Publications
These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.
Filter Total Items: 16783
Ecology of the Eastern Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula) at Rainey Slough, Florida: A vanished Eden
Eastern Kingsnakes (Lampropeltis getula) are an important component and predator in herpetofaunal communities, but many Eastern Kingsnake populations have declined precipitously in the last few decades, particularly in the southeastern United States. Here, we describe an intensive capture–mark–recapture study of L. getula conducted during 1974–1978 in a canal bank–Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassi
Authors
J. Steve Godley, Brian J. Halstead, Roy W. McDiarmid
USGS revision of global iron ore production data—Clarification of the reporting of iron ore production in China and application of a uniform comparison methodology (2000-2015)
Iron ore is the source of primary iron for the world’s iron and steel industries. Its production can be reported as crude ore, usable ore or iron content of ore. Historically, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) used reported crude ore production from China in tabulations of world iron ore production while other countries have typically reported their production in terms of usable iron ore. When Chi
Authors
Candice C. Tuck, Sean Xun, Sheryl A. Singerling
Conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo—Tin processing plants, a critical part of the tin supply chain
Summary
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) analyzes mineral and metal supply chains to identify and describe major components of material flows from ore extraction, through intermediate forms, to a final product. Supply chain analyses may be used (1) to identify risks to the United States associated with the supply of critical and strategic minerals and metals and (2) to provide greater supply chai
Authors
Charles Anderson
Biological response to climate change in the Arctic Ocean: The view from the past
The Arctic Ocean is undergoing rapid climatic changes including higher ocean temperatures, reduced sea ice, glacier and Greenland Ice Sheet melting, greater marine productivity, and altered carbon cycling. Until recently, the relationship between climate and Arctic biological systems was poorly known, but this has changed substantially as advances in paleoclimatology, micropaleontology, vertebrate
Authors
Thomas M. Cronin, Matthew A. Cronin
Time within reproductive season, but not age or inbreeding coefficient, influences seminal and sperm quality in the whooping crane (Grus americana)
All living whooping cranes (Grus americana) are descended from 16 or fewer birds that remained alive in the early 1940s, a bottleneck that puts the species at potential risk for inbreeding depression. Although AI is commonly used in the management of the captive population of this species, little is known about seminal traits or factors affecting sperm quality in the whooping crane. In the present
Authors
M.E. Brown, Sarah J. Converse, Jane N. Chandler, A. L. Crosier, W. Lynch, D.E. Wildt, C. L. Keefer, Nucharin Songsasen
Use of modflow drain package for simulating inter-basin transfer in abandoned coal mines
Simulation of groundwater flow in abandoned mines is difficult, especially where flux to and from mines is unknown or poorly quantified, and inter-basin transfer of groundwater occurs. A 3-year study was conducted in the Elkhorn area, West Virginia to better understand groundwater-flow processes and inter-basin transfer in above drainage abandoned coal mines. The study area was specifically select
Authors
Mark D. Kozar, Kurt J. McCoy
Hydrogeology, groundwater flow, and groundwater quality of an abandoned underground coal-mine aquifer, Elkhorn Area, West Virginia
The Pocahontas No. 3 coal seam in southern West Virginia has been extensively mined by underground methods since the 1880’s. An extensive network of abandoned mine entries in the Pocahontas No. 3 has since filled with good-quality water, which is pumped from wells or springs discharging from mine portals (adits), and used as a source of water for public supplies. This report presents results of a
Authors
Mark D. Kozar, Kurt J. McCoy, James Q. Britton, B.M. Blake
Volume change associated with formation and dissociation of hydrate in sediment
Gas hydrate formation and dissociation in sediments are accompanied by changes in the bulk volume of the sediment and can lead to changes in sediment properties, loss of integrity for boreholes, and possibly regional subsidence of the ground surface over areas where methane might be produced from gas hydrate in the future. Experiments on sand, silts, and clay subject to different effective stress
Authors
Carolyn D. Ruppel, J. Y. Lee, J. Carlos Santamarina
Overview of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission collaborative research program to assess tsunami hazard for nuclear power plants on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts
In response to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, the United States
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (US NRC) initiated a long-term research
program to improve understanding of tsunami hazard levels for nuclear
facilities in the United States. For this effort, the US NRC organized
a collaborative research program with the United States Geological
Survey (USGS) and the National Oceanic and Atmosphe
Authors
A.M. Kammerer, Uri S. ten Brink, V.V. Titov
Emulation of long-term changes in global climate: application to the late Pliocene and future
Multi-millennial transient simulations of climate changes have a range of important applications, such as for investigating key geologic events and transitions for which high-resolution palaeoenvironmental proxy data are available, or for projecting the long-term impacts of future climate evolution on the performance of geological repositories for the disposal of radioactive wastes. However, due t
Authors
Natalie S. Lord, Michel Crucifix, Daniel J. Lunt, Mike C. Thorne, Nabila Bounceur, Harry J. Dowsett, Charlotte L. O'Brien, A. Ridgwell
Assessing the impacts of future climate conditions on the effectiveness of winter cover crops in reducing nitrate loads into the Chesapeake Bay Watershed using SWAT model
Winter cover crops (WCCs) have been widely implemented in the Coastal Plain of the Chesapeake Bay watershed (CBW) due to their high effectiveness at reducing nitrate loads. However, future climate conditions (FCCs) are expected to exacerbate water quality degradation in the CBW by increasing nitrate loads from agriculture. Accordingly, the question remains whether WCCs are sufficient to mitigate
Authors
Sangchul Lee, Ali M. Sadeghi, In-Young Yeo, Gregory W. McCarty, W. Dean Hively
Geologic map of the Washington West 30’ × 60’ quadrangle, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C.
The Washington West 30’ × 60’ quadrangle covers an area of approximately 4,884 square kilometers (1,343 square miles) in and west of the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The eastern part of the area is highly urbanized, and more rural areas to the west are rapidly being developed. The area lies entirely within the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin and mostly within the Potomac River watershed. It
Authors
Peter T. Lyttle, John N. Aleinikoff, William C. Burton, E. Allen Crider, Avery A. Drake, Albert J. Froelich, J. Wright Horton, Gregorios Kasselas, Robert B. Mixon, Lucy McCartan, Arthur E. Nelson, Wayne L. Newell, Louis Pavlides, David S. Powars, C. Scott Southworth, Robert E. Weems