Book Chapters
Science Quality and Integrity
The USGS provides unbiased, objective, and impartial scientific information upon which our audiences, including resource managers, planners, and other entities, rely.
The USGS provides unbiased, objective, and impartial scientific information upon which our audiences, including resource managers, planners, and other entities, rely.
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.
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Tsunamis: Stochastic models of generation, propagation, and occurrence
The devastating consequences of the 2004 Indian Ocean and 2011 Tohoku-oki tsunamis have led to increased research into many different aspects of the tsunami phenomenon. In this paper, we review research related to the observed complexity and uncertainty associated with tsunami generation, propagation, and occurrence described and analyzed using a variety of stochastic models. In each case, tsunam
Authors
Eric L. Geist, David Oglesby, Kenny Ryan
Right-lateral fault motion along the slope-basin transition, Gulf of Santa Catalina, southern California
An active fault system carrying a significant component of right-lateral strike-slip motion extends for ~60 km along the slope–basin transition, ~10 to 20 km offshore of the southern California coast from La Jolla to Dana Point. From south to north, this fault system includes the Carlsbad, San Onofre, and San Mateo fault zones. High-resolution single channel minisparker and chirp seismic reflectio
Authors
James Conrad, Daniel Brothers, Katherine Coble, Holly F. Ryan, Peter Dartnell, Ray Sliter
Species profile: Quercus parvula
No abstract available.
Authors
Emily Beckman, Ian Pearse, Abby Meyer, Murphy Westwood
Agri-tourism and rural outdoor recreation in the US: A framework for understanding economic and employment dynamics
Agri-tourism and rural outdoor recreation are positioned at an important intersection between agricultural, natural resource, economic development and rural issues. This chapter summarizes some of the important dynamics of these sectors, including the role of land use, regional drivers, motivations for farmers and travelers, and economic impacts. As a means to illustrate several key points, highli
Authors
Dawn Thilmany, Rebecca Hill, Michelle Haefele, Anders van Sandt, Catherine Cullinane Thomas, Martha Sullins, Sarah Low
Don Swanson: A field volcanology career worth celebrating
Don Swanson has profoundly influenced generations of volcanologists and has made major contributions to our understanding of both silicic and basaltic volcanic systems. He provides an exceptional example of how a gifted scientist can develop entirely new paradigms related to large-scale problems on the basis of decades of study, as exemplified by his work on the emplacement of flood basalts, monit
Authors
Michael P. Poland, Michael O. Garcia, Victor E. Camp, Anita Grunder
Ecological health indicators
Contemporary policymakers rarely stress ecological knowledge, and yet this knowledge remains crucial—just as it was in prehistory—to protecting overall human well-being. Measuring carefully selected ecological health indicators—that is, signs or symptoms, especially those focused on biotic assemblages—can provide insights into the ecological condition of a place and the variety of ecological conse
Authors
Paul L. Angermeier
Estimating visitor use and economic contributions of National Park visitor spending
This chapter provides an overview of the National Park Service (NPS) methods for estimating visitor spending and calculating economic contributions of visitor spending in terms of jobs supported, wage and labor income, and total economic activity. The Visitor Spending Effects model combines visitor spending patterns and trip characteristic data with visitor use data to estimate total visitor spend
Authors
Lynne Koontz, Catherine Cullinane Thomas
Applications of emerging fisheries techniques for paddlefish
No abstract available.
Authors
Gregory Whitledge, Richard Lance, James M. Long, Ben Neely, Jason Schooley
Phylogenetic techniques in geomicrobiology
Molecular biological techniques have revolutionized the field of geomicrobiology by providing researchers with robust techniques for identifying microorganisms and characterizing microbial communities in a wide variety of environments. These techniques have freed researchers from the constraints of classical culture-based microbiology and allowed the discovery of previously unknown phylogenetic di
Authors
Denise M. Akob, Adam C. Mumford, Darren S. Dunlop, Amisha T. Poret-Peterson
Principles and history of luminescence dating
No abstract available.
Authors
Shannon A. Mahan, Regina DeWitt
Halarsenatibacter
No abstract available.
Authors
Ronald S. Oremland, Jodi S. Blum, John F. Stolz, Chad W Saltikov, Brian Lanoil
Rapid broad-scale ecosystem changes and their consequences for biodiversity
Biodiversity contributes to and depends on ecosystem structure and associated function. Ecosystem structure, such as the amount and type of tree cover, influences fundamental abiotic variables such as near-ground incoming solar radiation (e.g., Royer et al. 2011), which in turn affects species and associated biodiversity (e.g., Trotter et al. 2008). In many systems, foundational, dominant, or keys
Authors
David D. Breshears, Jason P. Field, Darin J. Law, Juan C. Villegas, Craig D. Allen, Neil S. Cobb, John B. Bradford