Geology Commons^™

Significant Recent Warming Over The Northern Tibetan Plateau From Ice Core Δ18o Records, W. An, S. Hou, W. Zhang, Y. Wang, Y. Liu, Shuang-Ye Wu, H. Pang

Department of Earth, Environment and Sustainability Faculty Publications

Stable oxygen isotopic records in ice cores provide valuable information about past temperature, especially for regions with scarce instrumental measurements. This paper presents the δ¹⁸O result of an ice core drilled to bedrock from Mt. Zangser Kangri (ZK), a remote area on the northern Tibetan Plateau (TP). We reconstructed the temperature series for 1951–2008 from the δ¹⁸O records. In addition, we combined the ZK δ¹⁸O records with those from three other ice cores in the northern TP (Muztagata, Puruogangri, and Geladaindong) to reconstruct a regional temperature history for the period 1951–2002 (RTNTP). The RTNTP …

Distributed Modeling Of Ablation (1996–2011) And Climate Sensitivity On The Glaciers Of Taylor Valley, Antarctica, Matthew J. Hoffman, Andrew G. Fountain, Glen E. Liston

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica host the coldest and driest ecosystem on Earth, which is acutely sensitive to the availability of water coming from glacial runoff. We modeled the spatial variability in ablation and assessed climate sensitivity of the glacier ablation zones using 16 years of meteorological and surface mass-balance observations collected in Taylor Valley. Sublimation was the primary form of mass loss over much of the ablation zones, except for near the termini where melt, primarily below the surface, dominated. Microclimates in ~10 m scale topographic basins generated melt rates up to ten times higher than over smooth …

Processes Controlling Carbon Cycling In Antarctic Glacier Surface Ecosystems, Elizabeth A. Bagshaw, Martyn Tranter, Jemma L. Wadham, Andrew G. Fountain, A. Dubnick, S. Fitzsimons

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Glacier surface ecosystems, including cryoconite holes and cryolakes, are significant contributors to regional carbon cycles. Incubation experiments to determine the net production (NEP) of organic matter in cryoconite typically have durations of 6-24 hours, and produce a wide range of results, many of which indicate that the system is net heterotrophic. We employ longer term incubations to examine the temporal variation of NEP in cryoconite from the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica to examine the effect of sediment disturbance on system production, and to understand processes controlling production over the lifetimes of glacier surface ecosystems. The shorter-term incubations have durations of …

Experimental Study Of The Flow Of Ferrofluid In A Porous Media Under A Magnetic Field, Muskaan Khurana

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This research presents results from a laboratory-scale experimental setup that was designed to visualize the behavior of ferrofluid percolation through a porous media. Ferrofluids are colloidal suspensions made of magnetic particles of a few nanometers and stabilized in carrier liquids like water or mineral oil. Ferrofluids get magnetized and align themselves in the direction of a magnetic field when a field gradient is applied.

With the help of this experiment we investigate the viability of controlling fluid flow in porous medium by a magnetic field in vicinity. The experiments show that ferrofluids can be used as a transporting media to …

In-Air Hearing Of A Diving Duck: A Comparison Of Psychoacoustic And Auditory Brainstem Response Thresholds, Sara E. Crowell, Alicia M. Wells-Berlin, Ronald E. Therrien, Sally E. Yannuzzi, Catherine E. Carr

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Auditory sensitivity was measured in a species of diving duck that is not often kept in captivity, the lesser scaup. Behavioral (psychoacoustics) and electrophysiological [the auditory brainstem response (ABR)] methods were used to measure in-air auditory sensitivity, and the resulting audiograms were compared. Both approaches yielded audiograms with similar U-shapes and regions of greatest sensitivity (2000-3000 Hz). However, ABR thresholds were higher than psychoacoustic thresholds at all frequencies. This difference was least at the highest frequency tested using both methods (5700 Hz) and greatest at 1000 Hz, where the ABR threshold was 26.8 dB higher than the behavioral measure of …

Urban Sprawl As A Risk Factor In Motor Vehicle Crashes, Reid Ewing, Shima Hamidi, James B. Grace

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

A decade ago, compactness/sprawl indices were developed for metropolitan areas and counties which have been widely used in health and other research. In this study, we first update the original county index to 2010, then develop a refined index that accounts for more relevant factors, and finally seek to test the relationship between sprawl and traffic crash rates using structural equation modelling. Controlling for covariates, we find that sprawl is associated with significantly higher direct and indirect effects on fatal crash rates. The direct effect is likely due to the higher traffic speeds in sprawling areas, and the indirect effect …

Polaris: A 30-Meter Probabilistic Soil Series Map Of The Contiguous United States, Nathaniel W. Chaney, Eric F. Wood, Alexander B. Mcbratney, Jonathan W. Hempel, Travis W. Nauman, Colby W. Brungard, Nathan P. Odgers

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

A newcomplete map of soil series probabilities has been produced for the contiguous United States at a 30mspatial resolution. This innovative database, named POLARIS, is constructed using available high-resolution geospatial environmental data and a state-of-the-art machine learning algorithm (DSMART-HPC) to remap the Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database. This 9 billion grid cell database is possible using available high performance computing resources. POLARIS provides a spatially continuous, internally consistent, quantitative prediction of soil series. It offers potential solutions to the primary weaknesses in SSURGO: 1) unmapped areas are gap-filled using survey data from the surrounding regions, 2) the artificial discontinuities at …

Paying The Pipers: Mitigating The Impact Of Anticoagulant Rodenticides On Predators And Scavengers, John E. Elliott, Barnett A. Rattner, Richard F. Shore, Nico W. Van Den Brink

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Anticoagulant rodenticides, mainly second-generation forms, or SGARs, dominate the global market for rodent control. Introduced in the 1970s to counter genetic resistance in rodent populations to first-generation compounds such as warfarin, SGARs are extremely toxic and highly effective killers. However, their tendency to persist and accumulate in the body has led to the widespread contamination of terrestrial predators and scavengers. Commercial chemicals that are classified by regulators as persistent, bio-accumulative, and toxic (PBT) chemicals and that are widely used with potential environmental release, such as dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) or polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), have been removed from commerce. However, despite consistently failing …

Chesapeake Bay Fish–Osprey (Pandion Haliaetus) Food Chain: Evaluation Of Contaminant Exposure And Genetic Damage, Rebecca S. Lazarus, Barnett A. Rattner, Peter C. Mcgowan, Robert C. Hale, Natalie K. Karouna-Renier, Richard A. Erickson, Mary Ann Ottinger

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

From 2011 to 2013, a large-scale ecotoxicological study was conducted in several Chesapeake Bay (USA) tributaries (Susquehanna River and flats, the Back, Baltimore Harbor/Patapsco Rivers, Anacostia/ middle Potomac, Elizabeth and James Rivers) and Poplar Island as a mid-Bay reference site. Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) diet and the transfer of contaminants from fish to osprey eggs were evaluated. The most bioaccumulative compounds (biomagnification factor>5) included p,p’-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), total polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), total polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and bromodiphenyl ether (BDE) congeners 47, 99, 100, and 154. This analysis suggested that alternative brominated flame retardants and other compounds (methoxytriclosan) are not appreciably …

Immunoglobulin Detection Inwild Birds: Effectiveness Of Three Secondary Anti-Avian Igy Antibodies In Direct Elisas In 41 Avian Species, Carol A. Fassbinder-Orth, Travis E. Wilcoxen, Tiffany Tran, Raoul K. Boughton, Jeanne M. Fair, Erik K. Hofmeister, Jennifer L. Grindstaff, Jen C. Owen

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

1.Immunological reagents for wild, non-model species are limited or often non-existent for many species.

2. In this study, we compare the reactivity of a newanti-passerine IgY secondary antibody with existing secondary antibodies developed for use with birds. Samples from 41 species from the following six avian orders were analysed: Anseriformes (1 family, 1 species), Columbiformes (1 family, 2 species), Galliformes (1 family, 1 species), Passeriformes (16 families, 34 species), Piciformes (1 family, 2 species) and Suliformes (1 family, 1 species). Direct ELISAs were performed to detect total IgY using goat anti-passerine IgY, goat anti-chicken IgY or goat anti-bird IgY secondary …

Elevation Dynamics In A Restored Versus A Submerging Salt Marsh In Long Island Sound, Shimon C. Anisfeld, Troy D. Hill, Daonald R. Cahoon

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Accelerated sea-level rise (SLR) poses the threat of salt marsh submergence, especially in marshes that are relatively low-lying. At the same time, restoration efforts are producing new low-lying marshes, many of which are thriving and avoiding submergence. To understand the causes of these different fates, we studied two Long Island Sound marshes: one that is experiencing submergence and mudflat expansion, and one that is undergoing successful restoration. We examined sedimentation using a variety of methods, each of which captures different time periods and different aspects of marsh elevation change: surface-elevation tables, marker horizons, sediment cores, and sediment traps. We also …

Endangered Species Research In The Caribbean, James W. Wiley

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Although indigenous Amerindian populations adversely affected the biota of their island environments, it was not until the arrival of Europeans that populations of many plant and animal species in the Caribbean Islands declined dramatically (Snyder and others, 1987). Island species are particularly vulnerable to changes in the environment, which, in the extreme, can lead to their extinction. The small populations of many species that occupy islands have limited gene pools and typically show extremes of specialization, characteristics that place those species at high risk for decline and extinction with rapid environmental change. The most important factor in the decline of …

The Bird Banding Laboratory: Support For And Collaboration With Research At Patuxent, John Tautin

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Located at Patuxent Research Refuge (PRR) and functionally part of the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (Patuxent), Laurel, MD, the Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL) is the service and administrative center for bird banding in the United States. Over the years, the BBL has been associated with both the PRR and Patuxent, which collectively are commonly referred to by the public (and in this chapter) as “Patuxent.” The BBL issues permits and bands; supplies banding software, instructional materials, and technical advice; coordinates the use of auxiliary markers such as neck collars and radio transmitters; serves as the repository for banding records and …

Endangered Species Research In Hawaii: The Early Years (1965–87), Michael J. Scott, Cameron B. Kepler

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Hawaii is an ecologically isolated archipelago 2,500 miles from the nearest continent. Its isolation resulted in a taxonomically unbalanced flora and fauna with remarkable examples of adaptive radiation among those groups of organisms that won the dispersal sweepstakes. It was one of the last oceanic island groups to be populated by humans, about 900 A.D. by Polynesian travelers and in 1778 by Europeans. Relatively recent colonization by humans did not save it, however, from the biodiversity losses suffered by other isolated archipelagos—it only delayed them (Scott and others, 1988; Pratt and others, 2009a).

Modeling The Effects Of Tile Drain Placement On The Hydrologic Function Of Farmed Prairie Wetlands1, Brett Werner, John Tracy, W. Carter Johnson, Richard A. Voldseth, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Bruce Millett

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The early 2000s saw large increases in agricultural tile drainage in the eastern Dakotas of North America. Agricultural practices that drain wetlands directly are sometimes limited by wetland protection pro- grams. Little is known about the impacts of tile drainage beyond the delineated boundaries of wetlands in upland catchments that may be in agricultural production. A series of experiments were conducted using the well-published model WETLANDSCAPE that revealed the potential for wetlands to have significantly shortened surface water inundation periods and lower mean depths when tile is placed in certain locations beyond the wet- land boundary. Under the soil conditions …

Heavy-Oil And Bitumen Resources Of The Big Clifty Sandstone, Northeastern Grayson County And Adjacent Hardin County, Kentucky, J. Richard Bowersox

Report of Investigations--KGS

Rock asphalt (bitumen-saturated sandstone) was produced from the Big Clifty Sandstone near Tar Hill and Big Clifty in northeastern Grayson County, and at Summit in adjacent Hardin County, from 1889 to 1940. Noncommercial amounts of oil were distilled from Big Clifty rock asphalt before 1930. Resource assessments conducted throughout the area during the mid-1920's described substantial rock-asphalt deposits. Later assessments in 1951, 1965, and the early 1980's, however, overlooked the northeastern Grayson County area. A new evaluation in 2015 estimated that the historically developed area between Clifty Creek and meeting Creek, and between the Summit Fault and Eveleigh Fault Zone, …

Coal Geology: The Origin Of Coal, John J. Renton, Thomas Repine

Readings and Notes

Coal forms from the tissues of plants with the major contributor being the woody tissues, cellulose and lignin, from trees growing in fresh-water wetlands. Land plants first evolved during the early Devonian and by the end of the period had adapted to most terrestrial environments. Beginning in early Pennsylvanian time, vast portions of the eastern portion of Laurentia were covered with coal-forming swamps and bogs, environments that were to be repeated throughout the remainder of the Paleozoic Era and again in the Jurassic, Cretaceous and Tertiary Periods. It was during these times that the combination of climatic conditions and wetland …

Adiabatic Cooling And Warming, John J. Renton, Thomas Repine

Readings and Notes

In order to understand how deserts form one needs to understand two processes called adiabatic cooling and warming.

Juvenile Survival And Adult Return As A Function Of Freshwater Rearing Life History For Coho Salmon In The Klamath River Basin, Molly Gorman

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The Scott and Shasta rivers, Klamath River tributaries, experience spatial disparity in habitat quality in spring and summer as a result of historical and current land-use. Juvenile Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) born in the upper tributary reaches often rear in natal streams before migrating to sea. However, those born in the lower reaches often encounter unsuitable habitat and emigrate during their first spring to seek non-natal rearing habitats. It is assumed that these early outmigrants are population losses. This study evaluated first-summer survival, and contribution to the adult population, of non-natal rearing juveniles in the Klamath River Basin. …

Heavy-Oil And Bitumen Resources Of The Western Kentucky Tar Sands, J. Richard Bowersox

Report of Investigations--KGS

Heavy-oil and bitumen resources in western Kentucky are present in the Upper Mississippian Big Clifty and Hardinsburg Sandstones and Lower Pennsylvanian Kyrock and Bee Spring Sandstone Members of the Caseyville Formation in a belt extending from Logan County on the south to Breckinridge and Hardin Counties on the north.

Net oil-saturated intervals in the tar sands range from 2.5 to 4.7 m thick, largely in downthrown fault blocks in and bounding the Rough Creek Graben. Records from 1,500 wells, analysis of reservoir properties from 3,769 plugs from 135 coreholes, and bulk volume of hydrocarbon calculated in 139 surface samples were …

A Small-Scale Water Budget Approach And Water Quality Assessment: A Case Study For Calderas Lake, Guatemala, Edrick Ramos

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Increases in water demand and urban development in Calderas community over the past decade have led to questions about the hydrology, water quality, quantity and sustainable management of Calderas Lake micro-basin. However, studies on baseline hydrology are limited for rural communities located inside volcanic origin watersheds of Guatemala. The scope of this study was to characterize the hydrology and establish a method to: 1) quantify a water budget, and 2) qualify the water quality of a lacustrine system that supply water for about 17,000 inhabitants on the state limits or rural Guatemala City. Mean annual rainfall and temperature at the …

Gross And Microscopic Lesions In Corals From Micronesia, T. M. Work, G. S. Aeby, K. A. Hughen

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The authors documented gross and microscopic morphology of lesions in corals on 7 islands spanning western, southern, and eastern Micronesia, sampling 76 colonies comprising 30 species of corals among 18 genera, with Acropora, Porites, and Montipora dominating. Tissue loss comprised the majority of gross lesions sampled (41%), followed by discoloration (30%) and growth anomaly (29%). Of 31 cases of tissue loss, most lesions were subacute (48%), followed by acute and chronic (26% each). Of 23 samples with discoloration, most were dark discoloration (40%), with bleaching and other discoloration each constituting 30%. Of 22 growth anomalies, umbonate growth anomalies composed …

Bioaccessibility Tests Accurately Estimate Bioavailability Of Lead To Quail, W. Nelson Beyer, Nicholas T. Basta, Rufus L. Chaney, Paula F.P. Henry, David E. Mosby, Barnett A. Rattner, Kirk G. Scheckel, Daniel T. Sprague, John S. Weber

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Hazards of soil-borne lead (Pb) to wild birds may be more accurately quantified if the bioavailability of that Pb is known. To better understand the bioavailability of Pb to birds, the authors measured blood Pb concentrations in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) fed diets containing Pb-contaminated soils. Relative bioavailabilities were expressed by comparison with blood Pb concentrations in quail fed a Pb acetate reference diet. Diets containing soil from 5 Pb-contaminated Superfund sites had relative bioavailabilities from 33% to 63%, with a mean of approximately 50%. Treatment of 2 of the soils with phosphorus (P) significantly reduced the bioavailability …

A Personal Perspective On Searching For The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker: A 41-Year Quest, Paul W. Sykes Jr.

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

I first learned about the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (Patuxent) in Laurel, MD, while attending high school in the mid-1950s. Patuxent wildlife biologists Brooke Meanley, Chandler (Chan) S. Robbins, and Robert (Bob) E. Stewart, Sr., visited me at my parents’ home in Norfolk, VA. I was the compiler of the Norfolk County Christmas Bird Count (which included the eastern portion of the Virginia sector of the Dismal Swamp). As part of that count, we had for several years been estimating populations of red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) and common grackles (Quiscalus quiscula) in the millions. Patuxent was …

Patuxent’S Role In The Development Of The North American Breeding Bird Survey, John R. Sauer

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) is a roadside survey of the breeding birds of North America. The BBS provides data from the contiguous United States, Alaska, southern and central Canada, and northern Mexico. Begun in 1966 by Chandler (Chan) S. Robbins at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (Patuxent), and now jointly managed by Patuxent, the Canadian Wildlife Service, and the Mexican Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity, the survey is conducted primarily in June along more than 5,000 roadside survey routes that are surveyed once each year. Volunteer observers drive the 39.4-kilometer …

Patuxent’S Long-Term Research On Wolves, David L. Mech

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The gray wolf (Canis lupus) was one of the first species placed on the Endangered Species List in 1967. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 legally protected the wolf along with other listed species. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (Patuxent) in Laurel, MD, began its Endangered Wildlife Program in 1966, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) biologist Ray Erickson was assigned to lead it. In 1973, I was transferred to the program from Region 3 of the USFWS, having been employed there since 1969 to study wolves in Minnesota. Endangered Species Act protection of the wolf fostered its …

A Spatio-Temporal Comparison Of Avian Migration Phenology Using Citizen Science Data, Ali Arab, Jason R. Courter, Jessica Zelt

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The effects of climate change have wide-ranging impacts on wildlife species and recent studies indicate that birds’ spring arrival dates are advancing in response to changes in global climates. In this paper, we propose a spatio-temporal approach for comparing avian first arrival data for multiple species. As an example, we analyze spring arrival data for two long-distance migrants (Rubythroated Hummingbird Archilochus colubris; and Purple Martin Progne subis) in eastern North America from 2001–2010 using Citizen Science data. The proposed approach provides researchers with a tool to compare mean arrival dates while accounting for spatial and temporal variability. Our results show …

Phosphorus Retention In A Lowland Neotropical Stream Following An Eight-Year Enrichment Experiment, Gaston E. Small, Marcelo Ardón, John H. Duff, Alan P. Jackman, Alonso Ramírez, Frank J. Triska, Catherine M. Pringle

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Human alteration of the global P cycle has led to widespread P loading in freshwater ecosystems. Much research has been devoted to the capacity of wetlands and lakes to serve as long-term sinks for P inputs from the watershed, but we know much less about the potential of headwater streams to serve in this role. We assessed storage and retention of P in biotic and abiotic compartments after an 8-y experimental P addition to a 1st-order stream in a Neotropical wet forest. Sediment P extractions indicated that nearly all P storage was in the form of Fe- and Al-bound P …

Integration Of Deterministic And Stochastic Models In A 1,4-Dioxane Contaminated Glacial Aquifer System, Washtenaw County, Michigan, Lena Kristin Pappas

Wayne State University Theses

Hybrid models incorporating stochastic variability within a deterministic hydrostratigraphic framework provide an effective way to assess uncertainty in flow and transport model predictions. This study evaluated the distribution of groundwater flow and contaminant transport pathways in two ensembles of spatially variable hydraulic conductivity (K) distributions. The models comprised a 360 ft-thick sequence of Pleistocene glacial sediments in in an approximately 8 mi2 area across Washtenaw County, Michigan. Conditioned K fields were generated using Sequential Gaussian Simulation (SGS) and Sequential Indicator Simulation (SIS) constructed using indicator classes based on natural gamma ray logs from 77 monitoring wells. K fields were modeled …

Mobility Of Escherichia Coli Within Karst Terrains, Kentucky, Usa, Ashley M. Bandy

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

Bacterial contamination of karst aquifers is a concern as water quality across the globe deteriorates in the face of decreasing water security. This study examined the transport and attenuation of two non-virulent isolates of Escherichia coli in relation to traditional groundwater tracers such as rhodamine WT dye and latex microspheres in two karst regions in Kentucky. Differential movement between the four tracers was observed in both epikarst and karst aquifer traces, with differences in behavior dependent on flow conditions. Attenuation was greater for the bacterial isolate containing the iha gene, compared to the isolate containing the kps gene. Microspheres of …