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Publications

These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.

Filter Total Items: 16784

Total nutrient and sediment loads, trends, yields, and nontidal water-quality indicators for selected nontidal stations, Chesapeake Bay Watershed, 1985–2011

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partners, routinely reports long-term concentration trends and monthly and annual constituent loads for stream water-quality monitoring stations across the Chesapeake Bay watershed. This report documents flow-adjusted trends in sediment and total nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations for 31 stations in the years 1985–201
Authors
Michael J. Langland, Joel D. Blomquist, Douglas Moyer, Kenneth Hyer, Jeffrey G. Chanat

Differential expression profiles of microRNA in the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) associated with white nose syndrome affected and unaffected individuals

First documented in New York State in 2006, white nose syndrome (WNS) quickly became the leading cause of mortality in hibernating bat species in the United States. WNS is caused by a psychrophilic fungus, Geomyces destructans. Clinical signs of this pathogen are expressed as a dusty white fungus predominately around the nose and on the wings of affected bats. Relatively new biomarkers, such as mi
Authors
D.D. Iwanowicz, L. R. Iwanowicz, N.P. Hitt, T.L. King

Review of selected global mineral industries in 2011 and an outlook to 2017

This report reviews the world production of selected mineral commodities in 2011 and includes output projections (based on planned capacity expansions) through 2017. It also includes brief discussions of several issues that are of importance to the mineral sector, including the world economy, the availability of strategic minerals, significant company mergers and acquisitions in 2011, exploration
Authors
W. David Menzie, Yadira Soto-Viruet, Omayra Bermúdez-Lugo, Philip M. Mobbs, Alberto Alexander Perez, Mowafa Taib, Susan Wacaster

Estimates of future inundation of salt marshes in response to sea-level rise in and around Acadia National Park, Maine

Salt marshes are ecosystems that provide many important ecological functions in the Gulf of Maine. The U.S. Geological Survey investigated salt marshes in and around Acadia National Park from Penobscot Bay to the Schoodic Peninsula to map the potential for landward migration of marshes using a static inundation model of a sea-level rise scenario of 60 centimeters (cm; 2 feet). The resulting inunda
Authors
Martha G. Nielsen, Robert W. Dudley

Differential regulation of sodium-potassium pump isoforms during smolt development and seawater exposure of Atlantic salmon

Freshwater and seawater isoforms of the alpha subunit of Na+/K+-ATPase (NKA) have previously been identified in gill ionocytes of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). In the present study we examine the abundance and cellular localization of these isoforms during the parr–smolt transformation, a developmental process that is preparatory for seawater entry. The abundance of NKAα1a was lower in smolts tha
Authors
Stephen D. McCormick, Amy M. Regish, Arne K. Christensen, Björn Thrandur Björnsson

Numerical simulation of groundwater and surface-water interactions in the Big River Management Area, central Rhode Island

The Rhode Island Water Resources Board is considering use of groundwater resources from the Big River Management Area in central Rhode Island because increasing water demands in Rhode Island may exceed the capacity of current sources. Previous water-resources investigations in this glacially derived, valley-fill aquifer system have focused primarily on the effects of potential groundwater-pumping
Authors
John P. Masterson, Gregory E. Granato

Comparing rapid and culture indicator bacteria methods at inland lake beaches

A rapid method, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), for quantifying indicator bacteria in recreational waters is desirable for public health protection. We report that replacing current Escherichia coli standards with new US Environmental Protection Agency beach action values (BAVs) for enterococci by culture or qPCR may result in more advisories being posted at inland recreational lake
Authors
Donna S. Francy, Rebecca N. Bushon, Amie M. G. Brady, Christopher M. Kephart

Groundwater-level trends and forecasts, and salinity trends, in the Azraq, Dead Sea, Hammad, Jordan Side Valleys, Yarmouk, and Zarqa groundwater basins, Jordan

Changes in groundwater levels and salinity in six groundwater basins in Jordan were characterized by using linear trends fit to well-monitoring data collected from 1960 to early 2011. On the basis of data for 117 wells, groundwater levels in the six basins were declining, on average about -1 meter per year (m/yr), in 2010. The highest average rate of decline, -1.9 m/yr, occurred in the Jordan Side

Authors
Daniel J. Goode, Lisa A. Senior, Ali Subah, Ayman Jaber

Complex resistivity signatures of ethanol in sand-clay mixtures

We performed complex resistivity (CR) measurements on laboratory columns to investigate changes in electrical properties as a result of varying ethanol (EtOH) concentration (0% to 30% v/v) in a sand–clay (bentonite) matrix. We applied Debye decomposition, a phenomenological model commonly used to fit CR data, to determine model parameters (time constant: τ, chargeability: m, and normalized chargea
Authors
Yves Robert Personna, Lee Slater, Dimitrios Ntarlagiannis, Dale D. Werkema, Zoltan Szabo

Comparative analysis of Edwardsiella isolates from fish in the eastern United States identifies two distinct genetic taxa amongst organisms phenotypically classified as E. tarda

Edwardsiella tarda, a Gram-negative member of the family Enterobacteriaceae, has been implicated in significant losses in aquaculture facilities worldwide. Here, we assessed the intra-specific variability of E. tarda isolates from 4 different fish species in the eastern United States. Repetitive sequence mediated PCR (rep-PCR) using 4 different primer sets (ERIC I & II, ERIC II, BOX, and GTG5) and
Authors
Matt J. Griffin, Sylvie M. Quiniou, Theresa Cody, Maki Tabuchi, Cynthia Ware, Rocco C. Cipriano, Michael J. Mauel, Esteban Soto

Wetland fire scar monitoring and analysis using archival Landsat data for the Everglades

The ability to document the frequency, extent, and severity of fires in wetlands, as well as the dynamics of post-fire wetland land cover, informs fire and wetland science, resource management, and ecosystem protection. Available information on Everglades burn history has been based on field data collection methods that evolved through time and differ by land management unit. Our objectives were t
Authors
John Jones, Annette E. Hall, Ann M. Foster, Thomas J. Smith

Geochemical, isotopic, and dissolved gas characteristics of groundwater in a fractured crystalline-rock aquifer, Savage Municipal Well Superfund site, Milford, New Hampshire, 2011

Tetrachloroethylene (PCE), a volatile organic compound, was detected in groundwater from deep (more than (>) 300 feet (ft) below land surface) fractures in monitoring wells tapping a crystalline-rock aquifer beneath operable unit 1 (OU1) of the Savage Municipal Well Superfund site (Weston, Inc., 2010). Operable units define remedial areas of contaminant concern. PCE contamination within the fractu
Authors
Philip T. Harte