; Foster, Guy M.; King, Lindsey R.; Stiles, Tom C.; Buley, Riley P.
Geologic assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Cherokee Platform area of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri
In 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey completed a geology-based assessment to estimate the volumes of undiscovered, technically recoverable petroleum resources in the Cherokee Platform Province area of southeastern Kansas, northeastern Oklahoma, and southwestern Missouri. The U.S. Geological Survey identified four stratigraphic intervals that...
Drake, Ronald M.; Hatch, Joseph R. Heatwave-induced synchrony within forage fish portfolio disrupts energy flow to top pelagic predators
During the Pacific marine heatwave of 2014–2016, abundance and quality of several key forage fish species in the Gulf of Alaska were simultaneously reduced throughout the system. Capelin (Mallotus catervarius), sand lance (Ammodytes personatus), and herring (Clupea pallasii) populations were at historically low levels, and within this community...
Arimitsu, Mayumi L.; Piatt, John F.; Hatch, Scott; Suryan, Robert M.; Batten, Sonia; Bishop, Mary Anne; Campbell, Rob W.; Coletti, Heather; Cushing, Dan; Gorman, Kristen; Hopcroft, Russell R.; Kuletz, Kathy J.; Marsteller, Caitlin Elizabeth; McKinstry, Caitlin; McGowan, David; Moran, John; Pegau, W. Scott; Schaefer, Anne; Schoen, Sarah K.; Straley, Jan; von Biela, Vanessa R. Phylogeographic genetic diversity in the white sucker hepatitis B Virus across the Great Lakes Region and Alberta, Canada
Hepatitis B viruses belong to a family of circular, double-stranded DNA viruses that infect a range of organisms, with host responses that vary from mild infection to chronic infection and cancer. The white sucker hepatitis B virus (WSHBV) was first described in the white sucker (Catostomus commersonii), a freshwater teleost, and belongs to the...
Adams, Cynthia R; Blazer, Vicki S.; Sherry, Jim; Cornman, Robert S.; Iwanowicz, Luke R. Patterns and processes of pathogen exposure in gray wolves across North America
The presence of many pathogens varies in a predictable manner with latitude, with infections decreasing from the equator towards the poles. We investigated the geographic trends of pathogens infecting a widely distributed carnivore: the gray wolf (Canis lupus). Specifically, we investigated which variables best explain and predict geographic...
Brandell, E. E.; Cross, Paul; Craft, Meggan E.; Smith, Douglas W.; Dubovi, E. J.; Gilbertson, Marie L. J.; Wheeldon, Tyler; Stephenson, John A.; Barber-Meyer, Shannon; Borg, B. L.; Sorum, Mathew; Stahler, Daniel R.; Kelly, Allicia P; Anderson, Morgan; Cluff, H. D.; MacNulty, Daniel R.; Watts, David L.; Roffler, G.; Schwantje, Helen M.; Hebblewhite, Mark; Beckman, K.; Hudson, P. J.
Nutrient concentrations, loads, and yields in the Middle Iowa River Basin, Iowa
Concentrations, loads, and yields of nitrate plus nitrite, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus were assessed in the Iowa River upstream from the Coralville Reservoir in east-central Iowa. The results of this study describe baseline nutrient transport during two historical reference periods, 1980–96 and 2006–10, that can be used to evaluate the...
Garrett, Jessica D.; Kalkhoff, Stephen J.