Reports
Science Quality and Integrity
The USGS provides unbiased, objective, and impartial scientific information upon which our audiences, including resource managers, planners, and other entities, rely.
The USGS provides unbiased, objective, and impartial scientific information upon which our audiences, including resource managers, planners, and other entities, rely.
Browse more than 82,000 reports authored by our scientists over the past 100+ year history of the USGS and refine search by topic, location, year, and advanced search.
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Developments in African industrial minerals for renewable energy
Introduction Africa is emerging as a leading source for minerals used in the manufacture of batteries for electric vehicles and in other renewable energy applications. New graphite, lithium, and rare-earth mines have or could be opened in African countries from 2017 through 2026.Estimates of production capacities for graphite, lithium, and rare-earth mines for 2023 and beyond are based upon suppl
Authors
Thomas Yager
Effects of noise from oil and gas development on raptors and songbirds—A science synthesis to inform National Environmental Policy Act analyses
The U.S. Geological Survey is working with Federal land management agencies to develop a series of science syntheses to support environmental effects analyses that agencies conduct to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This report synthesizes science information about the potential effects of noise from oil and gas development on North American raptors, songbirds, and other
Authors
Logan M. Maxwell, Tait K. Rutherford, Nathan J. Kleist, Elisabeth C. Teige, Richard J. Lehrter, Megan A. Gilbert, David J.A. Wood, Aaron N. Johnston, John C. Tull, Travis S. Haby, Sarah K. Carter
Use of a numerical groundwater-flow model and projected climate scenarios to simulate the effects of future climate conditions on base flow for reach 1 of the Washita River alluvial aquifer and Foss Reservoir storage, western Oklahoma
To better understand the relation between climate variability and future groundwater resources in reach 1 of the Washita River alluvial aquifer and Foss Reservoir in western Oklahoma, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation, used a previously published numerical groundwater-flow model and climate-model data to investigate changes in base flow and reservoir storage
Authors
Laura G. Labriola, John H. Ellis, Subhrendu Gangopadhyay, Pierre-Emmanuel Kirstetter, Yang Hong
Analysis of factors affecting plume remediation in a sole-source aquifer system, southeastern Nassau County, New York
Several plumes of dissolved, chlorinated solvents, including trichloroethylene, have been identified in a sole-source aquifer near the former Northrop Grumman Bethpage Facility and Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant sites in southeastern Nassau County, New York. Past investigations have documented that the groundwater contamination originated from this industrial area and now extends to the so
Authors
Michael N. Fienen, Nicholas Corson-Dosch, Frederick Stumm, Paul E. Misut, Kalle Jahn, Jillian Troyer, Christopher E. Schubert, Donald A. Walter, Jason S. Finkelstein, Jack Monti, Daniel J. St. Germain, John H. Williams, Joshua C. Woda
Assessment of the sensitivity of Percina caprodes (logperch) to the pesticide 4-nitro-3-(trifluoromethyl)phenol
A continuous-flow streamside toxicity test was completed to evaluate the risk posed by the use of 4-nitro-3-(trifluoromethyl)phenol (TFM), used to control Petromyzon marinus (sea lamprey), to Percina caprodes (logperch). Logperch are a host fish to the parasitic glochidia life stage of the federally endangered Epioblasma triquetra (snuffbox mussel). Streams with an extant population of snuffbox mu
Authors
Courtney A Kirkeeng, James A. Luoma, Nicholas Schloesser, Justin Schueller, Cheryl Kaye
Lidar estimation of storage capacity for managed water resources used by Desert Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis mexicana) at Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, Arizona
In cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey Southwest Biological Science Center employed ground-based light detection and ranging (lidar) during February 2022 to help meet two resource management objectives at the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge (CPNWR), Arizona. The two objectives are (1) characterize the water storage capacity for one developed and t
Authors
Joel B. Sankey, Joshua Caster, Nathaniel Bransky, Stephanie Fuest, Steven Sesnie, Ashton Bedford
Rappahannock tributary summary: A summary of trends in tidal water quality and associated factors, 1985-2022
The Rappahannock Tributary Summary outlines change over time for a suite of monitored tidal water quality parameters and associated potential drivers of those trends for the period of 1985 to 2022, and provides a brief description of the current state of knowledge explaining these observed changes. Water quality parameters described include surface (above pycnocline) total nitrogen (TN), surface t
Authors
Breck Maura Sullivan, Kaylyn Gootman, Alex Gunnerson, Sarah Betts, Cindy Johnson, Chris A. Mason, Elgin Perry, Gopal Bhatt, Jennifer L. Keisman, James S. Webber, Jon Harcum, Michael F. Lane, Olivia Devereux, Qian Zhang, Rebecca Murphy, Renee Karrh, Thomas Butler, Vanessa Van Note, Angie Wei
Distributed volcanism—Characteristics, processes, and hazards
IntroductionDistributed volcanism is defined by regions of dominantly, but not exclusively, monogenetic eruptive vents that are commonly mafic. Volcanic eruptions within distributed fields can range in composition from basalt to rhyolite and produce all types of volcanoes in all tectonic environments. This diversity in eruption composition and style reflects complex and varied magma ascent and sto
Temporal, spatial, and chemical evolution of Quaternary high-silica rhyolites in the Mineral Mountains, Utah
The Mineral Mountains in southwestern Utah are a structurally controlled core complex at the confluence of the Colorado Plateau and the Basin and Range physiographic provinces. Aside from hosting Utah’s largest batholith, the Mineral Mountains host some of the State’s youngest high-silica rhyolites, which have been linked to a magma source that is presently being utilized as an enhanced geothermal
Authors
Tiffany A. Rivera, Brian R. Jicha, Stefan Kirby, Hannah B. Peacock
The solar cycle, geology, and geoelectric hazards for power grids
When sunspots are large and numerous, intense magnetic storms are likely to occur on the Earth. Magnetic storms can generate electric fields in the Earth, and these fields can, in turn, interfere with electric power transmission grids that are grounded at the Earth’s surface. Across the contiguous United States, geoelectric hazards are highest in the Upper Midwest and in the East. These regions co
Authors
Jeffrey J. Love, Steven Sobieszczyk, E. Joshua Rigler, Anna Kelbert, Kristen A. Lewis
The Interagency Coordinating Committee on the validation of alternative methods (ICCVAM)
Many ICCVAM member agencies are developing new technologies and resources to replace
the use of animals for chemical safety testing. These include new platforms such as
microphysiological systems (MPS), data resources to support the development of predictive
models and quantitative structure–activity relationships (QSARs), and web tools to facilitate
data access and visualization.
Authors
Barnett A. Rattner, Timothy Bargar, Paula F. P. Henry
Conceptualization and simulation of groundwater flow and groundwater availability in the Boone and Roubidoux aquifers in northeastern Oklahoma, 1980–2017
Oklahoma Groundwater Law (Oklahoma Statute § 82-1020.5) requires that the Oklahoma Water Resources Board conduct hydrologic investigations to determine the maximum annual yield for the State’s groundwater basins. The Boone and Roubidoux aquifers (also known as the Springfield Plateau aquifer and Ozark aquifer, respectively) are bedrock aquifers that extend from northeastern Oklahoma into Kansas, A
Authors
Adam R. Trevisan, Cory A. Russell, Hayden A. Lockmiller, Derrick L. Wagner, Jessica S. Correll, Katherine J. Knierim