Publications
These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.
Filter Total Items: 16779
Assessment of water quality and discharge in the Herring River, Wellfleet, Massachusetts, November 2015 to September 2017
The U.S. Geological Survey, Cape Cod National Seashore of the National Park Service, and Friends of Herring River cooperated from 2015 to 2017 to assess nutrient concentrations and fluxes across the ocean-estuary boundary at a dike on the Herring River in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. The purpose of this assessment was to characterize environmental conditions prior to a future removal of the dike, whi
Authors
Thomas G. Huntington, Alana B. Spaetzel, John A. Colman, Kevin D. Kroeger, Robert T. Bradley
Genetic structure of Maryland Brook Trout populations: Management implications for a threatened species
Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis have declined across their native range due to multiple anthropogenic factors, including landscape alteration and climate change. Although coldwater streams in Maryland (eastern United States) historically supported significant Brook Trout populations, only fragmented remnant populations remain, with the exception of the upper Savage River watershed in western Mar
Authors
Raymond P. Morgan II, David C. Kazyak, Tim L. King, Barbara A. Lubinski, Matthew T. Sell, Alan A Heft, Jess W Jones
Assessing gas leakage potential into coal mines from shale gas well failures: Inference from field determination of strata permeability responses to longwall-induced deformations
This paper summarizes the changes in permeability at three boreholes located above an abutment pillar at a longwall coal mine in southwestern Pennsylvania. The motivation of this study was to better characterize the potential interaction between shale gas wells and the mine environment, through measurement of permeability changes in the coal mine overburden caused by mining-induced deformations. M
Authors
Eric Watkins, C. Özgen Karacan, Vasu Gangrade, Steven Schatzel
Simulation of groundwater flow in the aquifer system of the Anacostia River and surrounding watersheds, Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the District Department of Energy & Environment, Water Quality Division, is investigating the hydrogeology of the tidal Anacostia River watershed within Washington, D.C., with the goal of improving understanding of the groundwater-flow system and the interaction of groundwater and surface water in the watershed. To help meet this goal, a three-dimens
Authors
Jeff P. Raffensperger, Lois M. Voronin, Cheryl A. Dieter
Organic geochemistry and petrology of Devonian shale in eastern Ohio: Implications for petroleum systems assessment
Recent production of light sweet oil has prompted reevaluation of Devonian petroleum systems in the central Appalachian Basin. Upper Devonian Ohio Shale (lower Huron Member) and Middle Devonian Marcellus Shale organic-rich source rocks from eastern Ohio and nearby areas were examined using organic petrography and geochemical analysis of solvent extracts to test ideas related to organic matter sour
Authors
Paul C. Hackley, Robert T. Ryder
Organic petrology and geochemistry of the Sunbury and Ohio Shales in eastern Kentucky and southeastern Ohio
As part of a study to determine the origin of oil and gas in the Berea Sandstone in northeastern Kentucky and southeastern Ohio, 158 samples of organic-rich shale from the Upper Devonian Olentangy and Ohio Shales and the Lower Mississippian Sunbury Shale, collectively referred to as the “black shale,” were collected and analyzed from 12 cores. The samples were analyzed for total organic carbon (TO
Authors
Cortland F. Eble, Paul C. Hackley, Thomas M. Parris, Stephen F. Greb
Oil–source correlation studies in the shallow Berea Sandstone petroleum system, eastern Kentucky
Shallow production of sweet high-gravity oil from the Upper Devonian Berea Sandstone in northeastern Kentucky has caused the region to become the leading oil producer in the state. Potential nearby source rocks, namely, the overlying Mississippian Sunbury Shale and underlying Ohio Shale, are immature for commercial oil generation according to vitrinite reflectance and programmed pyrolysis analyses
Authors
Paul C. Hackley, T.M. Parris, C. F. Eble, S. F. Greb, D.C. Harris
Public and private tapwater: Comparative analysis of contaminant exposure and potential risk, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA
BackgroundHumans are primary drivers of environmental contamination worldwide, including in drinking-water resources. In the United States (US), federal and state agencies regulate and monitor public-supply drinking water while private-supply monitoring is rare; the current lack of directly comparable information on contaminant-mixture exposures and risks between private- and public-supplies under
Authors
Paul M. Bradley, Denis R. LeBlanc, Kristin M. Romanok, Kelly Smalling, Michael J. Focazio, Mary C. Cardon, Jimmy Clark, Justin M. Conley, Nicola Evans, Carrie E Givens, James L. Gray, L. Earl Gray, Phillip C. Hartig, Christopher P. Higgins, Michelle Hladik, Luke R. Iwanowicz, Keith Loftin, R. Blaine McCleskey, Carrie A. McDonough, Elizabeth Medlock-Kakaley, Christopher P. Weis, Vickie S. Wilson
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Contaminant Biology, Environmental Health Program, Toxic Substances Hydrology, California Water Science Center, Eastern Ecological Science Center, New England Water Science Center, New Jersey Water Science Center, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC), Upper Midwest Water Science Center, National Water Quality Laboratory
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in New Hampshire soils and biosolids
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, is undertaking a study on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in soils and biosolids. The study will characterize PFAS concentrations in shallow soil and selected biosolids throughout the State of New Hampshire, conduct laboratory experiments to improve understanding of how mobile PFAS ar
Authors
Andrea K. Tokranov, Kate Emma A. Schlosser, Jeffrey M. Marts, Anthony F. Drouin, Leah M. Santangelo, Sydney M. Welch
Mixed evidence for biotic homogenization of southern Appalachian fish communities
Anthropogenic impacts on the landscape can drive biotic homogenization, whereby distinct biological communities become more similar to one another over time. Land-use change in the Southern Appalachian region is expected to result in homogenization of the highly diverse freshwater fish communities as in-stream habitat alterations favor widespread cosmopolitan species at the expense of more narrowl
Authors
Kelly N. Petersen, Mary Freeman, Joseph E. Kirsch, William O McLarney, Mark C Scott, Seth J. Wenger
Genome sequences of 26 white sucker hepatitis B virus isolates from white sucker, catostomus commersonii, inhabiting transboundary waters from Alberta, Canada, to the Great Lakes, USA
We report 26 genomes of the white sucker hepatitis B virus (WSHBV) from the white sucker, Catostomus commersonii. Genome length ranged from 3541 to 3543 bp and nucleotide identity was 96.7% or greater across genomes. This work suggests a geographical range of this virus that minimally extends from the Athabasca River, Alberta, Canada to the Great Lakes, USA.
Authors
Cynthia R. Adams, Vicki S. Blazer, Jim Sherry, Robert S. Cornman, Luke R. Iwanowicz
Machine learning models of arsenic in private wells throughout the conterminous United States as a tool for exposure assessment in human health studies
Arsenic from geologic sources is widespread in groundwater within the United States (U.S.). In several areas, groundwater arsenic concentrations exceed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency maximum contaminant level of 10 μg per liter (μg/L). However, this standard applies only to public-supply drinking water and not to private-supply, which is not federally regulated and is rarely monitored. A
Authors
Melissa Lombard, Molly Scannell Bryan, Daniel Jones, Catherine Bulka, Paul M. Bradley, Lorraine C. Backer, Michael J. Focazio, Debra T. Silverman, Patricia Toccalino, Maria Argos, Matthew O. Gribble, Joseph D. Ayotte