Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Book Chapters

Browse more than 5,500 book chapters authored by our scientists over the past 100+ year history of the USGS and refine search by topic, location, year, and advanced search.

Filter Total Items: 6063

Early Paleozoic composite melange terrane, central Appalachian Piedmont, Virginia and Maryland; Its origin and tectonic history

Two distinct types of mélange deposits, distinguished by their matrix, occur within a collage of thrust slices in the Piedmont of the central Appalachians. They crop out in a northeast-trending belt that extends from at least central Virginia northeastward through most of Maryland. One type is a block-in-phyllite mélange that constitutes the Mine Run Complex (new name) of Virginia. It consists of
Authors
Louis Pavlides

Estimating abundance from capture-recapture data

No abstract available.
Authors
Sarah J. Converse, J. Andrew Royle

Introduced species

No abstract available.
Authors
Joseph Mitchell, Robert Reed

Community tools for cartographic and photogrammetric processing of Mars Express HRSC images

In this chapter we describe the software we have developed for photogrammetric processing of images from the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera (MEX HRSC) to produce digital topographic models (DTMs) and orthoimages, as well as testing we have performed. HRSC has returned images, including stereo and color coverage of most of Mars at decameter scales. The instrument team has developed an e
Authors
Randolph L. Kirk, Elpitha Howington-Kraus, Kenneth Edmundson, Bonnie L. Redding, Donna M. Galuszka, Trent M. Hare, K. Gwinner

Quaternary eolian dunes and sand sheets in inland locations of the Atlantic Coastal Plain Province, USA

Quaternary eolian dunes and sand sheets that are stabilized by vegetation are present throughout many inland locations of the Atlantic Coastal Plain province (USA). These locations include river valleys, the Carolina Sandhills region, adjacent to Carolina Bays, and upland areas of the northern coastal plain. The eolian dunes are primarily parabolic in river valleys and in upland areas of the north
Authors
Christopher S. Swezey

An overview of the world’s plovers

Plovers of the genus Charadrius and their close allies are a diverse group, numbering 40 species, many with subspecies. They breed on all continents except Antarctica, in open, sparsely vegetated habitats of tundra and grasslands, and along shores of oceans, rivers, and inland lakes. Most are migratory, especially those breeding in arctic and temperate regions; others are partial migrants or seden
Authors
Mark A Colwell, Susan M. Haig

Soil microbial communities and global change

Soils and soil microbial communities mediate the biogeochemical processes that underly ecosystem-level changes. This chapter examines why soils and soil microbial communities are important for understanding impacts and feedbacks to global change. It discusses the technological approaches and challenges that are at the frontiers of this research area. Global change impacts on microbial communities
Authors
Mark P. Waldrop, Courtney Creamer

Geomorphic controls on hyporheic exchange across scales - Watersheds to particles

We examined the relationship between fluvial geomorphology and hyporheic exchange flows. We use geomorphology as a framework to understand hyporheic processes and how these processes change with location within a stream network, and over time in response to changes in stream discharge and catchment wetness. We focus primarily on hydrostatic and hydrodynamic processes—the processes where linkages t
Authors
Steven Wondzell, Skuyler Herzog, Michael Gooseff, Adam S Ward, Noah Schmadel

Natural Attenuation in Source Zone and Groundwater Plume - Bemidji Crude Oil Spill

A long-term study of a 40-year-old crude oil spill provides insights about petroleum hydrocarbon natural attenuation processes and rates. In the source zone, fermentation coupled to methanogenesis is the dominant natural source zone depletion (NSZD) process, and most of the carbon mass exits the surface as CO2 efflux. Monitored natural attenuation (MNA) of the groundwater plume shows that benzene
Authors
Barbara A. Bekins

GoMAMN strategic bird monitoring guidelines: Avian health

No abstract available.
Authors
M. A. Ottinger, T. Maness, J. K. Grace, R. R. Wilson, Patrick G.R. Jodice

Asian carp population modeling to support an Adaptive Management framework, USGS Contribution

The Spatially Explicit Asian carp Population (SEAcarP) model was developed to inform management and research decisions with the goal of minimizing the abundance of Bighead Carp and Silver Carp (collectively referred to as “Asian carp” in this document) in the upper Illinois River waterway, thereby reducing risk of population expansion toward the Great Lakes and reducing potential impacts on native
Authors
Richard A. Erickson

Heavy mineral sands resources in China

About 200 known coastal deposits of heavy mineral sands (HMS) occur in China, in which considerable mineral resources of titanium, zircon, rare earth elements, and thorium exist in the forms of ilmenite, rutile, zircon, and monazite. More than 20 of these HMS deposits are reported as having been or are actively being mined in China during the past three decades, of which 12 have been reported to h
Authors
Bradley S. Van Gosen, Baohong Hou, Tianrui Song