Publications
USGS Science Centers in Region 7: Upper Colorado Basin produce hundreds of USGS-series publications, journal papers, and books each year that are subject to rigorous peer review by USGS specialists. The publications linked above and listed below are related to study areas and staff members of USGS Science Centers in Region 7 compiled from the USGS Publications Warehouse.
Filter Total Items: 8442
Riparian spiders indicate the magnitude and sources of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination at a large contaminated sediment site
We investigated PCB contamination at the Ashtabula River Area of Concern (AOC) following remedial dredging using araneid and tetragnathid spiders. PCB concentrations remain elevated in the AOC compared to reference conditions. Patterns of contamination were strikingly similar between taxa, but were higher in tetragnathids at the most contaminated sites. Spider PCB homolog distributions...
Authors
David M. Walters, Ryan R. Otter, Johanna M. Kraus, Marc A. Mills
ShakeMap-based prediction of earthquake-induced mass movements in Switzerland calibrated on historical observations
In Switzerland, nearly all historical Mw ~ 6 earthquakes have induced damaging landslides, rockslides and snow avalanches that, in some cases, also resulted in damage to infrastructure and loss of lives. We describe the customisation to Swiss conditions of a globally calibrated statistical approach originally developed to rapidly assess earthquake-induced landslide likelihoods worldwide...
Authors
Carlo Cauzzi, Donat Fah, David J. Wald, John Clinton, Stephane Losey, Stefan Wiemer
High latitude Southern Hemisphere fire history during the mid-late Holocene (750- 6000 yr BP)
We determined the specific biomass burning biomarker levoglucosan in an ice core from the TALos Dome Ice CorE drilling project (TALDICE) during the mid- to late Holocene (6000–750 BP). The levoglucosan record is characterized by a long-term increase with higher rates starting at ∼ 4000 BP and peaks between 2500 and 1500 BP. The anomalous increase in levoglucosan centered at ∼ 2000 BP...
Authors
Dario Battistel, Natalie M. Kehrwald, Piero Zennaro, Giuseppe Pellegrino, Elena Barbaro, Roberta Zangrando, Xanthi X. Pedeli, Cristiano Varin, Andrea Spolaor, Paul T. Vallelonga, Andrea Gambaro, Carlo Barbante
Regeneration of Salicaceae riparian forests in the Northern Hemisphere: A new framework and management tool
Human activities on floodplains have severely disrupted the regeneration of foundation riparian shrub and tree species of the Salicaceae family (Populus and Salix spp.) throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Restoration ecologists initially tackled this problem from a terrestrial perspective that emphasized planting. More recently, floodplain restoration activities have embraced an aquatic...
Authors
Eduardo Gonzalez, Vanesa Martinez-Fernandez, Patrick B. Shafroth, Anna A. Sher, Annie L. Henry, Virginia Garofano-Gomez, Dov Corenblit
Analysis of mean seismic ground motion and its uncertainty based on the UCERF3 geologic slip rate model with uncertainty for California
The Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast v.3 (UCERF3) model (Field et al., 2014) considers epistemic uncertainty in fault‐slip rate via the inclusion of multiple rate models based on geologic and/or geodetic data. However, these slip rates are commonly clustered about their mean value and do not reflect the broader distribution of possible rates and associated probabilities...
Authors
Yuehua Zeng
Landslides triggered by the 14 November 2016 Mw 7.8 Kaikōura Earthquake, New Zealand
The 14 November 2016 MwMw 7.8 Kaikōura earthquake generated more than 10,000 landslides over a total area of about 10,000 km210,000 km2, with the majority concentrated in a smaller area of about 3600 km23600 km2. The largest landslide triggered by the earthquake had an approximate volume of 20(±2) M m320(±2) M m3, with a runout distance of about 2.7 km, forming a dam on the Hapuku...
Authors
C. Massey, D. Townsend, Ellen Rathje, Kate E. Allstadt, B. Lukovic, Yoshihiro Kaneko, Brendon A. Bradley, J. Wartman, Randall W. Jibson, D. N. Petley, Nick Horspool, I. Hamling, J. Carey, S. Cox, John Davidson, S. Dellow, Jonathan W. Godt, Christopher Holden, Katherine D. Jones, Anna E. Kaiser, M. Little, B. Lyndsell, S. McColl, R. Morgenstern, Francis K. Rengers, D. Rhoades, B. Rosser, D. Strong, C. Singeisen, M. Villeneuve
Laboratory tests of three Z‐Land Fairfield Nodal 5‐Hz, three‐component sensors
We conduct a number of laboratory tests at the Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory to verify the self‐noise and fidelity in which 3 three‐component Fairfield Nodal Z‐Land, Generation 2, 5‐Hz sensors are able to record seismic signals. In addition to the incoherent self‐noise of the sensors, we estimate the sensitivity of the units in digital volts/m/s, the damping, and the free period...
Authors
Adam T. Ringler, Robert E. Anthony, M.S Karplus, Austin Holland, David C. Wilson
Reverse weathering in marine sediments and the geochemical cycle of potassium in seawater: Insights from the K isotopic composition (41K/39K) of deep-sea pore-fluids
In situ Al-silicate formation, also known as “reverse weathering,” is an important sink of many of the major and minor cations in seawater (e.g. Mg, K, and Li). However, the importance of this sink in global geochemical cycles and isotopic budgets of these elements remains poorly constrained. Here, we report on the potassium isotopic composition (41K/39K) of deep-sea sediment pore-fluids...
Authors
Danielle P. Santiago Ramos, Leah E. Morgan, Nicholas S. Lloyd, John A. Higgins
Variation in plant defense suppresses herbivore performance
Defensive variability of crops and natural systems can alter herbivore communities and reduce herbivory. However, it is still unknown how defense variability translates into herbivore suppression. Nonlinear averaging and constraints in physiological tracking (also more generally called time-dependent effects) are the two mechanisms by which defense variability might impact herbivores. We...
Authors
Ian S. Pearse, Ryan Paul, Paul J. Ode
A method to value nature-related webcam viewing: The value of virtual use with application to brown bear webcam viewing
There are an estimated 16,000 nature related remote web cameras that provide users around the world with an opportunity to view wildlife. Because there is no monetary price to view the webcams, we utilise variations in the viewers’ opportunity cost of time to estimate consumer surplus. We apply this model to a large sample (n = 2649) of the more than 10 million viewers of Alaska's Katmai...
Authors
John B. Loomis, Leslie Richardson, Christopher Huber, Jeffrey Skibins, Ryan Sharp
Monitoring brine contamination using time-lapse airborne electromagnetic surveys, East Poplar Oil Field, Montana
Integrated geophysical and water-quality studies have been used to delineate areas of saline groundwater in shallow unconfined aquifers underlying the East Poplar oil field in northeastern Montana. In 2004, a RESOLVE survey was conducted over the oil field to identify high conductivity areas potentially associated with brine contamination and to map the shale unit comprising the base of...
Authors
Lyndsay Ball, Maria Deszcz-Pan, Joanna Thamke, Bruce Smith
Mapping protected groundwater adjacent to oil and gas fields, San Joaquin Valley, California
Airborne electromagnetic (AEM) surveys are a major component of a regional study of groundwater quality adjacent to oil and gas fields in the San Joaquin Valley of California, USA. AEM resistivity models are being used to delineate groundwater salinity in an effort to locate groundwater adjacent to oil and gas fields that could have future beneficial use. AEM models are also being used...
Authors
Lyndsay B. Ball, Janice M. Gillespie, Burke Minsley, Tracy Davis, Matthew K. Landon