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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Filter Total Items: 171804
Mapping 2-D bedload rates throughout a sand-bed river reach from high-resolution acoustical surveys of migrating bedforms
This paper introduces a method for determining spatially-distributed, 2-D bedload rates using repeat, high-resolution surveys of the bed topography. As opposed to existing methods, bedform parameters and bedload rates are computed from bed elevation profiles interpolated along the local bedform velocities. The bedform velocity fields are computed applying Large-Scale Particle Image Velocimetry, in
Authors
Jérôme Le Coz, Emeline Perret, Benoît Camenen, David Topping, Daniel D. Buscombe, Kate C.P. Leary, Guillaume Dramais, Paul Grams
Spatial patterns and seasonal timing of increasing riverine specific conductance from 1998 to 2018 suggest legacy contamination in the Delaware River Basin
Increasing salinization of freshwater threatens water supplies that support a range of human and ecological uses. The latest assessments of Delaware River Basin (DRB) surface-water-quality changes indicate widespread salinization has occurred in recent decades, which may lead to meaningful degradation in water quality. To better understand how and when salinity transport occurs and implications fo
Authors
Christine Rumsey, John C. Hammond, Jennifer C. Murphy, Megan E. Shoda, Alex M. Soroka
Rapidly assessing social characteristics of drought preparedness and decision making: A guide for practitioners
Executive SummaryThis guide is intended to provide managers, decision makers, and other practitioners with advice on conducting a rapid assessment of the social dimensions of drought. Findings from a rapid assessment can provide key social context that may aid in decision making, such as when preparing a drought plan, allocating local drought resilience funding, or gathering the support of local a
Authors
Katherine R. Clifford, Julia B. Goolsby, Amanda E. Cravens, Ashley E. Cooper
Drones and bathymetry show the importance of optimal water depth for nest placement within breeding colonies of Western and Clark’s grebes
Habitat selection involves a series of decisions that are arguably the most important decisions that animals make and these decisions occur at multiple hierarchical spatial scales. Colonial-nesting birds face a unique challenge when selecting a nest site because each bird’s choices are severely constrained by other birds within their breeding colony. Individuals must seek out optimum nesting locat
Authors
Deo A. Lachman, Courtney J. Conway, Kerri T. Vierling, Ty Matthews, Diane Evans Mack
First principles calibration of 40Ar abundances in 40Ar/39Ar mineral neutron fluence monitors: Methodology and preliminary results
The accuracy and traceability of geochronometers are of vital importance to questions asked by many Earth scientists. The widely applied 40Ar/39Ar geochronometer relies on the co-irradiation of samples with neutron fluence monitors (reference materials) of known ages; the ages and uncertainties of these monitors are critical to our ability to apply this chronometer. Previously, first principles, a
Authors
Leah E. Morgan, Brett Davidheiser-Kroll, Klaudia F. Kuiper, Darren F. Mark, Noah M. McLean, Jan Wijbrans
Dynamic estimates of geologic CO2 storage resources in the Illinois Basin constrained by reinjectivity of brine extracted for pressure management
Geologic carbon storage (GCS) is likely to be an important part of global efforts to decarbonize the energy industry. Widespread deployment of GCS relies on strategies to maximize CO2 injection rates while minimizing reservoir pressurization that could induce seismicity and/or fluid leakage into groundwater resources. Brine extraction from CO2 storage formations with subsurface reinjection elsewhe
Authors
Michelle R. Plampin, Steven T. Anderson, Steven M. Cahan, Stefan Finsterle
Growth portfolios buffer climate-linked environmental change in marine systems
Large-scale, climate-induced synchrony in the productivity of fish populations is becoming more pronounced in the world's oceans. As synchrony increases, a population's “portfolio” of responses can be diminished, in turn reducing its resilience to strong perturbation. Here we argue that the costs and benefits of trait synchronization, such as the expression of growth rate, are context dependent. C
Authors
Steven Campana, Szymon Smolinski, Bryan Black, John Morrongiello, Sella Alexandroff, Carin Andersson, Bjarte Bogstad, Paul Butler, Come Denechaud, David C Frank, Audrey Geffen, Jane Aanestad, Peter Gronkjaer, Einar Hjorleifsson, Ingibjorg G. Jonsdottir, Mark Meekan, Madelyn Jean Mette, Susanne E. Tanner, Peter van der Sleen, Gotje von Leesen
A size-based stock assessment model for invasive blue catfish in a Chesapeake Bay sub-estuary during 2001–2016
Stock assessment modeling provides a means to estimate the population dynamics of invasive fishes and may do so despite data limitations. Blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) were introduced to the Chesapeake Bay watershed to support recreational fisheries but also consume species of conservation need and economic importance. To assess management tradeoffs, managers need to understand the current sta
Authors
Corbin David Hilling, Yan Jiao, Mary C. Fabrizio, Paul L. Angermeier, Aaron J. Bunch, Donald J. Orth
Stream corridor and upland sources of fluvial sediment and phosphorus from a mixed urban-agricultural tributary to the Great Lakes
Like many impaired Great Lakes tributaries, Apple Creek, Wisconsin (119 km2) has Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) targets for reducing suspended sediment and total phosphorus by 51.2 % and 64.2 %, respectively. From August 2017 - October 2018, a stream sediment budget and fingerprinting integrated study was conducted to quantify upland and stream corridor sources of suspended sediment and sediment-
Authors
James Blount, Leah Kammel, Faith Fitzpatrick
Effects of mass capture on survival of greater white-fronted geese in Alaska
Mass capture of flightless geese during the summer is a common trapping technique to obtain large numbers of individuals for research and marking, but few studies have assessed the impacts of this method on the survival of after-hatch-year geese. We evaluated the effects of holding time and captured flock size on the survival of >26,000 subadult (second yr) and adult (≥third yr) greater white-fron
Authors
Josh Dooley, Joel Schmutz, Julian B. Fischer, Dennis Marks
Longman's Beaked Whale (Indopacetus pacificus) in Fiji
Beaked whales (Ziphidae) are the second largest family of cetaceans with 23 currently recognized species, and the Longman's beaked whale (Indopacetus pacificus) is one of the least known globally (Reeves et al., 2003; Yamada et al., 2019). Longman's beaked whales occur in tropical waters from the western Indian Ocean to the eastern Pacific (Jefferson et al., 2015), with strandings in the Pacific r
Authors
Sam R Fisher, Steve Anstey, Isikeli Nasaunivalu, Robert N. Fisher
Small-scale variation in trap placement affects arthropod capture rates on sticky traps in riparian woodlands
Arthropods are important prey for many avian taxa, particularly during the breeding season. Many studies have used sticky traps to estimate relative abundance of arthropods as avian prey, but we know little about the potential biases associated with sticky traps. We evaluated the effect of small-scale variation in trap placement on the biomass of arthropods caught on sticky traps in six riparian w
Authors
Dominic D. LaRoche, Chris Kirkpatrick, Courtney J. Conway