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Publications

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

Filter Total Items: 16785

Paleozoic sedimentary rocks in the Red Dog Zn-Pb-Ag district and vicinity, western Brooks Range, Alaska: provenance, deposition, and metallogenic significance

Geochemical analyses of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks in the western Brooks Range reveal a complex evolutionary history for strata surrounding the large Zn-Pb-Ag deposits of the Red Dog district. Data for major elements, trace elements, and rare earth elements (REE) were obtained on 220 samples of unaltered and unmineralized siliciclastic rocks from the Upper Devonian-Lower Mississippian Endicott Gr
Authors
John F. Slack, Julie A. Dumoulin, J. M. Schmidt, L. E. Young, Cameron Rombach

Biomonitoring of Environmental Status and Trends (BEST) Program: Environmental contaminants and their effects on fish in the Columbia River Basin

This project examined and analyzed 560 fish representing eight species from 16 sites in the Columbia River Basin (CRB) from September 1997 to April 1998. Ten of the 16 sampling locations were historical National Contaminant Biomonitoring Program (NCBP) sites where organochlorine and elemental contaminants in fish had been monitored from 1969 through 1986. Five sites were co-located at U.S. Geologi
Authors
Jo Ellen Hinck, Christopher J. Schmitt, Timothy M. Bartish, Nancy D. Denslow, Vicki Blazer, Patrick J. Anderson, James J. Coyle, Gail M. Dethloff, Donald E. Tillitt

Coastal-change and glaciological map of the Saunders Coast area, Antarctica: 1972-97

Satellite images from 1972 to 1997 have been used to prepare a map showing glaciological features of the Saunders Coast area, Antarctica. Analysis of the imagery shows a trend toward ice-front retreat that may be a result of changing environmental conditions.
Authors
Jane G. Ferrigno, Richard S. Williams, Kevin M. Foley

Determining sources of water and contaminants to wells in a carbonate aquifer near Martinsburg, Blair County, Pennsylvania, by use of geochemical indicators, analysis of anthropogenic contaminants, and simulation of ground-water flow

Water supply for the Borough of Martinsburg, Pa., is from two well fields (Wineland and Hershberger) completed in carbonate-bedrock aquifers in the Morrison Cove Valley. Water supply is plentiful; however, waters with high concentrations of nitrate are a concern. This report describes the sources of water and contaminants to the supply wells. A review of previous investigations was used to establi
Authors
Bruce D. Lindsey, Michele L. Koch

Fecal-indicator bacteria in the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, July-September 2001

This report presents the results of a study by the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to determine the concentrations of fecal-indicator bacteria in the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers (Three Rivers) in Allegheny County, Pittsburgh, Pa. Water-quality samples and river-discharge measurements were collected from July to September 2001 during dry-
Authors
John W. Fulton, Theodore F. Buckwalter

Role of a large marine protected area for conserving landscape attributes of sand habitats on Georges Bank (NW Atlantic)

Mobile fishing gear reduces seafloor habitat complexity through the removal of structure-building fauna, e.g. emergent organisms that create pits and burrows, as well as by smoothing of sedimentary bedforms (e.g. sand ripples). In this study, we compared the relative abundance of microhabitat features (the scale at which individual fish associate with seafloor habitat) inside and outside of a larg
Authors
J. Lindholm, P. Auster, P. Valentine

Physical properties and rock physics models of sediment containing natural and laboratory-formed methane gas hydrate

This paper presents results of shear strength and acoustic velocity (p-wave) measurements performed on: (1) samples containing natural gas hydrate from the Mallik 2L-38 well, Mackenzie Delta, Northwest Territories; (2) reconstituted Ottawa sand samples containing methane gas hydrate formed in the laboratory; and (3) ice-bearing sands. These measurements show that hydrate increases shear strength a
Authors
W.J. Winters, I.A. Pecher, W.F. Waite, D.H. Mason

Sampling strategies for estimating acute and chronic exposures of pesticides in streams

The Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 requires that human exposure to pesticides through drinking water be considered when establishing pesticide tolerances in food. Several systematic and seasonally weighted systematic sampling strategies for estimating pesticide concentrations in surface water were evaluated through Monte Carlo simulation, using intensive datasets from four sites in northweste
Authors
Charles G. Crawford

Atmospheric wet deposition of trace elements to a suburban environment, Reston, Virginia, USA

Wet deposition from a suburban area in Reston, Virginia was collected during 1998 and analyzed to assess the anion and trace-element concentrations and depositions. Suburban Reston, approximately 26 km west of Washington, DC, is densely populated and heavily developed. Wet deposition was collected bi-weekly in an automated collector using trace-element clean sampling and analytical techniques. The
Authors
Kathryn M. Conko, Karen C. Rice, Margaret M. Kennedy

Petrography and character of the bedrock surface beneath western Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Cores collected during recent drilling in western Cape Cod, Massachusetts provide insight into the topography and petrology of the underlying bedrock. 62 drill sites spread over a ???140 km2 study area produced cores of granitoids (31), orthogneisses (20), basalts/diabases (4), amphibolites (3), felsic mylonites (2), and dolomitic rock (2). Granitoid cores range in composition from granite to tona
Authors
B.W. Hallett, L. J. Poppe, S.G. Brand

Methane hydrate formation in partially water-saturated Ottawa sand

Bulk properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediment strongly depend on whether hydrate forms primarily in the pore fluid, becomes a load-bearing member of the sediment matrix, or cements sediment grains. Our compressional wave speed measurements through partially water-saturated, methane hydrate-bearing Ottawa sands suggest hydrate surrounds and cements sediment grains. The three Ottawa sand packs tes
Authors
W.F. Waite, W.J. Winters, D.H. Mason

A visual basic program to generate sediment grain-size statistics and to extrapolate particle distributions

Measures that describe and summarize sediment grain-size distributions are important to geologists because of the large amount of information contained in textural data sets. Statistical methods are usually employed to simplify the necessary comparisons among samples and quantify the observed differences. The two statistical methods most commonly used by sedimentologists to describe particle distr
Authors
L. J. Poppe, A.H. Eliason, M. E. Hastings