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At least 343 records · Page 19Linked to original sources
USGS2005

Early chromite mining and agricultural clearance: Opportunities for the investigation of agricultural sediment dynamics in the Eastern Piedmont (USA)

Many flood plains in the Eastern Piedmont (USA) are buried under deposits of sediment resulting from European agricultural clearance. Classic radioisotopic dating techniques cover temporal periods too short (137Cs, 210Pb) or too long (14C) to reliably date sediments deposited during periods of local European activity (1660-1900). Moreover, many potential biomarkers, such as pollen, degrade in oxic flood plain sediments. In the Baltimore, Maryland (USA) region, early chromite mining (1820 - 1880) occurred during periods of rapid agricultural clearance. Use of chromium (Cr) chemostratigraphic profiles in flood plain sediments tied to historical mining activity can provide improved precision in overbank accumulation rates and timing. Sediment cores were collected from the Red Run basin, which is part of the Baltimore Ecosystem Study, an urban Long-Term Ecological Research site. Trace metal chemostratigraphic profiles were measured and peaks in Cr concentration tied to historic mining activity. Dates from Cr chemostratigraphic profiles were combined with 137Cs dating to reconstruct flood plain sedimentation rates. Red Run early sedimentation rates (1820 - 1880) were higher (0.45 - 1.19 cm/yr) than more recent (1880 - 1963) rates (0.08 - 0.46 cm/yr). This indicates that Piedmont flood plain vertical sediment accumulation might have peaked before the peak in agricultural clearance, earlier than assumed by regional models. The Cr chemostratigraphy is applicable to a wider region including much of the Maryland and Pennsylvania (USA) Piedmont.

American Journal of Science↗
USGS1980

Bibliography of fine-grained siliceous deposits

This bibliography was compiled under the auspices of the International Geologic Correlations Project's (IGCP) Research Group 115, "Siliceous Deposits of the Pacific Region"; IGCP is sponsored by UNESCO and the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS). Research Group 115 was originally proposed to IGCP in 1974 by Professor Azuma Iijima, University of Tokyo, and is now headed by James R. Hein, U.S. Geological Survey. Cooperative efforts by 86 members from 17 countries help in accomplishing Research Group 115's objectives of correlating sedimentary processes of siliceous deposits in the Pacific Basin and neighboring geosynclinal areas by means of stratigraphy, sedimentology, geochemisty, and paleontology. These correlations will allow us to estimate the geochemical silica budget in the Earth's crust; to estimate the production of silica in the marine environment through geologic time; to formulate a general rule on sedimentation of siliceous deposits in geosynclines; to increase understanding of the development of circum-Pacific orogenic belts; and to obtain basic methods to evaluate siliceous deposits of economic interest. The group agreed to focus on fine-grained siliceous deposits (cherts, siliceous shales, diatomites, and the like) and to exclude quartz sand deposits and quartzose sandstones.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2019

Wetland biomass and productivity in Coastal Louisiana: Base line data (1976-2015) and knowledge gaps for the development of spatially explicit models for ecosystem restoration and rehabilitation initiatives

Coastal Louisiana host 37% of the coastal wetland area in the conterminous US, including one of the deltaic coastal regions more susceptible to the synergy of human and natural impacts causing wetland loss. As a result of the construction of flood protection infrastructure, dredging of channels across wetlands for oil/gas exploration and maritime transport activities, coastal Coastal Louisiana hosts 37% of the coastal wetland area in the conterminous US, including one of the deltaic coastal regions more susceptible to the synergy of human and natural impacts causing wetland loss. As a result of the construction of flood protection infrastructure, dredging of channels across wetlands for oil/gas exploration and maritime transport activities, coastal Louisiana has lost approximately 4900 km2 of wetland area since the early 1930s. Despite the economic relevance of both wetland biomass and net primary productivity (NPP) as ecosystem services, there is a lack of vegetation simulation models to forecast the trends of those functional attributes at the landscape level as hydrological restoration projects are implemented. Here, we review the availability of peer-reviewed biomass and NPP wetland data (below and aboveground) published during the period 1976–2015 for use in the development, calibration and validation of high spatial resolution (<200 m × 200 m) vegetation process-based ecological models. We discuss and list the knowledge gaps for those species that represent vegetation community associations of ecological importance, including the long-term research issues associated to limited number of paired belowground biomass and productivity studies across hydrological basins currently undergoing different freshwater diversions management regimes and hydrological restoration priorities.

Louisiana↗
USGS2016

The Bear River's history and diversion: Constraints, unsolved problems, and implications for the Lake Bonneville record: Chapter 2

The shifting course of the Bear River has influenced the hydrologic balance of the Bonneville basin through time, including the magnitude of Lake Bonneville. This was first recognized by G.K. Gilbert and addressed in the early work of Robert Bright, who focused on the southeastern Idaho region of Gem Valley and Oneida Narrows. In this chapter, we summarize and evaluate existing knowledge from this region, present updated and new chronostratigraphic evidence for the Bear River's drainage history, and discuss implications for the Bonneville record as well as future research needs. The Bear River in Plio-Pleistocene time joined the Snake River to the north by following the present-day Portneuf or Blackfoot drainages, with it likely joining the Portneuf River by middle Pleistocene time. An episode of volcanism in the Blackfoot-Gem Valley volcanic field, sparsely dated to ~ 100–50 ka, diverted the Bear River southward from where the Alexander shield volcano obstructed the river's path into Gem Valley. Previous chronostratigraphic and isotopic work on the Main Canyon Formation in southern Gem Valley indicates internal-basin sedimentation during the Quaternary, with a possible brief incursion of the Bear River ~ 140 ka. New evidence confirms that the Bear River's final diversion at 60–50 ka led to its integration into the Bonneville basin by spillover at a paleo-divide above present-day Oneida Narrows. This drove rapid incision before the rise of Lake Bonneville into the canyon and southern Gem Valley. Bear River diversion at 60–50 ka coincides with the end of the Cutler Dam lake cycle, at the onset of marine isotope stage 3. The Bear River subsequently contributed to the rise of Lake Bonneville, the highest pluvial lake known in the basin, culminating in the Bonneville flood. Key research questions include the prior path of the upper Bear River, dating and understanding the complex geologic relations within the Gem Valley-Blackfoot volcanic field, resolving evidence for possible earlier incursions of Bear River water into the Bonneville basin, and interpreting the sedimentology of the Main Canyon Formation.

Book chapter↗
USGS1994

Preliminary results of a binational research cruise in the Western Arctic Ocean

This paper is a condensed version of a report on the preliminary results of a research cruise under the direction of the U. S. Geological Survey, on board the United States Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star to Northwind Ridge and Canada Basin of the Western Arctic Ocean, during the period August 16‐September 15, 1993. Major objectives of the cruise were to: survey the geology of the North‐wind Ridge and Canada Basin; determine whether radionuclide contamination from disposal of solid and liquid nuclear wastes by the former Soviet Union in the Kara and Barents seas had penetrated the North American Arctic; acquire sediment cores in support of research on the history of glaciation in the region; and gain a better understanding of water structure and currents, sea‐ice physics, and sediment and nutrient transport.

Arctic Ocean, Canada Basin, Northwind Ridge↗
USGS2006

Metallogeny of the Great Basin: Crustal evolution, fluid flow, and ore deposits

The Great Basin physiographic province in the Western United States contains a diverse assortment of world-class ore deposits. It currently (2006) is the world’s second leading producer of gold, contains large silver and base metal (Cu, Zn, Pb, Mo, W) deposits, a variety of other important metallic (Fe, Ni, Be, REE’s, Hg, PGE) and industrial mineral (diatomite, barite, perlite, kaolinite, gallium) resources, as well as petroleum and geothermal energy resources. Ore deposits are most numerous and largest in size in linear mineral belts with complex geology. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists are in the final year of a research project initiated in the fall of 2001 to increase understanding of relations between crustal evolution, fluid flow, and ore deposits in the Great Basin. Because of its substantial past and current mineral production, this region has been the focus of numerous investigations over the past century and is the site of ongoing research by industry, academia, and state agencies. A variety of geoinformatic tools was used to organize, reinterpret, and display, in space and time, the large amounts of geologic, geophysical, geochemical, and hydrologic information deemed pertinent to this problem. This information, in combination with concentrated research on (1) critical aspects of the geologic history, (2) an area in northern Nevada that encompasses the major mineral belts, and (3) important mining districts and deposits, is producing new insights about the interplay between key tectonic events, hydrothermal fluid flow, and ore genesis in mineral belts. The results suggest that the Archean to Holocene history of the Great Basin was punctuated by several tectonic events that caused fluids of different origins (sea water, basinal brine, meteoric water, metamorphic water, magmatic water) to move through the crust. Basement faults reactivated during these events localized deformation, sedimentation, magmatism, and hydrothermal fluid flow in overlying rocks to form mineral belts that contain ore deposits of different types and ages that are locally superimposed (demonstrating inheritance). Fluid flow in these systems also was influenced by the distribution of permeable lithologies and paleotopographic highs and lows. Hydrothermal fluids evolved from their initial chemistries towards compositions that reflect the ƒ O 2 and ƒ S 2 buffering capacity of, and the ligands and metals present in, the rocks (±older mineralization) through which they moved. In northern Nevada, where gold deposits are relatively common, carbonaceous, pyritic strata buffered fluids of diverse origins to H 2 S-rich compositions so they could transport gold repeatedly over Paleozoic-Cenozoic time (convergent evolution). Ore formed where metal-laden fluids encountered effective physicochemical traps. Maps of Neogene basin fill and erosion surfaces identify areas where preexisting ore deposits have been progressively exposed or concealed. Comparisons with analogous terrains and deposit types in other parts of the world provide global context. The initial findings and some of the databases, geologic maps, sections, reconstructions, hydrogeologic models, topical syntheses, regional overviews, short courses, field guides, and deposit comparisons produced by project staff and associated managers, contractors, and collaborators have been presented in numerous abstracts, symposia, USGS publications, and professional journals over the last 5 years (see the extensive bibliography). Notable among these was the 2005 Geological Society of Nevada symposium in Reno, Nevada, and the 2005 Geological Society of America annual meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, where project results were presented to audiences from around the nation and world. The final results of the project will be submitted for publication in 2007 to appropriate USGS and professional journals. A special issue of GEOSPHERE, scheduled for publication in 2007, will be devoted to the results of this project and related work. This special issue will reach an international audience and be available worldwide on the internet. Much of the research for this project has concentrated on areas that will receive the focused attention of the mining industry in the future. As such, the data and interpretations generated by this project have direct use for land-use managers in Federal, State, and local agencies. Improved hydrogeologic models developed by this project will considerably enhance ongoing and future water resource investigations in the region. The increased understanding of when, where, and how hydrothermal systems produce significant economic deposits has direct uses for mineral exploration and for future USGS mineral resource assessments in the Great Basin and other parts of the world.

Great Basin↗
USGS2015

Sixth International Limnogeology Congress: field trip guidebook, Reno, Nevada, June 15-19, 2015

Limnogeology is the study of modern lakes and lake deposits in the geologic record. Limnogeologists have been active since the 1800s, but interest in Limnogeology became prevalent in the early 1990s when it became clear that lake deposits contain continental environmental and climate records. A society that is focused on Limnogeology would allow greater communication and access to research on these important subjects and contribute to providing sound science used to understand rapid global changes in our modern world; thus the International Association of Limnogeology was founded in 1995 at the first International Limnogeology Congress (ILIC) held in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Sixth International Limnogeology Congress (ILIC6) was held in Reno, Nevada, from June 15&ndash;19, 2015. The ILIC meetings have been held every 4 years since the first meeting in1995 and were subsequently convened in Brest, France (1999), Tucson, USA (2003), Barcelona, Spain (2007), and Konstanz, Germany (2011). The Congress in Reno, USA marks the second time the Congress has been held in the United States and more than 150 scientists from every part of the world participated. As part of the Congress, ILIC6 included pre- and post- Congress field trips, the descriptions of which are included as separate trips in this Open-File Report. Trip 1 provides information on the pluvial and post-glacial Lakes of the eastern Great Basin, led by Paul Jewell, University of Utah, Ben Laabs, State University of New York-Geneseo, Jeff Munroe, Middlebury College, and Jack Oviatt, Kansas State University. Trip 2 contains information on the lake sequences of closed-basin lakes in the Eocene Green River Formation in Wyoming, led by Michael Smith, Northern Arizona University and Jennifer Scott, Mount Royal University. Trip 3 provides the background for the field trip to Pleistocene and modern lakes in the Great Basin of North America that was led by Susan Zimmerman, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Ken Adams, Desert Research Institute, and Michael Rosen, U.S. Geological Survey. Trip 4 contains the information for a trip to the modern lakes in Lassen National Park that was led by Paula Noble and Kerry Howard, both from the University of Nevada, Reno. The U.S. Geological Survey has sponsored each ILIC that has been held in the United States because of the importance of understanding paleoclimate and contaminant histories of lakes, two main themes of the Congress. This field trip guide provides a permanent record of some of the wide variety of studies that are being conducted in modern lakes and ancient lake deposits in western North America, and it provides a starting point for any one desiring to visit these exceptional sites or begin work in these areas.

California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming↗
USGS2018

Quartz-pebble-conglomerate gold deposits

Quartz-pebble-conglomerate gold deposits represent the largest repository of gold on Earth, largely due to the deposits of the Witwatersrand Basin, which account for nearly 40 percent of the total gold produced throughout Earth’s history. This deposit type has had a controversial history in regards to genetic models. However, most researchers conclude that they are paleoplacer deposits that have been modified by metamorphism and hydrothermal fluid flow subsequent to initial sedimentation. The deposits are found exclusively within fault-bounded depositional basins. The periphery of these basins commonly consists of granite-greenstone terranes, classic hosts for lode gold that source the detrital material infilling the basin. The gold reefs are typically located along unconformities or, less commonly, at the top of sedimentary beds. Large quartz pebbles and heavy-mineral concentrates are found associated with the gold. Deposits that formed prior to the Great Oxidation Event (circa 2.4 giga-annum [Ga]) contain pyrite, whereas younger deposits contain iron oxides. Uranium minerals and hydrocarbons are also notable features of some deposits. Much of the gold in these types of deposits forms crystalline features that are the product of local remobilization. However, some gold grains preserve textures that are undoubtedly of detrital origin. Other heavy minerals, such as pyrite, contain growth banding that is truncated along broken margins, which indicates that they were transported into place as opposed to forming by in situ growth in a hydrothermal setting. The ore tailings associated with these deposits commonly contain uranium-rich minerals and sulfides. Oxidation of the sulfides releases sulfuric acid and mobilizes various metals into the environment. The neutralizing potential of the tailings is minimal, since carbonate minerals are rare. The continuity of the tabular ore bodies, such as those of the Witwatersrand Basin, has allowed these mines to be the deepest in the world. The extreme depths create engineering complications and safety issues for the miners, such as rock bursts as a result of pressure release. The richness of these deposits makes them a desirable exploration target. However, the likelihood of future discoveries is minimal. Small deposits found in the United States include those found at Nemo in the Black Hills of South Dakota and Deep Lake in the Sierra Madre of Wyoming.

Scientific Investigations Report↗
USGS2026

Hydrogeologic conceptualization of the Arroyos subarea and Northeast Air Force Research Laboratory subarea of the Air Force Research Laboratory, Edwards Air Force Base, Antelope Valley, California, 2017–21

Research and testing within the Air Force Research Laboratory at Edwards Air Force Base in the southwestern Mojave Desert has been conducted since the 1950s. This testing requires large quantities of groundwater for cooling and operations involving hazardous constituents that have entered the groundwater. To better understand the potential movement of contaminants through the groundwater system, the U.S. Geological Survey entered into a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Air Force Civil Engineer Center with the purpose of (1) gaining a more detailed understanding of the hydraulic connection between the unconsolidated basin-fill sediment and the underlying weathered and crystalline bedrock and (2) investigating faults and their potential effect on groundwater flow. This study was specific to the Arroyos subarea and Northeast Air Force Research Laboratory subarea of the Air Force Research Laboratory. The refined hydrogeologic characterization was derived by evaluating surface geologic maps, a regional gravity model, new subsurface geophysical surveys, lithology data from boreholes, and groundwater-level data. Refinement of the hydrogeologic characterization of the study area involved developing a map of basin-fill sediment thickness, estimating the geometry and depth to bedrock, determining the presence of weathered bedrock material, and identifying the location of faults and subsurface structures. The thickness of basin-fill sediment was derived from a regional gravity model. Basin-fill sediment ranges from less than 20 feet (ft) thick to about 150 ft thick and increases substantially toward a deep structural basin in the northwestern part of the study area. The top of bedrock estimated from the new surface geophysical surveys is generally deeper than the top of bedrock from the regional gravity model. These differences in interpreted bedrock tops indicate that there may be a zone of weathered bedrock in the subsurface, overlying crystalline bedrock. Additional subsurface data evaluating the geometry and thickness of weathered bedrock are necessary for a comprehensive evaluation of weathered bedrock in the study area. Previously unmapped extensions of the Leuhman Fault, Spring Fault Zone, and Boron Gate Fault were identified in the new surface geophysical surveys. Evaluation of groundwater flow between bedrock and basin-fill sediment, and the effects of faults on groundwater flow, was done using groundwater-level data from 2020. The groundwater table was in crystalline bedrock throughout most of the Arroyos and Northeast Air Force Research Laboratory subareas, with a few exceptions where it was in basin-fill sediment and weathered bedrock. Basin-fill sediment, and likely weathered bedrock, was partially saturated in parts of the study area where basin-fill sediment was as thick as 150 ft. Weathered bedrock material may be present near the Spring Fault Zone, and if so, was likely saturated in 2020. The groundwater-level data near and within Spring Fault Zone indicate that the Spring Fault Zone acts as a vertical-along-strike conduit for, and as an across-strike impediment to, groundwater flow. In addition, steep groundwater-level gradients in the southeastern part of the study area indicate that a subsurface structure affecting groundwater flow could be related to the Leuhman Fault. Sufficient groundwater-level data were not available to conclusively determine if the Arroyos, Rich, and Boron Gate Faults, and their inferred extensions from the geophysical surveys, affect the movement or direction of groundwater flow.

California↗
USGS2020

Increased prespawning mortality threatens an integrated natural- and hatchery-origin sockeye salmon population in the Lake Washington Basin

The life cycle of diadromous fishes such as salmonids involves natural mortality in a series of distinct life history stages, occurring sequentially in different habitats. Decades of research have emphasized mortality at the embryo, juvenile, and sub-adult stages but it is increasingly clear that some adults that survive and return to freshwater habitats die during the final homeward migration or after they reach the spawning grounds, prior to breeding. These are termed “en route” and “prespawning” mortality, respectively, and can threaten populations depleted by mortality at previous stages. In this study, we present evidence that the sockeye salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka, population that returns to the Lake Washington Basin, in Washington State, USA, is experiencing both forms of adult mortality. Counts of the salmon entering the basin on their return migration in June and July were compared to counts in the major spawning grounds in September through November for 1995–2018. The disparity has increased markedly in recent years. The counts on the spawning grounds have decreased as a proportion of the number entering the system with an average 49 % of sockeye unaccounted for, consistent with increased en route mortality. In addition, prespawning mortality rates have increased in salmon that reach the Cedar River, the main spawning tributary, both at a hatchery holding adult fish in 1995–2018, and in the naturally spawning populations when monitored in the last five years. Hatchery records indicated <10 % prespawning mortality for 1995–2010, increasing to an average 43 % for 2014 – 2018. Recent carcass surveys in the Cedar River documented that 33.6% (2014), 22.3% (2015), 30.3% (2016) and 50.0% (2018) of female sockeye died before completing spawning. These recent increases in prespawning mortality have been associated with warm water during entry to freshwater, but comparably warm water in past decades had no such effect. Steady warming of river temperatures around the median run completion date from < 8.0 °C to > 13.0 °C was correlated with increased prespawning mortality rates at the hatchery from 1995–2018. We conclude that warming conditions during migration and spawning, in concert with other factors such as infections with pathogens, are responsible for the increased prespawning mortality of adult sockeye salmon that are high enough to threaten the population’s viability.

Washington↗
USGS2012

The potential effects of sodium bicarbonate, a major constituent from coalbed natural gas production, on aquatic life

The production water from coalbed natural gas (CBNG) extraction contains many constituents. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has established aquatic life criteria for some of these constituents, and it is therefore possible to evaluate their risk to aquatic life. However, of the major ions associated with produced waters, chloride is the only one with an established aquatic life criterion (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1988). The focus of this research was NaHCO 3 , a compound that is a major constituent of coalbed natural gas produced waters in the Tongue and Powder River Basins. This project included laboratory experiments, field in situ experiments, a field mixing zone study, and a fishery presence/absence assessment. Though this investigation focuses on the Tongue and Powder River Basins, the information is applicable to other watersheds where sodium bicarbonate is a principle component of product water either from CBNG or from traditional or unconventional oil and gas development. These data can also be used to separate effects of saline discharges from those potentially posed by other constituents. Finally, this research effort and the additional collaboration with USGS Water Resources and Mapping, Bureau of Land Management, US Environmental Protection Agency, State of Montana, State of Wyoming, Montana State University, University of Wyoming, and others as part of a Powder River Aquatic Task Group, can be used as a model for successful approaches to studying landscapes with energy development. The laboratory acute toxicity experiments were completed with a suite of organisms, including 7 species of fish, 5 species of invertebrates, and 1 amphibian species. Experiments performed on these multiple species resulted in LC50s that ranged from 1,120 to greater than (>) 8,000 milligrams sodium bicarbonate per liter (mg NaHCO 3 /L) (also defined as 769 to >8,000 milligrams bicarbonate per liter (mg HCO 3 -/L) or total alkalinity expressed as 608 to >4,181 milligrams calcium carbonate per liter (mg CaCO 3 /L)) that varied across species and lifestage within a species. The age at which fish were exposed to NaHCO 3 significantly affected the severity of toxic responses for some organisms. The chronic toxicity of NaHCO 3 was defined in experiments that lasted from 7&mdash;60 days post-hatch. For these experiments, sublethal effects such as growth and reproduction, in addition to significant reductions in survival were included in the final determination of effects. Chronic toxicity was observed at concentrations that ranged from 450 to 800mg NaHCO 3 /L (also defined as 430 to 657 mg HCO 3 -/L or total alkalinity expressed as 354 to 539 mg CaCO 3 /L) and the specific concentration depended on the sensitivity of the four species of invertebrates and fish exposed. Sublethal investigations during chronic studies revealed percent decrease in the activity of sodium-potassium adenosine triphosphatase (Na/K ATPase, an enzyme involved in ionoregulation) and the age of the fish at the onset of the decrease may affect the ability of fathead minnow to survive exposures to NaHCO 3 . A database of toxicity evaluations of NaHCO 3 on aquatic life has been constructed. Using these data, sample acute and chronic criteria of 459 and 381 mg NaHCO 3 /L, respectively, can be calculated for the protection of aquatic life. The final derivation and implementation of such criteria is, of course, left to the discretion of the concerned management agencies. A combination of in situ experiments, static-renewal experiments performed simultaneously with in situ experiments, and static renewal experiments performed with site water in the laboratory, demonstrated that untreated coalbed natural gas (CBNG) product water from the Tongue and Powder River Basins reduces survival of fathead minnow and pallid sturgeon. More precisely, the survival of early-lifestage fathead minnow, especially those less than 6-days post hatch (dph), likely is reduced significantly in the field when concentrations of NaHCO 3 rise above 1,500 mg/L. However, age was not a factor for pallid sturgeon and they were sensitive to product water regardless of age. Treatment with the Higgins Loop&trade; technology and dilution of untreated water increased survival in the laboratory. Both of these situations reduced ammonia in addition to the concentrations of NaHCO 3 . These experiments addressed the acute toxicity of effluent waters being added to the main stem rivers, but did not address issues related to the volumes of water that may be added to the watershed. Mixing zones of the three outfalls studied ranged from approximately 800&mdash;1,200 m below the confluence and the areas within these mixing zones with acutely lethal concentrations of NaHCO 3 (as defined by the presence of concentrated dye) are limited. The areas with concentrations of NaHCO 3 more than the concentrations likely to cause significant mortality, and more than the calculated sample water-quality criteria in the Tongue and Powder River Basins appear to be limited to tributaries and parts of mixing zones with considerable additions of untreated effluent.

Montana;Wyoming↗
USGS2021

A global dataset of inland fisheries expert knowledge

Inland fisheries and their freshwater habitats face intensifying effects from multiple natural and anthropogenic pressures. Fish harvest and biodiversity data remain largely disparate and severely deficient in many areas, which makes assessing and managing inland fisheries difficult. Expert knowledge is increasingly used to improve and inform biological or vulnerability assessments, especially in data-poor areas. Integrating expert knowledge on the distribution, intensity, and relative influence of human activities can guide natural resource management strategies and institutional resource allocation and prioritization. This paper introduces a dataset summarizing the expert-perceived state of inland fisheries at the basin (fishery) level. An electronic survey distributed to professional networks (June-September 2020) captured expert perceptions (n = 536) of threats, successes, and adaptive capacity to fisheries across 93 hydrological basins, 79 countries, and all major freshwater habitat types. This dataset can be used to address research questions with conservation relevance, including: demographic influences on perceptions of threat, adaptive capacities for climate change, external factors driving multi-stressor interactions, and geospatial threat assessments.

Scientific Data↗
USGS2009

Research in thermal biology: Burning questions for coldwater stream fishes

With the increasing appreciation of global warming impacts on ecological systems, in addition to the myriad of land management effects on water quality, the number of literature citations dealing with the effects of water temperature on freshwater fish has escalated in the past decade. Given the many biological scales at which water temperature effects have been studied, and the growing need to integrate knowledge from multiple disciplines of thermal biology to fully protect beneficial uses, we held that a survey of the most promising recent developments and an expression of some of the remaining unanswered questions with significant management implications would best be approached collectively by a diverse research community. We have identified five specific topic areas of renewed research where new techniques and critical thought could benefit coldwater stream fishes (particularly salmonids): molecular, organism, population/species, community and ecosystem, and policy issues in water quality. Our hope is that information gained through examination of recent research fronts linking knowledge at various scales will prove useful in managing water quality at a basin level to protect fish populations and whole ecosystems. Standards of the past were based largely on incipient lethal and optimum growth rate temperatures for fish species, while future standards should consider all integrated thermal impacts to the organism and ecosystem. ?? Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

Reviews in Fisheries Science↗
USGS2010

Alexandria's Eastern Harbor, Egypt: Pollen, microscopic charcoal, and the transition from natural to human-modified basin

Pollen and microscopic charcoal examined in Holocene sediment core samples record major environmental modifications affecting Alexandria's Eastern Harbor through time. We assess whether such changes on Egypt's coastal margin were influenced primarily by natural, or natural plus human, or primarily human factors. We focus on (1) the times when pollen assemblages and microscopic charcoal content changed in the core, (2) how they changed, and (3) why this occurred. The analysis takes into account the core's stratigraphy, regional climate variability, human history, and local archaeological record. Four pollenmicroscopic charcoal zones are identified. The earliest change occurred at ca. 6000 YBP, during Egypt's earlier Predynastic (Neolithic) period, coinciding with a lithologic break from sand to muddy sand. Pollen during this time indicates a transition to a much drier climate rather than effects of human activity. The second change in pollen occurred 3600-2900 YBP, during a period of continued aridity with no lithologic variation in this core interval. Pollen (cereal taxa, agricultural weeds, grape) and a sharp increase in microscopic charcoal indicate that human activity became prevalent at least 700 y before Alexander the Great's arrival in this region, and these results highlight the transition from a largely natural climatecontrolled environment to one influenced by both climate and anthropogenic activity. The third shift up-core in pollen assemblages is dated at ca. 2300 YBP, at the boundary between a sand and mud unit. It coincides with construction by the Ptolemies of the Heptastadion between Alexandria and Pharos Island. From this time onward, harbor sediment in the nearly enclosed catchment basin indicates a near-continuous record of dominant proximal human activity. ?? 2010 Coastal Education and Research Foundation.

Journal of Coastal Research↗
USGS2012

Summary of chemical data from onsite and laboratory analyses of groundwater samples from the surficial aquifer, Las Vegas, Nevada, April and August 1993 and September 1994

This report presents a summary of data collected during April and August 1993 and September 1994. These results are to be used as a wet-site analog to southern Nevada soils located at the Amargosa Desert Research Site near Beatty, Nevada. The samples were collected and analyzed in conjunction with the Nevada Basin and Range study unit of the U.S. Geological Survey, National Water-Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA). Samples were collected from groundwater wells in and about the city of Las Vegas, Nevada, and were analyzed for selected major, minor and trace constituents. Analyses of blank and reference samples are summarized as mean and standard deviation values for all positive results.

Nevada↗
USGS2020

Behavior and movement of adult winter steelhead ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ) in the upper Cowlitz River Basin, Washington, 2017–18

Executive Summary A 2-year radiotelemetry study was completed to monitor the movements of adult winter steelhead ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ) in the upper Cowlitz River Basin. A reintroduction program was established to restore healthy and harvestable populations of steelhead because volitional access to the area was blocked in the 1960s after construction of dams in the lower river. A trap-and-haul program is used to move adult steelhead and salmon ( Oncorhynchus spp.) upstream, around the dams and large reservoirs, and release them in the upper basin to spawn naturally. Fish are released into Lake Scanewa, the uppermost reservoir in the system, and into the Cowlitz and Cispus Rivers. The goal of this study was to describe the behavior, movement, and tributary use of adult steelhead in the upper Cowlitz River Basin to assist in evaluating the trap-and-haul program and reintroduction program. We were specifically interested in learning more about the locations where steelhead spawn. Individual fish were assigned one of four fates, based on their location during the spawning period: Cowlitz River, Cispus River, Lake Scanewa, or fallback below the dam that impounds the reservoir. A total of 215 steelhead were tagged for the 2017–18 study. Of these, 5 fish regurgitated their transmitters before or shortly after release, so 210 tagged fish were used for analyses, including 121 fish (57.6 percent) released into the Cispus River and 89 fish (42.4 percent) released into Lake Scanewa. The Cowlitz River release site was not evaluated. Hatchery-origin (HOR) and natural-origin (NOR) steelhead were included in the study. Within the first 10 days after release, most steelhead had moved at least 2 river kilometers away from their release site. Fish released into Lake Scanewa, however, moved from their release site significantly sooner than fish released into the Cispus River, regardless of origin or sex. Most radio-tagged steelhead (93–100 percent) made no more than one trip between the reservoir and one of the rivers prior to spawning. Steelhead were predominantly assigned fates in the river closest to where they were released, but origin also played a role. Steelhead released into the Cispus River were assigned Cispus River fates more than 80 percent of the time, including both origins and both years. About 13 percent of NOR fish had fates in the Cowlitz River, but the proportion was lower for HOR fish (0–2 percent). Fallback was the least common fate for Cispus-released steelhead (three HOR fish in 2017), followed by the reservoir fate, ranging from 5 to 9 percent in 2017, and zero in 2018. The steelhead released into Lake Scanewa were almost exclusively NOR fish, which had primarily Cowlitz River fates (55–57 percent). We released only six HOR steelhead into Lake Scanewa, and they all had Cowlitz River fates. The reservoir fate was uncommon for both release sites, and it was consistently lower in 2018 compared to 2017. Flow conditions were higher in 2017, which may have affected steelhead movement patterns or timing. The three HOR steelhead released in the Cispus River in 2017 were the only fish that fell back over Cowlitz Falls Dam, which represented 1.4 percent of the total study fish, 5.7 percent of the Cispus-released fish in 2017, and 9.4 percent of the Cispus-released HOR fish in 2017. About 62 percent of the steelhead released in Lake Scanewa spawned in the Cowlitz River, with the remaining 38 percent in the Cispus River. Within the Cowlitz River, close to one-half (about 47 percent) of the fish spawned in the upper reach, and about 16 percent spawned in the lower reach. Steelhead released into Lake Scanewa that spawned in the Cispus River were minimal in reach 5 (4 percent) and distributed in approximately equal proportions in the middle (reach 6; 16 percent) and upper (reach 7; 18 percent) reaches. Steelhead released into the Cispus River spawned almost exclusively in the Cispus River (94 percent). The upper Cispus River reach (reach 7) was used by more fish (72 percent) than the middle Cispus reach (reach 6; 16 percent). Taken together, the upper Cowlitz River reach (reach 4) and upper Cispus River reach (reach 7) accounted for more than 71 percent of the spawning locations for radio-tagged steelhead. When the middle Cispus River reach (reach 6) is included with the upper reaches, they account for 87 percent of our described spawning sites. We described 12 tributaries in the Cowlitz River and 8 tributaries in the Cispus River where steelhead spawned. After spawning, about 53–63 percent of steelhead moved downstream as kelts, either being collected at Cowlitz Falls Dam or being detected downstream from the dam. More fish were collected from both release sites in 2018 compared to 2017. Across release sites and years, more NOR fish and females moved downstream as kelts. This study added to the understanding of the behavior and movement of adult steelhead in the upper Cowlitz River Basin, supporting the findings of previous studies in the basin and describing spawning sites in the system’s two main rivers and their tributaries. Future research efforts in this system may use additional telemetry studies, genetic analyses, and spawning ground surveys to provide further insights into the progress of the reintroduction effort.

Washington↗
USGS2012

Weathering, landscape equilibrium, and carbon in four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico: Chapter H in Water quality and landscape processes of four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico

The U.S. Geological Survey's Water, Energy, and Biogeochemical Budgets (WEBB) program research in eastern Puerto Rico involves a double pair-wise comparison of four montane river basins, two on granitic bedrock and two on fine-grained volcaniclastic bedrock; for each rock type, one is forested and the other is developed. A confounding factor in this comparison is that the developed watersheds are substantially drier than the forested (runoff of 900&ndash;1,600 millimeters per year compared with 2,800&ndash;3,700 millimeters per year). To reduce the effects of contrasting runoff, the relation between annual runoff and annual constituent yield were used to estimate mean-annual yields at a common, intermediate mean-annual runoff of 1,860 millimeters per year. Upon projection to this intermediate runoff, the ranges of mean-annual yields among all watersheds became more compact or did not substantially change for dissolved bedrock, sodium, silica, chloride, dissolved organic carbon, and calcium. These constituents are the primary indicators of chemical weathering, biological activity on the landscape, and atmospheric inputs; the narrow ranges indicate little preferential influence by either geology or land cover. The projected yields of biologically active constituents (potassium, nitrate, ammonium ion, phosphate), and particulate constituents (suspended bedrock and particulate organic carbon) were considerably greater for developed landscapes compared with forested watersheds, consistent with the known effects of land clearing and human waste inputs. Equilibrium rates of combined chemical and physical weathering were estimated by using a method based on concentrations of silicon and sodium in bedrock, river-borne solids, and river-borne solutes. The observed rates of landscape denudation greatly exceed rates expected for a dynamic equilibrium, except possibly for the forested watershed on volcaniclastic rock. Deforestation and agriculture can explain the accelerated physical erosion in the two developed watersheds. Because there has been no appreciable deforestation, something else, possibly climate or forest-quality change, must explain the accelerated erosion in the forested watersheds on granitic rocks. Particulate organic carbon yields are closely linked to sediment yields. This relation implies that much of the particulate organic carbon transport in the four rivers is being caused by this enhanced erosion aided by landslides and fast carbon recovery. The increase in particulate organic carbon yields over equilibrium is estimated to range from 300 kilomoles per square kilometer per year (6 metric tons carbon per square kilometer per year) to 1,700 kilomoles per square kilometer per year (22 metric tons carbon per square kilometer per year) and is consistent with human-accelerated particulate-organic-carbon erosion and burial observed globally. There is no strong evidence of human perturbation of silicate weathering in the four study watersheds, and differences in dissolved inorganic carbon are consistent with watershed geology. Although dissolved organic carbon is slightly elevated in the developed watersheds, that elevation is not enough to unambiguously demonstrate human causes; more work is needed. Accordingly, the dissolved organic carbon and dissolved inorganic carbon yields of tropical rivers, although large, are of secondary importance in the study of the anthropgenically perturbed carbon cycle.

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