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At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
USGS2001

Measurement of gas yields and flow rates using a custom flowmeter

A simple gas collection apparatus based on the principles of a Torricelli tube has been designed and built to measure gas volume yields and flow rates. This instrument is routinely used to monitor and collect methane gas released during methane hydrate dissociation experiments. It is easily and inexpensively built, operates at ambient pressures and temperatures, and measures gas volumes of up to 7 L to a precision of about 15 ml (about 0.0025 mol). It is capable of measuring gas flow rates varying from more than 103 to less than 10-1 ml/min during gas evolution events that span minutes to several days. We have obtained a highly reproducible hydrate number of n=5.891 with a propagated uncertainty of ??0.020 for synthetic methane hydrate. ?? 2001 American Institute of Physics.

Review of Scientific Instruments↗
USGS2009

Quantifying Equid Behavior - A Research Ethogram for Free-Roaming Feral Horses

Feral horses (Equus caballus) are globally distributed in free-roaming populations on all continents except Antarctica and occupy a wide range of habitats including forest, grassland, desert, and montane environments. The largest populations occur in Australia and North America and have been the subject of scientific study for decades, yet guidelines and ethograms for feral horse behavioral research are largely absent in the scientific literature. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Fort Collins Science Center conducted research on the influences of the immunocontraceptive porcine zona pellucida (PZP) on feral horse behavior from 2003-2006 in three discrete populations in the American west. These populations were the Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Range in Colorado, McCullough Peaks Herd Management Area in Wyoming, and Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range in Montana; the research effort included over 1,800 hours of behavioral observations of 317 adult free-roaming feral horses. An ethogram was developed during the course of this study to facilitate accurate scientific data collection on feral horse behavior, which is often challenging to quantify. By developing this set of discrete behavioral definitions and a set of strict research protocols, scientists were better able to address both applied questions, such as behavioral changes related to fertility control, and theoretical questions, such as understanding networks and dominance hierarchies within social groups of equids.

Techniques and Methods↗
USGS1982

The role of the Organization of American States in the development of seismology in Latin America

Seismological studies in Latin America were initiated at the beginning of the 20th century, when the first seismological stations were deployed by certain scientific associations. These efforts provided an incentive to the professional community for further activites. Until this date, the only seismic records that existed were historical accounts of catastrophes caused by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. This type of information of course, leads to "fantasy" and incorrect descriptions of what has taken place.

Earthquake Information Bulletin (USGS)↗
USGS2017

Field-trip guides to selected volcanoes and volcanic landscapes of the western United States

The North American Cordillera is home to a greater diversity of volcanic provinces than any comparably sized region in the world. The interplay between changing plate-margin interactions, tectonic complexity, intra-crustal magma differentiation, and mantle melting have resulted in a wealth of volcanic landscapes. Field trips in this guide book collection (published as USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2017–5022) visit many of these landscapes, including (1) active subduction-related arc volcanoes in the Cascade Range; (2) flood basalts of the Columbia Plateau; (3) bimodal volcanism of the Snake River Plain-Yellowstone volcanic system; (4) some of the world’s largest known ignimbrites from southern Utah, central Colorado, and northern Nevada; (5) extension-related volcanism in the Rio Grande Rift and Basin and Range Province; and (6) the eastern Sierra Nevada featuring Long Valley Caldera and the iconic Bishop Tuff. Some of the field trips focus on volcanic eruptive and emplacement processes, calling attention to the fact that the western United States provides opportunities to examine a wide range of volcanological phenomena at many scales. The 2017 Scientific Assembly of the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior (IAVCEI) in Portland, Oregon, was the impetus to update field guides for many of the volcanoes in the Cascades Arc, as well as publish new guides for numerous volcanic provinces and features of the North American Cordillera. This collection of guidebooks summarizes decades of advances in understanding of magmatic and tectonic processes of volcanic western North America. These field guides are intended for future generations of scientists and the general public as introductions to these fascinating areas; the hope is that the general public will be enticed toward further exploration and that scientists will pursue further field-based research.

Scientific Investigations Report↗
USGS2003

Petroleum system and production characteristics of the Muddy (J) Sandstone (Lower Cretaceous) Wattenberg continuous gas field, Denver basin, Colorado

Wattenberg field is a continuous-type gas accumulation. Estimated ultimate recovery from current wells is 1.27 tcf of gas from the Lower Cretaceous Muddy (J) Sandstone. Mean gas resources that have the potential to be added to these reserves in the next 30 yr are 1.09 tcf; this will be primarily through infill drilling to recover a greater percentage of gas in place and to drain areas that are isolated because of geologic compartmentalization. Greatest gas production from the Muddy (J) Sandstone in Wattenberg field occurs (1) from within the most permeable and thickest intervals of Fort Collins Member delta-front and nearshore-marine sandstones, (2) to a lesser extent from the Horsetooth Member valley-fill channel sandstones, (3) in association with a large thermal anomaly that is delineated by measured temperatures in wells and by vitrinite reflectance contours of 0.9% and greater, (4) in proximity to the bounding Mowry, Graneros, and Skull Creek shales that are the hydrocarbon source rocks and reservoir seals, and (5) between the Lafayette and Longmont right-lateral wrench fault zones (WFZs) with secondary faults that act as conduits in areas of the field. The axis of greatest gas production is north 25 to 35 degrees northeast, which parallels the basin axis. Recurrent movement along five right-lateral WFZs that crosscut Wattenberg field shifted the Denver basin axis to the northeast and influenced depositional and erosional patterns of the reservoir and seal intervals. Levels of thermal maturity within the Wattenberg field are anomalously high compared to other areas of the Denver basin. The Wattenberg field thermal anomaly may be due to upward movement of fluids along faults associated with probable igneous intrusions. Areas of anomalous high heat flow within the field correlate with an increased and variable gas-oil ratio. Debra Higley has 5 years experience in uranium exploration and 20 years as a petroleum geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. Her research interests include and integrate reservoir characterization, thermal maturation studies, and petroleum resource assessment in basins in North and South America. She received a B.S. degree in geology from Mesa State College (Colorado) and an M.S. degree in geochemistry and Ph.D. in geology from the Colorado School of Mines.Dave Cox is vice president of Reservoir Engineering for Questa Engineering in Golden, Colorado. He has 25 years experience in the oil and gas industry, primarily in reservoir engineering and property evaluations, and has analyzed reservoirs in 31 states of the United States and 19 other countries. He is an expert in coalbed methane, tight gas reservoirs, and enhanced oil recovery. He has B.S. and M.S. degrees in petroleum engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. Robert Weimer has taught courses in stratigraphy, regional and field geology, and energy resource exploration and development for 43 years. He earned B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Wyoming and his Ph.D. from Stanford University. He has been a visiting professor at universities in Calgary, Canada; Adelaide, Australia; and Bandung, Indonesia. He is currently professor emeritus, Colorado School of Mines. Weimer has been honored for teaching excellence, blending basic and applied research, national and international continuing education, and service to scientific societies and to state and national boards.

Colorado↗
USGS2000

Use of Argon, Corona, and Landsat imagery to assess 30 years of land resource changes in west-central Senegal

Over the past 35 years, an agricultural area of west-central Senegal has experienced rapid population growth, fast expansion of agricultural lands, a decline in rainfall, and degradation of vegetative and soil resources. Although such changes have not escaped the attention of Senegal's people, its government, and the scientific community the ability to monitor and quantify land resource trends of recent decades has been difficult. Recently available high-resolution satellite photographs from the American Argon and Corona Programs provide coverage of Senegal back to 1963. The photographs make it possible to study and map land resources at the beginning of the Space Age. In this study, we characterize the changes that have occurred in the region from the early 1960s to the mid-1 990s. Early Argon and Corona photographs are used to reconstruct the historical land use and land cover; comparisons are made with assessments from recent Landsat images. Field studies and aerial surveys provide additional insight. The forces of change, driven primarily by population growth and unsustainable agricultural practices, are examined

Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing↗
USGS2015

Aurora painting pays tribute to Civil War's end

This year marks the sesquicentennial anniversary of the end of the American Civil War, a conflict that Abraham Lincoln called a “mighty scourge.” It was one of the most poignant periods in U.S. history, laying bare political, economic, social, and moral divergence between Northern and Southern states. The cause of the divergence that led to war was slavery [e.g., McPherson , 1988, chap. 3]—an institution that, by the 19th century, had been effectively abolished in the North but remained firmly entrenched in the South. War erupted in 1861 after a confederacy of Southern states declared secession from the Union of the United States. When the war finally ended in 1865, the Union had prevailed, and afterward, slavery was abolished throughout the United States. This outcome was obtained at the cost of 750,000 American lives and substantial destruction, especially in the South [e.g., Gugliotta , 2012]. In 1865, the same year the war ended, the American landscape artist Frederic Edwin Church unveiled Aurora Borealis (pictured above), a dramatic and mysterious painting that can be interpreted in terms of 19th century romanticism, scientific philosophy, and Arctic missions of exploration. Aurora Borealis can also be viewed as a restrained tribute to the end of the Civil War—a moving example of how science and current events served as the muses of late romantic artists [e.g., Carr , 1994, p. 277; Avery , 2011; Harvey , 2012].

Eos, Earth and Space Science News↗
USGS2007

Synchrotron x-ray spectroscopy of EuHN O3 aqueous solutions at high temperatures and pressures and Nb-bearing silicate melt phases coexisting with hydrothermal fluids using a modified hydrothermal diamond anvil cell and rail assembly

A modified hydrothermal diamond anvil cell (HDAC) rail assembly has been constructed for making synchrotron x-ray absorption spectroscopy, x-ray fluorescence, and x-ray mapping measurements on fluids or solid phases in contact with hydrothermal fluids up to ???900??C and 700 MPa. The diamond anvils of the HDAC are modified by laser milling grooves or holes, for the reduction of attenuation of incident and fluorescent x rays and sample cavities. The modified HDAC rail assembly has flexibility in design for measurement of light elements at low concentrations or heavy elements at trace levels in the sample and the capability to probe minute individual phases of a multiphase fluid-based system using focused x-ray microbeam. The supporting rail allows for uniform translation of the HDAC, rotation and tilt stages, and a focusing mirror, which is used to illuminate the sample for visual observation using a microscope, relative to the direction of the incident x-ray beam. A structure study of Eu(III) aqua ion behavior in high-temperature aqueous solutions and a study of Nb partitioning and coordination in a silicate melt in contact with a hydrothermal fluid are described as applications utilizing the modified HDAC rail assembly. ?? 2007 American Institute of Physics.

Review of Scientific Instruments↗
USGS2003

Geographic analysis and monitoring at the United States Geological Survey

The Geographic Analysis and Monitoring (GAM) Program of the U.S. Geological Survey assesses the Nation's land surface at a variety of spatial and temporal scales to understand the rates, causes, and consequences of natural and human-induced processes and their interactions that affect the landscape over time. The program plays an important role in developing National Map tools and application. The GAM is a science and synthesis program that not only assesses the rates of changes to the Earth's land surface, but also provides reports on the status and trends of the Nation's land resources on a periodic basis, produces a land-use and land- cover database for the periodically updated map and data set-the Geographic Face of the Nation, and conducts research leading to improved understanding and knowledge about geographic processes. Scientific investigations provide comprehensive information needed to understand the environmental, resource, and economic consequences of landscape change. These analyses responds to the needs of resource managers and offers the American public baseline information to help them understand the dynamic nature of our national landscape and to anticipate the opportunities and consequences of our actions.

Cartography and Geographic Information Science↗
USGS2014

Fishing for resilience

Management approaches that focus on social–ecological systems—systems comprised of ecosystems, landscapes, and humans—are needed to secure the sustainability of inland recreational fisheries without jeopardizing the integrity of the underlying social and ecological components. Resilience management can be useful because it focuses on providing recreational capacity for fishermen under a variety of conditions while assuring that the social–ecological system is not pushed to a critical threshold that would result in a new, undesired system regime. Resilience management is based on a system perspective that accounts for the possible regimes a system could manifest. It aims to enhance system properties that allow continued maintenance of the system in a desired regime in which multiple goods and services, including recreational capacity, are provided. In this forum paper, we provide an overview of the potential of a resilience approach to the management of recreational fisheries and highlight the scientific and administrative challenges to its successful implementation.

Transactions of the American Fisheries Society↗
USGS2008

An exploration of Bureau of Reclamation approaches for managing conflict over diverging science

As a major institutional agent supplying Western water resources, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) provides important leadership, technical, and financial resources in water management, serving as the West's "water broker" (Bowersox 2000; Pisani 2003). In recent years, growing numbers of constituencies using water and the over-allocation of water resources have contributed to conflict over the resource in the American West (National Research Council 2004). Although the conflicts arise from many sources, one common theme is that Reclamation managers often must make decisions about water use and allocation when scientific studies provide uncertain or competing recommendations. We conducted a preliminary study of Reclamation water managers and water scientists to try to understand the approaches or techniques they use or consider useful for dealing with scientific conflicts over water allocation and how these compare to techniques found in the relevant literature. We report the results of (1) an electronic survey of Reclamation senior managers and (2) a panel discussion amongst Reclamation senior managers as to the current institutional capabilities for managing diverging scientific findings in water dispute resolution processes. We conclude with a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the different tools and techniques managers reported in the survey and in the panel discussion.

Technical Memorandum↗
USGS2017

The Partners in Flight handbook on species assessment Version 2017

Partners in Flight (PIF) is a cooperative venture of federal, state, provincial, and territorial agencies, industry, non-governmental organizations, researchers, and many others whose common goal is the conservation of North American birds (www.partnersinflight.org). While PIF has focused primarily on landbirds, it works in conjunction with other bird partners to promote coordinated conservation of all birds. PIF follows an iterative, adaptive planning approach that develops a sound scientific basis for decision-making and a logical process for setting, implementing, and evaluating conservation objectives (Pashley et al. 2000, Rich et al. 2004, Berlanga et al. 2010). The steps include: 1. Assessing conservation vulnerability of all bird species; 2. Identifying species most in need of conservation attention at continental and regional scales; 3. Setting of numerical population objectives for species of continental and regional importance; 4. Identifying conservation needs and recommended actions for species and habitats of importance; 5. Implementing strategies for meeting species and habitat objectives at continental and regional scales; 6. Evaluating success, making revisions, and setting new objectives for the future. The 2017 PIF Handbook on Species Assessment (2017 PIF Handbook) documents assessment rules and scores used in the Partners in Flight Landbird Conservation Plan: 2016 Revision for Canada and Continental United States (Rosenberg et al. 2016) and The State of North America’s Birds 2016 (NABCI 2016). It updates previous versions of the handbook (Panjabi et al. 2012, 2005, 2001) developed to accompany other PIF applications including Saving Our Shared Birds: Partners in Flight Tri-National Vision for Landbird Conservation (Berlanga et al. 2010) and the North American Landbird Conservation Plan (Rich et al. 2004). All current and past scores, data sources, and other related information are contained in databases hosted by the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies. Scores can be viewed online and downloaded as excel files, including archived versions (http://pif.birdconservancy.org/acad). The current accompanying Avian Conservation Assessment Database (ACAD) holds assessment scores and data for all 1585 native and 18 well-established non-native bird species found in mainland North America south to Panama plus adjacent islands and oceans. The taxonomy follows the American Ornithological Society’s 7th Edition Checklist of North and Middle American Birds, including updates though the 57th supplement, published in 2016 (http://checklist.aou.org/). The ACAD builds on archived PIF databases that hosted only data on the 882 landbirds native to Canada, USA and Mexico. This handbook is presented in two principal sections. Part I details the factors and scoring used by PIF to assess the vulnerability of species at continental and regional scales (i.e. step 1 of the planning approach above). Each assessment factor is based on biological criteria that evaluate distinct components of vulnerability throughout the life cycle of each species across its range. Part II describes the process of how the factors and the corresponding scores can be combined to highlight conservation needs (i.e. step 2 of the planning approach above). Both the scores and the process have evolved over time (Hunter et al. 1992, Carter et al. 2000, Panjabi et al. 2001, 2005, 2012) and continue to be updated in response to external review (Beissinger et al. 2000), broad partner expertise, and the emergence of new data and analytical tools.

Report↗
USGS2024

Chronic wasting disease: State of the science

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prion disease affecting cervid species, both free-ranging and captive populations. As the geographic range continues to expand and disease prevalence continues to increase, CWD will have an impact on cervid populations, local economies, and ecosystem health. Mitigation of this “wicked” disease will require input from many different stakeholders including hunters, landowners, research biologists, wildlife managers, and others, working together. The NC1209 (North American interdisciplinary chronic wasting disease research consortium) is composed of scientists from different disciplines involved with investigating and managing CWD. Leveraging this broad breadth of expertise, the Consortium has created a state-of-the-science review of five key aspects of CWD, including current diagnostic capabilities for detecting prions, requirements for validating these diagnostics, the role of environmental transmission in CWD dynamics, and potential zoonotic risks associated with CWD. The goal of this review is to increase stakeholders’, managers’, and decision-makers’ understanding of this disease informed by current scientific knowledge.

Pathogens↗
USGS2013

U.S. Geological Survey environmental health science strategy — Providing environmental health science for a changing world

Executive Summary America has an abundance of natural resources. We have bountiful clean water, fertile soil, and unrivaled national parks, wildlife refuges, and public lands. These resources enrich our lives and preserve our health and wellbeing. These resources have been maintained because of our history of respect for their value and an enduring commitment to their vigilant protection. Awareness of the social, economic, and personal value of the health of our environment is increasing. The emergence of environmentally driven diseases caused by exposure to contaminants and pathogens is a growing concern worldwide. New health threats and patterns of established threats are affected by both natural and anthropogenic changes to the environment. Human activities are key drivers of emerging (new and re-emerging) health threats. Societal demands for land and natural resources, quality of life, and economic prosperity lead to environmental change. Natural earth processes, climate trends, and related climatic events will compound the environmental impact of human activities. These environmental drivers will influence exposure to disease agents, including viral, bacterial, prion, and fungal pathogens, parasites, synthetic chemicals and substances, natural earth materials, toxins, and other biogenic compounds. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) defines environmental health science broadly as the interdisciplinary study of relations among the quality of the physical environment, the health of the living environment, and human health. The interactions among these three spheres are driven by human activities, ecological processes, and natural earth processes; the interactions affect exposure to contaminants and pathogens and the severity of environmentally driven diseases in animals and people. This definition provides USGS with a framework for synthesizing natural science information from across the Bureau and providing it to environmental, natural resource, agricultural, and public health managers. USGS specializes in science at the environment-health interface, by characterizing the processes that affect the interaction among the physical environment, the living environment, and people, and the resulting factors that affect ecological and human exposure to disease agents. The USGS is a Federal science agency with a broad range of natural science expertise relevant to environmental health. USGS provides scientific information and tools as a scientific basis for management and policy decisionmaking. This report describes a 10-year strategy that encompasses the portfolio of USGS environmental health science. It summarizes national environmental health priorities that USGS is best suited to address, and will serve as a strategic framework for USGS environmental health science goals, actions, and outcomes for the next decade. Implementation of this strategy is intended to aid coordination of USGS environmental health activities and to provide a focal point for disseminating information to stakeholders. The “One Health” paradigm advocated by the World Health Organization (WHO; World Health Organization, 2011), and the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA; American Veterinary Medical Association, 2008), among others, is based on a general recognition that the health of humans, animals, and the environment are inextricably linked. Thus, successful efforts to protect that health will require increased interdisciplinary research and increased communication and collaboration among the broader scientific and health community. This strategy is built upon that paradigm.

Circular↗
USGS2003

Science support for managing migratory waterfowl.

Migratory birds in North America are an international resource shared by Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Ultimate population management authority in the U.S. lies with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), but states participate in development of management decisions through the Flyway system. The FWS, state wildlife agencies, and nongovernmental organizations participate through independent actions and cooperative Joint Ventures under the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) to acquire, protect, restore, and enhance wetlands and other habitats critical to the long-term conservation of breeding, migrating, and wintering waterfowl. A thorough base of scientific information is required to support and evaluate waterfowl populations and habitat management in North America.

WERC Fact Sheet↗
USGS2026

Fossil footprints and Ice Age ecosystems of White Sands National Park

Introduction In September 2021, National Park Service staff, U.S. Geological Survey scientists, and an international team of researchers revealed evidence in the form of human footprints at White Sands National Park, New Mexico, that showed people were present in North America between 23,000 and 21,000 years ago. This time was during the Last Glacial Maximum, when large ice sheets covered much of the continent. The results stunned the scientific community and sparked a global debate. The story of how the discoveries were made, how they upended traditional thought, and how they “rewrote the book” on the earliest phases of North American prehistory is a classic example of the process of science.

New Mexico↗
USGS1998

North American landscape characterization project: The production of a continental scale three-decade Landsat data set

The North American Landscape Characterization (NALC) project is a component of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Landsat Pathfinder program. Pathfinder projects are focused on the investigation of global change utilizing current remote sensing technologies. The NALC project is a cooperative effort between the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and NASA to make Landsat data available to the widest possible user community for scientific research and general public interest. The NALC project is principally funded by the EPA Office of Research and Development and the USGS's Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS) Data Center (EDC). The objectives of the NALC project are to produce standardized remote sensing data sets, develop standardized analysis methods, and derive standardized land cover change products for a large portion of the North American continent (the conterminous United States and Mexico) (Lunetta and Sturdevant, 1993). The standard product is the NALC “triplicate”;, consisting of co‐registered Landsat multispectral scanner data for the years 1973, 1986, and 1991 (plus or minus one year), plus co‐registered 3 arcsecond digital terrain elevation data. Processing began with the 1986 scene, which was precision corrected (with full terrain correction) to a 60 meter Universal Transverse Mercator base. Automated cross‐correlation procedures were used to co‐register the 1970's and 1990's data to the 1980's base, and independent verifications of registration quality were performed on all triplicate components. The pertinent metadata were compiled in a relational database, which includes WRS2 path/rows, scene ID's, image dates, solar azimuth and elevation, verification RMSE's, and the number of verification control points. NALC triplicate data sets are being used for a number of applications, including the analysis of urbanization patterns, dynamics of climatic fluctuations, deforestation studies, and vegetation classification and mapping. These data are being distributed through the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Information Management System (IMS) at a cost of $15(U.S.) for each triplicate.

Geocarto International↗