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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 1,081 records · Page 60Linked to original sources
USGS2011

Asbestos

The term asbestos is a generic designation referring usually to six types of naturally occurring mineral fibers that are or have been commercially exploited. These fibers belong to two mineral groups: serpentines and amphiboles. The serpentine group is represented by a single asbestiform variety-chrysotile. There also are five commercial asbestiform varieties of amphiboles-anthophyllite asbestos, cummingtonite-grunerite asbestos (amosite), riebeckite asbestos (crocidolite), tremolite asbestos, and actinolite asbestos. Amosite and crocidolite are no longer mined. Nearly all of the asbestos mined after the mid-1990s was chrysotile. Only very small amounts of actinolite, anthophyllite, and tremolite asbestos may be mined in a few countries. Asbestos was mined in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Kazakhstan, and Russia in 2010; world production was estimated to be 1.97 × 10 6 tons. Properties that made asbestos valuable for industrial applications were their thermal, electrical, and sound insulation properties; inflammability; matrix reinforcement (cement, plastic, and resins); adsorption capacity (filtration, liquid sterilization); wear and friction properties (friction materials such as brakes and clutches); and chemical inertia (except in acids). These properties led to the use of asbestos in about 3,000 products by the 1960s. Since about 1995, asbestos-cement products, including pipe and sheets, accounted for more than 95% of global asbestos consumption as other uses of asbestos have declined. Global consumption of asbestos was estimated to have been about 1.98 × 10 6 tons in 2009. The leading consuming countries in 2009 were Brazil, China, India, Russia, and Thailand, each with more than 100,000 tons of consumption.

Book chapter↗
USGS2001

Changing abundance of Hexagenia mayfly nymphs in western Lake Erie of the Laurentian Great Lakes: Impediments to assessment of lake recovery?

After an absence of 40 years, mayfly nymphs of the genus Hexagenia were found in sediments of western Lake Erie of the Laurentian Great Lakes in 1993 and, by 1997, were abundant enough to meet a mayfly-density management goal (ca. 350 nymphs m —2 ) based on pollution-abatement programs. We sampled nymphs in western Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair, located upstream of western Lake Erie, to determine the importance of seasonal abundance and life-history characteristics of nymphs (e.g., emergence and recruitment) on density estimates relative to the mayfly-density management goal. Two types of density patterns were observed: (1) densities were relatively high in spring and gradually decreased through late summer (observed in Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair in 1997 and Lake St. Clair in 1999) and (2) densities were relatively high in spring, gradually decreased to mid summer, abruptly decreased in mid summer, and then increased between summer and late fall (Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair in 1998 and Lake Erie in 1999). Length-frequency distributions of nymphs and observations of adults indicate that the primary cause for the two density patterns was attributed to failed (first pattern) and successful (second pattern) reproduction and emergence of nymphs into adults in mid summer. Gradual declines in densities were attributed to mortality of nymphs. Our results indicate that caution should be used when evaluating progress of pollution-abatement programs based on mayfly densities because recruitment success is variable both between and within years. Additionally, the interpretation of progress toward management goals, relative to the restoration of Hexagenia populations in the Great Lakes and possibly other water bodies throughout the world, is influenced by the number of years in which consequtive collections are made.

International Review of Hydrobiology↗
USGS2001

Effect of 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid herbicide Escherichia coli growth, chemical, composition, and cellular envelope

2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) is a herbicide widely used in the world and mainly excreted by the renal route in exposed humans and animals. Herbicides can affect other nontarget organisms, such as Escherichia coli. We observed that a single exposure to 1 mM 2,4-D diminished growth and total protein content in all E. coli strains tested in vitro. In addition, successive exposures to 0.01 mM 2,4-D had a toxic effect decreasing growth up to early stationary phase. Uropathogenic E. coli adhere to epithelial cells mediated by fimbriae, adhesins, and hydrophobic properties. 2,4-D exposure of uropathogenic E. coli demonstrated altered hydrophobicity and fimbriation. Hydrophobicity index values obtained by partition in p-xylene/water were 300-420% higher in exposed cells than in control ones. Furthermore, values of hemagglutination titer, protein contents in fimbrial crude extract, and electron microscopy demonstrated a significant diminution of fimbriation in treated cells. Other envelope alterations could be detected, such as lipoperoxidation, evidenced by decreased polyunsaturated fatty acids and increased lipid degradation products (malonaldehyde), and motility diminution. These alterations decreased cell adherence to erythrocytes, indicating a diminished pathogenic capacity of the 2,4-D-exposed E. coli. ?? 2001 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Environmental Toxicology↗
USGS2013

An interactive web application for visualizing climate data

Massive volumes of data are being created as modeling centers from around the world finalize their submission of climate simulations for the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, phase 5 (CMIP5), in preparation for the forthcoming Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report (AR5). Scientists, resource managers, and other potential users of climate data are faced with the daunting task of analyzing, distilling, and summarizing this unprecedented wealth of climate information.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS2013

An international network of magnetic observatories

Since its formation in the late 1980s, the International Real-Time Magnetic Observatory Network (INTERMAGNET), a voluntary consortium of geophysical institutes from around the world, has promoted the operation of magnetic observatories according to modern standards [eg. Rasson, 2007]. INTERMAGNET institutes have cooperatively developed infrastructure for data exchange and management ads well as methods for data processing and checking. INTERMAGNET institute have also helped to expand global geomagnetic monitoring capacity, most notably by assisting magnetic observatory institutes in economically developing countries by working directly with local geophysicists. Today the INTERMAGNET consortium encompasses 57 institutes from 40 countries supporting 120 observatories (see Figures 1a and 1b). INTERMAGNET data record a wide variety of time series signals related to a host of different physical processes in the Earth's interiors and in the Earth's surrounding space environment [e.g., Love, 2008]. Observatory data have always had a diverse user community, and to meet evolving demand, INTERMAGNET has recently coordinated the introduction of several new data services.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS2014

Deep-sea coral record of human impact on watershed quality in the Mississippi River Basin

One of the greatest drivers of historical nutrient and sediment transport into the Gulf of Mexico is the unprecedented scale and intensity of land use change in the Mississippi River Basin. These landscape changes are linked to enhanced fluxes of carbon and nitrogen pollution from the Mississippi River, and persistent eutrophication and hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Increased terrestrial runoff is one hypothesis for recent enrichment in bulk nitrogen isotope (δ 15 N) values, a tracer for nutrient source, observed in a Gulf of Mexico deep-sea coral record. However, unambiguously linking anthropogenic land use change to whole scale shifts in downstream Gulf of Mexico biogeochemical cycles is difficult. Here we present a novel approach, coupling a new tracer of agro-industrialization to a multiproxy record of nutrient loading in long-lived deep-sea corals collected in the Gulf of Mexico. We found that coral bulk δ 15 N values are enriched over the last 150–200 years relative to the last millennia, and compound-specific amino acid δ 15 N data indicate a strong increase in baseline δ 15 N of nitrate as the primary cause. Coral rhenium (Re) values are also strongly elevated during this period, suggesting that 34% of Re is of anthropogenic origin, consistent with Re enrichment in major world rivers. However, there are no pre-anthropogenic measurements of Re to confirm this observation. For the first time, an unprecedented record of natural and anthropogenic Re variability is documented through coral Re records. Taken together, these novel proxies link upstream changes in water quality to impacts on the deep-sea coral ecosystem.

Mississippi River Basin↗
USGS2014

Predictions of barrier island berm evolution in a time-varying storm climatology

Low-lying barrier islands are ubiquitous features of the world's coastlines, and the processes responsible for their formation, maintenance, and destruction are related to the evolution of smaller, superimposed features including sand dunes, beach berms, and sandbars. The barrier island and its superimposed features interact with oceanographic forces (e.g., overwash) and exchange sediment with each other and other parts of the barrier island system. These interactions are modulated by changes in storminess. An opportunity to study these interactions resulted from the placement and subsequent evolution of a 2 m high sand berm constructed along the northern Chandeleur Islands, LA. We show that observed berm length evolution is well predicted by a model that was fit to the observations by estimating two parameters describing the rate of berm length change. The model evaluates the probability and duration of berm overwash to predict episodic berm erosion. A constant berm length change rate is also predicted that persists even when there is no overwash. The analysis is extended to a 16 year time series that includes both intraannual and interannual variability of overwash events. This analysis predicts that as many as 10 or as few as 1 day of overwash conditions would be expected each year. And an increase in berm elevation from 2 m to 3.5 m above mean sea level would reduce the expected frequency of overwash events from 4 to just 0.5 event-days per year. This approach can be applied to understanding barrier island and berm evolution at other locations using past and future storm climatologies.

Louisiana↗
USGS2014

Distributed Evaluation of Local Sensitivity Analysis (DELSA), with application to hydrologic models

This paper presents a hybrid local-global sensitivity analysis method termed the Distributed Evaluation of Local Sensitivity Analysis (DELSA), which is used here to identify important and unimportant parameters and evaluate how model parameter importance changes as parameter values change. DELSA uses derivative-based “local” methods to obtain the distribution of parameter sensitivity across the parameter space, which promotes consideration of sensitivity analysis results in the context of simulated dynamics. This work presents DELSA, discusses how it relates to existing methods, and uses two hydrologic test cases to compare its performance with the popular global, variance-based Sobol' method. The first test case is a simple nonlinear reservoir model with two parameters. The second test case involves five alternative “bucket-style” hydrologic models with up to 14 parameters applied to a medium-sized catchment (200 km 2 ) in the Belgian Ardennes. Results show that in both examples, Sobol' and DELSA identify similar important and unimportant parameters, with DELSA enabling more detailed insight at much lower computational cost. For example, in the real-world problem the time delay in runoff is the most important parameter in all models, but DELSA shows that for about 20% of parameter sets it is not important at all and alternative mechanisms and parameters dominate. Moreover, the time delay was identified as important in regions producing poor model fits, whereas other parameters were identified as more important in regions of the parameter space producing better model fits. The ability to understand how parameter importance varies through parameter space is critical to inform decisions about, for example, additional data collection and model development. The ability to perform such analyses with modest computational requirements provides exciting opportunities to evaluate complicated models as well as many alternative models.

Water Resources Research↗
USGS2014

Elders recall an earlier tsunami on Indian Ocean shores

Ten years on, the Indian Ocean tsunami of 26 December 2004 still looms large in efforts to reduce coastal risk. The disaster has spurred worldwide advances in tsunami detection and warning, tsunami-risk assessment, and tsunami awareness [Satake, 2014]. Nearly a lifetime has passed since the northwestern Indian Ocean last produced a devastating tsunami. Documentation of this tsunami, in November 1945, was hindered by international instability in the wake of the Second World War and, in British India, by the approach of independence and partition. The parent earthquake, of magnitude 8.1, was widely recorded, and the tsunami registered on tide gauges, but intelligence reports and newspaper articles say little about inundation limits while permitting a broad range of catalogued death tolls. What has been established about the 1945 tsunami falls short of what's needed today for ground-truthing inundation models, estimating risk to enlarged populations, and anchoring awareness campaigns in local facts. Recent efforts to reduce coastal risk around the Arabian Sea include a project in which eyewitnesses to the 1945 tsunami were found and interviewed (Fig. 1), and related archives were gathered. Results are being made available through UNESCO's Indian Ocean Tsunami Information Center in hopes of increasing scientific understanding and public awareness of the region's tsunami hazards.

Eos, Earth and Space Science News↗
USGS2014

Time-averaged discharge rate of subaerial lava at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i, measured from TanDEM-X interferometry: Implications for magma supply and storage during 2011-2013

Differencing digital elevation models (DEMs) derived from TerraSAR add-on for Digital Elevation Measurements (TanDEM-X) synthetic aperture radar imagery provides a measurement of elevation change over time. On the East Rift Zone (EZR) of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i, the effusion of lava causes changes in topography. When these elevation changes are summed over the area of an active lava flow, it is possible to quantify the volume of lava emplaced at the surface during the time spanned by the TanDEM-X data—a parameter that can be difficult to measure across the entirety of an ~100 km 2 lava flow field using ground-based techniques or optical remote sensing data. Based on the differences between multiple TanDEM-X-derived DEMs collected days to weeks apart, the mean dense-rock equivalent time-averaged discharge rate of lava at Kīlauea between mid-2011 and mid-2013 was approximately 2 m 3 /s, which is about half the long-term average rate over the course of Kīlauea's 1983–present ERZ eruption. This result implies that there was an increase in the proportion of lava stored versus erupted, a decrease in the rate of magma supply to the volcano, or some combination of both during this time period. In addition to constraining the time-averaged discharge rate of lava and the rates of magma supply and storage, topographic change maps derived from space-based TanDEM-X data provide insights into the four-dimensional evolution of Kīlauea's ERZ lava flow field. TanDEM-X data are a valuable complement to other space-, air-, and ground-based observations of eruptive activity at Kīlauea and offer great promise at locations around the world for aiding with monitoring not just volcanic eruptions but any hazardous activity that results in surface change, including landslides, floods, earthquakes, and other natural and anthropogenic processes.

Hawai'i↗
USGS2015

Glaciological and marine geological controls on terminus dynamics of Hubbard Glacier, southeast Alaska

Hubbard Glacier, located in southeast Alaska, is the world's largest non-polar tidewater glacier. It has been steadily advancing since it was first mapped in 1895; occasionally, the advance creates an ice or sediment dam that blocks a tributary fjord (Russell Fiord). The sustained advance raises the probability of long-term closure in the near-future, which will strongly impact the ecosystem of Russell Fiord and the nearby community of Yakutat. Here, we examine a 43-year record of flow speeds and terminus position to understand the large-scale dynamics of Hubbard Glacier. Our long-term record shows that the rate of terminus advance has increased slightly since 1895, with the exception of a slowed advance between approximately 1972 and 1984. The short-lived closure events in 1986 and 2002 were not initiated by perturbations in ice velocity or environmental forcings, but were likely due to fluctuations in sedimentation patterns at the terminus. This study points to the significance of a coupled system where short-term velocity fluctuations and morainal shoal development control tidewater glacier terminus position.

Alaska↗
USGS2016

Toward more realistic projections of soil carbon dynamics by Earth system models

Soil carbon (C) is a critical component of Earth system models (ESMs), and its diverse representations are a major source of the large spread across models in the terrestrial C sink from the third to fifth assessment reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Improving soil C projections is of a high priority for Earth system modeling in the future IPCC and other assessments. To achieve this goal, we suggest that (1) model structures should reflect real-world processes, (2) parameters should be calibrated to match model outputs with observations, and (3) external forcing variables should accurately prescribe the environmental conditions that soils experience. First, most soil C cycle models simulate C input from litter production and C release through decomposition. The latter process has traditionally been represented by first-order decay functions, regulated primarily by temperature, moisture, litter quality, and soil texture. While this formulation well captures macroscopic soil organic C (SOC) dynamics, better understanding is needed of their underlying mechanisms as related to microbial processes, depth-dependent environmental controls, and other processes that strongly affect soil C dynamics. Second, incomplete use of observations in model parameterization is a major cause of bias in soil C projections from ESMs. Optimal parameter calibration with both pool- and flux-based data sets through data assimilation is among the highest priorities for near-term research to reduce biases among ESMs. Third, external variables are represented inconsistently among ESMs, leading to differences in modeled soil C dynamics. We recommend the implementation of traceability analyses to identify how external variables and model parameterizations influence SOC dynamics in different ESMs. Overall, projections of the terrestrial C sink can be substantially improved when reliable data sets are available to select the most representative model structure, constrain parameters, and prescribe forcing fields.

Global Biogeochemical Cycles↗
USGS2015

Surface melt dominates Alaska glacier mass balance

Mountain glaciers comprise a small and widely distributed fraction of the world's terrestrial ice, yet their rapid losses presently drive a large percentage of the cryosphere's contribution to sea level rise. Regional mass balance assessments are challenging over large glacier populations due to remote and rugged geography, variable response of individual glaciers to climate change, and episodic calving losses from tidewater glaciers. In Alaska, we use airborne altimetry from 116 glaciers to estimate a regional mass balance of −75 ± 11 Gt yr −1 (1994–2013). Our glacier sample is spatially well distributed, yet pervasive variability in mass balances obscures geospatial and climatic relationships. However, for the first time, these data allow the partitioning of regional mass balance by glacier type. We find that tidewater glaciers are losing mass at substantially slower rates than other glaciers in Alaska and collectively contribute to only 6% of the regional mass loss.

Alaska, British Columbia, Yukon Territory↗
USGS2015

Reactivated faulting near Cushing, Oklahoma: Increased potential for a triggered earthquake in an area of United States strategic infrastructure

In October 2014 two moderate-sized earthquakes ( Mw 4.0 and 4.3) struck south of Cushing, Oklahoma, below the largest crude oil storage facility in the world. Combined analysis of the spatial distribution of earthquakes and regional moment tensor focal mechanisms indicate reactivation of a subsurface unnamed and unmapped left-lateral strike-slip fault. Coulomb failure stress change calculations using the relocated seismicity and slip distribution determined from regional moment tensors, allow for the possibility that the Wilzetta-Whitetail fault zone south of Cushing, Oklahoma, could produce a large, damaging earthquake comparable to the 2011 Prague event. Resultant very strong shaking levels (MMI VII) in the epicentral region present the possibility of this potential earthquake causing moderate to heavy damage to national strategic infrastructure and local communities.

Oklahoma↗
USGS2015

Rising methane emissions from northern wetlands associated with sea ice decline

The Arctic is rapidly transitioning toward a seasonal sea ice-free state, perhaps one of the most apparent examples of climate change in the world. This dramatic change has numerous consequences, including a large increase in air temperatures, which in turn may affect terrestrial methane emissions. Nonetheless, terrestrial and marine environments are seldom jointly analyzed. By comparing satellite observations of Arctic sea ice concentrations to methane emissions simulated by three process-based biogeochemical models, this study shows that rising wetland methane emissions are associated with sea ice retreat. Our analyses indicate that simulated high-latitude emissions for 2005–2010 were, on average, 1.7 Tg CH 4  yr −1 higher compared to 1981–1990 due to a sea ice-induced, autumn-focused, warming. Since these results suggest a continued rise in methane emissions with future sea ice decline, observation programs need to include measurements during the autumn to further investigate the impact of this spatial connection on terrestrial methane emissions.

Geophysical Research Letters↗
USGS2015

Riparian vegetation, Colorado River, and climate: five decades of spatiotemporal dynamics in the Grand Canyon with river regulation

Documentation of the interacting effects of river regulation and climate on riparian vegetation has typically been limited to small segments of rivers or focused on individual plant species. We examine spatiotemporal variability in riparian vegetation for the Colorado River in Grand Canyon relative to river regulation and climate, over the five decades since completion of the upstream Glen Canyon Dam in 1963. Long-term changes along this highly modified, large segment of the river provide insights for management of similar riparian ecosystems around the world. We analyze vegetation extent based on maps and imagery from eight dates between 1965 and 2009, coupled with the instantaneous hydrograph for the entire period. Analysis confirms a net increase in vegetated area since completion of the dam. Magnitude and timing of such vegetation changes are river stage-dependent. Vegetation expansion is coincident with inundation frequency changes and is unlikely to occur for time periods when inundation frequency exceeds approximately 5%. Vegetation expansion at lower zones of the riparian area is greater during the periods with lower peak and higher base flows, while vegetation at higher zones couples with precipitation patterns and decreases during drought. Short pulses of high flow, such as the controlled floods of the Colorado River in 1996, 2004, and 2008, do not keep vegetation from expanding onto bare sand habitat. Management intended to promote resilience of riparian vegetation must contend with communities that are sensitive to the interacting effects of altered flood regimes and water availability from river and precipitation.

Arizona↗
USGS2016

The importance of base flow in sustaining surface water flow in the Upper Colorado River Basin

The Colorado River has been identified as the most overallocated river in the world. Considering predicted future imbalances between water supply and demand and the growing recognition that base flow (a proxy for groundwater discharge to streams) is critical for sustaining flow in streams and rivers, there is a need to develop methods to better quantify present-day base flow across large regions. We adapted and applied the spatially referenced regression on watershed attributes (SPARROW) water quality model to assess the spatial distribution of base flow, the fraction of streamflow supported by base flow, and estimates of and potential processes contributing to the amount of base flow that is lost during in-stream transport in the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB). On average, 56% of the streamflow in the UCRB originated as base flow, and precipitation was identified as the dominant driver of spatial variability in base flow at the scale of the UCRB, with the majority of base flow discharge to streams occurring in upper elevation watersheds. The model estimates an average of 1.8 × 10 10 m 3 /yr of base flow in the UCRB; greater than 80% of which is lost during in-stream transport to the Lower Colorado River Basin via processes including evapotranspiration and water diversion for irrigation. Our results indicate that surface waters in the Colorado River Basin are dependent on base flow, and that management approaches that consider groundwater and surface water as a joint resource will be needed to effectively manage current and future water resources in the Basin.

Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming↗
USGS2016

Regional-scale controls on dissolved nitrous oxide in the Upper Mississippi River

The U.S. Corn Belt is one of the most intensive agricultural regions of the world and is drained by the Upper Mississippi River (UMR), which forms one of the largest drainage basins in the U.S. While the effects of agricultural nitrate (NO 3 - ) on water quality in the UMR have been well documented, its impact on the production of nitrous oxide (N 2 O) has not been reported. Using a novel equilibration technique, we present the largest data set of freshwater dissolved N 2 O concentrations (0.7 to 6 times saturation) and examine the controls on its variability over a 350 km reach of the UMR. Driven by a supersaturated water column, the UMR was an important atmospheric N 2 O source (+68 mg N 2 ONm -2 yr -1 ) that varies nonlinearly with the NO 3 - concentration. Our analyses indicated that a projected doubling of the NO 3 - concentration by 2050 would cause dissolved N 2 O concentrations and emissions to increase by about 40%.

Upper Mississippi River↗