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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The dynamic feasibility of resisting (R), accepting (A), or directing (D) ecological change
Ecological transformations are occurring as a result of climate change, challenging traditional approaches to land management decision-making. The resist–accept–direct (RAD) framework helps managers consider how to respond to this challenge. We examined how the feasibility of the choices to resist, accept, and direct shifts in complex and dynamic ways through time. We considered 4 distinct types o
Authors
Amanda E. Cravens, Katherine R. Clifford, Corrine N. Knapp, William Travis
Report of the River Master of the Delaware River for the period December 1, 2015 - November 30, 2016
Executive SummaryA Decree of the Supreme Court of the United States, entered June 7, 1954 (New Jersey v. New York, 347 U.S. 995), established the position of Delaware River Master within the U.S. Geological Survey. In addition, the Decree authorizes the diversion of water from the Delaware River Basin and requires compensating releases from reservoirs owned by New York City to be made under the su
Authors
Kendra L. Russell, William J. Andrews, Vincent J. DiFrenna, J. Michael Norris, Robert R. Mason,
The 3D Elevation Program—Supporting Mississippi's economy
IntroductionMississippi has a dispersed population of nearly three million residents in an area of approximately 48,400 square miles and has a favorable climate for agriculture, with abundant precipitation and minimal extreme temperatures. The topography consists mostly of low hills and lowland plains, with the highest elevation about 800 feet above sea level. An exception is the nearly flat Missi
Authors
George Heleine
Modeling the potential habitat gained by planting sagebrush in burned landscapes
Many revegetation projects are intended to benefit wildlife species. Yet, there are few a priori evaluations that assess the potential efficiency of restoration actions in recovering wildlife habitats. We developed a spatial vegetation–habitat recovery model to gauge the degree to which field planting strategies could be expected to recover multi-factor habitat conditions for wildlife following wi
Authors
Julie A. Heinrichs, Michael O'Donnell, Elizabeth Kari Orning, David A. Pyke, Mark A. Ricca, Peter S. Coates, Cameron L. Aldridge
Probabilistic assessment of postfire debris-flow inundation in response to forecast rainfall
Communities downstream of burned steep lands face increases in debris-flow hazards due to fire effects on soil and vegetation. Rapid postfire hazard assessments have traditionally focused on quantifying spatial variations in debris-flow likelihood and volume in response to design rainstorms. However, a methodology that provides estimates of debris-flow inundation downstream of burned areas based o
Authors
A. B. Prescott, L. A. McGuire, K.-S. Jun, Katherine R. Barnhart, N. S. Oakley
Remote sensing of volcano deformation and surface change
Volcanic unrest and eruptions are associated with surface deformation and landscape change that can be detected, characterized, and tracked via remote sensing measurements. Subsurface processes, including magma accumulation, withdrawal, and transport, can cause displacements at the surface that are best tracked at subaerial volcanoes with interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) and Global
Authors
M. Poland
Palaeontological signatures of the Anthropocene are distinct from those of previous epochs
The “Great Acceleration” beginning in the mid-20th century provides the causal mechanism of the Anthropocene, which has been proposed as a new epoch of geological time beginning in 1952 CE. Here we identify key parameters and their diagnostic palaeontological signals of the Anthropocene, including the rapid breakdown of discrete biogeographical ranges for marine and terrestrial species, rapid chan
Authors
Mark A. Williams, Jan Zalasiewicz, Anthony D. Barnosky, Reinhold Leinfelder, Martin J. Head, Colin N. Waters, Francine M.G. McCarthy, Alejandro Cearreta, David C. Aldridge, Mary McGann, Bruce Hamilton, Colin P. Summerhayes, Jaia Syvitski, Jens Zinke, Andrew B. Cundy, Barbara Fialkiewicz-Koziel, J.R. McNeill, Michinobu Kuwae, Neil L. Rose, Simon D. Turner, Yoshiki Saito, Michael Wagreich, M. Allison Stegner, Moriaki Yasuhara, Yongming Han, Amy Wrisdale, Rachael Holmes, Juan Carlos Berrio
Groundwater flow model for the Des Moines River alluvial aquifer near Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines Water Works (DMWW) is a regional municipal water utility that provides residential and commercial water resources to about 600,000 customers in Des Moines, Iowa, and surrounding municipalities in central Iowa. DMWW has identified a need for increased water supply and is exploring the potential for expanding groundwater production capabilities in the Des Moines River alluvial aquifer, wh
Authors
Emilia L. Bristow, Kyle W. Davis
Rising seas could cross thresholds for initiating coastal wetland drowning within decades across much of the United States
Accelerated sea-level rise is an existential threat to coastal wetlands, but the timing and extent of wetland drowning are debated. Recent data syntheses have clarified future relative sea-level rise exposure and sensitivity thresholds for drowning. Here, we integrate these advances to estimate when and where rising sea levels could cross thresholds for initiating wetland drowning across the conte
Authors
Michael Osland, Bogdan Chivoiu, James Grace, Nicholas Enwright, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Kevin J. Buffington, Karen M. Thorne, Joel A. Carr, William V. Sweet, Brady Couvillion
Comparative toxicity of emulsifiable concentrate and suspension concentrate formulations of 2′,5-dichloro-4′-nitrosalicylanilide ethanolamine salt
The 2-aminoethanol salt of niclosamide (2′,5-dichloro-4′-nitrosalicylanilide) is a pesticide known as Bayluscide that is used in conjunction with TFM (4-nitro-3-[trifluoromethyl]phenol), also known as 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol) to treat tributaries to the Great Lakes infested with invasive parasitic Petromyzon marinus (sea lamprey). Adding 0.5 to 2 percent Bayluscide with TFM can substantial
Authors
James A. Luoma, Justin R. Schueller, Nicholas A. Schloesser, Courtney A Kirkeeng, Samantha L. Wolfe
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of the Black Sea area, 2023
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 2.3 billion barrels of oil and 105.5 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Black Sea area.
Authors
Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Cheryl A. Woodall, Phuong A. Le, Andrea D. Cicero, Ronald M. Drake, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Thomas M. Finn, Michael H. Gardner, Sarah E. Gelman, Jane S. Hearon, Benjamin G. Johnson, Jenny H. Lagesse, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Kristen R. Marra, Kira K. Timm, Scott S. Young
Drought as an emergent driver of ecological transformation in the twenty-first century
Under climate change, ecosystems are experiencing novel drought regimes, often in combination with stressors that reduce resilience and amplify drought’s impacts. Consequently, drought appears increasingly likely to push systems beyond important physiological and ecological thresholds, resulting in substantial changes in ecosystem characteristics persisting long after drought ends (i.e., ecologica
Authors
Wynne Emily Moss, Shelley Crausbay, Imtiaz Rangwala, Jay Wason, Clay Trauernicht, Camille S. Stevens-Rumann, Anna Sala, Caitlin M. Rottler, Gregory T. Pederson, Brian W. Miller, Dawn Magness, Jeremy Littell, Lee Frelich, Abby G. Frazier, Kimberly R. Davis, Jonathan Coop, Jennifer M. Cartwright, Robert K Booth