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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

Modeling abundance using hierarchical distance sampling

In this chapter, we provide an introduction to classical distance sampling ideas for point and line transect data, and for continuous and binned distance data. We introduce the conditional and the full likelihood, and we discuss Bayesian analysis of these models in BUGS using the idea of data augmentation, which we discussed in Chapter 7. We then extend the basic ideas to the problem of hierarchic
Authors
Andy Royle, Marc Kery

Modeling abundance using multinomial N-mixture models

Multinomial N-mixture models are a generalization of the binomial N-mixture models described in Chapter 6 to allow for more complex and informative sampling protocols beyond simple counts. Many commonly used protocols such as multiple observer sampling, removal sampling, and capture-recapture produce a multivariate count frequency that has a multinomial distribution and for which multinomial N-mix
Authors
Andy Royle

Montane Forests

This long-anticipated reference and sourcebook for California’s remarkable ecological abundance provides an integrated assessment of each major ecosystem type—its distribution, structure, function, and management. A comprehensive synthesis of our knowledge about this biologically diverse state, Ecosystems of California covers the state from oceans to mountaintops using multiple lenses: past and pr
Authors
Malcolm P. North, Brandon M. Collins, Hugh D. Safford, Nathan L. Stephenson

Natural soil reservoirs for human pathogenic and fecal indicator bacteria

Soils receive inputs of human pathogenic and indicator bacteria through land application of animal manures or sewage sludge, and inputs by wildlife. Soil is an extremely heterogeneous substrate and contains meso- and macrofauna that may be reservoirs for bacteria of human health concern. The ability to detect and quantify bacteria of human health concern is important in risk assessments and in eva
Authors
Maria L Boschiroli, Joseph Falkinham, Sabine Favre-Bonte, Sylvie Nazaret, Pascal Piveteau, Michael J. Sadowsky, Muruleedhara Byappanahalli, Pascal Delaquis, Alain Hartmann

Ore mineralogy and textural zonation in the world-class epithermal Waihi Vein System, Hauraki Goldfield

The Waihi district in the Hauraki Goldfield of New Zealand contains adularia-sericite epithermal gold-silver veins that have produced more than 7.7 Moz gold. The outermost veins of the district (Martha, Favona, Moonlight, and Cowshed) contain abundant colloform, cherty, and black quartz fill textures, with minor crustiform and massive quartz. The central veins (Amaranth, Trio, and Union) contain p
Authors
Jeffrey L. Mauk, Erin G Skinner, Sarah J Fyfe, Andrew H Menzies, Heather A. Lowers, Alan E. Koenig

Pinedale glacial history of the upper Arkansas River valley: New moraine chronologies, modeling results, and geologic mapping

This field-trip guide outlines the glacial history of the upper Arkansas River valley, Colorado, and builds on a previous GSA field trip to the area in 2010. The following will be presented: (1) new cosmogenic 10Be exposure ages of moraine boulders from the Pinedale and Bull Lake glaciations (Marine Isotope Stages 2 and 6, respectively) located adjacent to the Twin Lakes Reservoir, (2) numerical m
Authors
Avriel D. Schweinsberg, Jason P. Briner, Ralph R. Shroba, Joseph M. Licciardi, Eric M. Leonard, Keith A. Brugger, Charles M. Russell

Protecting national parks from air pollution effects: Making sausage from science and policy

The story of air pollution research, policy development, and management in national parks is a fascinating blend of cultural change, vision, interdisciplinary and interagency collaboration, and science-policy-management-stakeholder collaborations. Unable to ignore the loss of iconic vistas from regional haze and loss of fish from acid rain in the 1980s, the National Park Service (NPS) embraced an
Authors
Jill S. Baron, Tamara Blett, William C. Malm, Ruth Alexander, Holly Doremus

Rare earth element deposits in China

China is the world’s leading rare earth element (REE) producer and hosts a variety of deposit types. Carbonatite- related REE deposits, the most significant deposit type, include two giant deposits presently being mined in China, Bayan Obo and Maoniuping, the first and third largest deposits of this type in the world, respectively. The carbonatite-related deposits host the majority of China’s REE
Authors
Yu-Ling Xie, Zeng-qian Hou, Richard J. Goldfarb, Xiang Guo, Lei Wang

Recent and possible future variations in the North American Monsoon

The dynamics and recent and possible future changes of the June–September rainfall associated with the North American Monsoon (NAM) are reviewed in this chapter. Our analysis as well as previous analyses of the trend in June–September precipitation from 1948 until 2010 indicate significant precipitation increases over New Mexico and the core NAM region, and significant precipitation decreases over
Authors
Andrew Hoell, Chris Funk, Mathew Barlow, Shraddhanand Shukla

Relationship between porphyry systems, crustal preservation levels, and amount of exploration in magmatic belts of the Central Tethys Region

Tectonic, geologic, geochemical, geochronologic, and ore deposit data from the U.S. Geological Survey-led assessment of 26 porphyry belts identified in the central Tethys region of Turkey, the Caucasus, Iran, western Pakistan, and southern Afghanistan relate porphyry mineralization to the tectonomagmatic evolution of the region and associated subduction and postsubduction processes. However, uplif
Authors
Lukas Zürcher, Jane M. Hammarstrom, John C. Mars, Stephen Ludington, Michael L. Zientek

Resilience

No abstract available.
Authors
Craig R. Allen, Ahjond S. Garmestani, David G. Angeler

Rotational seismology

Rotational seismology is an emerging study of all aspects of rotational motions induced by earthquakes, explosions, and ambient vibrations. It is of interest to several disciplines, including seismology, earthquake engineering, geodesy, and earth-based detection of Einstein’s gravitation waves.Rotational effects of seismic waves, together with rotations caused by soil–structure interaction, have b
Authors
William H. K. Lee