Publications
These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.
Filter Total Items: 16784
Stratigraphic controls on fluid and solute fluxes across the sediment-water interface of an estuary
Shallow stratigraphic features, such as infilled paleovalleys, modify fresh groundwater discharge to coastal waters and fluxes of saltwater and nutrients across the sediment–water interface. We quantify the spatial distribution of shallow surface water–groundwater exchange and nitrogen fluxes near a paleovalley in Indian River Bay, Delaware, using a hand resistivity probe, conventional seepage met
Authors
Audrey H. Sawyer, Olesya Lazareva, Kevin D. Kroeger, Kyle Crespo, Clara S. Chan, Thomas Stieglitz, Holly A. Michael
Nutrient budgets, marsh inundation under sea-level rise scenarios, and sediment chronologies for the Bass Harbor Marsh estuary at Acadia National Park
Eutrophication in the Bass Harbor Marsh estuary on Mount Desert Island, Maine, is an ongoing problem manifested by recurring annual blooms of green macroalgae species, principally Enteromorpha prolifera and Enteromorpha flexuosa, blooms that appear in the spring and summer. These blooms are unsightly and impair the otherwise natural beauty of this estuarine ecosystem. The macroalgae also threaten
Authors
Thomas G. Huntington, Charles W. Culbertson, Christopher C. Fuller, Patricia Glibert, Luke Sturtevant
Occurrence of pesticides in groundwater and sediments and mineralogy of sediments and grain coatings underlying the Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Upper Deerfield, New Jersey, 2007
Water and sediment samples were collected from June through October 2007 from seven plots at the Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Upper Deerfield, New Jersey, and analyzed for a suite of pesticides (including fungicides) and other physical and chemical parameters (including sediment mineralogy) by the U.S. Geological Survey. Plots were selected for inclusion in this study on t
Authors
Timothy J. Reilly, Kelly L. Smalling, Michael T. Meyer, Mark W. Sandstrom, Michelle Hladik, Adam R. Boehlke, Neil S. Fishman, William A. Battaglin, Kathryn Kuivila
Metabolism of a nitrogen-enriched coastal marine lagoon during the summertime
We measured metabolism rates in a shallow, nitrogen-enriched coastal marine ecosystem on Cape Cod (MA, USA) during seven summers using an open-water diel oxygen method. We compared two basins, one directly receiving most of the nitrogen (N) load (“Snug Harbor”) and another further removed from the N load and better flushed (“Outer Harbor”). Both dissolved oxygen and pH varied greatly over the day,
Authors
Robert W. Howarth, Melanie Hayn, Roxanne M. Marino, Neil Ganju, Kenneth H. Foreman, Karen McGlathery, Anne E. Giblin, Peter Berg, Jeffrey D. Walker
Water level response in back-barrier bays unchanged following Hurricane Sandy
On 28–30 October 2012, Hurricane Sandy caused severe flooding along portions of the northeast coast of the United States and cut new inlets across barrier islands in New Jersey and New York. About 30% of the 20 highest daily maximum water levels observed between 2007 and 2013 in Barnegat and Great South Bay occurred in 5 months following Hurricane Sandy. Hurricane Sandy provided a rare opportunity
Authors
Alfredo L. Aretxabaleta, Bradford Butman, Neil K. Ganju
Mineral commodity summaries 2014
Each chapter of the 2014 edition of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Commodity Summaries (MCS) includes information on events, trends, and issues for each mineral commodity as well as discussions and tabular presentations on domestic industry structure, Government programs, tariffs, 5-year salient statistics, and world production and resources. The MCS is the earliest comprehensive sou
Authors
Passive acoustic monitoring to detect spawning in large-bodied catostomids
Documenting timing, locations, and intensity of spawning can provide valuable information for conservation and management of imperiled fishes. However, deep, turbid or turbulent water, or occurrence of spawning at night, can severely limit direct observations. We have developed and tested the use of passive acoustics to detect distinctive acoustic signatures associated with spawning events of two
Authors
Carrie A. Straight, Byron J. Freeman, Mary Freeman
Uranium and radon in private bedrock well water in Maine: geospatial analysis at two scales
In greater Augusta of central Maine, 53 out of 1093 (4.8%) private bedrock well water samples from 1534 km2 contained [U] >30 μg/L, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for drinking water; and 226 out of 786 (29%) samples from 1135 km2 showed [Rn] >4,000 pCi/L (148 Bq/L), the U.S. EPA’s Alternative MCL. Groundwater pH, calcite dissolution and redox condi
Authors
Qiang Yang, Paul Smitherman, C.T. Hess, Charles W. Culbertson, Robert G. Marvinney, Yan Zheng
Estimating migratory connectivity of birds when re-encounter probabilities are heterogeneous
Understanding the biology and conducting effective conservation of migratory species requires an understanding of migratory connectivity – the geographic linkages of populations between stages of the annual cycle. Unfortunately, for most species, we are lacking such information. The North American Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL) houses an extensive database of marking, recaptures and recoveries, and
Authors
Emily B. Cohen, Jeffrey A. Hostelter, J. Andrew Royle, Peter P. Marra
Model behavior and sensitivity in an application of the cohesive bed component of the community sediment transport modeling system for the York River estuary, VA, USA
The Community Sediment Transport Modeling System (CSTMS) cohesive bed sub-model that accounts for erosion, deposition, consolidation, and swelling was implemented in a three-dimensional domain to represent the York River estuary, Virginia. The objectives of this paper are to (1) describe the application of the three-dimensional hydrodynamic York Cohesive Bed Model, (2) compare calculations to obse
Authors
Kelsey A. Fall, Courtney K. Harris, Carl T. Friedrichs, J. Paul Rinehimer, Christopher R. Sherwood
Mineral resource of the month: Wollastonite
Wollastonite, a calcium metasilicate, has an ideal composition of 48.3 percent calcium oxide and 51.7 percent silicon dioxide, but it can also contain minor amounts of aluminum, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium, sodium or strontium substituting for calcium. Wollastonite occurs as prismatic crystals that break into tabular-to-acicular fragments. It is usually white but also may be gray, cream,
Authors
Robert L. Virta, Bradley S. Van Gosen