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P- and S-wave velocity estimation by ensemble Kalman inversion of dispersion data for strong motion stations in California
This study uses an ensemble Kalman method for near-surface seismic site characterization of 154 network earthquake monitoring stations in California to improve the resolution of S-wave velocity (VS) and P-wave velocity (VP) profiles—up to the resolution depth—coupled with better quantification of uncertainties compared to previous site characterization studies at this network. These stations were
Authors
Elif Ecem Bas, Elnaz Seylabi, Alan K. Yong, Hesam Tehrani, Domniki Asimaki
Stream size, temperature, and density explain body sizes of freshwater salmonids across a range of climate conditions
Climate change and anthropogenic activities are altering the body sizes of fishes, yet our understanding of factors influencing body size for many taxa remains incomplete. We evaluated the relationships between climate, environmental, and landscape attributes and the body size of different taxa of freshwater trout (Salmonidae) in the USA. Hierarchical spatial modeling across a gradient of habitats
Authors
Robert K. Al-Chokhachy, Benjamin Letcher, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Jason B. Dunham, Timothy Joseph Cline, Nathaniel P. Hitt, James Roberts, David Schmetterling
Plant pathogens provide clues to the potential origin of bat white-nose syndrome Pseudogymnoascus destructans
White-nose syndrome has killed millions of bats, yet both the origins and infection strategy of the causative fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans, remain elusive. We provide evidence for a novel hypothesis that P. destructans emerged from plant-associated fungi and retained invasion strategies affiliated with fungal pathogens of plants. We demonstrate that P. destructans invades bat skin in succe
Authors
Carol Meteyer, Julien Yann Dutheil, M. Kevin Keel, Justin G. Boyles, Eva Holtgrewe Stukenbrock
Comparison of Digital Terrain Models from two photoclinometry methods
We evaluate the horizontal resolution and vertical precision for digital topographic models (DTMs) of the Moon derived from image radiance information, a process known as photoclinometry (PC) or shape-from-shading (SfS). We use the implementations in two available planetary image processing software systems, single image PC in the U.S. Geological Survey Integrated Software for Imagers and Spectrom
Authors
Randolph L. Kirk, David Mayer, Colin M. Dundas, Benjamin H Wheeler, Ross A. Beyer, Oleg Alexandrov
Geologic controls on groundwater salinity reversal in North Coles Levee Oil Field, southern San Joaquin Valley, California, USA
This paper documents a reversal in the groundwater salinity depth gradient in the North Coles Levee Oil Field in the San Joaquin Valley, California. Salinity, measured in mg/L, was mapped with water quality data from groundwater and oil and gas wells and salinity estimated from oil and gas well borehole geophysical logs using Archie's equation. The resulting three-dimensional salinity volume shows
Authors
Michael D Flowers, David H. Shimabukuro, Michael J. Stephens, John G. Warden, Janice M. Gillespie, Will Chang
Machine learning and data augmentation approach for identification of rare earth element potential in Indiana Coals, USA
Rare earth elements and yttrium (REYs) are critical elements and valuable commodities due to their limited availability and high demand in a wide range of applications and especially in high-technology products. The increased demand and geopolitical pressures motivate the search for alternative sources of REYs, and coal, coal waste, and coal ash are considered as new sources for these critical ele
Authors
Snahamoy Chatterjee, Maria Mastalerz, Agnieszka Drobniak, C. Özgen Karacan
Toxicological responses to sublethal anticoagulant rodenticide exposure in free-flying hawks
An important component of assessing the hazards of anticoagulant rodenticides to non-target wildlife is observations in exposed free-ranging individuals. The objective of this study was to determine whether environmentally realistic, sublethal first-generation anticoagulant rodenticide (FGAR) exposures via prey can result in direct or indirect adverse effects to free-flying raptors. We offered bla
Authors
Nimish B. Vyas, Barnett A. Rattner, J. Michael Lockhart, Craig S. Hulse, Clifford P. Rice, Frank Kuncir, Kevin Kritz
Watching the Cryosphere thaw: Seismic monitoring of permafrost degradation using distributed acoustic sensing during a controlled heating experiment
Permafrost degradation is rapidly increasing in response to a warming Arctic climate, altering landscapes and damaging critical infrastructure. Solutions for monitoring permafrost thaw dynamics are essential to understand biogeochemical feedbacks as well as to issue warnings for hazardous geotechnical conditions. We investigate the feasibility of permafrost monitoring using permanently installed f
Authors
Feng Cheng, Nathaniel J. Lindsey, Valeriia Sobolevskaia, Shan Dou, Barry Freifeld, Todd Wood, Stephanie R. James, Anna M. Wagner, Jonathan B. Ajo-Franklin
N and P constrain C in ecosystems under climate change: Role of nutrient redistribution, accumulation, and stoichiometry
We use the Multiple Element Limitation (MEL) model to examine responses of twelve ecosystems to elevated carbon dioxide (CO2), warming, and 20% decreases or increases in precipitation. Ecosystems respond synergistically to elevated CO2, warming, and decreased precipitation combined because higher water-use efficiency with elevated CO2 and higher fertility with warming compensate for responses to d
Authors
Ed Rastetter, Bonnie Kwiatkowski, David Kicklighter, Audrey Barker Plotkin, Helene Genet, Jesse Nippert, Kimberly O’Keefe, Steven Perakis, Stephen Porder, Sarah Roley, Roger W. Ruess, Jonathan R. Thompson, William Wieder, Kevin WIlcox, Ruth Yanai
Hydrogeology and groundwater quality in the San Agustin Basin, New Mexico, 1975–2019
This report describes the findings of a U.S. Geological Survey study, completed in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management, focused on better understanding the present-day (1975–2019) hydrogeology and groundwater quality of the San Agustin Basin in west-central New Mexico to support sustainable groundwater resource management. The basin hosts a relatively undeveloped basin-fill and alluvium
Authors
Jeff D. Pepin, Rebecca E. Travis, Johanna M. Blake, Alex Rinehart, Daniel Koning
Fundamental science and engineering questions in planetary cave exploration
Nearly half a century ago, two papers postulated the likelihood of lunar lava tube caves using mathematical models. Today, armed with an array of orbiting and fly-by satellites and survey instrumentation, we have now acquired cave data across our solar system—including the identification of potential cave entrances on the Moon, Mars, and at least six other planetary bodies. These discoveries gave
Authors
J. Judson Wynne, Timothy N. Titus, Ali-akbar Agha-Mohammadi, Armando Azua-Bustos, Penelope J. Boston, Pablo de León, Cansu Demirel-Floyd, Jo de Waele, Heather Jones, Michael J. Malaska, Ana Z. Miller, Haley M. Sapers, Francesco Sauro, Derek L. Sonderegger, Kyle Uckert, Uland Y. Wong, E. Calvin Alexander, Leroy Chiao, Glen E. Cushing, John DeDecker, Alberto G. Fairén, Amos Frumkin, Gary L. Harris, Michelle L. Kearney, Laura A. Kerber, Richard J. Léveillé, Kavya Manyapu, Matteo Massironi, John E. Mylroie, Bogdan P. Onac, Scott E. Parazynski, Charity M. Phillips-Lander, T. H. Prettyman, Dirk Schulze-Makuch, Robert V. Wagner, William L. Whittaker, Kaj E. Williams
Advances in the study and understanding of groundwater discharge to surface water
Groundwater discharge is vitally important for maintaining or restoring valuable ecosystems in surface water and at the underlying groundwater-surface-water ecotone. Detecting and quantifying groundwater discharge is challenging because rates of flow can be very small and difficult to measure, exchange is commonly highly heterogeneous both in space and time, and surface-water hydrodynamics can inf
Authors
Carlos Duque, Donald O. Rosenberry