Unified Interior Regions
Region 2: South Atlantic-Gulf (Includes Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands)
Regions L2 Landing Page Tabs
Assessing water quality from highway runoff at selected sites in North Carolina with the Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM)
In 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) entered into a cooperative agreement with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) to develop a North Carolina-enhanced variation of the national Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM) with available North Carolina-specific streamflow and water-quality data and to...
Weaver, J. Curtis; Granato, Gregory E.; Fitzgerald, Sharon A.Encylopedia of Caves
For many people, a visit to a cave is a wondrous event directing our minds to ponder the mysteries presented by these unique places and inspiring questions: How old is the cave? What was the role of water in forming the cave and where did the water come from? How is the cave connected to the surface environment? These are intriguing questions to...
Knierim, Katherine J.; Hays, Phillip D.Revisions to suspended-sediment concentration, percent smaller than 0.063 millimeter, and instantaneous suspended-sediment discharge reported for a cooperative program between the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the lower Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin, October 1989 to February 2015
This report presents revised results for four parameters reported for suspended-sediment samples that were collected in the lower Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin as part of a cooperative program between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mississippi Valley Division, New Orleans District and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The cooperative...
Norton, Katherine K.; Olsen, Lisa D.; Baumann, Todd E.; Simmons, Lane B.; Clark, Athena P.; Demcheck, Dennis K.; Johnson, MarlonLinking management planning for coastal wetlands to potential future wave attenuation under a range of relative sea-level rise scenarios
Understanding changes in wave attenuation by emergent vegetation as wetlands degrade or accrete over time is crucial for incorporation of wetlands into holistic coastal risk management. Linked SLAMM and XBeach models were used to investigate potential future changes in wave attenuation over a 50-year period in a degrading, subtropical wetland and...
Hijuelos, Ann; Dijkstra, Jasper; Carruthers, Tim J.B.; Heynert, Karel; Reed, Denise; van Wesenbeeck, BregjeCharacterization of the exoskeleton of the Antarctic king crab Paralomis birsteini
Ocean acidification is projected to inhibit the biogenic production of calcium-carbonate skeletons in marine organisms. Antarctic waters represent a natural environment in which to examine the long-term effects of carbonate undersaturation on calcification in marine predators. King crabs (Decapoda: Anomura: Lithodidae), which currently inhabit the...
Steffel, Brittan V.; Smith, Kathryn E.; Dickinson, Gary H.; Flannery, Jennifer A.; Baran, Kerstin A.; Rosen, Miranda N.; Mcclintock, James B.; Aronson, Richard B.Monitoring live vegetation in semiarid and arid rangeland environments with satellite remote sensing in northern Kenya
As part of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s (DOI) commitment to provide technical assistance to the Kenyan Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT), the U.S. Geological Survey, in collaboration with the DOI International Technical Assistance Program and the U.S. Agency for International Development’s regional mission in East Africa, created a high...
Rangoonwala, Amina; Ramsey III, Elijah W.Eradication of two non-native cichlid fishes in Miami, Florida (USA)
The proliferation of non-native fishes in Florida is a serious problem, and new species continue to be introduced to the state. Fishes in the Family Cichlidae have been especially successful colonizers of south Florida freshwater habitats. Herein we report a multi-agency effort to eradicate two non-native cichlid fishes in Miami, Florida (Bay...
Schofield, Pamela J.; Jelks, Howard L.; Gestring, Kelly B.Temperature mediates secondary dormancy in resting cysts of Pyrodinium bahamense (Dinophyceae)
High‐biomass blooms of the toxic dinoflagellate Pyrodinium bahamense occur most summers in Tampa Bay, Florida, USA, posing a recurring threat to ecosystem health. Like many dinoflagellates, P. bahamense forms immobile resting cysts that can be deposited on the seafloor—creating a seed bank that can retain the organism within...
Lopez, Cary B.; Karim, Aliza; Murasko, Susan; Marot, Marci E.; Smith, Christopher G.; Corcoran, Alina A.Global patterns of tree stem growth and stand aboveground wood production in mangrove forests
Mangrove forests provide important ecological and economic services including carbon sequestration and storage. The conservation and restoration of mangroves are expected to play an important role in mitigating climate change, and understanding the factors influencing mangrove stem growth and wood production are important in predicting and...
Xiong, Yanmei; Cakir, Roxelane; Phan, Sang Minh; Ola, Anne; Krauss, Ken; Lovelock, Catherine E.Flood-inundation maps for the Amite and Comite Rivers from State Highway 64 to U.S. Highway 190 at Central, Louisiana
Flood-inundation maps for a 14.5-mile reach of the Amite River and a 20.2-mile reach of the Comite River from State Highway 64 to U.S. Highway 190 were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the City of Central, Louisiana. These maps, which can be accessed through an interactive mapper at the USGS Flood Inundation Mapping...
Storm, John B.Jump-starting coastal wetland restoration: A comparison of marsh and mangrove foundation species
During coastal wetland restoration, foundation plant species play a critical role in creating habitat, modulating ecosystem functions, and supporting ecological communities. Following initial hydrologic restoration, foundation plant species can help stabilize sediments and jump-start ecosystem development. Different foundation species, however,...
Yando, Erik S.; Osland, Michael; Jones, Scott; Hester, Mark W.The use of national datasets to produce an average annual water budget for the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, 2000–13
OverviewWater is a critically important resource for the Mississippi Alluvial Plain (MAP) region, supporting a multibillion-dollar agricultural industry. There are concerns that continued withdrawals of groundwater for irrigation may decrease future water supplies. The U.S. Geological Survey has a history of conducting research in the MAP region...
Reitz, Meredith; Kress, WadeA logging truck in Tennessee
A logging truck in Tennessee. The picture was taken as a part of a Land Cover Trends project field trip.
Hay bales in a hay field in TN
Hay bales in a hay field in Tennessee. This picture was taken as part of a Land Cover Trends project field trip.
Tadpole with organ failure
This tadpole shows signs of severe Perkinsea infection, which causes organ failure.
Lindbergh Beach, U.S. Virgin Islands
A view toward the ocean, featuring a white sand beach, the ocean, and a Seagrape tree partially blocking a palm tree.
Florida Bay
Looking south from the Black Betsy Keys shore, onto waters of Florida Bay. On the horizon, Key islands separate the green bay waters from the blue cloud-filled skies.
Florida Bay sunset
The sky filled with a profusion of colors as the sun slowly set behind this mangrove island in Florida Bay, at the south end of Everglades National Park.
View looking up-stream toward Carraizo Dam, under drought conditions
View looking up-stream toward Carraizo Dam in Loiza, Puerto Rico, under drought conditions.
Winter Park Florida Sinkhole of 1981
Photo 15 of 15: Water level in sinkhole chimney stabilized since the previous day. View to south across the sinhole. In the following weeks and months, the water level in the sinkhole continued to rise, a likely result of the plugging of the conduit into the Floridan aquifer with the sinkhole debris, fill subsequently emplaced by the city, and natural consolidation
...Winter Park Florida Sinkhole of 1981
Photo 14 of 15: Remnants of community pool in sinkhole. View to east across the sinkhole.
"This morning’s earthquake in southern Alabama was a wake-up call in more ways than one," said Dr. Mark Schaefer, Acting Director of the U.S. Geological Survey. "It serves to remind all of us that earthquakes are not restricted to California, Washington, and Alaska. The East is earthquake country, too."
Federal and local biologists captured and tagged three manatees in early August near Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, as part of efforts to better protect West Indian manatees inhabiting this Caribbean island.
Scientists explored a unique reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
Managers and planners representing Federal, state, and local government agencies and private organizations will gather in Fort Lauderdale on Monday for a 3-day conference (August 25 - 27) to discuss the latest results of more than 50 scientific investigations by the U.S. Geological Survey in South Florida.
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 3.8 occurred in northeastern Tennessee, Wednesday, July 30, 1997 according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The gasoline additive MTBE (methyl tert-butyl ether) was detected in some urban stormwater samples collected in 16 cities and metropolitan areas by the U.S. Geological Survey, but all detections of MTBE were less than the lower limit of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s draft lifetime health advisory for drinking water.
The especially wet Hurricane Hortense has U.S. Geological Survey hydrologists and technicians working around the clock to measure its impact on the rivers of Puerto Rico. The Rio de la Plata in northeastern Puerto Rico, for example, has reached its highest level ever, exceeding the previous record high flow of Jan. 5, 1992, when the river reached a flow of 82 billion gallons per day.
From coastal erosion to measuring the storm surge and flooding as well as providing maps of affected areas, the U.S. Geological Survey is gearing up to provide information on Hurricane Fran as the storm develops, including real-time data, from its offices in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.
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