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Book Chapters

Browse more than 5,500 book chapters authored by our scientists over the past 100+ year history of the USGS and refine search by topic, location, year, and advanced search.

Filter Total Items: 6071

Marine geology and tectonics--What is under all that water?

This chapter is divided into two main sections. The first section is on Marine Geology Seascapes (what earth scientists call bathymetry). The second section is on Tectonics of Marine Areas.
Authors
David W. Scholl, Warren J. Nokleberg

Otters, marine

No abstract available.
Authors
M. Tim Tinker, James L. Bodkin, M. Ben-Davic, J. A. Estes

Pleistocene glaciers, lakes, and floods in north-central Washington State

The Methow, Chelan, Wenatchee, and other terrane blocks accreted in late Mesozoic to Eocene times. Methow valley is excavated in an exotic terrane of folded Mesozoic sedimentary and volcanic rocks faulted between crystalline blocks. Repeated floods of Columbia River Basalt about 16 Ma drowned a backarc basin to the southeast. Cirques, aretes, and U-shaped hanging troughs brand the Methow, Skagit,
Authors
Richard B. Waitt

Regional geology and tectonics

This chapter describes the regional geology and tectonic origins of the major geologic units for the Northern Cordillera. The goals of the chapter are to: (1) provide a summary and regional overview of this vast region that contains a complicated geologic history; and (2) describe the major geologic units and tectonic events that cover a broad geologic time span from the Proterozoic to the Holocen
Authors
Warren J. Nokleberg

Application of paleoecology to ecosystem restoration: A case study from south Florida’s estuaries

Paleoecological analyses of biotic assemblages from cores collected throughout south Florida’s estuaries indicate gradually increasing salinities over approximately the last 2000 years, consistent with rising sea level. Around the beginning of the twentieth century these gradual patterns of change began to shift, corresponding to the beginning of human alteration of the environment via canal const
Authors
G. Lynn Wingard

2.3. Global-scale atmospheric dispersion of microorganisms

This chapter addresses long-range dispersion and the survival of microorganisms across a wide range of altitudes in Earth's atmosphere. Topics include mechanisms of dispersion, survivability of microorganisms known to be associated with long-range transport, natural and artificial sources of bioaerosols, residence time estimation through the use of proxy aerosols, transport and emission models, an
Authors
Dale W. Griffin, Cristina Gonzalez-Martin, C. Hoose, D.J. Smith

Anura—Frogs

No abstract available.
Authors
Darrel R. Frost, Emily Moriarty Lemmon, Roy W. McDiarmid, Joseph R. Mendelson III

Biogeography: An interweave of climate, fire, and humans

Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) is an icon of the southeastern United States and has been considered a foundation species in forests, woodlands, and savannas of the region (Schwarz 1907; Platt 1999). Longleaf pine is an avatar for the extensive pine-dominated, fire-dependent ecosystems (Figure 2.1) that provide habitats for thousands of species and have largely vanished from the landscape. Longlea
Authors
Michael C. Stambaugh, J. Morgan Varner, Stephen T. Jackson

Hypogene caves of the central Appalachian Shenandoah Valley in Virginia

Several caves in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia show evidence for early hypogenic conduit development with later-enhanced solution under partly confined phreatic conditions guided by geologic structures. Many (but not all) of these caves have been subsequently invaded by surface waters as a result of erosion and exhumation. Those not so affected are relict phreatic caves, bearing no relation to
Authors
Daniel H. Doctor, Wil Orndorff