Publications

We describe an outcrop of the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary exposed due to construction near New Albany, Union County, Mississippi. It consists of the Owl Creek Formation and overlying Clayton Formation. The Owl Creek Formation is rich in the ammonites Discoscaphites iris and Eubaculites carinatus, which, along with biostratigraphically important dinoflagellate cysts and calcareous nannofos

There are a number of ecogeographical “rules” that describe patterns of geographical variation among organisms. The island rule predicts that populations of larger mammals on islands evolve smaller mean body size than their mainland counterparts, whereas smaller‐bodied mammals evolve larger size. Bergmann's rule predicts that populations of a species in colder climates (generally at higher latitud

The quality of stormwater runoff from bridge decks (hereafter referred to as “bridge-deck runoff”) was characterized in a field study from August 2014 through August 2016 in which concentrations of suspended sediment (SS) and total nutrients were monitored. These new data were collected to supplement existing highway-runoff data collected in Massachusetts which were deficient in bridge-deck runoff

Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis in the southern Appalachian portion of their range have been isolated in remote headwater systems for millennia. Recent genetic investigations indicate extremely low allelic diversity, heterozygosity and effective population sizes in many streams. In populations restored using multiple source stocks, limited introgression has been observed despite source stocks be

No abstract available.

In 2003 and 2004, the U.S. Geological Survey investigated the availability of groundwater resources in a 160-square mile area of coastal New Hampshire (Figure 1) using a regional groundwater flow model (Mack, 2009). At that time, population growth and increasing water demand prompted concern for the sustainability of the region’s groundwater resources in a fractured-crystalline bedrock-aquifer wit

Raman spectroscopy has been suggested as a method for characterizing the thermal maturity of rocks. The literature contains many empirical correlations between thermal maturity proxies, such as vitrinite reflectance (VRo) and pyrolysis-Tmax, with spectral metrics such as Raman peak-widths, peak-center positions, peak-areas and all manner of differences and ratios of these parameters. However, whil

Free-flowing river segments provide refuges for many imperiled aquatic biota that have been extirpated elsewhere in their native ranges. These biodiversity refuges are also foci of conservation concerns because species persisting within isolated habitat fragments may be particularly vulnerable to local environmental change. We have analyzed long-term (14- and 20-y) survey data to assess evidence o

The Devonian-age Marcellus Shale and the Ordovician-age Utica Shale, which have the potential for natural gas development, underlie Pike County and neighboring counties in northeastern Pennsylvania. In 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Pike County Conservation District, conducted a study that expanded on a previous more limited 2012 study to assess baseline shallow groundwa

Tree root exudation (TRE) of water soluble organic carbon (WSOC) is an important but under-assessed component of net primary production, and is thought to strongly influence rhizosphere biogeochemistry. Riparian systems in particular are often viewed as biogeochemical hot spots fueled partially by root exudate WSOC. However, TRE rates have not been previously reported for these systems. The δ13C s

In the last few years, several reassortant subtypes of highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAI H5Nx) have emerged in East Asia. These new viruses, mostly of subtype H5N1, H5N2, H5N6, and H5N8 belonging to clade 2.3.4.4, have been found in several Asian countries and have caused outbreaks in poultry in China, South Korea, and Vietnam. HPAI H5Nx also have spread over considerable distances w

Populations of migratory birds present unique conservation challenges given the often vast distances separating critical resources throughout the annual cycle. Migration areas close to the breeding grounds represent a link between two key stages of the annual cycle, and understanding migration ecology as birds exit the breeding grounds may be particularly informative for successful conservation. W