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Reply to: Terry, J. and Goff, J. comment on “Late Cenozoic sea level and the rise of modern rimmed atolls” by Toomey et al. (2016), Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 4 51: 73–83.

We appreciate Terry and Goff's thoughtful comment in response to our proposed atoll development model. Flank collapse of reef-built slopes likely does affect plan-form atoll morphology in some locations and potentially poses a tsunami hazard to low-lying Pacific islands (Terry and Goff, 2013). However, given the often rapid rates of lagoon infill (> 1 mm/yr; Montaggioni, 2005), such failure events
Authors
Michael Toomey, Andrew Ashton, Maureen E. Raymo, J. Taylor Perron

In-well time-of-travel approach to evaluate optimal purge duration during low-flow sampling of monitoring wells

A common assumption with groundwater sampling is that low (<0.5 L/min) pumping rates during well purging and sampling captures primarily lateral flow from the formation through the well-screened interval at a depth coincident with the pump intake. However, if the intake is adjacent to a low hydraulic conductivity part of the screened formation, this scenario will induce vertical groundwater flow t
Authors
Philip T. Harte

Potential concerns with analytical Methods Used for the detection of Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans from archived DNA of amphibian swab samples, Oregon, USA

Taxonomic identification of pollen has historically been accomplished via light microscopy but requires specialized knowledge and reference collections, particularly when identification to lower taxonomic levels is necessary. Recently, next-generation sequencing technology has been used as a cost-effective alternative for identifying bee-collected pollen; however, this novel approach has not been
Authors
Deborah D. Iwanowicz, William B. Schill, Deanna H. Olson, M. J. Adams, Christine L. Densmore, Robert S. Cornman, Cynthia R. Adams, Chester Figiel, Chauncey W. Anderson, Andrew R Blaustein, Tara Chestnut

Trends in the quality of water in New Jersey streams, water years 1971–2011

In a study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the Delaware River Basin Commission, trend tests were conducted on selected water-quality characteristics measured at stations on streams in New Jersey during selected periods over water years 1971‒2011. Tests were conducted on 3 nutrients (total nitrogen, filtered nitra
Authors
R. Edward Hickman, Robert M. Hirsch

Analysis of trends of water quality and streamflow in the Blackstone, Branch, Pawtuxet, and Pawcatuck Rivers, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, 1979 to 2015

Trends in long-term water-quality and streamflow data from six water-quality-monitoring stations within three major river basins in Massachusetts and Rhode Island that flow into Narragansett Bay and Little Narragansett Bay were evaluated for water years 1979–2015. In this study, conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, the
Authors
Jennifer G. Savoie, John R. Mullaney, Gardner C. Bent

Evaluation of nutria (Myocastor coypus) detection methods in Maryland, USA

Nutria (Myocaster coypus), invasive, semi-aquatic rodents native to South America, were introduced into Maryland near Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge (BNWR) in 1943. Irruptive population growth, expansion, and destructive feeding habits resulted in the destruction of thousands of acres of emergent marshes at and surrounding BNWR. In 2002, a partnership of federal, state and private entities in
Authors
Margaret A. Pepper, Valentine Herrmann, James E. Hines, James D. Nichols, Stephen R Kendrot

Nonlethal laparoscopic detection of intersex (testicular oocytes) in largemouthbass (Micropterus salmoides) and smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu)

Intersex in wild fish populations has received considerable attention in the scientific literature and public media. Conventional detection of testicular oocytes (TO), the presence of immature oocytes within testis of male fish, employs transverse sectioning of excised testis and is lethal. This present study used a non-lethal laparoscopic technique to collect biopsies of testis from black bass, e
Authors
Vicki S. Blazer, Alexander H Macleod, Mark A Matsche, Lance T Yonkos

Modeled ecohydrological responses to climate change at seven small watersheds in the northeastern United States

A cross-site analysis was conducted on seven diverse, forested watersheds in the northeastern United States to evaluate hydrological responses (evapotranspiration, soil moisture, seasonal and annual streamflow, and water stress) to projections of future climate. We used output from four atmosphere–ocean general circulation models (AOGCMs; CCSM4, HadGEM2-CC, MIROC5, and MRI-CGCM3) included in Phase
Authors
Afshin Pourmokhtarian, Charles T. Driscoll, John L. Campbell, Katharine Hayhoe, Anne M. K. Stoner, Mary Beth Adams, Douglas A. Burns, Ivan Fernandez, Myron J. Mitchell, James B. Shanley

Quaternary displacement rates on the Meeman‐Shelby fault and Joiner ridge horst, eastern Arkansas: Results from coring Mississippi River alluvium

This research used coring and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of displaced, deeply buried Quaternary alluvium to determine vertical displacement rates for the Meeman‐Shelby fault and the Joiner ridge horst, two structures in northeastern Arkansas that have no modern seismicity associated with them. We drilled continuous cores of the entire alluvial section in the hanging wall of eac
Authors
Alex Ward, Ronald C. Counts, Roy Van Arsdale, Daniel Larsen, Shannon A. Mahan

Multi-year microbial source tracking study characterizing fecal contamination in an urban watershed

Microbiological and hydrological data were used to rank tributary stream contributions of bacteria to the Little Blue River in Independence, Missouri. Concentrations, loadings and yields of E. coli and microbial source tracking (MST) markers, were characterized during base flow and storm events in five subbasins within Independence, as well as sources entering and leaving the city through the rive

Authors
Rebecca N. Bushon, Amie M.G. Brady, Eric D. Christensen, Erin A. Stelzer

Confirmation of the southwest continuation of the Cat Square terrane, southern Appalachian Inner Piedmont, with implications for middle Paleozoic collisional orogenesis

Detailed geologic mapping, U-Pb zircon geochronology and whole-rock geochemical analyses were conducted to test the hypothesis that the southwestern extent of the Cat Square terrane continues from the northern Inner Piedmont (western Carolinas) into central Georgia. Geologic mapping revealed the Jackson Lake fault, a ∼15 m-thick, steeply dipping sillimanite-grade fault zone that truncates litholog
Authors
Matthew T. Huebner, Robert D. Hatcher, Arthur J. Merschat