Publications
These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.
Filter Total Items: 16780
Potash: a global overview of evaporate-related potash resources, including spatial databases of deposits, occurrences, and permissive tracts
Potash is mined worldwide to provide potassium, an essential nutrient for food crops. Evaporite-hosted potash deposits are the largest source of salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form, including potassium chloride, potassium-magnesium chloride, potassium sulfate, and potassium nitrate. Thick sections of evaporitic salt that form laterally continuous strata in sedimentary evaporite basi
Authors
Greta J. Orris, Mark D. Cocker, Pamela Dunlap, Jeff C. Wynn, Gregory T. Spanski, Deborah A. Briggs, Leila Gass, James D. Bliss, Karen S. Bolm, Chao Yang, Bruce R. Lipin, Stephen Ludington, Robert J. Miller, Mirosław Słowakiewicz
Acute survivorship of the deep-sea coral Lophelia pertusa from the Gulf of Mexico under acidification, warming, and deoxygenation
Changing global climate due to anthropogenic emissions of CO2 are driving rapid changes in the physical and chemical environment of the oceans via warming, deoxygenation, and acidification. These changes may threaten the persistence of species and populations across a range of latitudes and depths, including species that support diverse biological communities that in turn provide ecological stabil
Authors
Jay J. Lunden, Conall G. McNicholl, Christopher R. Sears, Cheryl L. Morrison, Erik E. Cordes
Maps showing bathymetry and modern sediment thickness on the inner continental shelf offshore of Fire Island, New York, pre-Hurricane Sandy
The U.S. Geological Survey mapped approximately 336 square kilometers of the lower shoreface and inner continental shelf offshore of Fire Island, New York, in 2011 by using interferometric sonar and high-resolution chirp seismic-reflection systems. This report presents maps of bathymetry, acoustic backscatter, the coastal plain unconformity, the Holocene marine transgressive surface, and modern se
Authors
William C. Schwab, Jane F. Denny, Wayne E. Baldwin
Methods for estimating drought streamflow probabilities for Virginia streams
Maximum likelihood logistic regression model equations used to estimate drought flow probabilities for Virginia streams are presented for 259 hydrologic basins in Virginia. Winter streamflows were used to estimate the likelihood of streamflows during the subsequent drought-prone summer months. The maximum likelihood logistic regression models identify probable streamflows from 5 to 8 months in adv
Authors
Samuel H. Austin
Inner-shelf circulation and sediment dynamics on a series of shoreface connected ridges offshore of Fire Island, NY
Locations along the inner-continental shelf offshore of Fire Island, NY, are characterized by a series of shoreface-connected ridges (SFCRs). These sand ridges have approximate dimensions of 10 km in length, 3 km spacing, and up to ∼8 m ridge to trough relief and are oriented obliquely at approximately 30° clockwise from the coastline. Stability analysis from previous studies explains how sand rid
Authors
John C. Warner, Jeffrey H. List, William C. Schwab, George Voulgaris, Brandy N. Armstrong, N Marshall
Mineral resource of the month: Mica
The mica mineral group includes 34 phyllosilicate minerals, all with a layered, platy texture. The mineral has been known for millennia: Mica was first mined in India about 4,000 years ago, where it was used primarily in medicines. The Mayans used it for decorative effect in stucco to make their temples sparkle in the sun. Today it is used in everything from electrical products to makeup.
Authors
Jason C. Willett
Widespread gas hydrate instability on the upper U.S. Beaufort margin
The most climate-sensitive methane hydrate deposits occur on upper continental slopes at depths close to the minimum pressure and maximum temperature for gas hydrate stability. At these water depths, small perturbations in intermediate ocean water temperatures can lead to gas hydrate dissociation. The Arctic Ocean has experienced more dramatic warming than lower latitudes, but observational data h
Authors
Benjamin J. Phrampus, Matthew J. Hornbach, Carolyn D. Ruppel, Patrick E. Hart
Comparison of the physical and geotechnical properties of gas-hydrate-bearing sediments from offshore India and other gas-hydrate-reservoir systems
The sediment characteristics of hydrate-bearing reservoirs profoundly affect the formation, distribution, and morphology of gas hydrate. The presence and type of gas, porewater chemistry, fluid migration, and subbottom temperature may govern the hydrate formation process, but it is the host sediment that commonly dictates final hydrate habit, and whether hydrate may be economically developed.In th
Authors
William J. Winters, R.W. Wilcox-Cline, P. Long, S.K. Dewri, P. Kumar, Laura A. Stern, Laura A. Kerr
The role of citizen science in bird conservation: The Christmas Bird Count and Breeding Bird Survey
Many birders in the United States, Canada, and Mexico are critical participants in bird monitoring and conservation activities. This linkage between recreational birders and avian conservation surveys is not new. It was established long before the internet and long before any fast communication facilitated the connection of birders to scientists. It started because a few key individuals realized t
Authors
John R. Sauer, Gregory S. Butcher
Estimating true instead of apparent survival using spatial Cormack-Jolly-Seber models
Survival is often estimated from capture–recapture data using Cormack–Jolly–Seber (CJS) models, where mortality and emigration cannot be distinguished, and the estimated apparent survival probability is the product of the probabilities of true survival and of study area fidelity. Consequently, apparent survival is lower than true survival unless study area fidelity equals one. Underestimation of
Authors
Michael Schaub, J. Andrew Royle
Potential reduction in terrestrial salamander ranges associated with Marcellus shale development
Natural gas production from the Marcellus shale is rapidly increasing in the northeastern United States. Most of the endemic terrestrial salamander species in the region are classified as ‘globally secure’ by the IUCN, primarily because much of their ranges include state- and federally protected lands, which have been presumed to be free from habitat loss. However, the proposed and ongoing develop
Authors
Adrianne B. Brand, Amber N. M. Wiewel, Evan H. Campbell Grant
How much is new information worth? Evaluating the financial benefit of resolving management uncertainty
Conservation decision-makers face a trade-off between spending limited funds on direct management action, or gaining new information in an attempt to improve management performance in the future. Value-of-information analysis can help to resolve this trade-off by evaluating how much management performance could improve if new information was gained. Value-of-information analysis has been used e
Authors
Sean L. Maxwell, Jonathan R. Rhodes, Michael C. Runge, Hugh P. Possingham, Chooi Fei Ng, Eve McDonald Madden