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Publications

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

Filter Total Items: 16780

An early to mid-Pleistocene deep Arctic Ocean ostracode fauna with North Atlantic affinities

An early to middle Pleistocene ostracode fauna was discovered in sediment core P1-93-AR-23 (P23, 76.95°N, 155.07°W) from 951 meter water depth from the Northwind Ridge, western Arctic Ocean. Piston core P23 yielded more than 30,000 specimens and a total of about 30 species. Several early to mid-Pleistocene species in the genera Krithe,Echinocythereis, Pterygocythereis, and Arcacythere are now exti
Authors
Lauren H. DeNinno, Thomas M. Cronin, J. Rodriquez-Lazaro, Alec R. Brenner

An open-population hierarchical distance sampling model

Modeling population dynamics while accounting for imperfect detection is essential to monitoring programs. Distance sampling allows estimating population size while accounting for imperfect detection, but existing methods do not allow for direct estimation of demographic parameters. We develop a model that uses temporal correlation in abundance arising from underlying population dynamics to estima
Authors
Rachel Sollmann, Beth Gardner, Richard B Chandler, J. Andrew Royle, T Scott Sillett

Mineral Resource of the Month: Antimony

Antimony is a lustrous silvery-white semimetal or metalloid. Archaeological and historical studies indicate that antimony and its mineral sulfides have been used by humans for at least six millennia. The alchemist Basil Valentine is sometimes credited with “discovering” the element; he described the extraction of metallic antimony from stibnite in his treatise “The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony,”
Authors
David E. Guberman

Data Collection and Simulation of Ecological Habitat and Recreational Habitat in the Shenandoah River, Virginia

This report presents updates to methods, describes additional data collected, documents modeling results, and discusses implications from an updated habitat-flow model that can be used to predict ecological habitat for fish and recreational habitat for canoeing on the main stem Shenandoah River in Virginia. Given a 76-percent increase in population predictions for 2040 over 1995 records, increased
Authors
Jennifer L. Krstolic

Origin of Atlantic Sturgeon collected off the Delaware coast during spring months

Atlantic Sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus was federally listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act as five distinct population segments (DPS). Currently, at least 18 estuaries coastwide host spawning populations and the viability of these vary, requiring differing levels of protection. Subadults emigrate from their natal estuaries to marine waters where they are vulnerable to bycatch; on
Authors
Isaac Wirgin, Matthew W. Breece, Dewayne A. Fox, Lorraine Maceda, Kevin W. Wark, Tim L. King

Instrumenting caves to collect hydrologic and geochemical data: case study from James Cave, Virginia

Karst aquifers are productive groundwater systems, supplying approximately 25 % of the world’s drinking water. Sustainable use of this critical water supply requires information about rates of recharge to karst aquifers. The overall goal of this project is to collect long-term, high-resolution hydrologic and geochemical datasets at James Cave, Virginia, to evaluate the quantity and quality of rech
Authors
Madeline E. Schreiber, Benjamin F. Schwartz, William Orndorff, Daniel H. Doctor, Sarah D. Eagle, Jonathan D. Gerst

Areas contributing recharge to production wells and effects of climate change on the groundwater system in the Chipuxet River and Chickasheen Brook Basins, Rhode Island

The Chipuxet River and Chickasheen Brook Basins in southern Rhode Island are an important water resource for public and domestic supply, irrigation, recreation, and aquatic habitat. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Rhode Island Department of Health, began a study in 2012 as part of an effort to protect the source of water to six large-capacity production wells that supply drinki
Authors
Paul J. Friesz, Janet Radway Stone

Evaluation of selected static methods used to estimate element mobility, acid-generating and acid-neutralizing potentials associated with geologically diverse mining wastes

A comparison study of selected static leaching and acid–base accounting (ABA) methods using a mineralogically diverse set of 12 modern-style, metal mine waste samples was undertaken to understand the relative performance of the various tests. To complement this study, in-depth mineralogical studies were conducted in order to elucidate the relationships between sample mineralogy, weathering feature
Authors
Philip L. Hageman, Robert R. Seal, Sharon F. Diehl, Nadine M. Piatak, Heather Lowers

An investigation into the Swan Island Honduras collecting event of Tiaporus fuliginosus Cope (Reptilia: Teiidae) and its systematic status

Confusion exists in the literature concerning the collecting event of the teiid lizard Tiaporus fuliginosus. We investigated the literature and documents stored at the Smithsonian Institution Archives involving the collector of those specimens in an effort to resolve that confusion. We conclude that the type series was collected on the Swan Islands of Honduras by Charles H. Townsend during 1887. W
Authors
James R. McCranie, Steve W. Gotte

Estimated annual agricultural pesticide use for counties of the conterminous United States, 2008-12

Annual county-level pesticide use was estimated for 423 herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides applied to agricultural crops grown in the conterminous United States during 2008–12. For all States except California, pesticide-use data were compiled from proprietary surveys of farm operations located within U.S. Department of Agriculture Crop Reporting Districts (CRDs). Surveyed pesticide-use data
Authors
Nancy T. Baker, Wesley W. Stone

A summary of the benthic-invertebrate and fish-community data from streams in the Indianapolis metropolitan area, Indiana, 1981-2012

Intermittently, during 1981–2012, the U.S. Geological Survey sampled sites in the White River and several tributaries in the Indianapolis metropolitan area of Indiana for benthic invertebrates and fish communities. During 1981–87, one study focused on benthic-invertebrate data collection at three sites along the White River. During 1994–96, 21 sites were sampled for benthic invertebrates; after 19
Authors
David C. Voelker, Aubrey R. Bunch, Edward G. Dobrowolski, Megan E. Shoda

Coastal Change Processes Project data report for observations near Fire Island, New York, January to April 2012

An oceanographic field study during January through April 2012 investigated processes that control the sediment-transport dynamics near Fire Island, New York. This report describes the project background, field program, instrumentation configuration, and locations of the sensors deploymed. The data collected and supporting meteorological observations are presented as time series plots for data vis
Authors
Brandy N. Armstrong, John C. Warner, Jeffrey H. List, Marinna A. Martini, Ellyn T. Montgomery, George Voulgaris, Peter A. Traykovski