Earth Sciences Commons^™

Stratigraphy, Geochronology, And Accretionary Terrane Settings Of Two Bronson Hill Arc Sequences, Northern New England, Robert H. Moench, John N. Aleinikoff

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The Ammonoosuc Volcanics, Partridge Formation, and the Oliverian and Highlandcroft Plutonic Suites of the Bronson Hill anticlinorium (BHA) in axial New England are widely accepted as a single Middle to Late Ordovician magmatic arc that was active during closure of Iapetus. Mapping and U–Pb dating indicate, however, that the BHAcontains two volcano-sedimentary-intrusive sequences of probable opposite subduction polarity, here termed the Ammonoosuc and Quimby sequences.

The Ammonoosuc sequence is defined by the Middle Ordovician Ammonoosuc Volcanics near Littleton, NH, the type area, northeast to Milan, NH, and Oquossoc, ME; it also includes black slate of the Partridge Formation (C.bicornis …

Differences In Habitat Use By Blanding’S Turtles, Emydoidea Blandingii, And Painted Turtles, Chysemys Picta, In The Nebraska Sandhills, R. Bruce Bury, David J. Germano

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

We sampled a variety of wetlands in the Nebraska sandhills at Valentine National Wildlife Refuge. Significantly more individuals of painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) occurred in lakes and open waters than in marshes or small ponds, and the opposite was true for Blanding’s turtles (Emydoidea blandingii). Besides this marked difference in habitat use, 46% of the captured E. blandingii in pond/marsh habitat were juveniles, but only 31.6% in lakes and open water. Current information suggests that marshes and small ponds are important habitat for juvenile turtles, especially Emydoidea blandingii.

Monitoring Trends In Bat Populations Of The United States And Territories: Status Of The Science And Recommendations For The Future, Thomas J. O'Shea, Michael A. Bogan, Laura E. Ellison

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Populations of bats (Order Chiroptera) are difficult to monitor. However, current recognition of the importance of bats to biodiversity, their ecological and economic value as ecosystem components, and their vulnerability to declines makes monitoring trends in their populations a much-needed cornerstone for their future management. We report findings and recommendations of a recent expert workshop on monitoring trends in bat populations in the United States and territories. We summarize selected case reports presented by others at the workshop, including reviews of methods and ongoing efforts to monitor a wide range of species of bats in a diverse array of situations. …

Public Knowledge And Perceptions Of Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs, Berton Lee Lamb, Kurt Cline

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) historically occupied an 11-state region of the United States. We surveyed 1,900 residents (response rate 56%) of this region to understand citizen knowledge and perceptions about prairie dogs and their management. Those who have direct experience— e.g., those who live very close to prairie dog colonies or know the location of the nearest colony—have higher levels of knowledge. A significantly higher level of knowledge was documented among those who were politically active when compared with the general public. Those who found environmental issues difficult to understand were associated with lower knowledge. People with …

Last Glacial Loess In The Conterminous Usa, E. Arthur Bettis Iii, Daniel R. Muhs, Helen M. Roberts, Ann G. Wintle

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The conterminous United States contains an extensive and generally well-studied record of Last Glacial loess. The loess occurs in diverse physiographic provinces, and under a wide range of climatic and ecological conditions. Both glacial and non-glacial loess sources are present, and many properties of the loess vary systematically with distance from loess sources. United States’ mid-continent Last Glacial loess is probably the thickest in the world, and our calculated mass accumulation rates (MARs) are as high as 17,500 g/m²/yr at the Bignell Hill locality in Nebraska, and many near-source localities have MARs greater than 1500 g/m²/yr. …

Evolution From A Conventional Well Field To A Riverbank-Filtration System, John D. North, Douglas J. Schnoebelen, Shelli Grapp, Roy E. Hesemann

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The City of Cedar Rapids is located in east-central Iowa and has a population of 121,000. The Cedar River alluvial aquifer is the sole source of drinking water for the City. Within the last few years, the Cedar River — which drains a major agricultural watershed — has experienced extended periods of elevated levels of nitrate and herbicides (notably, atrazine and its degradation byproducts) that were above the maximum contaminant level for drinking water. Fortunately, during these extended periods of compromised water quality in the river, RBF enabled the Cedar Rapids Water Department to obtain and treat adequate quantities of …

Ethylenediaminetetraacetic Acid Occurrence And Removal Through Bank Filtration In The Platte River, Nebraska, Jason R. Vogel, Larry B. Barber, Tyler B. Coplen, Ingrid M. Verstraeten, Thomas F. Speth, Jerry Obrist, Win Butler

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The USGS, USEPA, and City of Lincoln Water System (Nebraska) have conducted a study to determine the occurrence and removal of EDTA, NTA, and nonylphenol monoethoxycarboxylate to nonylphenol pentaethoxycarboxylate (NP1EC-NP5EC) in the hydrologic system at the City of Lincoln well field. The objective of the study is to evaluate the occurrence and removal of EDTA, NTA, and total nonylphenolpolyethoxycarboxylate (NPEC) by bank filtration at the City of Lincoln well field. This presentation will discuss removal during two sampling periods — May and August 2002 — based upon surface-water fractions in the collector well calculated using stable isotope ratios of hydrogen …

Public Attitudes And Knowledge Of The Black-Tailed Prairie Dog: A Common And Controversial Species, Donna Lybecker, Berton Lee Lamb, Phadrea Ponds

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus; hereafter, prairie dogs) are native to the short-grass prairie region of North America from Mexico to Canada (figure 1).According to government documents (64 Federal Register 57 at 14426–14427), before the 19th century expansion of the United States, prairie dogs inhabited millions of acres of the Great Plains and lived in huge colonies west of the Missouri River. Settlement of the Great Plains and the transformation of vast areas from native grassland to tilled farmland forever changed the prairie ecosystem and prairie dog habitat.
Over the course of the last century, the habitat range …

Distribution Of Channel Catfish Life Stages In A Prairie River Basin, Jason C. Vokoun, Charles F. Rabeni

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

To describe the pattern of use by age 0, juvenile, and adult channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) in a prairie river basin, we collected concurrent samples from tributaries and mainstem study sites in the Grand River basin of northern Missouri. Using standardized methods, we made collections in June, August, and October of 1997 and 1998. Age 0 channel catfish were found in all three streams in August, but rarely were observed in the tributaries during October. Juveniles (ages 1-3) and adults were observed in all three streams in all three months sampled. Tag returns suggested that age 2 and …

Selection Of Nesting Habitat By Sharptailed Grouse In The Nebraska Sandhills, Bart L. Prose, Brian S. Cade, Dale Hein

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

We evaluated nesting habitat selection (disproportionate use compared to availability) by plains sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus jamesi) on rangelands grazed by cattle (Bas taurus) relative to height, density, and heterogeneity of residual herbaceous vegetation remaining from previous growing seasons. Residual cover is critical for nesting sharp-tailed grouse and can be lacking on grazed rangelands. Aerial photography and a geographic information system were used to analyze residual cover height classes and several measures of residual cover heterogeneity in nest (n = 38) and random (n = 38) plots. Height classes corresponded to visual obstruction readings (YORs), the …

The Lacustrine Carbon Cycle As Illuminated By The Waters And Sediments Of Two Hydrologically Distinct Headwater Lakes In North-Central Minnesota, U.S.A., Walter E. Dean, Antje Schwalb

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The accumulation rates of CaCO₃ and organic carbon (OC) in lake sediments are delicately balanced between production in the epilimnion and destruction in the hypolimnion. The cycling of these two forms of carbon makes a ‘‘carbon pump’’ that greatly affects the biogeochemical cycles of other elements. To further understand these biogeochemical dynamics, the lakes, streams, and wetlands of the Shingobee River headwater area of north-central Minnesota have been subjected to intensive hydrologic and biogeochemical studies. Williams Lake, situated close to the highest point in the regional flow system, is hydrologically closed, with no surface inlet or outlet, and ground …

Vocs, Pesticides, Nitrate, And Their Mixtures In Groundwater Used For Drinking Water In The United States, Paul Squillace, Jonathon Scott, Michael Moran, B. T. Nolan, Dana Kolpin

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Samples of untreated groundwater from 1255 domestic drinking-water wells and 242 public supply wells were analyzed as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program of the U.S. Geological Survey between 1992 and 1999. Wells were sampled to define the regional quality of the groundwater resource and, thus, were distributed geographically across large aquifers, primarily in rural areas. For each sample, as many as 60 volatile organic compounds (VOCs), 83 pesticides, and nitrate were analyzed. On the basis of previous studies, nitrate concentrations as nitrogen ≥3 mg/L were considered to have an anthropogenic origin. VOCs were detected more frequently (44%) than …

Pharmaceuticals, Hormones, And Other Organic Wastewater Contaminants In U.S. Streams, 1999-2000: A National Reconnaissance, Dana Kolpin, Edward Furlong, Michael Meyer, E. Michael Thurman, Steven Zaugg, Larry Barber, Herbert Buxton

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

To provide the first nationwide reconnaissance of the occurrence of pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other organic wastewater contaminants (OWCs) in water resources, the U.S. Geological Survey used five newly developed analytical methods to measure concentrations of 95 OWCs in water samples from a network of 139 streams across 30 states during 1999 and 2000. The selection of sampling sites was biased toward streams susceptible to contamination (i.e. downstream of intense urbanization and livestock production). OWCs were prevalent during this study, being found in 80% of the streams sampled. The compounds detected represent a wide range of residential, industrial, and agricultural origins …

Depositional History And Neotectonics In Great Salt Lake, Utah, From High-Resolution Seismic Stratigraphy, Steven M. Colman, Kerry R. Kelts, David A. Dinter

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

High-resolution seismic-reflection data from Great Salt Lake show that the basinal sediment sequence is cut by numerous faults with N–S and NE–SW orientations. This faulting shows evidence of varied timing and relative offsets, but includes at least three events totaling about 12 m following the Bonneville phase of the lake (since about 13.5 ka). Several faults displace the uppermost sediments and the lake floor. Bioherm structures are present above some faults, which suggests that the faults served as conduits for sublacustrine discharge of fresh water. A shallow, fault-controlled ridge between Carrington Island and Promontory Point, underlain by a well-cemented pavement, …

Effects Of Surface Run-Off On The Transport Of Agricultural Chemicals To Ground Water In A Sandplain Setting, Geoffrey N. Delin, Matthew K. Landon

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

An experiment was conducted at a depressional (lowland) and an upland site in sandy soils to evaluate the effects of surface run-off on the transport of agricultural chemicals to ground water. Approximately 16.5 cm of water was applied to both sites during the experiment, representing a natural precipitation event with a recurrence interval of approximately 100 years. Run-off was quantified at the lowland site and was not detected at the upland site during the experiment. Run-off of water to the lowland site was the most important factor affecting differences in the concentrations and fluxes of the agricultural chemicals between the …

Passing The Torch Of Wildlife And Fisheries Management: Comparing The Attitudes And Values Of Younger And Older Conservation Professionals, Robert M. Muth, Rodney R. Zwick, Martha E. Mather, John F. Organ

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Wildlife-related values in American society are undergoing considerable change. Within the last few decades, non-consumptive recreational use of wildlife has increased dramatically; groups that subscribe to animal protection values (ranging from animal welfare to animal rights to animal liberation) are exercising increasing influence over wildlife policy, and the ranks of people who practice wildlife rehabilitation have grown significantly. In this time of questioning and change, it should not be surprising that the attitudes and values of conservation professionals are in transition as well. Within many agencies and academic institutions, the traditional focus on game management (Geist et al. 2001) is …

Evidence For The Timing And Duration Of The Last Interglacial Period From High-Precision Uranium-Series Ages Of Corals On Tectonically Stable Coastlines, Daniel R. Muhs

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The last interglacial period has a timing and duration that can be estimated from U-series dating of emergent, coral-bearing deposits on tectonically stable coastlines. High-precision dating from Bermuda, the Bahamas, Hawaii, and Australia suggests that the last interglacial period had a sea level at least as high as present from ∼128,000 to 116,000 yr B.P. Sea level reached a near-present level more quickly after the close of the penultimate glacial period than at the close of the last glacial period and the duration of high sea level is longer than that implied by the deep-sea record.

Wildlife Diseases: Crying Wolf Or Crying Shame?, Robert G. Mclean

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Diseases of North American wildlife are causing serious problems for wildlife, and some wildlife diseases pose health threats to humans and domestic animals. Information will be presented at this wildlife disease session to alert resource managers enough to consider disease as an important issue when managing wildlife populations. It will be a crying shame if appropriate actions are not taken to monitor diseases adequately and to prevent or control them to protect our wildlife resources.

Application Of Classification-Tree Methods To Identify Nitrate Sources In Ground Water, Timothy B. Spruill, William J. Showers, Stephen S. Howe

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

A study was conducted to determine if nitrate sources in ground water (fertilizer on crops, fertilizer on golf courses, irrigation spray from hog (Sus scrofa) wastes, and leachate from poultry litter and septic systems) could be classified with 80% or greater success. Two statistical classification-tree models were devised from 48 water samples containing nitrate from five source categories. Model 1 was con- structed by evaluating 32 variables and selecting four primary predictor variables (δ¹⁵N, nitrate to ammonia ratio, sodium to potassium ratio, and zinc) to identify nitrate sources. A δ¹⁵N value of nitrate plus …

Relating Net Nitrogen Input In The Mississippi River Basin To Nitrate Flux In The Lower Mississippi River: A Comparison Of Approaches, Gregory F. Mcisaac, Mark B. David, George Z. Gertner, Donald A. Goolsby

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

A quantitative understanding of the relationship between terrestrial N inputs and riverine N flux can help guide conservation, policy, and adaptive management efforts aimed at preserving or restoring water quality. The objective of this study was to compare recently published approaches for relating terrestrial N inputs to the Mississippi River basin (MRB) with measured nitrate flux in the lower Mississippi River. Nitrogen inputs to and outputs from the MRB (1951 to 1996) were estimated from state-level annual agricultural production statistics and NO_y (inorganic oxides of N) deposition estimates for 20 states that comprise 90% of the MRB. A model …

Wyoming Toad (Bufo Baxteri), R. Andrew Odum, Paul Stephen Corn

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Historically, Wyoming toads (Bufo baxteri) were abundant in the vicinity of Laramie, Albany County, Wyoming (Baxter, 1952; Corn, 1991), where they were found in the flood plains of the Big and Little Laramie rivers (Stebbins, 1985), an area of only 2,330 km² (Lewis et al., 1985). A rapid decline was observed in the mid-1970s (Lewis et al., 1985) when they disappeared from most of their range. Surveys in the early 1980s yielded few animals, and Lewis et al. f 1985) reported their possible extinction in 1983. Wyoming toads were listed as Endangered under the Endangered Species Act …

A 1500-Year Record Of Climatic And Environmental Change In Elk Lake, Clearwater County, Minnesota Ii: Geochemistry, Mineralogy, And Stable Isotopes, Walter E. Dean

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Most of the sediment components that have accumulated in Elk Lake, Clearwater County, northwestern Minnesota, over the past 1500 years are authigenic or biogenic (CaCO₃, biogenic SiO₂, organic matter, iron and manganese oxyhydroxides, and iron phosphate) and are delivered to the sediment–water interface on a seasonal schedule where they are preserved as distinct annual laminae (varves). The annual biogeochemical cycles of these components are causally linked through the ‘carbon pump’, and are recapitulated in longer-term cycles, most prominently with a periodicity of about 400 years. Organic carbon is fixed in the epilimnion by photosynthetic removal of …

Early Holocene Change In Atmospheric Circulation In The Northern Great Plains: An Upstreamview Of The 8.2 Ka Cold Event, Walter E. Dean, Richard M. Forester, J. Platt Bradbury

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Elk Lake, in northwestern Minnesota, contains numerous proxy records of climatic and environmental change contained in varved sediments with annual resolution for the last 10,000 years. These proxies show that about 8200 calendar years ago (8.2 cal. ka; 7300 radiocarbon years) Elk Lake went froma well-stratified lake that was wind-protected in a boreal forest to a well-mixed lake in open prairie savanna receiving northwesterly wind-blown dust, probably from the dry floor of Lake Agassiz. This change in climate marks the initiation of the widely recognized mid-Holocene “altithermal” in central North America. The coincidence of this change with the so-called 8.2 …

Determination Of Melanterite-Rozenite And Chalcanthite-Bonattite Equilibria By Humidity Measurements At 0.1 Mpa, I-Ming Chou, R.R. Seal Ii, B.S. Hemingway

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Melanterite (FeSO₄•7H₂O)-rozenite (FeSO₄•4H₂O) and chalcanthite (CuSO₄•5H₂O)-bonattite (CuSO₄•3H₂O) equilibria were determined by humidity measurements at 0.1 MPa. Two methods were used; one is the gas-flow-cell method (between 21 and 98 °C), and the other is the humidity buffer method (between 21 and 70 °C). The first method has a larger temperature uncertainty even though it is more efficient. With the aid of humidity buffers, which correspond to a series of saturated binary salt solutions, the second method yields reliable results as demonstrated by very tight …

Reconstruction Of Hydrological Changes And Response To Effective Moisture Variations From North-Central Usa Lake Sediments, Antje Schwalb, Walter E. Dean

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Ratios of the stable isotopes of oxygen and carbon in benthic ostracodes and marl from cores taken from two lakes in north-central Minnesota reflect Holocene hydrological and vegetation changes. Oxygen isotopes show that Williams and Shingobee Lakes, located in the same watershed but with different positions along a hydrologic gradient, were connected before 9.8 ka as part of a larger lake, Lake Willobee. From 9.8–7.7 ka, the level of Lake Willobee fell as a result of glacial retreat and increasing evaporation, leaving small separated basins. Further decreases in lake level after 7.7 ka due to increasing aridity triggered the inflow …

Derivation Of A Tasselled Cap Transformation Based On Landsat 7 At-Satellite Reflectance, C. Huang, Wylie L. Yang, Collin Homer, G. Zylstra

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

A new tasselled cap transformation based on Landsat 7 at-satellite reflectance was developed. This transformation is most appropriate for regional applications where atmospheric correction is not feasible. The brightness, greenness and wetness of the derived transformation collectively explained over 97% of the spectral variance of the individual scenes used in this study.

Strontium Isotopic Signatures Of The Streams And Lakes Of Taylor Valley, Southern Victoria Land, Antarctica: Chemical Weathering In A Polar Climate, W. B. Lyons, Carmen A. Nezat, Larry V. Benson, Thomas D. Bullen, Elizabeth Y. Graham, Jesicca Kidd, Kathleen A. Welch, James M. Thomas

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

We have collected and analyzed a series of water samples from three closed-basin lakes (Lakes Bonney, Fryxell, and Hoare) in Taylor Valley, Antarctica, and the streams that flow into them. In all three lakes, the hypolimnetic waters have different ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios than the surface waters, with the deep water of Lakes Fryxell and Hoare being less radiogenic than the surface waters. The opposite occurs in Lake Bonney. The Lake Fryxell isotopic ratios are lower than modern-day ocean water and most of the whole-rock ratios of the surrounding geologic materials. A conceivable source of Sr to the system …

Organochlorine Chemical Residues In Fish From The Mississippi River Basin, 1995, C.J. Schmitt

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

µ≤≥

Fish were collected in late 1995 from 34 National Contaminant Biomonitoring Program (NCBP) stations and 13 National Water Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA) stations in the Mississippi River basin (MRB) and in late 1996 from a reference site in West Virginia. Four composite samples, each comprising (nominally) 10 adult common carp (Cyprinus carpio) or black bass (Micropterus spp.) of the same sex, were collected from each site and analyzed for organochlorine chemical residues by gas chromatography with electron capture detection. At the NCBP stations, which are located on relatively large rivers, concentrations of organochlorine chemical residues were generally lower than …

Holocene Multidecadal And Multicentennial Droughts Affecting Northern California And Nevada, Larry Benson, Michaele Kashgarian, Robert Rye, Steve Lund, Fred Paillet, Joseph Smoot, Cynthia Kester, Scott Mensing, Dave Meko, Susan Landström

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Continuous, high-resolution δ¹⁸O records from cored sediments of Pyramid Lake, Nevada, indicate that oscillations in the hydrologic balance occurred, on average, about every 150 years (yr) during the past 7630 calendar years (cal yr). The records are not stationary; during the past 2740 yr, drought durations ranged from 20 to 100 yr and intervals between droughts ranged from 80 to 230 yr. Comparison of tree-ring-based reconstructions of climate change for the past 1200 yr from the Sierra Nevada and the El Malpais region of northwest New Mexico indicates that severe droughts associated with Anasazi withdrawal from Chaco Canyon …

Bedform Movement Recorded By Sequential Single-Beam Surveys In Tidal Rivers, R. L. Dinehart

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

A portable system for bedform-mapping was evaluated in the delta of the lower Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, California, from 1998 to 2000.  Bedform profiles were surveyed with a two-person crew using an array of four single-beam transducers on boats about 6 m in length.  Methods for processing the bedform profiles into maps with geographic coordinates were developed for spreadsheet programs and surface-contouring software.  Straight reaches were surveyed every few days or weeks to determine locations of sand deposition, net transport directions, flow thresholds for bedform regimes, and bedform transport rates.  In one channel of unidirectional flow, the portable system …