Publications
These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.
Filter Total Items: 16780
Biological response to climate change in the Arctic Ocean: The view from the past
The Arctic Ocean is undergoing rapid climatic changes including higher ocean temperatures, reduced sea ice, glacier and Greenland Ice Sheet melting, greater marine productivity, and altered carbon cycling. Until recently, the relationship between climate and Arctic biological systems was poorly known, but this has changed substantially as advances in paleoclimatology, micropaleontology, vertebrate
Authors
Thomas M. Cronin, Matthew A. Cronin
Time within reproductive season, but not age or inbreeding coefficient, influences seminal and sperm quality in the whooping crane (Grus americana)
All living whooping cranes (Grus americana) are descended from 16 or fewer birds that remained alive in the early 1940s, a bottleneck that puts the species at potential risk for inbreeding depression. Although AI is commonly used in the management of the captive population of this species, little is known about seminal traits or factors affecting sperm quality in the whooping crane. In the present
Authors
M.E. Brown, Sarah J. Converse, Jane N. Chandler, A. L. Crosier, W. Lynch, D.E. Wildt, C. L. Keefer, Nucharin Songsasen
Use of modflow drain package for simulating inter-basin transfer in abandoned coal mines
Simulation of groundwater flow in abandoned mines is difficult, especially where flux to and from mines is unknown or poorly quantified, and inter-basin transfer of groundwater occurs. A 3-year study was conducted in the Elkhorn area, West Virginia to better understand groundwater-flow processes and inter-basin transfer in above drainage abandoned coal mines. The study area was specifically select
Authors
Mark D. Kozar, Kurt J. McCoy
Hydrogeology, groundwater flow, and groundwater quality of an abandoned underground coal-mine aquifer, Elkhorn Area, West Virginia
The Pocahontas No. 3 coal seam in southern West Virginia has been extensively mined by underground methods since the 1880’s. An extensive network of abandoned mine entries in the Pocahontas No. 3 has since filled with good-quality water, which is pumped from wells or springs discharging from mine portals (adits), and used as a source of water for public supplies. This report presents results of a
Authors
Mark D. Kozar, Kurt J. McCoy, James Q. Britton, B.M. Blake
Volume change associated with formation and dissociation of hydrate in sediment
Gas hydrate formation and dissociation in sediments are accompanied by changes in the bulk volume of the sediment and can lead to changes in sediment properties, loss of integrity for boreholes, and possibly regional subsidence of the ground surface over areas where methane might be produced from gas hydrate in the future. Experiments on sand, silts, and clay subject to different effective stress
Authors
Carolyn D. Ruppel, J. Y. Lee, J. Carlos Santamarina
Overview of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission collaborative research program to assess tsunami hazard for nuclear power plants on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts
In response to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, the United States
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (US NRC) initiated a long-term research
program to improve understanding of tsunami hazard levels for nuclear
facilities in the United States. For this effort, the US NRC organized
a collaborative research program with the United States Geological
Survey (USGS) and the National Oceanic and Atmosphe
Authors
A.M. Kammerer, Uri S. ten Brink, V.V. Titov
Emulation of long-term changes in global climate: application to the late Pliocene and future
Multi-millennial transient simulations of climate changes have a range of important applications, such as for investigating key geologic events and transitions for which high-resolution palaeoenvironmental proxy data are available, or for projecting the long-term impacts of future climate evolution on the performance of geological repositories for the disposal of radioactive wastes. However, due t
Authors
Natalie S. Lord, Michel Crucifix, Daniel J. Lunt, Mike C. Thorne, Nabila Bounceur, Harry J. Dowsett, Charlotte L. O'Brien, A. Ridgwell
Assessing the impacts of future climate conditions on the effectiveness of winter cover crops in reducing nitrate loads into the Chesapeake Bay Watershed using SWAT model
Winter cover crops (WCCs) have been widely implemented in the Coastal Plain of the Chesapeake Bay watershed (CBW) due to their high effectiveness at reducing nitrate loads. However, future climate conditions (FCCs) are expected to exacerbate water quality degradation in the CBW by increasing nitrate loads from agriculture. Accordingly, the question remains whether WCCs are sufficient to mitigate
Authors
Sangchul Lee, Ali M. Sadeghi, In-Young Yeo, Gregory W. McCarty, W. Dean Hively
Geologic map of the Washington West 30’ × 60’ quadrangle, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C.
The Washington West 30’ × 60’ quadrangle covers an area of approximately 4,884 square kilometers (1,343 square miles) in and west of the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The eastern part of the area is highly urbanized, and more rural areas to the west are rapidly being developed. The area lies entirely within the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin and mostly within the Potomac River watershed. It
Authors
Peter T. Lyttle, John N. Aleinikoff, William C. Burton, E. Allen Crider, Avery A. Drake, Albert J. Froelich, J. Wright Horton, Gregorios Kasselas, Robert B. Mixon, Lucy McCartan, Arthur E. Nelson, Wayne L. Newell, Louis Pavlides, David S. Powars, C. Scott Southworth, Robert E. Weems
Spatio-temporal development of vegetation die-off in a submerging coastal marsh
In several places around the world, coastal marsh vegetation is converting to open water through the formation of pools. This is concerning, as vegetation die-off is expected to reduce the marshes' capacity to adapt to sea level rise by vegetation-induced sediment accretion. Quantitative analyses of the spatial and temporal development of marsh vegetation die-off are scarce, although these are nee
Authors
Lennert Schepers, Matthew Kirwan, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Stijn Temmerman
Geology and biostratigraphy of the Potomac River cliffs at Stratford Hall, Westmoreland County, Virginia
The cliffs along the Potomac River at Stratford Hall display extensive exposures of Miocene marine strata that belong successively to the Calvert, Choptank, St. Marys, and Eastover Formations. Within the lower part of this sequence, in the Calvert and Choptank Formations, there is well-developed cyclic stratigraphy. Above the Miocene units lies the marginal marine to deltaic Pleistocene Bacons Cas
Authors
Robert E. Weems, Lucy E. Edwards, Bryan D. Landacre
Post-rift magmatic evolution of the eastern North American “passive-aggressive” margin
Understanding the evolution of passive margins requires knowledge of temporal and chemical constraints on magmatism following the transition from supercontinent to rifting, to post-rifting evolution. The Eastern North American Margin (ENAM) is an ideal study location as several magmatic pulses occurred in the 200 My following rifting. In particular, the Virginia-West Virginia region of the ENAM ha
Authors
Sarah E. Mazza, Esteban Gazel, Elizabeth A. Johnson, Michael Bizmis, Ryan J. McAleer, C. Berk Biryol