Earth Sciences Commons^™

First Record Of Common Moorhen Nesting In South Dakota, William A. Meeks, Kenneth F. Higgins

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) is widespread in North America, but is not very abundant throughout its range (Greij 1994, Common Moorhen, Pages 145-157 in Tacha and Braun [eds.] Migratory Shore and Upland Game Bird Management in North America, Allen Press, Lawrence). In North Dakota its status is accidental (Konrad 1983, Prairie Nat. 15:144); in South Dakota it is considered a casual visitor and a probable breeding species (South Dakota Ornithologists' Union 1991, The Birds of South Dakota, Northern State University Press, Aberdeen; Peterson 1995, The Breeding Bird Atlas of South Dakota, Northern State University Press, Aberdeen).

A Land-Use And Water-Quality History Of White Rock Lake Reservoir, Dallas, Texas, Based On Paleolimnological Analyses, J. Platt Bradbury, Peter C. Van Metre

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

White Rock Lake reservoir in Dallas, Texas contains a 150-cm sediment record of silty clay that documents land-use changes since its construction in 1912. Pollen analysis corroborates historical evidence that between 1912 and 1950 the watershed was primarily agricultural. Land disturbance by plowing coupled with strong and variable spring precipitation caused large amounts of sediment to enter the lake during this period. Diatoms were not preserved at this time probably because of low productivity compared to diatom dissolution by warm, alkaline water prior to burial in the sediments. After 1956, the watershed became progressively urbanized. Erosion decreased, land stabilized, and …

Two-Dimensional Seismic Image Of The San Andreas Fault In The Northern Gabilan Range, Central California Evidence For Fluids In The Fault Zone, C. Thurber, S. Roecker, W. Ellsworth, Y. Chen, W. Lutter, R. Sessions

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

A joint inversion for two-dimensional P-wave velocity (Vp), P-to-S velocity ratio (Vp/Vs), and earthquake locations along the San Andreas fault (SAF) in central California reveals a complex relationship among seismicity, fault zone structure, and the surface fault trace. A zone of low Vp andh ighV p/Vs lies beneatht he SAF surfacetr ace( SAFST), extending to a depth of about 6 km. Most of the seismic
activity along the SAF occurs at depths of 3 to 7 km in a southwest-dippingz one that roughly intersectst he SAFST, and lies near the southweset dgeo f the low Vp and high Vp/Vs zones. …

Herbicides And Their Metabolites In Rainfall: Origin, Transport, And Deposition Patterns Across The Midwestern And Northeastern United States, 1990-1991, Donald Goolsby, E. Michael Thurman, Michael Pomes, Michael Meyer, William Battaglin

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Herbicides were detected in rainfall throughout the midwestern and northeastern United States during late spring and summer of 1990 and 1991. Herbicide concentrations exhibited distinct geographic and seasonal patterns. The highest concentrations occurred in midwestern cornbelt states following herbicide application to cropland. Volume-weighted concentrations of 0.2-0.4 μg/L for atrazine and alachlor were typical in this area during mid-April through mid-July, and weighted concentrations as large as 0.6- 0.9 μg/L occurred at several sites. Concentrations of 1-3 μg/L were measured in a few individual samples. Atrazine was detected most often followed by alachlor, deethylatrazine, metolachlor, cyanazine, and deisopropylatrazine. The high ratio …

Correlation Of Late-Pleistocene Lake-Level Oscillations In Mono Lake, California, With North Atlantic Climate Events, Larry Benson, Steve P. Lund, James W. Burdett, Michaele Kashgarian, Timothy P. Rose, Joseph P. Smoot, Martha Schwartz

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Oxygen-18 (¹⁸O) values of sediment from the Wilson Creek Formation, Mono Basin, California, indicate three scales of temporal variation (Dansgaard-Oeschger, Heinrich, and Milankovitch) in the hydrologic balance of Mono Lake between 35,400 and 12,900 ¹⁴C yr B.P. During this interval, Mono Lake experienced four lowstands each lasting from 1000 to 2000 yr. The youngest low stand, which occurred between 15,500 and 14,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P., was nearly synchronous with a desiccation of Owens Lake, California. Paleomagnetic secular variation (PSV) data indicate that three of four persistent low stands occurred at the same times as Heinrich events …

Nearly Synchronous Climate Change In The Northern Hemisphere During The Last Glacial Termination, Larry V. Benson, James Burdett, Steve Lund, Michaele Kashgarian, Scott Mensing

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The climate of the North Atlantic region underwent a series of abrupt cold/warm oscillations when the ice sheets of the Northern Hemisphere retreated during the last glacial termination (17,700–11,500 years ago). Evidence for these oscillations, which are recorded in European terrestrial sediments as the Oldest Dryas/Bølling/ Older Dryas/Allerød/Younger Dryas vegetational sequence, has been found in Greenland ice cores. The geographical extent of many of these oscillations is not well known, but the last major cold event (the Younger Dryas) seems to have been global in extent. Here we present evidence of four major oscillations in the hydrological balance of the …

Fractured-Aquifer Hydrogeology From Geophysical Logs; The Passaic Formation, New Jersey, Roger H. Morin, Glen B. Carleton, Stephane Poirier

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The Passaic Formation consists of gradational sequences of mudstone, siltstone, and sandstone, and is a principal aquifer in central New Jersey. Ground-water flow is primarily controlled by fractures interspersed throughout these sedimentary rocks and characterizing these fractures in terms of type, orientation, spatial distribution, frequency, and transmissivity is fundamental towards understanding local fluid-transport processes. To obtain this information, a comprehensive suite of geophysical logs was collected in 10 wells roughly 46 m in depth and located within a .05 km² area in Hopewell Township, New Jersey. A seemingly complex, heterogeneous network of fractures identified with an acoustic televiewer was …

Statistical Modeling Of Agricultural Chemical Occurrence In Midwestern Rivers, William A. Battaglin, Donald A. Goolsby

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Agricultural chemicals in surface water may constitute a human health risk or have adverse effects on aquatic life. Recent research on unregulated rivers in the midwestern USA documents that elevated concentrations of herbicides occur for 1–4 months following application in late spring and early summer. In contrast, nitrate concentrations in unregulated rivers are elevated during fall, winter, and spring months. Natural and anthropogenic variables of river drainage basins, such as soil permeability, amount of agricultural chemicals applied, or percentage of land planted in corn, affect agricultural chemical concentration and mass transport in rivers.

Presented is an analysis of selected data …

Three-Dimensional Upper Crustal Velocity Structure Beneath San Francisco Peninsula, California, Tom Parsons, Mary Lou Zoback

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

This paper presents new seismic data from, and crustal models of the San Francisco Peninsula. In much of central California the San Andreas fault juxtaposes the Cretaceous granitic Salinian terrane on its west and the Late Mesozoic/Early Tertiary Franciscan Complex on its east. On San Francisco Peninsula, however, the present-day San Andreas fault is completely within a Franciscan terrane, and the Pilarcitos fault, located southwest of the San Andreas, marks the Salinian-Franciscan boundary. This circumstance has evoked two different explanations: either the Pilarcitos is a thrust fault that has pushed Franciscan rocks over Salinian rocks or the Pilarcitos is a …

Hands-On Geology For Navajo Nation Teachers, Russell Frank Dubiel, Stephen Tom Hasiotis, Steven Christian Semken

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The Navajo Nation comprises the largest land area and the largest population of any Native American community in the United States, and it hosts some of earth's most spectacular geology.

Analysis Of Environmental Data With Censored Observations, Shiping Liu, Jye-Chyi Lu, Dana Kolpin, William Meeker

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The potential threats to humans and to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems from environmental contamination could depend on the sum of the concentrations of different chemicals. However, direct summation of environmental data is not generally feasible because it is common for some chemical concentrations to be recorded as being below the analytical reporting limit. This creates special problems in the analysis of the data. A new model selection procedure, named forward censored regression, is introduced for selecting an appropriate model for environmental data with censored observations. The procedure is demonstrated using concentrations of atrazine (2-chloro- 4-ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-s-triazine), deethylatrazine (DEA, 2-amino-4-chloro-6-isopropylamino-s-triazine), and deisopropylatrazine …

Pesticides In Streams Draining Agricultural And Urban Areas In Colorado, Robert Kimbrough, David Litke

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

A study was conducted from April 1993 through April 1994 to describe and compare the occurrence and distribution of pesticides in streams in a small agricultural and a small urban area in Colorado. Twenty-five water samples collected at least monthly at the mouths of two tributary streams of the South Platte River were analyzed for 47 pesticides. The results indicate that both agricultural and urban areas are probable sources for pesticides in streams. In the agricultural area, 30 pesticides were detected, and in the urban area, 22 pesticides were detected in one or more samples. Most often, the more frequently …

Sea-Level Records At ~80 Ka From Tectonically Stable Platforms: Florida And Bermuda, K. R. Ludwig, D. R. Muhs, K. R. Simmons, R. B. Halley, E. A. Shinn

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Studies from tectonically active coasts on New Guinea and Barbados have suggested that sea level at ~80 ka was significantly lower than present, whereas data from the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of North America indicate an ~80 ka sea level close to that of the present. We determined ages of corals from a shallow submerged reef off the Florida Keys and an emergent marine deposit on Bermuda. Both localities are on tectonically stable platforms distant from plate boundaries. Uranium-series ages show that corals at both localities grew during the ~80 ka sea-level highstand, and geologic data show that sea level …

New Palaeothentid Marsupials (Caenolestoidea) From The Early Miocene Of Patagonian Argentina, Todd C. Rae, Thomas M. Bown, John G. Fleagle

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Recent fieldwork in Argentina has resulted in the recovery of numerous new specimens of palaeothentid marsupials, an important component of the Deseadan-Santacrucian (Oligocene-middle Miocene) mammalian fauna of Patagonia. The 1994 collections include a new genus and species from the early Miocene Pinturas Formation at Estancia La Cafnada and the first complete lower dentition of Acdestis oweni from a locality in the Santa Cruz Formation along the Rio Chalia.

Stress Perturbation Associated With The Amazonas And Other Ancient Continental Rifts, Mary Lou Zoback, Randall M. Richardson

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The state of stress in the vicinity of old continental rifts is examined to
investigate the possibility that crustal structure associated with ancient rifts (specifically a dense rift pillow in the lower crust) may modify substantially the regional stress field. Both shallow (2.0-2.6 km depth) breakout data and deep (20-45 km depth) crustal earthquake focal mechanisms indicate a N to NNE maximum horizontal compression in the vicinity of the Paleozoic Amazonas rift in central Brazil. This compressive stress direction is nearly perpendicular to the rift structure and represents a ~75 ° rotation relative to a regional E-W compressive stress direction …

Origin Of Bermuda's Clay-Rich Quaternary Paleosols And Their Paleoclimatic Significance, Stanley R. Herwitz, Daniel R. Muhs, Joseph M. Prospero, Shannon Mahan, Bruce Vaughn

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Saharan dust deposition on Bermuda during successive Quaternary glacial periods is consistent with patterns of general circulation models, which indicate that during glacial maxima the northeast summer trade winds were stronger than at present and reached latitudes higher than 30°N despite lower-than-present sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic.

Factors Affecting Attwater's Prairie-Chicken Decline On The Attwater Prairie Chicken, Michael E. Morrow, Robert S. Adamcik, Jenny D. Friday, Lloyd B. Mckinney

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

We examined the association between changes in the number of Attwater's prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus cupido attwateri) on the Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge from 1972 to 1993 and changes in refuge management practices (burning and grazing). We also examined the relationship of prairie-chicken population increases and decreases on the refuge to rainfall and off-refuge prairie-chicken populations. Burning within the prairie-chicken's core habitat on the refuge and variability in grassland structure were directly correlated (P < 0.05) with increases and declines in prairie-chicken populations. Refuge population increases and declines were inversely correlated (P < 0.1) with average April rainfall/event, May absolute departure from long-term average rainfall, May number of rainfall events, annual absolute departure of rainfall from the long-term average, and the annual number of rainfall events. Refuge population increases and declines were directly correlated (P < 0.1) with off-refuge populations, although the off- refuge population decline began 4 years earlier than on-refuge.

Occurrence Of Selected Pesticides And Their Metabolites In Near-Surface Aquifers Of The Midwestern United States, Dana Kolpin, E. Michael Thurman, Donald Goolsby

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The occurrence and distribution of selected pesticides and their metabolites were investigated through the collection of 837 water-quality samples from 303 wells across the Midwest. Results of this study showed that five of the six most frequently detected compounds were pesticide metabolites. Thus, it was common for a metabolite to be found more frequently in groundwater than its parent compound. The metabolite alachlor ethanesulfonic acid (alachlor- ESA; 2-[(2,6-diethylphenyl)(methoxymethyl)amino]-2- oxoethanesulfonic acid) was detected almost 10 times as frequently and at much higher concentrations than its parent compound alachlor (2-chloro-2',6'- diethyl-N-(methoxymethyl)acetamide). The median detectable atrazine (2-chloro-4-ethylamino-6- isopropylamino-s-triazine) concentration was almost half that …

Acetochlor In The Hydrologic System In The Midwestern United States, 1994, Dana Kolpin, Brenda Nations, Donald Goolsby, E. Michael Thurman

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The herbicide acetochlor [2-chloro-N-(ethoxymethyl)- N-(2-ethyl-6-methylphenyl)acetamide] was given conditional registration in the United States by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in March 1994. This registration provided a rare opportunity to investigate the occurrence of a pesticide during its first season of extensive use in the midwestern United States. Water samples collected and analyzed by the U.S. Geological Survey during 1994 documented the distribution of acetochlor in the hydrologic system; it was detected in 29% of the rain samples from four sites in Iowa, 17% of the stream samples from 51 sites across nine states, and 0% of the groundwater samples from …

Late Pliocene Diatoms In A Diatomite From Prydz Bay, East Antarctica, Albert D. Mahood, John A. Barron

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Very well-preserved Pliocene diatoms from a diatomite unit interbedded within glacial sediments at Ocean Drilling Program Site 742 in Prydz Bay, Antarctica are documented and illustrated. The presence of Thalassiosira kolbei, T torokina, Actinocyclus actinochilus, A karstenii and the absence of Nitzschia interfrigidaria, T. insigna and T. vulnifica in Sample 119-742A-15R-4, 44-46 cm constrain its age to ca. 2.2-1.8 Ma (late Pliocene). Diatoms associated with sea ice constitute 35% of the Pliocene diatom assemblage, compared with 71% of the modern sediment assemblage at the site, suggesting that sea ice was present during the late Pliocene period of deposition of the …

Climatic And Hydrologic Oscillations In The Owens Lake Basin And Adjacent Sierra Nevada, California, Larry Benson, James W. Burdett, Michaele Kashgarian, Steve Lund, Fred Phillips, Robert O. Rye

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Oxygen isotope and total inorganic carbon values of cored sediments from the Owens Lake basin, California, indicate that Owens Lake overflowed most of the time between 52,500 and 12,500 carbon-14 (¹⁴C) years before present (B.P.). Owens Lake desicated during or after Heinrich event H1 and was hydrologically closed during Heinrich event H2. The magnetic susceptibility and organiz carbon content of cored sediments indicate that about 19 Sierra Nevada glaciations occurred between 52,500 and 23,500 ¹⁴C years B.P.

Origin Of The Late Quaternary Dune Fields Of Northeastern Colorado, Daniel R. Muhs, Thomas W. Stafford, Scott D. Cowherd, Shannon A. Mahan, Rolf Kihl, Paula B. Maat, Charles A. Bush, Jennifer Nehring

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Stabilized eolian deposits, mostly parabolic dunes and sand sheets, cover much of the landscape of northeastern Colorado and adjacent parts of southwestern Nebraska in four geographically distinct dune fields. Stratigraphic and soil-geomorphic relations and accelerator radiocarbon dating indicate that at least three episodes of eolian sand movement occurred between 27 ka and 11 ka. possibly between 11 ka and 4 ka. and within the past 1.5 ka. Thus, eolian sand deposition took place under both glacial and interglacial climatic conditions. In the youngest episodes of eolian sand movement. Holocene parabolic dunes partially buried Pleistocene sand sheet deposits.

Late Holocene sands …

Detailed Observations Of California Foreshock Sequences: Implications For The Earthquake Initiation Process, Douglas A. Dodge, Gregory C. Beroza, W. L. Ellsworth

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

We find that foreshocks provide clear evidence for an extended nucleation process before some earthquakes. In this study, we examine in detail the evolution of six California foreshock sequences, the 1986 Mount Lewis (M_L = 5.5), the 1986 Chalfant (M_L = 6.4), the 1986 Stone Canyon( M_L = 4.7), the 1990 Upland (M_L = 5.2), the 1992 Joshua Tree (M_w= 6.1), and the 1992 Landers (M_w = 7.3) sequence. Typically, uncertainties in hypocentral parameters are too large to establish the geometry of foreshock sequences and hence to understand their evolution. However, the similarity …

Effect Of Nitrate, Organic Carbon, And Temperature On Potential Denitrification Rates In Nitrate-Rich Riverbed Sediments, K. S. Pfenning, P. B. Mcmahon

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

A study conducted in 1994 as part of the US Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment Program, South Platte River Basin investigation, examined the effect of certain environmental factors on potential denitrification rates in nitrate-rich riverbed sediments. The acetylene block technique was used to measure nitrous oxide (N₂O) production rates in laboratory incubations of riverbed sediments to evaluate the effect of varying nitrate concentrations, organic carbon concentrations and type, and water temperature on potential denitrification rates. Sediment incubations amended with nitrate, at concentrations ranging from 357 to 2142 μmol 1^-1 (as measured in the field), produced no significant …

Observations On Bats At Badlands National Park, South Dakota, Michael A. Bogan, Jeffrey G. Osborne, Jennifer A. Clarke

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

During the summers of 1992 and 1993, we conducted a survey of bats at Badlands National Park, South Dakota. Using mist nets, we captured bats and recorded species, sex, age class, and reproductive condition for each individual netted. We recorded five species, Myotis ciliolabrnm (n = 198), M. thysanodes (29), M volans (13), Eptesicus foscus (91), and Plecotus tawnsendii (43), previously known from the park. In addition, we added four species, M lucifugus (18), M. septentrionalis (9), Lasionycteris noctivagans (1), and Lasiurns cinereus (3) to the confirmed fauna of the park. Most bats captured were male (76.3%) although maternity colonies …

Multiport Well Design For Sampling Of Ground Water At Closely Spaced Vertical Intervals, Geoffrey N. Delin, Matthew K. Landon

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Detailed vertical sampling is useful in aquifers where vertical mixing is limited and steep vertical gradients in chemical concentrations are expected.

Sources Of Variation In Counts Of Meristic Features Of Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus Clarki Bouvieri), Carter Kruse, Wayne Hubert, Frank Rahel

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

We determined variability in counts of meristic features (pyloric caecae, vertebrae, pelvic fin rays, gillrakers, basibranchial teeth, scales above the lateral line, and scales in the lateral series) of Yellowstone cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki bouvieri ) by 3 independent readers, by the same reader on 3 different occasions, and among fish from 12 sampling sites within a 650-km² watershed. Genetic purity of the cutthroat trout was determined by electrophoretic analysis. Significant differences in meristic counts were observed among 3 readers and among sampling sites, but not among 3 occasions by a single reader. Scale counts were within the …

Red Imported Fire Ant Impacts On Northern Bobwhite Populations, Craig R. Allen, R. Scott Lutz, Stephen Demarais

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The stability of Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) populations in Texas, where high density polygyne red imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) account for >50% of all (S. invicta) colonies, has been cited as a reason to repudiate impacts by this exotic species on Northern Bobwhite. We used two approaches to investigate the relationship between red imported fire ants and Northern Bobwhite. In the first approach, we used correlation analysis to compare Northern Bobwhite abundance trends, determined from Christmas Bird Count data in 15 Texas counties, before and after fire ant infestation. Before red imported fire …

Bermuda Solution Pipe Soils: A Geochemical Evaluation Of Eolian Parent Materials, Stanley R. Herwitz, Daniel R. Muhs

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Solution pipes found in the Quaternary eolian and marine carbonates of Bermuda are filled with reddish to reddish-brown soil material. The bulk of the soil is composed of clay and silt-sized quartz and aluminosilicate clay minerals. The carbonates are of high purity and, therefore, are not likely to have been the parent material. Previous workers have hypothesized that Saharan dust may have been the soil parent material. The fine-grained component of loess from the Mississippi River Valley of North America also could have contributed. Paleoclimate models indicate that both North Africa and North America could have been important source areas …

Introduction To Special Section: Mechanical Involvement Of Fluids In Faulting, Stephen Hickman, Richard Sibson, Ronald Bruhn

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

A growing body of evidence suggests that fluids are intimately linked to a variety of faulting processes. These include the long-term structural and compositional evolution of fault zones; fault creep; and the nucleation, propagation, arrest, and recurrence of earthquake ruptures. Besides the widely recognized physical role of fluid pressures in controlling the strength of crustal fault zones, it is also apparent that fluids can exert mechanical influence through a variety of chemical effects.

The United States Geological Survey sponsored a Conference on the Mechanical Effects of Fluids in Faulting under the auspices of the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program at …