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Search indexed USGS publications on groundwater, aquifers, geologic maps, mineral resources and earthquakes. Explore source records by subject and place.

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At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources
USGS2012

The paradox of cooling streams in a warming world: Regional climate trends do not parallel variable local trends in stream temperature in the Pacific continental United States

Temperature is a fundamentally important driver of ecosystem processes in streams. Recent warming of terrestrial climates around the globe has motivated concern about consequent increases in stream temperature. More specifically, observed trends of increasing air temperature and declining stream flow are widely believed to result in corresponding increases in stream temperature. Here, we examined the evidence for this using long-term stream temperature data from minimally and highly human-impacted sites located across the Pacific continental United States. Based on hypothesized climate impacts, we predicted that we should find warming trends in the maximum, mean and minimum temperatures, as well as increasing variability over time. These predictions were not fully realized. Warming trends were most prevalent in a small subset of locations with longer time series beginning in the 1950s. More recent series of observations (1987-2009) exhibited fewer warming trends and more cooling trends in both minimally and highly human-influenced systems. Trends in variability were much less evident, regardless of the length of time series. Based on these findings, we conclude that our perspective of climate impacts on stream temperatures is clouded considerably by a lack of long-termdata on minimally impacted streams, and biased spatio-temporal representation of existing time series. Overall our results highlight the need to develop more mechanistic, process-based understanding of linkages between climate change, other human impacts and stream temperature, and to deploy sensor networks that will provide better information on trends in stream temperatures in the future.

Geophysical Research Letters↗
USGS2018

Geomorphic evolution of a gravel‐bed river under sediment‐starved vs. sediment‐rich conditions: River response to the world's largest dam removal

Understanding river response to sediment pulses is a fundamental problem in geomorphic process studies, with myriad implications for river management. However, because large sediment pulses are rare and usually unanticipated, they are seldom studied at field scale. We examine fluvial response to a massive (~20 Mt) sediment pulse released by the largest dam removal globally, on the Elwha River, Washington, United States, in an 11‐year before‐after/control‐impact study of channel morphology and grain size. We test the hypothesis that for a given flow magnitude, greater geomorphic change occurs under sediment‐rich conditions than under sediment‐starved conditions. Channel response to flow forcing was significantly different during the sediment‐pulse peak, 1–2 years after dam removal began, than earlier or later. During peak sediment supply our hypothesis was supported; major geomorphic change occurred under low flows and unit stream power ≤60 W/m 2 . However, by 4–6 years after dam removal began, rates of geomorphic change and sensitivity to stream power had decreased substantially such that our hypothesis was no longer unequivocally supported. These findings are consistent with a two‐phase conceptual model of dam‐removal response, involving a transport‐limited state followed by a more supply‐limited state. From comparisons with other dam removals and natural sediment pulses, we infer that the longevity of sediment‐pulse signals in gravel‐bed rivers depends upon gradient, river discharge, valley morphology, and sediment grain size. Stream power associated with substantial geomorphic change varies with sediment supply, such that assigning a general threshold stream power to gravel‐bed rivers may be untenable.

Washington↗
USGS2020

Integrating perspectives to understand lake ice dynamics in a changing world

Ice cover plays a critical role in physical, biogeochemical, and ecological processes in lakes. Despite its importance, winter limnology remains relatively understudied. Here, we provide a primer on the predominant drivers of freshwater lake ice cover and the current methodologies used to study lake ice, including in situ and remote sensing observations, physical based models, and experiments. We highlight opportunities for future research by integrating these four disciplines to address key knowledge gaps in our understanding of lake ice dynamics in changing winters. Advances in technology, data integration, and interdisciplinary collaboration will allow the field to move toward developing global forecasts of lake ice cover for small to large lakes across broad spatial and temporal scales, quantifying ice quality and ice thickness, moving from binary to continuous ice records, and determining how winter ice conditions and quality impact ecosystem processes in lakes over winter. Ultimately, integrating disciplines will improve our ability to understand the impacts of changing winters on lake ice.

Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences↗
USGS2021

Active Mars: A dynamic world

Mars exhibits diverse surface changes at all latitudes and all seasons. Active processes include impact cratering, aeolian sand and dust transport, a variety of slope processes, changes in polar ices, and diverse effects of seasonal CO 2 frost. The extent of surface change has been surprising and indicates that the present climate is capable of reshaping the surface. Activity has important implications for the Amazonian history of Mars: understanding processes is a necessary step before we can understand their implications and variations over time.

Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets↗
USGS2011

World slope map

A colored slope map (scale 1:80,000,000) was generated from digital land and sea floor elevations at 5‐min spacings from data tapes from the National Geophysical Data Center. Slope analysis is facilitated by examining the average slope in 250‐m altitude‐depth intervals both globally and in each of eight tectonic plates. The most striking feature of the map is the multiple parallel bands of steep slope at subduction zones. Submarine volcanic chains produce zones of steep slope that show little degradation at the scale of the map since the Cretaceous. The average slope, or roughness, of spreading ridges decreases exponentially with increasing spreading rate. The passive continental margins generate a steep zone at 1–2 km depth. The lowest average global slope (0.2°) occurs at sea level and reflects the base level that the sea provides for subaerial erosion and the upper limit for marine sedimentation. Slope minima also are caused by the abyssal plains at 4–6 km depth and by glacial ice caps at 3 km elevation.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS2010

Hydromythology and ethnohydrology in the New World

From mythology, archeology, and chronicles of early explorers we can learn how early Americans viewed the cause and effect relations of hydrologic phenomena. Hopes and fears are the basis of religion, and it was through religion that water management was first practiced. Early people used their water resources to develop diverse civilizations in various parts of the western hemisphere. Not only was the rise of these earlier civilizations hydrologically influenced, but also the downfall of some was related to natural or man-made hydrological crises in which gods and mythology continued to play a role.

Water Resources Research↗
USGS2021

Maintaining momentum for collaborative working groups in a post-pandemic world

Scientific progress depends in part on our ability to synthesize heterogeneous data and ideas into new models and paradigms. In environmental sciences, such synthesis has been particularly effective when conducted by collaborative working groups: diverse groups of researchers and practitioners brought together for a concentrated period of collaboration on key questions. Such work is often done at synthesis centres: organizations that promote, fund, organize and host working groups and other collaborative research and training activities 1 . However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, synthesis centres have had to rapidly adapt to supporting fully virtual working groups; the eight centres we direct supported 68 virtual working groups in the past year. Based on this experience, we conclude — contrary to a recent editorial on conferences published in this journal 2 — that virtual gatherings, while providing a bridge during the pandemic, cannot replace immersive, in-person collaborations. In-person working group meetings involve productive and varied interactions for many hours over consecutive days. We have found that virtual sessions lose effectiveness after a few hours, as participants become fatigued from staring at a screen or juggling local demands. While virtual meetings can work for short, well-delineated tasks, they are less suited for unstructured and free-flowing discussions — and thus struggle to create the social cohesion and trust known to fuel creative breakthroughs during week-long in-person meetings 3 .

Nature Ecology and Evolution↗
USGS2022

Dryland mechanisms could widely control ecosystem functioning in a drier and warmer world

Responses of terrestrial ecosystems to climate change have been explored in many regions worldwide. While continued drying and warming may alter process rates and deteriorate the state and performance of ecosystems, it could also lead to more fundamental changes in the mechanisms governing ecosystem functioning. Here we argue that climate change will induce unprecedented shifts in these mechanisms in historically wetter climatic zones, towards mechanisms currently prevalent in dry regions, which we refer to as ‘dryland mechanisms’. We discuss 12 dryland mechanisms affecting multiple processes of ecosystem functioning, including vegetation development, water flow, energy budget, carbon and nutrient cycling, plant production and organic matter decomposition. We then examine mostly rare examples of the operation of these mechanisms in non-dryland regions where they have been considered irrelevant at present. Current and future climate trends could force microclimatic conditions across thresholds and lead to the emergence of dryland mechanisms and their increasing control over ecosystem functioning in many biomes on Earth.

Nature Ecology & Evolution↗
USGS2024

Unforeseen plant phenotypic diversity in a dry and grazed world

Earth harbours an extraordinary plant phenotypic diversity 1 that is at risk from ongoing global changes 2 , 3 . However, it remains unknown how increasing aridity and livestock grazing pressure—two major drivers of global change 4 , 5 , 6 —shape the trait covariation that underlies plant phenotypic diversity 1 , 7 . Here we assessed how covariation among 20 chemical and morphological traits responds to aridity and grazing pressure within global drylands. Our analysis involved 133,769 trait measurements spanning 1,347 observations of 301 perennial plant species surveyed across 326 plots from 6 continents. Crossing an aridity threshold of approximately 0.7 (close to the transition between semi-arid and arid zones) led to an unexpected 88% increase in trait diversity. This threshold appeared in the presence of grazers, and moved toward lower aridity levels with increasing grazing pressure. Moreover, 57% of observed trait diversity occurred only in the most arid and grazed drylands, highlighting the phenotypic uniqueness of these extreme environments. Our work indicates that drylands act as a global reservoir of plant phenotypic diversity and challenge the pervasive view that harsh environmental conditions reduce plant trait diversity 8 , 9 , 10 . They also highlight that many alternative strategies may enable plants to cope with increases in environmental stress induced by climate change and land-use intensification.

Nature↗
USGS2018

Morphodynamic evolution following sediment release from the world’s largest dam removal

Sediment pulses can cause widespread, complex changes to rivers and coastal regions. Quantifying landscape response to sediment-supply changes is a long-standing problem in geomorphology, but the unanticipated nature of most sediment pulses rarely allows for detailed measurement of associated landscape processes and evolution. The intentional removal of two large dams on the Elwha River (Washington, USA) exposed ~30 Mt of impounded sediment to fluvial erosion, presenting a unique opportunity to quantify source-to-sink river and coastal responses to a massive sediment-source perturbation. Here we evaluate geomorphic evolution during and after the sediment pulse, presenting a 5-year sediment budget and morphodynamic analysis of the Elwha River and its delta. Approximately 65% of the sediment was eroded, of which only ~10% was deposited in the fluvial system. This restored fluvial supply of sand, gravel, and wood substantially changed the channel morphology. The remaining ~90% of the released sediment was transported to the coast, causing ~60 ha of delta growth. Although metrics of geomorphic change did not follow simple time-coherent paths, many signals peaked 1–2 years after the start of dam removal, indicating combined impulse and step-change disturbance responses.

Washington↗
USGS2024

Declining groundwater storage expected to amplify mountain streamflow reductions in a warmer world

Groundwater interactions with mountain streams are often simplified in model projections, potentially leading to inaccurate estimates of streamflow response to climate change. Here, using a high-resolution, integrated hydrological model extending 400 m into the subsurface, we find groundwater an important and stable source of historical streamflow in a mountainous watershed of the Colorado River. In a warmer climate, increased forest water use is predicted to reduce groundwater recharge resulting in groundwater storage loss. Losses are expected to be most severe during dry years and cannot recover to historical levels even during simulated wet periods. Groundwater depletion substantially reduces annual streamflow with intermittent conditions predicted when precipitation is low. Expanding results across the region suggests groundwater declines will be highest in the Colorado Headwater and Gunnison basins. Our research highlights the tight coupling of vegetation and groundwater dynamics and that excluding explicit groundwater response to warming may underestimate future reductions in mountain streamflow.

Nature Water↗
USGS2002

Genetic structure of the world's polar bear populations

We studied genetic structure in polar bear ( Ursus maritimus ) populations by typing a sample of 473 individuals spanning the species distribution at 16 highly variable microsatellite loci. No genetic discontinuities were found that would be consistent with evolutionarily significant periods of isolation between groups. Direct comparison of movement data and genetic data from the Canadian Arctic revealed a highly significant correlation. Genetic data generally supported existing population (management unit) designations, although there were two cases where genetic data failed to differentiate between pairs of populations previously resolved by movement data. A sharp contrast was found between the minimal genetic structure observed among populations surrounding the polar basin and the presence of several marked genetic discontinuities in the Canadian Arctic. The discontinuities in the Canadian Arctic caused the appearance of four genetic clusters of polar bear populations. These clusters vary in total estimated population size from 100 to over 10 000, and the smallest may merit a relatively conservative management strategy in consideration of its apparent isolation. We suggest that the observed pattern of genetic discontinuities has developed in response to differences in the seasonal distribution and pattern of sea ice habitat and the effects of these differences on the distribution and abundance of seals.

Molecular Ecology↗
USGS2002

Diffuse fluid flux through orogenic belts: Implications for the world ocean

Fifty years ago a classic paper by W. W. Rubey [(1951) Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 62, 1111-1148] examined various hypotheses regarding the origin of sea water and concluded that the most likely hypothesis was volcanic outgassing, a view that was generally accepted by earth scientists for the next several decades. More recent work suggests that the rate of subduction of water is much larger than the volcanic outgassing rate, lending support to hypotheses that either ocean volume has decreased with time, or that the imbalance is offset by continuous replenishment of water by cometary impacts. These alternatives are required in the absence of additional mechanisms for the return of water from subducting lithosphere to the Earth's surface. Our recent work on crustal permebility suggests a large capacity for water upflow through tectonically active continental crust, resulting in a heretofore unrecognized degassing pathway that can accommodate the waer subduction rate. Escape of recycled water via delivery from the mantle through zones of active metamorphism eliminates the mass-balance argument for the loss of ocean volume or extraterestrial sources.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of↗
USGS2021

The 2018 reawakening and eruption dynamics of Steamboat Geyser, the world’s tallest active geyser

Steamboat Geyser in Yellowstone National Park’s Norris Geyser Basin began a prolific sequence of eruptions in March 2018 after 34 y of sporadic activity. We analyze a wide range of datasets to explore triggering mechanisms for Steamboat’s reactivation and controls on eruption intervals and height. Prior to Steamboat’s renewed activity, Norris Geyser Basin experienced uplift, a slight increase in radiant temperature, and increased regional seismicity, which may indicate that magmatic processes promoted reactivation. However, because the geothermal reservoir temperature did not change, no other dormant geysers became active, and previous periods with greater seismic moment release did not reawaken Steamboat, the reason for reactivation remains ambiguous. Eruption intervals since 2018 (3.16 to 35.45 d) modulate seasonally, with shorter intervals in the summer. Abnormally long intervals coincide with weakening of a shallow seismic source in the geyser basin’s hydrothermal system. We find no relation between interval and erupted volume, implying unsteady heat and mass discharge. Finally, using data from geysers worldwide, we find a correlation between eruption height and inferred depth to the shallow reservoir supplying water to eruptions. Steamboat is taller because water is stored deeper there than at other geysers, and, hence, more energy is available to power the eruptions.

Wyoming↗
USGS1999

International river basins of the world

It is becoming acknowledged that water is likely to be the most pressing environmental concern of the next century. Difficulties in river basin management are only exacerbated when the resource crosses international boundaries. One critical aid in the assessment of international waters has been the Register of International Rivers a compendium which listed 214 international waterways that cover 47% of the earth's continental land surface. The Register, though, was last updated in 1978 by the now defunct United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The purpose of this paper is to update the Register in order to reflect the quantum changes that have taken place over the last 22 years, both in global geopolitics and in map coverage and technology. By accessing digital elevation models at spatial resolutions of 30 arc seconds, corroborating at a unified global map coverage of at least 1:1 000 000, and superimposing the results over complete coverage of current political boundaries, we are able to provide a new register which lists 261 international rivers, covering 45.3% of the land surface of the earth (excluding Antarctica). This paper lists all international rivers with their watershed areas, the nations which share each watershed,their respective territorial percentages, and notes on changes in or disputes over international boundaries since 1978.

International Journal of Water Resources Developme↗