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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 703 records · Page 39Linked to original sources
USGS2014

Clinal variation or validation of a subspecies? A case study of the Graptemys nigrinoda complex (Testudines: Emydidae)

Widely distributed species often display intraspecific morphological variation due to the abiotic and biotic gradients experienced across their ranges. Historically, in many vertebrate taxa, such as birds and reptiles, these morphological differences within a species were used to delimit subspecies. Graptemys nigrinoda is an aquatic turtle species endemic to the Mobile Bay Basin. Colour pattern and morphological variability were used to describe a subspecies ( G. n. delticola ) from the lower reaches of the system, although it and the nominate subspecies also reportedly intergrade over a large portion of the range. Other researchers have suggested that these morphological differences merely reflect clinal variation. Our molecular data (mtDNA) did not support the existence of the subspecies, as the haplotypes were differentiated by only a few base pairs and one haplotype was shared between the putative subspecies. While there were significant morphological and pattern differences among putative specimens of G. n. nigrinoda, G. n. delticola and G. n. nigrinoda × delticola , these differences probably represent clinal variation as they were also related to environmental variables [i.e. cumulative drainage area and drainage (categorical)]. Specimens occupying slow-current, high-turbidity river reaches (e.g. the Tensaw River) exhibited greater relative carapace heights and more dark pigmentation, while specimens occupying fast-current, clearer rivers (e.g. the upper Alabama, Cahaba and Tallapoosa rivers) exhibited lower carapace heights and more yellow pigmentation. Given the absence of clear molecular and morphological differences that are related to drainage characteristics, we suggest that there is not sufficient evidence for the recognition of G. n. delticola as a distinct subspecies.

Alabama;Mississippi↗
USGS2010

Data Used in Analyses of Trends, and Nutrient and Suspended-Sediment Loads for Streams in the Southeastern United States, 1973-2005

Water-quality data from selected surface-water monitoring sites in the Southeastern United States were assessed for trends in concentrations of nutrients, suspended sediment, and major constituents and for in-stream nutrient and suspended-sediment loads for the period 1973-2005. The area of interest includes river basins draining into the southern Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Tennessee River-drainage basins in Hydrologic Regions 03 (South Atlantic - Gulf) and 06 (Tennessee). This data assessment is related to studies of several major river basins as part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Program, which was designed to assess national water-quality trends during a common time period (1993-2004). Included in this report are data on which trend tests could be performed from 44 U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System (NWIS) sampling sites. The constituents examined include major ions, nutrients, and suspended sediment; the physical properties examined include pH, specific conductance, dissolved oxygen, and streamflow. Also included are data that were tested for trends from an additional 290 sites from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Storage and Retrieval (STORET) database. The trend analyses of the STORET data were limited to total nitrogen and total phosphorus concentrations. Data from 48 U.S. Geological Survey NWIS sampling sites with sufficient water-quality and continuous streamflow data for estimating nutrient and sediment loads are included. The methods of data compilation and modification used prior to performing trend tests and load estimation are described. Results of the seasonal Kendall trend test and the Tobit trend test are given for the 334 monitoring sites, and in-stream load estimates are given for the 48 monitoring sites. Basin characteristics are provided, including regional landscape variables and agricultural nutrient sources (annual variations in cropping and fertilizer use). The data and results presented in this report are in tabular format and can be downloaded and used by environmental researchers and water managers, particularly in the Southeast.

Data Series↗
USGS2006

USGS reports latest land-water changes for southeastern Louisiana

The USGS National Wetlands Research Center is reporting that a total of 118 square miles of land has been transformed to new water areas in a 9,742 square mile area from the Chandeleur Islands to the Atchafalaya River. This area encompasses the basins of Breton Sound, Mississippi River, Pearl River, Pontchartrain, Barataria, Terrebonne and the western quarter of the Atchafalaya basin.

Louisiana↗
USGS2009

Maintaining population persistence in the face of an extremely altered hydrograph: implications for three sensitive fishes in a tributary of the Green River, Utah

The ability of an organism to disperse to suitable habitats, especially in modified and fragmented systems, determines individual fitness and overall population viability. The bluehead sucker (Catostomus discobolus), flannelmouth sucker (Catostomus latipinnis), and roundtail chub (Gila robusta) are three species native to the upper Colorado River Basin that now occupy only 50% of their historic range. Despite these distributional declines, populations of all three species are present in the San Rafael River, a highly regulated tributary of the Green River, Utah, providing an opportunity for research. Our goal was to determine the timing and extent of movement, habitat preferences, and limiting factors, ultimately to guide effective management and recovery of these three species. In 2007-2008, we sampled fish from 25 systematically selected, 300-m reaches in the lower 64 km of the San Rafael River, spaced to capture the range of species, life-stages, and habitat conditions present. We implanted all target species with a passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag, installed a passive PIT tag antennae, and measured key habitat parameters throughout each reach and at the site of native fish capture. We used random forest modeling to identify and rank the most important abiotic and biotic predictor variables, and reveal potential limiting factors in the San Rafael River. While flannelmouth sucker were relatively evenly distributed within our study area, highest densities of roundtail chub and bluehead sucker occurred in isolated, upstream reaches characterized by complex habitat. In addition, our movement and length-frequency data indicate downstream drift of age-0 roundtail chub, and active upstream movement of adult flannelmouth sucker, both from source populations, providing the lower San Rafael River with colonists. Our random forest analysis highlights the importance of pools, riffles, and distance-to-source populations, suggesting that bluehead sucker and roundtail chub are habitat limited in the lower San Rafael River. These results suggest management efforts should focus on diversifying habitat, maintaining in-stream flow, and removing barriers to movement.

Utah↗
USGS1991

Late Quaternary stratigraphy and depositional history of the Long Island Sound basin

The stratigraphy of Late Quaternary geologic units beneath Long Island Sound (LIS) is interpreted from 3,500 km of high-resolution, seismic-reflection profiles supplemented by vibracore data. Knowledge gained from onshore regional geologic studies and previous offshore investigations is also incorporated in these interpretations. Glacial deposits overlie and nearly fill an Inner Lowland which is floored by crystalline rocks in the north and bounded to the south by an irregular, north-facing cuesta scarp in Cretaceous Coastal-Plain strata. The thick glacial section consists largely of sediment that was deposited in glacial Lake Connecticut during the retreat of the last (late Wisconsin) ice sheet. Ice-marginal lacustrine fan deposits and submerged extensions of the southeastern Connecticut recessional moraines mark positions of the ice margin during systematic northward retreat. When the ice margin stood at positions just north of the present shoreline of Connecticut (17.6-16.5 ka), glacial Lake Connecticut was slightly larger than Long Island Sound is today. Ice-marginal deltas and near-ice marginal fluviodeltaic deposits occur along coastal Connecticut. Delta-building was diachronous; progressively younger deltas record northwesterly retreat of the ice margin and lowering lake levels. Distally from the deltas, varied lake-clays (up to 150 m thick) drape the underlying topography. The lake spillway cut across the Harbor Hill-Roanoke Point-Fishers Island-Charlestown end moraine at its lowest point just west of Fishers Island (The Race). Lake levels fell as the spillway notch was erosionally deepened, and gradually the lakebed became subaerially exposed. A largely preserved channel system cuts the lake-deposit surface; fluvial channel-fill sediments are overlain by estuarine sediments in the channel system. Perhaps as early as 15 ka, but no later than 13 ka, the sea entered the Basin through the channel at The Race and quickly transgressed westward via the lakebed channel system. As the sea rose further and spread throughout the Basin, a wave-cut surface was formed. Extensive marine deltaic deposits, up to 40 m thick, overlie the wave-cut marine unconformity in the east-central part of the Basin. These sediments were derived from erosion of the drained bed of Lake Hitchcock, in the Connecticut valley to the north, and were deposited in a -40-m relative sea at about 12.4 ka. Where quiet waters prevail, marine mud generally less than 15 m thick blankets the older deposits of the Basin. Elsewhere, especially in eastern LIS, tidal currents are actively reworking and transporting glacial and postglacial deposits.

Connecticut, New York↗
USGS1977

Hydrologic characteristics of the Madison Limestone, the Minnelusa Formation, and equivalent rocks as determined by well-logging formation evaluation, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, and North Dakota

Geophysical logs from wells distributed throughout the Powder River Basin were digitized, processed, and interpreted to get a regional understanding of the lithologic and ground-water characteristics of aquifers in the Madison Limestone and Minnelusa Formation. The percentage of sand, porosity, and apparent ground-water resistivity of the Minnelusa closely follow structural trends in the basin. Values increase from the structural axis of the basin toward the flanks. Close correlations between the water resistivities in the Madison and the Minnelusa indicate possible hydrologic connection between the two units. The low primary porosity from geophysical logs in the Madison indicates that secondary porosity is necessary to develop water supplies of economic importance from the Madison. Because of increased porosity and better water quality, the flanks of the basin appear to be the most favorable places for water production from either the Madison or the Minnelusa.

Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota↗
USGS1976

Trace-metal variation in soils and sagebrush in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming and Montana

A reconnaissance study of 28 trace metals in samples of surface soil (0-2.5 cm deep), subsurface soil (15-20 cm deep), and big sagebrush ( Artemisia tridentata ) that were collected from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana indicates that little variation occurs in nature at scales greater than about 35 km. This general lack of broadscale variation suggests that simple summary statistics for these materials could provide basinwide geochemical baselines for use in monitoring secular changes in the local geochemical environment. Samples of big sagebrush near the Dave Johnston Power Plant at the southern edge of the basin exhibit statistically significant reductions of strontium, vanadium, uranium, and selenium eastward from the plant.

Montana, Wyoming↗
USGS1976

Simulation of forest changes related to hydrologic variables in the Atchafalaya River basin, Louisiana

Results of forest-trend modeling from one data set in the Atchafalaya River basin show that predicted forest acreage totals for 16 forest types agree within 30 percent of actual values in two-thirds of the comparisons. A forest-trend simulation model based on statistical regression relations of forest and hydrologic variables and constrained by forest succession concepts was developed using observed data from twenty-four 8-square-mile (20.74-square-kilometre) quadrats. Forest and hydrologic data at each quadrat were sampled in time at three 4-mile (6.44-kilometre)-wide strips across the basin. The model predicts changes in forest-type acreages due to hydrologic change in time steps, or forest acreage transition, of 21 years. Further basin-wide quadrat simulations are planned using hydrologic input data from a flow-sediment model of the basin currently being developed. Other ecosystem models could be appended to the forest-trend simulation model.

Louisiana↗
USGS2022

The Pacific as the world’s greatest theater of bird migration: Extreme flights spark questions about physiological capabilities, behavior, and the evolution of migratory pathways

The Pacific Basin, by virtue of its vastness and its complex aeroscape, provides unique opportunities to address questions about the behavioral and physiological capabilities and mechanisms through which birds can complete spectacular flights. No longer is the Pacific seen just as a formidable barrier between terrestrial habitats in the north and the south, but rather as a gateway for specialized species, such as shorebirds, to make a living on hemispherically distributed seasonal resources. This recent change in perspective is dramatic, and the research that underpins it has presented new opportunities to learn about phenomena that often challenge a sense of normal. Ancient Polynesians were aware of the seasonal passage of shorebirds and other landbirds over the Pacific Ocean, incorporating these observations into their navigational “tool kit” as they explored and colonized the Pacific. Some ten centuries later, systematic visual observations and tracking technology have revealed much about movement of these shorebirds, especially the enormity of their individual nonstop flights. This invites a broad suite of questions, often requiring comparative studies with bird migration across other ocean basins, or across continents. For example, how do birds manage many days of nonstop exercise apparently without sleep? What mechanisms explain birds acting as if they possess a Global Positioning System? How do such extreme migrations evolve? Through advances in both theory and tracking technology, biologists are poised to greatly expand the horizons of movement ecology as we know it. In this integrative review, we present a series of intriguing questions about trans-Pacific migrant shorebirds and summarize recent advances in knowledge about migratory behavior operating at temporal scales ranging from immediate decisions during a single flight, to adaptive learning throughout a lifetime, to evolutionary development of migratory pathways. Recent advances in this realm should stimulate future research across the globe and across a broad array of disciplines.

Ornithology↗
USGS2000

Climatology and potential effects of an emergency outlet, Devils Lake Basin, North Dakota

The Devils Lake Basin is a 3,810-square-mile subbasin in the Red River of the North Basin. At an elevation of about 1,447 feet above sea level, Devils Lake begins to spill into Stump Lake; and at an elevation of about 1,459 feet above sea level, the combined lakes begin to spill through Tolna Coulee into the Sheyenne River. Since the end of glaciation about 10,000 years ago, Devils Lake has fluctuated between spilling and being dry. Research by the North Dakota Geological Survey indicates Devils Lake has overflowed into the Sheyenne River at least twice during the past 4,000 years and has spilled into the Stump Lakes several times (Bluemle, 1991; Murphy and others, 1997). John Bluemle, North Dakota State Geologist, concluded the natural condition for Devils Lake is either rising or falling, and the lake should not be expected to remain at any elevation for a long period of time. Recent conditions indicate the lake is in a rising phase. The lake rose 24.7 feet from February 1993 to August 1999, and flood damages in the Devils Lake Basin have exceeded $300 million. These damages, and the potential for additional damages, have led to an effort to develop an outlet to help control lake levels. Therefore, current and accurate climatologic and hydrologic data are needed to assess the viability of the various options to reduce flood damages at Devils Lake.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS1995

Do toxic substances pose a threat to rehabilitation of lake trout in the Great Lakes? A review of the literature

Toxic substances have been suspected of being one of the causes of Great Lakes lake trout reproductive failure. Because toxic substances are present in the Great Lakes basin, managers should be aware of the role of contaminants in preventing lake trout rehabilitation. This paper summarizes studies which have sought to establish a relation between toxic substances and lake trout mortality or morbidity, and offers recommendations for future research and management. The review suggests that exposure to toxic substances has the possibility of affecting the species' rehabilitation. A variety of toxic substances, specifically organochlorine compounds, concentrated in lake trout eggs, fry, and the environment, have affected the hatching success of lake trout in the laboratory, but the strength of the relation between toxic substances and lake trout mortality and morbidity in the field remains unclear. In order to clarify this relation, more information is needed on lake trout physiology, biochemistry, behavior, and genetics. An interdisciplinary workshop should be convened to evaluate existing evidence by epidemiological methods, to set priorities for further research, and to develop management strategies.

Journal of Great Lakes Research↗
USGS2016

Rapid response, monitoring, and mitigation of induced seismicity near Greeley, Colorado

On 1 June 2014 (03:35 UTC), an M w 3.2 earthquake occurred in Weld County, Colorado, a historically aseismic area of the Denver–Julesburg basin. Weld County is a prominent area of oil and gas development, including many high‐rate class II wastewater injection wells. In the days following the earthquake, the University of Colorado, with support from the U.S. Geological Survey and Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology–Portable Array Seismic Studies of the Continental Lithosphere, rapidly deployed six seismic stations to characterize the seismicity associated with the 1 June earthquake (the Greeley sequence) and to investigate its possible connection to wastewater disposal. The spatial and temporal proximity of earthquakes to a high‐rate wastewater disposal well strongly suggests these earthquakes were induced. Scientific communication between the university, state agencies, and the energy industry led to rapid mitigation strategies to reduce the occurrence of further earthquakes. Mitigation efforts included implementing a temporary moratorium on injection at the well, cementing the bottom portion of the disposal well to minimize hydrologic connectivity between the disposal formation and the underlying crystalline basement, and subsequently allowing injection to resume at lower rates. Following the resumption of wastewater disposal, microseismicity was closely monitored for both increases in earthquake rate and magnitude. Following mitigation efforts, between 13 August 2014 and 29 December 2015, no earthquakes larger than M 1.5 occurred near the Greeley sequence. This study demonstrates that a detailed and rapid characterization of a seismic sequence in space and time relative to disposal, combined with collaboration and communication between scientists, regulators, and industry, can lead to objective and actionable mitigation efforts that potentially reduced the rate of earthquakes and the possible generation of larger earthquakes.

Colorado↗
USGS2008

Airborne Hyperspectral Survey of Afghanistan 2007: Flight Line Planning and HyMap Data Collection

Hyperspectral remote sensing data were acquired over Afghanistan with the HyMap imaging spectrometer (Cocks and others, 1998) operating on the WB-57 high altitude NASA research aircraft (http://jsc-aircraft-ops.jsc.nasa.gov/wb57/index.html). These data were acquired during the interval of August 22, 2007 to October 2, 2007, as part of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) project 'Oil and Gas Resources Assessment of the Katawaz and Helmand Basins'. A total of 218 flight lines of hyperspectral remote sensing data were collected over the country. This report describes the planning of the airborne survey and the flight lines that were flown. Included with this report are digital files of the nadir tracks of the flight lines, including a map of the labeled flight lines and corresponding vector shape files for geographic information systems (GIS).

Open-File Report↗
USGS2012

Vitrinite reflectance data for Cretaceous marine shales and coals in the Bighorn Basin, north-central Wyoming and south-central Montana

The Bighorn Basin is a large Laramide (Late Cretaceous through Eocene) structural and sedimentary basin that encompasses about 10,400 square miles in north-central Wyoming and south-central Montana. The purpose of this report is to present new vitrinite reflectance data collected from Cretaceous marine shales and coals in the Bighorn Basin to better characterize the thermal maturity and petroleum potential of these rocks. Ninety-eight samples from Lower Cretaceous and lowermost Upper Cretaceous strata were collected from well cuttings from wells stored at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Core Research Center in Lakewood, Colorado.

Wyoming;Montana↗
USGS2021

Hierarchical clustering for paired watershed experiments: Case study in southeastern Arizona, U.S.A.

Watershed studies are often onerous due to a lack of data available to portray baseline conditions with which to compare results of monitoring environmental effects. A paired-watershed approach is often adopted to simulate baseline conditions in an adjacent watershed that can be comparable but assumes there is a quantifiable relationship between the control and treated watersheds. Finding suitably matched pairs that can most accurately depict similar responses is challenging and attributes are rarely quantified. In southeastern Arizona, United States, researchers are investigating the effectiveness of watershed restoration techniques employed by land managers. We selected Smith Canyon to develop a rigorous and quantitatively defensible paired-watershed experimental design. The Smith Canyon watershed consists of 91 structurally similar sub-basins that have a defined basin-like structure and flow channel, allowing for consideration as replicate units. We developed a statistical approach to group sub-basins based on similar structural, biophysical, and hydrologic traits. Our geospatial database consisted of 35 environmental variables, which we reduced to 12 through a correlation analysis. We identified three primary collections of paired sub-basins within the larger watershed. These clusters are being used to inform studies actively being employed in the watershed. Overall, we propose a hierarchical clustering protocol for justification of watershed pairing experiments.

Arizona↗
USGS2014

The impact of climate and reservoirs on longitudinal riverine carbon fluxes from two major watersheds in the Central and Intermontane West

A nested sampling network on the Colorado (CR) and Missouri Rivers (MR) provided data to assess impacts of large-scale reservoir systems and climate on carbon export. The Load Estimator (LOADEST) model was used to estimate both dissolved inorganic and organic carbon (DIC and DOC) fluxes for a total of 22 sites along the main stems of the CR and MR. Both the upper CR and MR DIC and DOC fluxes increased longitudinally, but the lower CR fluxes decreased while the lower MRs continued to increase. We examined multiple factors through space and time that help explain these flux patterns. Seasonal variability in precipitation and temperature, along with site-level concentration versus discharge relationships proved to be significant factors explaining much of the difference among sites located below reservoirs as compared to sites located in more free-flowing segments of the river. The characterization of variability in carbon exports over space and time provides a basis for understanding carbon cycling and transport within river basins affected by large reservoir systems, particular in arid-to semi-arid ecosystems.

Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences↗
USGS2021

Machine learning can assign geologic basin to produced water samples using major ion geochemistry

Understanding the geochemistry of waters produced during petroleum extraction is essential to informing the best treatment and reuse options, which can potentially be optimized for a given geologic basin. Here, we used the US Geological Survey’s National Produced Waters Geochemical Database (PWGD) to determine if major ion chemistry could be used to classify accurately a produced water sample to a given geologic basin based on similarities to a given training dataset. Two datasets were derived from the PWGD: one with seven features but more samples (PWGD7), and another with nine features but fewer samples (PWGD9). The seven-feature dataset, prior to randomly generating a training and testing (i.e., validation) dataset, had 58,541 samples, 20 basins, and was classified based on total dissolved solids (TDS), bicarbonate (HCO 3 ), Ca, Na, Cl, Mg, and sulfate (SO 4 ). The nine-feature dataset, prior to randomly splitting into a training and testing (i.e., validation) dataset, contained 33,271 samples, 19 basins, and was classified based on TDS, HCO 3 , Ca, Na, Cl, Mg, SO 4 , pH, and specific gravity. Three supervised machine learning algorithms—Random Forest, k-Nearest Neighbors, and Naïve Bayes—were used to develop multi-class classification models to predict a basin of origin for produced waters using major ion chemistry. After training, the models were tested on three different datasets: Validation7, Validation9, and one based on data absent from the PWGD. Prediction accuracies across the models ranged from 23.5 to 73.5% when tested on the two PWGD-based datasets. A model using the Random Forest algorithm predicted most accurately compared to all other models tested. The models generally predicted basin of origin more accurately on the PWGD7-based dataset than on the PWGD9-based dataset. An additional dataset, which contained data not in the PWGD, was used to test the most accurate model; results suggest that some basins may lack geochemical diversity or may not be well described, while others may be geochemically diverse or are well described. A compelling result of this work is that a produced water basin of origin can be determined using major ions alone and, therefore, deep basinal fluid compositions may not be as variable within a given basin as previously thought. Applications include predicting the geochemistry of produced fluid prior to drilling at different intervals and assigning historical produced water data to a producing basin.

Natural Resources Research↗
USGS2021

Status of the major aquaculture carps of China in the Laurentian Great Lakes Basin

There is concern of economic and environmental damage occuring if any of the four major aquacultured carp species of China, black carp Mylopharyngodon piceus , bighead carp Hypophthalmichthys nobilis , silver carp H. molitrix , or grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella , were to establish in the Laurentian Great Lakes. All four are reproducing in the Mississippi River Basin. We review the status of these fishes in relation to the Great Lakes and their proximity to pathways into the Great Lakes, based on captures and collections of eggs and larvae. No black carp have been captured in the Great Lakes Basin. One silver carp and one bighead carp were captured within the Chicago Area Waterway System, on the Great Lakes side of electric barriers designed to keep carp from entering the Great Lakes from the greater Mississippi River Basin. Three bighead carp were captured in Lake Erie, none later than the year 2000. By December 2019, at least 650 grass carps had been captured in the Great Lakes Basin, most in western Lake Erie, but none in Lake Superior. Grass carp reproduction has been documented in the Sandusky and Maumee rivers in Ohio, tributaries of Lake Erie. We also discuss environmental DNA (eDNA) results as an early detection and monitoring tool for bighead and silver carps. Detection of eDNA does not necessarily indicate presence of live fish, but bigheaded carp eDNA has been detected on the Great Lakes side of the barriers and in a small proportion of samples from the western basin of Lake Erie.

Illinois, Indiana↗