Publications
Browse more than 160,000 publications authored by our scientists over the past 100+ year history of the USGS. Publications available are: USGS-authored journal articles, series reports, book chapters, other government publications, and more.
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Mission Area Publications
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Earth’s mantle composition revealed by mantle plumes
Mantle plumes originate at depths near the core−mantle boundary (~2,800 km). As such, they provide invaluable information about the composition of the deep mantle and insight into convection, crustal formation, and crustal recycling, as well as global heat and volatile budgets. In this Review, we discuss the effectiveness and challenges of using isotopic analyses of plume-generated rocks to infer
Authors
Dominique Weis, Karen Harpp, Lauren N Harrison, Maud Boyet, Catherine Chauvel, Cinzia Farnetani, Val Finlayson, Kanai Lee, Rita Paraï, Anat Shahar, Nicole Williamson
Benefits and cautions in data assimilation strategies: An example of modeling groundwater recharge
Assimilating recent observations improves model outcomes for real-time assessments of groundwater processes. This is demonstrated in estimating time-varying recharge to a shallow fractured-rock aquifer in response to precipitation. Results from estimating the time-varying water-table altitude (h) and recharge, and their error covariances, are compared for forecasting, filtering, and fixed-lag smoo
Authors
Allen M. Shapiro, Frederick Day-Lewis
Carbon sequestration and subsidence reversal in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Suisun Bay: Management opportunities for climate mitigation and adaptation
The aquatic landscapes of the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta (hereafter, the Delta) and Suisun Bay represent both a significant past and future soil carbon stock. Historical alterations of hydrologic flows have led to depletion of soil carbon stocks via emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), and loss of elevation as a result of subsidence. Optimizing ecosystem hydrology in the Delta and Suisun Bay could
Authors
Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Patty Oikawa, Steve Deverel, Dylan Chapple, Judith Z. Drexler, Dylan Stern
Near surface sediments introduce low frequency noise into gravity models
3D geologic modeling and mapping often relies on gravity modeling to identify key geologic structures, such as basin depth, fault offset, or fault dip. Such gravity models generally assume either homogeneous or spatially uncorrelated densities within modeled rock bodies and overlying sediments, with average densities typically derived from surface and drill-hole sampling. The noise contributed to
Authors
Geoffrey Phelps, Collin Cronkite-Ratcliff
CGS: Coupled growth and survival model with cohort fairness
Fish modeling in complex environments is critical for understanding drivers of population dynamics in aquatic systems. This paper proposes a Bayesian network method for modeling fish survival and growth over multiple connected rivers. Traditional fish survival models capture the effect of multiple environmental drivers (e.g., stream temperature, stream flow) by adding different variables, which in
Authors
Erhu He, Yue Wan, Benjamin Letcher, Jennifer Burlingame Hoyle Fair, Yiquin Xie, Xiaowei Jia
The founding charter of the Omic Biodiversity Observation Network (Omic BON)
Omic BON is a thematic Biodiversity Observation Network under the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON), focused on coordinating the observation of biomolecules in organisms and the environment. Our founding partners include representatives from national, regional, and global observing systems; standards organizations; and data and sample management infrastructures
Authors
Raissa Meyer, Neil Davies, Kathleen J. Pitz, Christopher Meyer, Robyn Samuel, Jane Anderson, Ward Appeltans, Katharine Barker, Francisco P. Chavez, J. Emmett Duffy, Kelly D. Goodwin, Maui Hudson, Maggie Hunter, Johannes Karstensen, Christine M. Laney, Margaret Leinen, Paula Mabee, James A. Macklin, Frank Muller-Karger, Nicolas Pade, Jay Pearlman, Lori Phillips, Pieter Provoost, Ioulia Santi, Dmitry Schigel, Lynn M. Schriml, Alice Soccodato, Saara Suominen, Katherine M. Thibault, Visotheary Ung, Jodie van de Kamp, Elycia Wallis, Ramona Walls, Pier Luigi Buttigieg
Modeling the water-quality effects to the Klamath River from recirculation in drains and canals, Oregon and California, 2006–15
The potential recirculation of Klamath Strait Drain (hereafter called by its local name, “Klamath Straits Drain”) water into Ady Canal to reduce the drain discharge of high nutrient loads into the Klamath River was assessed by the U.S. Geological Survey for the Bureau of Reclamation. To study the feasibility of recirculation, this investigation evaluated three recirculation scenarios over a 10-yea
Authors
Erik A. Smith, Annett B. Sullivan
Hydrogeology and simulated groundwater availability in reaches 3 and 4 of the Washita River aquifer, southern Oklahoma, 1980–2017
The 1973 Oklahoma Groundwater Law (Oklahoma Statutes §82–1020.5) requires that the Oklahoma Water Resources Board conduct hydrologic investigations of the State’s aquifers to determine the maximum annual yield for each groundwater basin. Because more than 20 years have elapsed since the final order was issued, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, cond
Authors
Ian M.J. Rogers, S. Jerrod Smith, Nicole C. Gammill, Natalie J. Gillard, Kayla A. Lockmiller, Evin J. Fetkovich, Jessica S. Correll, Sean P. Hussey
Confirmation of significant sea turtle nesting activity on a remote island chain in the Gulf of Mexico
Globally, six of the seven sea turtle species are threatened or endangered and as such, monitoring reproductive activity for these species is necessary for effective population recovery. Remote beaches provide a challenge to conducting these surveys, which often results in data gaps that can hamper management planning. Throughout the summer of 2022, aerial surveys were conducted over the Chandeleu
Authors
Margaret Lamont, Dianne Ingram, Todd Baker, Matt Weigel, Brian M. Shamblin
Learnings from rapid response efforts to remotely detect landslides triggered by the August 2021 Nippes earthquake and Tropical Storm Grace in Haiti
On August 14, 2021, a Mw 7.2 earthquake struck the Tiburon Peninsula of western Haiti triggering thousands of landslides. Three days after the earthquake on August 17, 2021, Tropical Storm Grace crossed shallow waters offshore of southern Haiti triggering more landslides worsening the situation. In the aftermath of these events, several organizations with disaster response capabilities or programs
Authors
Pukar Amatya, Corey Scheip, Aline Déprez, Jean-Philippe Malet, Stephen L. Slaughter, Alexander L. Handwerger, Robert Emberson, Dalia Kirschbaum, Julien Jean-Baptiste, Mong-Han Huang, Marin Clark, Dimitrios Zekkos, Jhih-Rou Huang, Fabrizio Pacini, Enguerran Boissier
Genetic analysis of federally endangered Cape Sable seaside sparrow subpopulations in the Greater Everglades, USA
The federally endangered Cape Sable seaside sparrow (Ammospiza maritima mirabilis) is endemic to the Greater Everglades ecosystem in southern Florida, inhabiting fragmented marl prairies in six individual subpopulations. The subspecies is threatened by loss of breeding habitat from fire and water management. Genetic information is severely limited for the subspecies but could help inform decisions
Authors
Caitlin Beaver, Thomas Virzi, Maggie Hunter
Evolution of Miocene normal and dextral faulting in the lower Colorado River region near Blythe, California, USA
The evolution of strain in nascent continental plate boundaries commonly involves distributed deformation and transitions between different styles of deformation as the plate boundary matures. Distributed NW-striking faults, many with km-scale right-lateral separation, are prevalent near Blythe, California, and have been variably interpreted to have accommodated either Middle Miocene NE-SW extensi
Authors
Skyler Pendleton Mavor, Scott E. K. Bennett, Ryan S. Crow, John S. Singleton, Victoria Langenheim, Daniel F. Stockli, Mark E. Stelten, Timothy Brickey Sr., Paul J. Umhoefer, L. Sue Beard