Geology topics

Taylor Dudunake

Publications and source records attributed to Taylor Dudunake.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2025

Influence of local river hydraulics on Kootenai River white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) habitat selection during four spawning years, 2017–2020

Understanding fine-scale habitat selection of endangered Kootenai River white sturgeon ( Acipenser transmontanus ) is an important component for monitoring and recovery efforts. Fine-scale habitat selection and quantifying temporal changes in suitable habitat contributes to the work of addressing recruitment failure within the Kootenai River population. Habitat suitability indices were developed using over 96 000 acoustic telemetry sturgeon detections and two-dimensional hydrodynamic model simulations near Bonners Ferry, Idaho, USA. The selected habitat was assessed to develop habitat suitability indices for sturgeon; females undergoing spawn migrations and non-spawners. The most frequented locations were 8–9 m deep and water velocities of 0.3–0.7 m·s −1 . These observations suggest sturgeon with different spawning capabilities selected similar habitat. Weighted usable area was calculated to understand temporal variability in habitat quality, which showed a positive relationship with increases in flow. Results help understand the habitat limiting factors in regulated hydrologic regimes; provide biologists insight for monitoring efforts in discrete habitat conditions; guidance for water managers and the regulation of upstream water resources; and guidance to restoration practitioners for in-stream structure designs.

Idaho↗

USGS2023

An assessment of Kootenai River channel migration and riparian habitat encroachment

The lower reach of the Kootenai River in northern Idaho is dominated by large and actively migrating meander bends. Flow conditions, altered by both upstream flow reductions and by downstream backwater effects, are believed to be important geomorphological drivers throughout the reach. For example, Trout Creek Peninsula, located in an area of active meander migration, is undergoing continued bank erosion that has the potential to capture South Fork Trout Creek and result in an alteration of the Kootenai River active channel. Although chute-cutoffs are natural and common in meandering channels and can increase habitat diversity, avulsion events on regulated rivers with heavily used floodplains can also lead to loss of land and habitat. A chute-cutoff at Trout Creek Peninsula would create an island and potentially result in large volumes of erosion and deposition on private and tribal land. This could result in decreased riparian habitat and private land access along Trout Creek. To address landowner risk we refine estimates of bank erosion rates and the potential timeline for the capture of Trout Creek to inform stakeholder decisions about monitoring or managing bank erosion processes. Historical imagery, airborne and boat-mounted LiDAR, and repeat bathymetric surveys suggest that localized areas of high short-term bank erosion rates have increased to about 15 ft/yr near South Fork Trout Creek and the possibility of a chute cutoff event by 2043. Changes in bank erosion rates over time were compared to flow records to better understand how the complex flow regulation in this reach might be impacting geomorphic processes.

Idaho↗

USGS2023

Repeat bathymetric surveys and model simulation of sedimentation processes near fish spawning placements, Detroit and St. Clair Rivers, Michigan

Nine rock-rubble fish spawning placements, or artificial reef complexes, constructed in the Detroit and St. Clair Rivers between 2004 to 2018 were surveyed periodically with multibeam sonar. These serial bathymetric surveys, conducted in 2015, 2018, 2021, and 2022, identified active sand bedform fields impinging two reef complexes: Fighting Island in the Detroit River and Middle Channel in the St. Clair River delta. The spatial extent over which the bedforms interacted with these reef complexes differed. The Fighting Island reef complex, which was comprised of twelve reef beds oriented across the river channel, experienced partial sedimentation that can be attributed to the streamwise translation and lateral encroachment of a bedform field on several of the eastern reef beds. The Middle Channel reef complex was comprised of nine reef beds also oriented across the river channel. Sedimentation of the Middle Channel reef complex was more comprehensive compared to the Fighting Island reef complex as most of the beds in the Middle Channel reef complex were within a translating bedform field. We simulated the temporal evolution of reef sedimentation at the Middle Channel reef complex using the Wilcock-Kenworthy (WK) two-fraction sediment transport model. In the WK simulation, sand available upstream of the reef migrated into the 36-meter-long gravel reef beds over 10 days of model simulation. The rate of sediment infill predicted by the model was more rapid than the speed of bedform slip face translation measured in the field, approximately 0.3 meters per day. Further, as the supply of sediment from upstream is continuous, once a reef bed fills with sediment it generally remains in place, although some small variations (+/- 0.2 m) in the elevation of the sand overlying the reef beds were observed. Taken together, bathymetric surveys and modeling could be used to identify, monitor, and simulate potential sources of bedload sediment that could impair the longevity of future spawning reef placements. Efforts directed toward enhancement and/or maintenance of reefs impaired by sedimentation could benefit from continued monitoring through periodic high-resolution bathymetric surveys, detailed inspection by diving, and collection of underwater imagery.

Michigan↗

USGS2020

Assessment of bridge scour countermeasures at selected bridges in the United States, 2014–18

Erosion of the streambed, known also as scour, around pier 3 of the New York State Thruway bridge over Schoharie Creek caused the pier to fail, which ultimately resulted in bridge failure during the flooding event of April 5, 1987. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) responded to the need for better guidance on the evaluation of bridge scour and the selection and installation of scour countermeasures with the release of several Hydraulic Engineering Circulars. Although this information has been available, used, and updated over the years, an evaluation of the current conditions of scour countermeasures has not been performed. Therefore, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the FHWA, began a study in 2013 to assess the current conditions of bridge scour countermeasures at selected sites around the country. The bridge scour countermeasure site assessments included reviewing countermeasure design plans, field inspections, traditional surveys, motion-compensated terrestrial light detection and ranging technology (lidar), high-resolution multi-beam bathymetry scanning, underwater video imaging, and a review of the peak and daily streamflow history for the associated river or stream. A total of 34 bridge scour countermeasure sites were selected in 11 states for this study. The types of countermeasures installed at the bridge scour study sites ranged from riprap, the most common countermeasure in the study, to A-Jacks and cabled-concrete mattresses. The installed countermeasures were generally exposed to hydraulic forces from floods that equaled or exceeded the 1-percent, and even the 0.2-percent, annual exceedance probability at some of the study sites, but not all. The field inspections and countermeasure evaluations identified areas of shifting, slumping, and some scour holes and damage or washouts to the countermeasures, but generally most remained in place. The high-resolution laser scanner data, photo imaging and traditional survey data, and field notes were provided to the FHWA for expert evaluation of the bridge scour countermeasure performance.

Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, ↗