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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

Tectonic evolution

The middle Paleozoic through Present tectonic evolution of the Northern Cordillera is portrayed in a series of 15 Tectonic Model figures. These figures depict the successive stages of formation and accretion of orogenic collages along the western margin of the North American Plate (craton and craton margin) and adjacent marine areas. The orogenic collages are composed of terranes and overlap assem
Authors
Warren J. Nokleberg, James W.H. Monger, David B. Stone, Thomas K. Bundtzen, David W. Scholl

The history of late holocene surface-faulting earthquakes on the central segments of the Wasatch fault zone, Utah

The Wasatch fault (WFZ)—Utah’s longest and most active normal fault—forms a prominent eastern boundary to the Basin and Range Province in northern Utah. To provide paleoseismic data for a Wasatch Front regional earthquake forecast, we synthesized paleoseismic data to define the timing and displacements of late Holocene surface-faulting earthquakes on the central five segments of the WFZ. Our analy
Authors
Christopher DuRoss, Stephen Personius, Susan S Olig, Anthony J. Crone, Michael D. Hylland, William R. Lund, David P. Schwartz

The response of arid soil communities to climate change: Chapter 8

Arid and semiarid ecosystems cover approximately 40% of Earth’s terrestrial surface and are present on each of the planet’s continents [1]. Drylands are characterized by their aridity, but there is substantial geographic, edaphic, and climatic variability among these vast ecosystems, and these differences underscore substantial variation in dryland soil microbial communities, as well as in the fut
Authors
Blaire Steven, Theresa Ann McHugh, Sasha C. Reed

Water quality and natural resources in the Green River Basin

No abstract available.
Authors
Brad D. Lee, Tanja N. Williamson, Angela S. Crain

Habitat and diet of equids

In this chapter, we present information from studies of equids and their habitat use across various habitat types. We provide a synthesis of the scientific literature on equid habitat selection, home range, and movements, water needs, and diet.
Authors
Kathryn A. Schoenecker, Sarah R.B. King, Megan K. Nordquist, Nandintsetseg Dejid, Quing Cao

Fire and drought

Historical and presettlement relationships between drought and wildfire have been well documented in much of North America, with forest fire occurrence and area burned clearly increasing in response to drought. Drought interacts with other controls (forest productivity, topography, and fire weather) to affect fire intensity and severity. Fire regime characteristics (area, frequency, severity) are
Authors
Jeremy S. Littell, David L. Peterson, Karin L. Riley, Yongquiang Q. Liu, Charles H. Luce

Participatory modeling and structured decision making

Structured decision making (SDM) provides a framework for making sound decisions even when faced with uncertainty, and is a transparent, defensible, and replicable method used to understand complex problems. A hallmark of SDM is the explicit incorporation of values and science, which often includes participation from multiple stakeholders, helping to garner trust and ultimately result in a decisio
Authors
Kelly F. Robinson, Angela K. Fuller

Resource potential for commodities in addition to Uranium in sandstone-hosted deposits

Sandstone-hosted deposits mined primarily for their uranium content also have been a source of vanadium and modest amounts of copper. Processing of these ores has also recovered small amounts of molybdenum, rhenium, rare earth elements, scandium, and selenium. These deposits share a generally common origin, but variations in the source of metals, composition of ore-forming solutions, and geologic
Authors
George N. Breit

The future of animal reintroduction

No abstract available.
Authors
David S. Jachowski, Rob Slotow, Paul L. Angermeier, Joshua J. Millspaugh

U.S. Geological Survey collections—Preserving the past to inform the future: Tour three federal repositories—Core Research Center, Paleontological Collection, and the NSF National Ice Core Laboratory

This 2016 Geological Society of America (GSA) Annual Meeting trip will explore the Core Research Center, Paleontological Collection, and National Science Foundation National Ice Core Laboratory—three collections of major national signifi cance managed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Since its inception in 1879, USGS has collected, preserved, and managed physical collections for scientifi c i
Authors
Natalie Latysh

Linking the Central and Southern Appalachian Blue Ridge: What We Know and Don’t Know about Stratigraphy, Structure, Tectonism, and Regional Correlation in the Eastern Blue Ridge of Virginia

The transition from Neoproterozoic Lynchburg Group rocks on the eastern limb of the para-autochthonous Blue Ridge anticlinorium in central Virginia to the fault-bounded Ashe Formation and Alligator Back Formation in southern Virginia has been a source of intense debate and speculation for decades. There are fundamental differences in the tectonogenetic interpretation for these rock packages, desp
Authors
Mark W. Carter, Arthur J. Merschat

Hydrogeology of Virginia

The hydrogeology of Virginia documented herein is in two parts. Part 1 consists of an overview and description of the hydrogeology within each regional aquifer system in the Commonwealth. Part 2 includes discussions of hydrogeologic research topics of current relevance including: 1. the Chesapeake Bay impact structure, 2. subsidence/compaction in the Coastal Plain, 3. groundwater age and aquifer s
Authors
David L. Nelms, George Harlow, T. Scott Bruce