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Streamflow, water quality, and constituent loads and yields, Scituate Reservoir drainage area, Rhode Island, water year 2013

Streamflow and concentrations of sodium and chloride estimated from records of specific conductance were used to calculate loads of sodium and chloride during water year (WY) 2013 (October 1, 2012, through September 30, 2013) for tributaries to the Scituate Reservoir, Rhode Island. Streamflow and water-quality data used in the study were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) or the Provid
Authors
Kirk P. Smith

Synthesis on Quaternary aeolian research in the unglaciated eastern United States

Late-middle and late Pleistocene, and Holocene, inland aeolian sand and loess blanket >90,000 km2 of the unglaciated eastern United States of America (USA). Deposits are most extensive in the Lower Mississippi Valley (LMV) and Atlantic Coastal Plain (ACP), areas presently lacking significant aeolian activity. They provide evidence of paleoclimate intervals when wind erosion and deposition were dom
Authors
Helaine W. Markewich, Ronald J. Litwin, Douglas A. Wysocki, Milan J. Pavich

Decadal re-evaluation of contaminant exposure and productivity of ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) nesting in Chesapeake Bay Regions of Concern

The last large-scale ecotoxicological study of ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) in Chesapeake Bay was conducted in 2000-2001 and focused on U.S. EPA-designated Regions of Concern (ROCs; Baltimore Harbor/Patapsco, Anacostia/middle Potomac, and Elizabeth Rivers). In 2011-2012, ROCs were re-evaluated to determine spatial and temporal trends in productivity and contaminants. Concentrations of p,p'-DDE were
Authors
Rebecca S. Lazarus, Barnett A. Rattner, Peter C. McGowan, Robert C. Hale, Sandra L. Schultz, Natalie K. Karouna-Renier, Mary Ann Ottinger

Computational fluid dynamics-habitat suitability index (CFD-HSI) modelling as an exploratory tool for assessing passability of riverine migratory challenge zones for fish

We developed two-dimensional computational fluid hydraulics-habitat suitability index (CFD-HSI) models to identify and qualitatively assess potential zones of shallow water depth and high water velocity that may present passage challenges for five major anadromous fish species in a 2.63-km reach of the main stem Penobscot River, Maine, as a result of a dam removal downstream of the reach. Suitabil
Authors
Alexander J. Haro, Michael Chelminski, Robert W. Dudley

Exploration review

This summary of international mineral exploration activities for the year 2014 draws upon information from industry sources, published literature, and specialists in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Minerals Information Center.  The summary provides data on exploration budgets by region and mineral commodity, identifies significant mineral discoveries and areas of mineral exploration, di
Authors
David R. Wilburn, Karyn A. Stanley, Nick A Karl

An evaluation of the residual toxicity and chemistry of a sodium hydroxide-based ballast water treatment system for freshwater ships

Nonnative organisms in the ballast water of freshwater ships must be killed to prevent the spread of invasive species. The ideal ballast water treatment system (BWTS) would kill 100% of ballast water organisms with minimal residual toxicity to organisms in receiving waters. In the present study, the residual toxicity and chemistry of a BWTS was evaluated. Sodium hydroxide was added to elevate pH t
Authors
Adria Elskus, Christopher G. Ingersoll, Nile E. Kemble, Kathy R. Echols, William G. Brumbaugh, Jeffrey W. Henquinet, Barnaby J. Watten

Applied Geochemistry Special Issue on Environmental geochemistry of modern mining

Environmental geochemistry is an integral part of the mine-life cycle, particularly for modern mining. The critical importance of environmental geochemistry begins with pre-mining baseline characterization and the assessment of environmental risks related to mining, continues through active mining especially in water and waste management practices, and culminates in mine closure. The enhanced sign
Authors
Robert R. Seal, D. Kirk Nordstrom

A new species of Cryptotis (Mammalia, Eulipotyphla, Soricidae) from the Sierra de Perijá, Venezuelan-Colombian Andes

The Sierra de Perijá is the northern extension of the Cordillera Oriental of the Andes and includes part of the border between Colombia and Venezuela. The population of small-eared shrews (Mammalia, Eulipotyphla, Soricidae, Cryptotis) inhabiting the Sierra de Perijá previously was known from only a single skull from an individual collected in Colombia in 1989. This specimen had been referred to al
Authors
Marcial Quiroga-Carmona, Neal Woodman

Hydrology: The interdisciplinary science of water

We live in a world where biophysical and social processes are tightly coupled. Hydrologic systems change in response to a variety of natural and human forces such as climate variability and change, water use and water infrastructure, and land cover change. In turn, changes in hydrologic systems impact socioeconomic, ecological, and climate systems at a number of scales, leading to a coevolution of
Authors
Richard M. Vogel, Upmanu Lall, Ximing Cai, Balaji Rajagopalan, Peter K. Weiskel, Richard P. Hooper, Nicholas C. Matalas

Depositional conditions for the Kuna Formation, Red Dog Zn-PB-Ag-Barite District, Alaska, inferred from isotopic and chemical proxies

Water column redox conditions, degree of restriction of the depositional basin, and other paleoenvironmental parameters have been determined for the Mississippian Kuna Formation of northwestern Alaska from stratigraphic profiles of Mo, Fe/Al, and S isotopes in pyrite, C isotopes in organic matter, and N isotopes in bulk rock. This unit is important because it hosts the Red Dog and Anarraaq Zn-Pb-A
Authors
Craig A. Johnson, Julie A. Dumoulin, Robert A. Burruss, John F. Slack

Functional skeletal morphology and its implications for locomotory behavior among three genera of myosoricine shrews (Mammalia: Eulipotyphla: Soricidae)

Myosoricinae is a small clade of shrews (Mammalia, Eulipotyphla, Soricidae) that is currently restricted to the African continent. Individual species have limited distributions that are often associated with higher elevations. Although the majority of species in the subfamily are considered ambulatory in their locomotory behavior, species of the myosoricine genus Surdisorex are known to be semifos
Authors
Neal Woodman, Frank A. Stabile

Performance of species occurrence estimators when basic assumptions are not met: a test using field data where true occupancy status is known

Populations are rarely censused. Instead, observations are subject to incomplete detection, misclassification and detection heterogeneity that result from human and environmental constraints. Though numerous methods have been developed to deal with observational uncertainty, validation under field conditions is rare because truth is rarely known in these cases. We present the most comprehensive t
Authors
David A. W. Miller, Larissa L. Bailey, Evan H. Campbell Grant, Brett T. McClintock, Linda A. Weir, Theodore R. Simons