Publications
These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.
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Mineral Resource of the Month: Niobium
Niobium, also called columbium, is a transition metal with a very high melting point. It is in greatest demand in industrialized countries, like the United States, because of its defense-related uses in the aerospace, energy and transportation industries. Niobium is used mostly to make high-strength, low-alloy (HSLA) steel and stainless steel. HSLA steels are used in large-diameter pipes for oil a
Authors
John F. Papp
Calibration of a conodont apatite-based Ordovician 87Sr/86Sr curve to biostratigraphy and geochronology: Implications for stratigraphic resolution
The Ordovician 87Sr/86Sr isotope seawater curve is well established and shows a decreasing trend until the mid-Katian. However, uncertainties in calibration of this curve to biostratigraphy and geochronology have made it difficult to determine how the rates of 87Sr/86Sr decrease may have varied, which has implications for both the stratigraphic resolution possible using Sr isotope stratigraphy and
Authors
M. R. Saltzman, C. T. Edwards, S. A. Leslie, Gary S. Dwyer, J. A. Bauer, John E. Repetski, A. G. Harris, S. M. Bergstrom
Regional regression equations for the estimation of selected monthly low-flow duration and frequency statistics at ungaged sites on streams in New Jersey
Regional regression equations were developed for estimating monthly flow-duration and monthly low-flow frequency statistics for ungaged streams in Coastal Plain and non-coastal regions of New Jersey for baseline and current land- and water-use conditions. The equations were developed to estimate 87 different streamflow statistics, which include the monthly 99-, 90-, 85-, 75-, 50-, and 25-percentil
Authors
Kara M. Watson, Amy R. McHugh
Air-sea interactions during strong winter extratropical storms
A high-resolution, regional coupled atmosphere–ocean model is used to investigate strong air–sea interactions during a rapidly developing extratropical cyclone (ETC) off the east coast of the USA. In this two-way coupled system, surface momentum and heat fluxes derived from the Weather Research and Forecasting model and sea surface temperature (SST) from the Regional Ocean Modeling System are exch
Authors
Jill Nelson, Ruoying He, John C. Warner, John Bane
Can they dig it? Functional morphology and semifossoriality among small-eared shrews, genus Cryptotis (Mammalia, Soricidae)
Small-eared shrews (Mammalia: Soricidae: Cryptotis), exhibit modifications of the forelimb skeleton that have been interpreted as adaptations for semifossoriality. Most species inhabit remote regions, however, and their locomotory and foraging behaviors remain mostly speculative. To better understand the morphological modifications in the absence of direct observations, we quantified variation in
Authors
Neal Woodman, Sarah A. Gaffney
Correlations of daily flows at streamgages in and near West Virginia, 1930-2011, and streamflow characteristics relevant to the use of index streamgages
Correlation of flows at pairs of streamgages were evaluated using a Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient to better identify gages that can be used as index gages to estimate daily flow at ungaged stream sites in West Virginia. Much of West Virginia (77 percent) is within areas where Spearman’s rho for daily streamflow between streamgages on unregulated streams (unregulated streamgages) is greate
Authors
Terence Messinger, Katherine S. Paybins
Inundation of a barrier island (Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana, USA) during a hurricane: Observed water-level gradients and modeled seaward sand transport
Large geomorphic changes to barrier islands may occur during inundation, when storm surge exceeds island elevation. Inundation occurs episodically and under energetic conditions that make quantitative observations difficult. We measured water levels on both sides of a barrier island in the northern Chandeleur Islands during inundation by Hurricane Isaac. Wind patterns caused the water levels to sl
Authors
Christopher R. Sherwood, Joseph W. Long, Patrick Dickhudt, P. Soupy Dalyander, David M. Thompson, Nathaniel G. Plant
High-resolution swath interferometric data collected within Muskeget Channel, Massachusetts
Swath interferometric bathymetery data were collected within and around Muskeget Channel and along select nearshore areas south and east of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. Data were collected aboard the U.S. Geological Survey research vessel Rafael in October and November 2010 in a collaborative effort between the U.S. Geological Survey and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. This report d
Authors
Elizabeth A. Pendleton, Jane F. Denny, William W. Danforth, Wayne E. Baldwin, Barry J. Irwin
A comprehensive population dataset for Afghanistan constructed using GIS-based dasymetric mapping methods
This report summarizes the application of dasymetric methods for mapping the distribution of population throughout Afghanistan. Because Afghanistan's population has constantly changed through decades of war and conflict, existing vector and raster GIS datasets (such as point settlement densities and intensities of lights at night) do not adequately reflect the changes. The purposes of this report
Authors
Allyson L. Thompson, Bernard E. Hubbard
Estimation of flood discharges at selected annual exceedance probabilities for unregulated, rural streams in Vermont, with a section on Vermont regional skew regression
This report provides estimates of flood discharges at selected annual exceedance probabilities (AEPs) for streamgages in and adjacent to Vermont and equations for estimating flood discharges at AEPs of 50-, 20-, 10-, 4-, 2-, 1-, 0.5-, and 0.2-percent (recurrence intervals of 2-, 5-, 10-, 25-, 50-, 100-, 200-, and 500-years, respectively) for ungaged, unregulated, rural streams in Vermont. The equa
Authors
Scott A. Olson, Andrea G. with a section by Veilleux