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Publications

Browse more than 160,000 publications authored by our scientists over the past 100+ year history of the USGS.  Publications available are: USGS-authored journal articles, series reports, book chapters, other government publications, and more.

Filter Total Items: 171158

Lawetlat'la—Mount St. Helens—Land in transformation

This poster provides an overview of Mount St. Helens’ eruption history and emphasizes the continuous transformation of the volcanic landscape and its ecosystems. After each eruption, the landscape and ecosystems are not so much restored as they are morphed into new forms and patterns.
Authors
Carolyn L. Driedger, Alysa Adams, Michael A. Clynne, Kristi Cochrane, Abi Groskopf, Emma Johnson, Heather Monti, Elizabeth Westby

Implications of water, sediment, and nutrient budgets for the restoration of a shallow, turbid lake in semiarid southeastern Oregon

Malheur Lake is the largest lake in the endorheic Harney Basin in southeastern Oregon. Since the 1990s, Malheur Lake—which averages depths of about 1 meter—has been in a degraded, turbid state lacking submergent and emergent vegetation. The goals of this study were to identify the major sources of sediment and nutrients to Malheur Lake to determine the importance of managing nutrients for lake res
Authors
Cassandra D. Smith, Tamara M. Wood

Regression equations for estimating the 4-day, 3-year low-flow frequency and adjusted harmonic mean streamflow at ungaged sites for unregulated, perennial streams in New Mexico

The Federal Clean Water Act stipulates that States adopt water-quality standards to protect and enhance the quality of water in those States and to protect water quality through the creation of planning documents and discharge permits. Critical low-flow values, including the 4-day, 3-year low-flow frequency (4Q3) and harmonic mean streamflows, are necessary for developing those planning documents
Authors
Meghan T. Bell, Anne C. Tillery

Developing satellite-estimated precipitation monthly reports for selected locations in the Republic of the Marshall Islands

The Republic of the Marshall Islands (also known as the Marshall Islands) is a nation of more than 30 low-lying atolls and islands, most of which are inhabited, dispersed across an Exclusive Economic Zone over 770,000 square miles in the tropical central north Pacific Ocean. Monitoring environmental conditions for potential drought risk is challenging in such a dispersed island nation, and current
Authors
Gabriel B. Senay, David A. Helweg, Stefanie Kagone, John B. Taylor, Thomas Cecere, Tiare Eastmond, Amy Koch, Kurtis Nelson, Lajikit Rufus

Strategic monitoring to minimize misclassification errors from conservation status assessments

Classifying species into risk categories is a ubiquitous process in conservation decision-making affecting regulatory procedures, conservation actions, and guiding resource allocation at global, national, and regional scales. However, monitoring programs often do not provide data required for accurate species classification decisions. Misclassification can lead to otherwise preventable species ext
Authors
Kylee Denise Dunham, Patrick K. Devers, Abigail Jean Lawson, James E. Lyons, Conor P. McGowan, Andy Royle

Canada Basin tectono-sedimentary element, Arctic Ocean

The Canada Basin (CB) formed during a short period of seafloor spreading inferred to be Early Cretaceous in age. Brookian strata of inferred Early Cretaceous–Holocene age comprise the sedimentary fill of the Canada Basin Tectono-Sedimentary Element (CB TSE). Although the CB has remained tectonically quiet since seafloor spreading ceased, both proximal and distal tectonism (Alpha Ridge magmatism, a
Authors
Deborah Hutchinson, David W. Houseknecht, David Mosher

Intramolecular carbon isotope geochemistry of butane isomers from laboratory maturation and Monte-Carlo simulations of kerogen types I, II, and III

Position-specific (PS) carbon isotope compositions of light hydrocarbons such as propane and butane isomers (n-butane and i-butane) can provide a wealth of information on the history of natural gases in the subsurface reservoirs and other environments. For PS carbon isotope analysis of butane isomers, we have established a GC-pyrolysis-GC-isotope ratio mass spectrometry method with demonstrated ac
Authors
Xiaoqiang Li, Hao Xie, Justin E. Birdwell, Gregory McGovern, Juske Horita

Spectral characterization of dissolved organic matter in groundwater to assess mixing with oil-field water near selected oil fields, southern California

Samples of oil-field water (oil wells, injectate, disposal ponds) and groundwater near selected oil and gas fields in southern California were analyzed for dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration and by optical spectroscopic techniques (i.e., absorbance and fluorescence) to assess whether these measurements can be used to distinguish between oil-field water (Oil Field), native groundwater (WG
Authors
Angela Hansen, Tamara E. C. Kraus, Matthew K. Landon, Peter B. McMahon

Social and biological perspectives to investigate and address illegal shooting of raptors

Humans have shot raptors for centuries. However, in many countries these actions have been illegal since the mid-twentieth century. Despite this history, there is not a comprehensive understanding of the characteristics of this activity, its frequency, and why it occurs. We used literature review and principles drawn from ecology, sociology, and criminology to understand this problem. First, we re
Authors
Eve C. Thomason, Kenneth Wallen, Todd E. Katzner

Groundwater quality in abandoned underground coal mine aquifers across West Virginia

Abandoned underground coal mine aquifers cover a large part of West Virginia and could supply substantial quantities of water for agricultural, industrial, residential, and public use. Several Federal, State, and academic institutions have studied the availability and quality of water stored in abandoned underground coal mine aquifers for a variety of applications, such as economic development, ge
Authors
Mitchell A. McAdoo, Gregory T. Connock, Mark D. Kozar

Early Pliocene (Zanclean) stratigraphic framework for PRISM5/PlioMIP3 time slices

Global reconstructions of Pliocene climate provide important insights into how the climate system operates under elevated temperatures and atmospheric CO2 levels. These reconstructions have been used extensively in paleoclimate modeling experiments for comparison to simulated conditions, and as boundary conditions.Most previous work focused on the Late Pliocene interval known as the mid Piacenzian
Authors
Harry J. Dowsett, Marci M. Robinson, Kevin M. Foley, Steve Hunter, Aisling M Dolan, Julia C. Tindall

Avian influenza in wild birds

Influenza A viruses (IAVs)maintained among wild waterfowl, gulls, shorebirds, and some seabirds, and typically do not cause disease. Some avian-origin IAVs that have previously spilled over into domestic poultry have developed a highly pathogenic phenotype and have become important pathogens affecting both wild birds and poultry. These avian-origin IAVs have important implications to the product
Authors
Andrew M. Ramey