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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Microplastic particles in dust-on-snow, Upper Colorado River Basin, Colorado Rocky Mountains, 2013–16
Atmospheric dust deposited to snow cover (dust-on-snow) diminishes snow-surface albedo (SSA) to result in early onset and accelerated rate of melting, effects that challenge management of downstream water resources. During ongoing investigations to identify the light-energy absorbing dust particles most responsible for diminished SSA in the Upper Colorado River Basin of the Colorado Rocky Mountain
Authors
Richard L. Reynolds, Harland L. Goldstein, Raymond F. Kokaly, Jeff Derry
U.S. Geological Survey response to Hurricane Maria flooding in Puerto Rico and characterization of peak streamflows observed September 20–22, 2017
Hurricane Maria struck the island of Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, as a Category 4 storm. The hurricane traversed the island from southeast to northwest and produced recorded 48-hour rainfall totals of up to 30.01 inches. Estimates of the human death toll range from 2,975 to 4,645, possibly more.The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) hydrologic monitoring network sustained substantial wind and flo
Authors
Julieta M. Gómez-Fragoso, Mark Smith, Marilyn Santiago
Elevated nitrogen deposition to fire-prone forests adjacent to urban and agricultural areas, Colorado front range, USA
As humans increasingly dominate the nitrogen cycle, deposition of reactive nitrogen (Nr) will continue to have adverse consequences for ecosystems. In the Rocky Mountains, Nr deposition remains elevated and has become increasingly dominated by ammonium, despite efforts to reduce emissions. Currently, spatial models of Nr deposition do not fully account for urban and agricultural emissions, sources
Authors
Ruth C. Heindel, Sheila F. Murphy, Deborah A. Repert, Gregory A. Wetherbee, Alexander Liethen, David W. Clow, Toby A. Halamka
Migration and transformation of coastal wetlands in response to rising seas
Coastal wetlands are not only among the world’s most valued ecosystems but also among the most threatened by high greenhouse gas emissions that lead to accelerated sea level rise. There is intense debate regarding the extent to which landward migration of wetlands might compensate for seaward wetland losses. By integrating data from 166 estuaries across the conterminous United States, we show that
Authors
Michael Osland, Bogdan Chivoiu, Nicholas Enwright, Karen M. Thorne, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, James Grace, Leah Dale, William Brooks, Nathaniel Herold, John W. Day, Fred H. Sklar, Christopher M. Swarzenski
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Climate Research and Development Program, Land Management Research Program, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC), Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Gulf of Mexico
Hydrogeology and simulation of groundwater flow in the Lucerne Valley groundwater basin, California
The Lucerne Valley is in the southwestern part of the Mojave Desert and is about 75 miles northeast of Los Angeles, California. The Lucerne Valley groundwater basin encompasses about 230 square miles and is separated from the Upper Mojave Valley groundwater basin by splays of the Helendale Fault. Since its settlement, groundwater has been the primary source of water for agricultural, industrial, m
Authors
Christina Stamos-Pfeiffer, Joshua Larsen, Robert E. Powell, Jonathan C. Matti, Peter Martin
Assessment of persistent chemicals of concern in white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) in the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River, southeastern Washington, 2009
White sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) are long-lived, late-maturing, benthic-feeding fish that are ideal candidates for assessing the bioaccumulation of persistent chemicals. In this study, composite tissue samples of brain, liver, gonad, and fillet were collected from white sturgeon in 2009 from five sites in the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River near Hanford, Washington. The composite tissu
Authors
Sean E. Payne, Daniel R. Wise, Jay W. Davis, Elena B. Nilsen
Potential effects of sea level rise on nearshore habitat availability for surf smelt (Hypomesus pretiosus) and eelgrass (Zostera marina), Puget Sound, Washington
In this study we examine the potential effects of three predicted sea level rise (SLR) scenarios on the nearshore eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) and surf smelt (Hypomesus pretiosus) spawning habitats along a beach on Bainbridge Island, Washington. Baseline bathymetric, geomorphological, and biological surveys were conducted to determine the existing conditions at the study site. The results of these
Authors
Collin D. Smith, Theresa L. Liedtke
Medium spatial resolution mapping of global land cover and land cover change across multiple decades from Landsat
Land cover maps are essential for characterizing the biophysical properties of the Earth’s land areas. Because land cover information synthesizes a rich array of information related to both the ecological condition of land areas and their exploitation by humans, they are widely used for basic and applied research that requires information related to land surface properties (e.g., terrestrial carbo
Authors
Mark A. Friedl, Curtis E. Woodcock, Pontus Olofsson, Zhe Zhu, Thomas R. Loveland, Radost Stanimirova, Paulo Arevalo, Eric L. Bullock, Kai-Ting Hu, Yingtong Zhang, Konrad Turlej, Katelyn Tarrio, McAvoy Kristina, Noel Gorelick, Jonathan A. Wang, Christopher Barber, Carlos Souza Jr.
Biofilms in the Critical Zone: Distribution and mediation of processes
Microbial biofilms occur in all levels of the Critical Zone (CZ); they are on and in the vegetation, throughout the soil-saprolite zone, and along fractures in deep subsurface. Here we discuss biofilms in each level of the CZ with a focus in the soil-saprolite continuum. We show how scanning electron microscope (SEM) images provide an appropriate scale to explore microbe mineral interactions in th
Authors
Marjorie S. Schulz, Kristen L. Manies
Asking nicely: Best practices for requesting data
Compiling disparate datasets into publicly available composite databases helps natural resource communities explore ecological trends and effectively manage across spatiotemporal scales. Though some studies have reported on the database construction phase, fewer have evaluated the data acquisition and distribution process. To facilitate future data sharing collaborations, Louisiana State Universit
Authors
Steve R. Midway, Nicholas A. Sievert, Abigail Lynch, Joanna B. Whittier, Kevin L. Pope
The role of organic matter diversity on the Re-Os systematics of organic-rich sedimentary units: Insights into the controls of isochron age determinations from the lacustrine Green River Formation
The range of 187Re/188Os values measured from samples of five organic-rich lacustrine mudstones units in the Eocene Green River Formation in the easternmost Uinta Basin covaries with organic matter diversity driven by changing water column conditions. A set of samples from the Douglas Creek Member has the highest pristane/phytane ratio and lowest β-carotane/n-C30 ratio compared to overlying units,
Authors
Jeffrey T Pietras, Abby Dennett, David Selby, Justin E. Birdwell
Evaluating the efficacy of aerial infrared surveys to detect artificial polar bear dens
The need to balance economic development with impacts to Arctic wildlife has been a prominent subject since petroleum exploration began on the North Slope of Alaska, USA, in the late 1950s. The North Slope region includes polar bears (Ursus maritimus) of the southern Beaufort Sea subpopulation, which has experienced a long-term decline in abundance. Pregnant polar bears dig dens in snow drifts dur
Authors
Susannah P Woodruff, Justin J Blank, Sheyna S Wisdom, Ryan H. Wilson, George M. Durner, Todd C. Atwood, Craig J Perham, Christina HM Pohl