Publications
These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.
Filter Total Items: 16784
Spread of the Rat Lungworm (Angiostrongylus cantonensis) in Giant African Land Snails (Lissachatina fulica) in Florida, USA
The rat lungworm (Angiostrongylus cantonensis) is a parasitic nematode that causes rat lungworm disease. It is the leading cause of eosinophilic meningitis and is a zoonotic health risk. We confirmed the presence of A. cantonensis using species-specific, quantitative PCR in 18 of 50 (36%) giant African land snails (Lissachatina fulica) collected from Miami, Florida in May 2013. These snails were c
Authors
Deborah D. Iwanowicz, Lakyn R. Sanders, W. Bane Schill, Maniphet V Xayavong, Alexandre J da Silva, Yvonne Qvarnstrom, Trevor Smith
Mapping surficial minerals at high latitudes: The USGS 2014 imaging spectrometer data collection in Alaska
Passive optical remote sensing of high latitude regions faces many challenges including a short acquisition season and poor illumination due to low solar elevation. Additional complications are encountered in the identification of surface minerals for mineral resource characterization because minerals of interest commonly are exposed on steep terrain, further challenging reflectance retrieval and
Authors
Raymond F. Kokaly, Todd M. Hoefen, Garth Graham, Karen Kelly, Michaela Johnson, Bernard Hubbard, Richard Goldfarb
Towards automating measurements and predictions of Escherichia coli concentrations in the Cuyahoga River, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio, 2012–14
Nowcasts are systems that can provide estimates of the current bacterial water-quality conditions based on predictive models using easily-measured, explanatory variables; nowcasts can provide the public with the information to make informed decisions on the risk associated with recreational activities in natural water bodies. Previous studies on the Cuyahoga River within Cuyahoga Valley National P
Authors
Amie M.G. Brady, Meg B. Plona
Effects of high salinity wastewater discharges on unionid mussels in the Allegheny River, Pennsylvania
We examined the effect of high salinity wastewater (brine) from oil and natural gas drilling on freshwater mussels in the Allegheny River, Pennsylvania, during 2012. Mussel cages (N = 5 per site) were deployed at two sites upstream and four sites downstream of a brine treatment facility on the Allegheny River. Each cage contained 20 juvenile northern riffleshell mussels Epioblasma torulosa rangian
Authors
Kathleen A. Patnode, Elizabeth Hittle, Robert Anderson, Lora Zimmerman, John W. Fulton
Flood-Inundation maps for the Hohokus Brook in Waldwick Borough, Ho-Ho-Kus Borough, and the Village of Ridgewood, New Jersey, 2014
Digital flood-inundation maps for a 6-mile reach of the Hohokus Brook in New Jersey from White's Lake Dam in Waldwick Borough, through Ho-Ho-Kus Borough to Grove Street in the Village of Ridgewood were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. The flood inundation maps, which can be accessed through the USGS Flood Inunda
Authors
Kara M. Watson, Michal J. Niemoczynski
Geospatial compilation of results from field sample collection in support of mineral resource investigations, Western Alaska Range, Alaska, July 2013
This Data Series summarizes results from July 2013 sampling in the western Alaska Range near Mount Estelle, Alaska. The fieldwork combined in situ and camp-based spectral measurements of talus/soil and rock samples. Five rock and 48 soil samples were submitted for quantitative geochemical analysis (for 55 major and trace elements), and the 48 soils samples were also analyzed by x-ray diffraction
Authors
Michaela R. Johnson, Garth E. Graham, Bernard E. Hubbard, William Benzel
Volcanic ash hazards and aviation risk: Chapter 4
The risks to safe and efficient air travel from volcanic-ash hazards are well documented and widely recognized. Under the aegis of the International Civil Aviation Organization, globally coordinated mitigation procedures are in place to report explosive eruptions, detect airborne ash clouds and forecast their expected movement, and issue specialized messages to warn aircraft away from hazardous ai
Authors
Marianne C. Guffanti, Andrew C. Tupper
The hydrogeology of urbanization: The lost springs of Washington, D.C., late Tertiary and Quaternary sediments of D.C., and the Baltimore Long Term Ecological Research site (LTER): Chapter
Urbanization is a major process now shaping the environment. This field trip looks at the hydrogeology of the general Washington, D.C., area and focuses on the city's lost springs. Until 150 years ago, springs and shallow dug wells were the main source of drinking water for residents of Washington, D.C. Celebrating the nation's bicentennial, Garnett P. Williams of the U.S. Geological Survey examin
Authors
Aditi Bhaskar, Milan J. Pavich, John M. Sharp
Hydrologic conditions in Rhode Island during water year 2014
Hydrologic data and conditions throughout Rhode Island during water year 2014 are presented in this report. Stream discharge and groundwater level conditions varied geographically across the State. Ten streamgages reached record-low minimum monthly mean discharges during the year, and a record-high maximum groundwater level was observed at one groundwater well.
Authors
Richard J. Verdi, Roy S. Socolow
The geology of Burnsville Cove, Bath and Highland Counties, Virginia
Burnsville Cove is a karst region in Bath and Highland Counties of Virginia. A new geologic map of the area reveals various units of limestone, sandstone, and siliciclastic mudstone (shale) of Silurian through Devonian age, as well as structural features such as northeast-trending anticlines and synclines, minor thrust faults, and prominent joints. Quaternary features include erosional (strath) te
Authors
Christopher S. Swezey, John T. Haynes, Richard A. Lambert, William B. White, Philip C. Lucas, Christopher P. Garrity
Annual and average estimates of water-budget components based on hydrograph separation and PRISM precipitation for gaged basins in the Appalachian Plateaus Region, 1900-2011
As part of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Groundwater Resources Program study of the Appalachian Plateaus aquifers, annual and average estimates of water-budget components based on hydrograph separation and precipitation data from parameter-elevation regressions on independent slopes model (PRISM) were determined at 849 continuous-record streamflow-gaging stations from Mississippi to New York and co
Authors
David L. Nelms, Terence Messinger, Kurt J. McCoy
Movement analysis of free-grazing domestic ducks in Poyang Lake, China: A disease connection
Previous work suggests domestic poultry are important contributors to the emergence and transmission of highly pathogenic avian influenza throughout Asia. In Poyang Lake, China, domestic duck production cycles are synchronized with arrival and departure of thousands of migratory wild birds in the area. During these periods, high densities of juvenile domestic ducks are in close proximity to migrat
Authors
Diann J. Prosser, Eric C. Palm, John Y. Takekawa, Delong Zhao, Xiangming Xiao, Peng Li, Ying Liu, Scott H. Newman