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Publications

These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.

Filter Total Items: 16780

Nonequilibrium clumped isotope signals in microbial methane

Methane is a key component in the global carbon cycle with a wide range of anthropogenic and natural sources. Although isotopic compositions of methane have traditionally aided source identification, the abundance of its multiply-substituted “clumped” isotopologues, e.g., 13CH3D, has recently emerged as a proxy for determining methane-formation temperatures; however, the impact of biological proce
Authors
David T. Wang, Danielle S. Gruen, Barbara Sherwood Lollar, Kai-Uwe Hinrichs, Lucy C. Stewart, James F. Holden, Alexander N. Hristov, John W. Pohlman, Penny L. Morrill, Martin Könneke, Kyle B. Delwiche, Eoghan P. Reeves, Chelsea N. Sutcliffe, Daniel J. Ritter, Jeffrey S. Seewald, Jennifer C. McIntosh, Harold F. Hemond, Michael D. Kubo, Dawn Cardace, Tori M. Hoehler, Shuhei Ono

Porewater dynamics of silver, lead and copper in coastal sediments and implications for benthic metal fluxes

To determine the conditions that lead to a diffusive release of dissolved metals from coastal sediments, porewater profiles of Ag, Cu, and Pb have been collected over seven years at two contrasting coastal sites in Massachusetts, USA. The Hingham Bay (HB) site is a contaminated location in Boston Harbor, while the Massachusetts Bay (MB) site is 11 km offshore and less impacted. At both sites, the
Authors
Linda H. Kalnejais, W. R. Martin, Michael H. Bothner

Porphyry copper assessment of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt and eastern Tethysides: China, Mongolia, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and India: Chapter X in Global mineral resource assessment

The U.S. Geological Survey collaborated with international colleagues to assess undiscovered resources in porphyry copper deposits in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt and eastern Tethysides. These areas host 20 known porphyry copper deposits, including the world class Oyu Tolgoi deposit in Mongolia that was discovered in the late 1990s. The study area covers major parts of the world’s largest oroge
Authors
Mark J. Mihalasky, Stephen Ludington, Jane M. Hammarstrom, Dmitriy V. Alexeiev, Thomas P. Frost, Thomas D. Light, Gilpin R. Robinson, Deborah A. Briggs, John C. Wallis, Robert J. Miller, Arthur A. Bookstrom, Andre Panteleyev, Andre Chitalin, Reimar Seltmann, Yan Guangsheng, Lian Changyun, Mao Jingwen, Li Jinyi, Xiao Keyan, Qiu Ruizhao, Shao Jianbao, Shai Gangyi, Du Yuliang

Book review: Analysis of capture–recapture data

Analysis of Capture–Recapture Data by McCrea and Morgan is an excellent, easy to read monograph about capture–recapture models. In this book, the authors provide a concise overview of traditional closed population capture–recapture models (Models M0, Mb, Mh, etc.), individual covariate models, and open population models such as the Cormack–Jolly–Seber, Jolly–Seber models, multi-state models, and m
Authors
Andy Royle

Hydrologic characteristics of low-impact stormwater control measures at two sites in northeastern Ohio, 2008-13

This report updates and examines hydrologic data gathered to characterize the performance of two stormwater-control measure (SCM) sites in the Chagrin River watershed, Ohio. At the Sterncrest Drive site, roadside bioswales and rain gardens were used to alleviate drainage problems in this residential neighborhood area. At the Washington Street site, a treatment train (including a pervious-paver sys
Authors
Robert A. Darner, William D. Shuster, Denise H. Dumouchelle

Assessment of the use of sorbent amendments for reduction of mercury methylation in wetland sediments at Acadia National Park, Maine

Mercury is a contaminant of ecological concern because of its ubiquity and toxicity to fish and wildlife, and is considered a severe and ongoing threat to biota at Acadia National Park in Maine. The formation and biomagnification of methylmercury is the primary concern of resource managers at Acadia, and information is needed to develop strategies for remediation or mitigation of this contaminant.
Authors
Thomas G. Huntington, Ariel Lewis, Aria Amirbahman, Mark C. Marvin-DiPasquale, Charles W. Culbertson

Barite: a case study of import reliance on an essential material for oil and gas exploration and development drilling

Global dependence on a limited number of countries for specific mineral commodities could lead to sudden supply disruptions for the United States, and barite is one such commodity. Analyses of barite supply amounts and sources for the United States are demonstrative of mineral commodities on which the country is import reliant. Mineral commodity trade flows can be analyzed more easily than import
Authors
Donald I. Bleiwas, M. Michael Miller

Nutrient, suspended sediment, and trace element loads in the Blackstone River Basin in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, 2007 to 2009

Nutrients, suspended sediment, and trace element loads in the Blackstone River and selected tributaries were estimated from composite water-quality samples in order to better understand the distribution and sources of these constituents in the river basin. The flow-proportional composite water-quality samples were collected during sequential 2-week periods at six stations along the river’s main st
Authors
Marc J. Zimmerman, Marcus C. Waldron, Leslie A. DeSimone

Data categories for marine planning

The U.S. National Ocean Policy calls for a science- and ecosystem-based approach to comprehensive planning and management of human activities and their impacts on America’s oceans. The Ocean Community in Data.gov is an outcome of 2010–2011 work by an interagency working group charged with designing a national information management system to support ocean planning. Within the working group, a smal
Authors
Frances L. Lightsom, Giancarlo Cicchetti, Charles M. Wahle

Priority pollutants and associated constituents in untreated and treated discharges from coal mining or processing facilities in Pennsylvania, USA

Clean sampling and analysis procedures were used to quantify more than 70 inorganic constituents, including 35 potentially toxic or hazardous constituents, organic carbon, and other characteristics of untreated (influent) and treated (effluent) coal-mine discharges (CMD) at 38 permitted coal-mining or coal-processing facilities in the bituminous coalfield and 4 facilities in the anthracite coalfie
Authors
Charles A. Cravotta, III, Keith B.C. Brady

Chromosomal damage and EROD induction in tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) along the Upper Mississippi River, Minnesota, USA

The health of tree swallows, Tachycineta bicolor, on the Upper Mississippi River (UMR) was assessed in 2010 and 2011 using biomarkers at six sites downriver of Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN metropolitan area, a tributary into the UMR, and a nearby lake. Chromosomal damage was evaluated in nestling blood by measuring the coefficient of variation of DNA content (DNA CV) using flow cytometry. Cytochrome P
Authors
Emilie Bigorgne, Thomas W. Custer, Paul Dummer, Richard A. Erickson, Natalie K. Karouna-Renier, Sandra L. Schultz, Christine M. Custer, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Cole W. Matson

Sea-floor morphology and sedimentary environments in western Block Island Sound, offshore of Fishers Island, New York

Multibeam-bathymetric and sidescan-sonar data, collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in a 114-square-kilometer area of Block Island Sound, southeast of Fishers Island, New York, are combined with sediment samples and bottom photography collected by the U.S. Geological Survey from 36 stations in this area in order to interpret sea-floor features and sedimentary environmen
Authors
Katherine Y. McMullen, Lawrence J. Poppe, William W. Danforth, Dann S. Blackwood, William G. Winner, Castle E. Parker