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Late Pliocene and Quaternary Eurasian locust infestations in the Canary Archipelago

The Canary Archipelago has long been a sensitive location to record climate changes of the past. Interbedded with its basalt lavas are marine deposits from the principal Pleistocene interglacials, as well as aeolian sands with intercalated palaeosols. The palaeosols contain African dust and innumerable relict egg pods of a temperate‐region locust (cf. Dociostaurus maroccanusThunberg 1815...
Authors
Joaquín Meco, Daniel R. Muhs, M. Fontugne, A.J. Ramos, Alejandro Lomoschitz, D. Patterson

Sea ice loss enhances wave action at the Arctic coast

Erosion rates of permafrost coasts along the Beaufort Sea accelerated over the past 50 years synchronously with Arctic‐wide declines in sea ice extent, suggesting a causal relationship between the two. A fetch‐limited wave model driven by sea ice position and local wind data from northern Alaska indicates that the exposure of permafrost bluffs to seawater increased by a factor of 2.5...
Authors
Irina Overeem, R. Todd Anderson, C.W. Wobus, Gary D. Clow, Frank Urban, N. Matell

Dust: Small-scale processes with global consequences

Desert dust, both modern and ancient, is a critical component of the Earth system. Atmospheric dust has important effects on climate by changing the atmospheric radiation budget, while deposited dust influences biogeochemical cycles in the oceans and on land. Dust deposited on snow and ice decreases its albedo, allowing more light to be trapped at the surface, thus increasing the rate of...
Authors
Gregory S. Okin, J. E. Bullard, Richard L. Reynolds, J. -A. C. Ballantine, K. Schepanski, M. C. Todd, Jayne Belnap, M. C. Baddock, T. E. Gill, M. Michael Miller

Barrier island response to late Holocene climate events, North Carolina, USA

The Outer Banks barrier islands of North Carolina, USA, contain a geologic record of inlet activity that extends from ca. 2200 cal yr BP to the present, and can be used as a proxy for storm activity. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating (26 samples) of inlet-fill and flood tide delta deposits, recognized in cores and geophysical data, provides the basis for understanding the...
Authors
D. J. Mallinson, C.W. Smith, S. Mahan, S.J. Culver, K. McDowell

The use of scenario analysis to assess water ecosystem services in response to future land use change in the Willamette River Basin, Oregon

Human pressures on the natural resources of the United States have resulted in many unintended changes in our ecosystems, e.g., loss of biodiversity, habitat degradation, increases in the number of endangered species, and increases in contamination and water pollution. Environmental managers are concerned about broad-scale changes in land use and landscape pattern and their cumulative...
Authors
M. Hernandez, William G. Kepner, D. M. Goodrich, Darius J. Semmens

Hydrothermal alteration of the Late Eocene Caetano ash-flow caldera, north-central Nevada: A field and ASTER remote sensing study

Geologic mapping and analysis of ASTER remote sensing data were used to define the effects of a large hydrothermal system in the 12–18 by 22 km Caetano caldera. The caldera formed at ~33.8Ma during eruption of >1100km3 of the rhyolitic Caetano Tuff that left a 1 km deep basin which was partly filled by a lake. Magma resurgence resulted in shallow(
Authors
David A. John, Barnaby W. Rockwell, Christopher S. Henry, Joseph P. Colgan

Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES): using GIS to include social values information in ecosystem services assessments

Ecosystem services can be defined in various ways; simply put, they are the benefits provided by nature, which contribute to human well-being. These benefits can range from tangible products such as food and fresh water to cultural services such as recreation and esthetics. As the use of these benefits continues to increase, additional pressures are placed on the natural ecosystems...
Authors
Benson C. Sherrouse, D.J. Semmens

Assessment of goods and valuation of ecosystem services (AGAVES) San Pedro River Basin, United States and Mexico

A consortium of federal, academic, and nongovernment organization (NGO) partners have established a collaborative research enterprise in the San Pedro River Basin to develop methods, standards, and tools to assess and value ecosystem goods and services. The central premise of ecosystem services research is that human condition is intrinsically linked to the environment. Human health and...
Authors
Darius J. Semmens, William G. Kepner, David C. Goodrich

Characterization of geologic deposits in the vicinity of US Ecology, Amargosa Basin, southern Nevada

Multiple approaches have been applied to better understand the characteristics of geologic units exposed at the surface and buried at depth in the vicinity of US Ecology (USE), a low-level commercial waste site in the northern Amargosa Desert, Nevada. Techniques include surficial geologic mapping and interpretation of the subsurface using borehole data. Dated deposits at depth were used...
Authors
Emily M. Taylor

U.S. Geological Survey Science for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative-2009 Annual Report

This is the second report produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) to detail annual work activities. The first report described work activities for 2007 and 2008; this report covers work activities conducted in 2009. Important differences between the two reports are that (1) this report does not lump all the Effectiveness...
Authors
Zachary H. Bowen, Cameron L. Aldridge, Patrick J. Anderson, Timothy J. Assal, Laura R Biewick, Steven W. Blecker, R. Sky Bristol, Natasha B. Carr, Anna D. Chalfoun, Geneva W. Chong, James Diffendorfer, Bradley C. Fedy, Steven L. Garman, Stephen S. Germaine, Richard I. Grauch, JoAnn M. Holloway, Collin Homer, Matthew Kauffman, Douglas A. Keinath, Natalie Latysh, Daniel J. Manier, Robert Mcdougal, Cynthia P. Melcher, Kirk A. Miller, Jessica M. Montag, Constance J. Nutt, Christopher J. Potter, Hall Sawyer, Spencer Schell, Sarah Shafer, David R. Smith, Lisa L. Stillings, Michele L.W. Tuttle, Anna B. Wilson

Chemical and textural controls on phosphorus mobility in drylands of southeastern Utah

We investigated several forms of phosphorus (P) in dryland soils to examine the chemical and textural controls on P stabilization on a diverse set of substrates. We examined three P fractions including labile, moderately labile, and occluded as determined by a modified Hedley fractionation technique. The P fractions were compared to texture measurements and total elemental concentrations...
Authors
Susan E. Buckingham, Jason C. Neff, Behan Titiz-Maybach, Richard L. Reynolds

Social values for ecosystem services (SolVES): A GIS application for assessing, mapping, and quantifying the social values of ecosystem services-Documentation and user manual, version 1.0

In response to the need for incorporating quantified and spatially explicit measures of social values into ecosystem services assessments, the Rocky Mountain Geographic Science Center, in collaboration with Colorado State University, has developed a geographic information system application, Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES). SolVES can be used to assess, map, and quantify...
Authors
Benson C. Sherrouse, Jodi L. Riegle, Darius J. Semmens
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