Geology Commons^™

Mapping The Base Of The High Plains Aquifer Using Borehole Geophysical Logs And Airborne Electromagnetic Surveys In Western Nebraska, Steven S. Sibray, Douglas R. Hallum, Joseph Reedy, Jason Yuill, Thadeus Kuntz

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

The project scanned and reviewed data from 15,421 oil and gas well geophysical logs in 13 counties to delineate the base of aquifer and thickness of the High Plains Aquifer (HPA). The data and interpretations from this study can be used in a regional groundwater modeling effort that includes the Western Water Use Management Modeling (WWUMM) and the and the Cooperative Hydrology Study (COHYST) model. The area studied is in the Upper Platte River Basin. The Nebraska Department of Natural Resources (NeDNR) has designated most of the area as either overappropriated or fully appropriated, where groundwater is managed jointly

by …

Chronology Of Advance And Recession Dynamics Of The Southern Green Bay Lobe Of The Laurentide Ice Sheet, South-Central Wisconsin, Usa, Eric C. Carson, John W. Attig, J. Elmo Rawling Iii, Paul R. Hanson, Stefanie E. Dodge

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

We used a combination of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) age estimates, and stratigraphic data from cores collected along the southern margin of the Green Bay Lobe (GBL) of the Laurentide Ice Sheet to provide new information on the timing and dynamics of the end of advance of the GBL and the dynamics of the ice sheet while very near its maximum position. Coring at multiple sites along the margin of the GBL indicate that ice had reached a stable position near its maximum extent by 24.7 ka; that ice advanced several kilometers to the …

Hydrogeology And Geology Of The Lower North And South Platte Rivers Of Nebraska: Nebraska Geological Society Field Trip 2020, Douglas R. Hallum, Paul R. Hanson, Shane Tucker, Robert F. Diffendal Jr.

Robert F. Diffendal, Jr., Publications

The 2020 Nebraska Geological Society field trip will visit central Nebraska, and explore the geology and hydrogeology of the upper Platte, Lower South Platte and Lower North Platte rivers. The field trip area consists of a roughly east-west strip of land, approximately 100 kilometers long, and generally less than 10 kilometers north and south of the Platte, North Platte and South Platte rivers’ channels over most of the reach; from Brady, NE, upstream to Big Springs on the South Platte River and Lewellen on the North Platte River (Map 1). In addition to the river valleys, participants will observe alluvial …

David Quentin Bowen: A Memorial, John T. Andrews, David R. Bridgland, Peter U. Clark, Thomas M. Cronin, Claude Hillaire-Marcel, Darrel Maddy, Gifford H. Miller, Daniel R. Muhs, Colin V. Murray-Wallace

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The Quaternary community lost a giant and a leader on October 5, 2020, when David Quentin Bowen, known to many as “DQ” and founding editor of Quaternary Science Reviews, passed away in Cardiff. Born on February 14, 1938 in Llanelli, SouthWales, he received his PhD at University College London. David’s 50 years of contributions to our science cannot be adequately summarized in a brief memorial but past, present, and future generations of Quaternary scientists will long remember his landmark achievements in publishing, his scientific contributions, and his personal and professional class in all his endeavors.

Testing Glacial Isostatic Adjustment Models Of Last-Interglacial Sea Level History In The Bahamas And Bermuda, Daniel R. Muhs, Kathleen R. Simmons, R. Randall Schumann, Eugene S. Schweig, Mark P. Rowe

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Part of the spatial variation in the apparent sea-level record of the last interglacial (LIG) period is due to the diverse response of coastlines to glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) processes, particularly where coastlines were close to the Laurentide Ice Sheet during the past two glacial periods. We tested modeled LIG paleo-sea levels on New Providence Island (NPI), Bahamas and Bermuda by investigating emergent coral patch reefs and oolitic/peloidal beach deposits. Corals with closed-system histories collected from patch reefs on NPI have ages of 128-118 ka and ooids/peloids from beach ridges have closed-system ages of 128-116 ka. Elevations of patch reefs …

Uptake, Metabolism, And Elimination Of Fungicides From Coated Wheat Seeds In Japanese Quail (Coturnix Japonica), Michael S. Gross, Thomas G. Bean, Michelle L. Hladik, Barnett A. Rattner, Kathryn M. Kuivila

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Pesticides coated to the seed surface potentially pose an ecological risk to granivorous birds that consume incompletely buried or spilled seeds. To assess the toxicokinetics of seeds treated with current-use fungicides, Japanese quail ( Coturnix japonica) were orally dosed with commercially coated wheat seeds. Quail were exposed to metalaxyl, tebuconazole, and fludioxonil at either a low dose (0.0655, 0.0308, and 0.0328 mg/kg of body weight, respectively) or a high dose (0.196, 0.0925, and 0.0985 mg/kg of body weight, respectively). Fungicides were rapidly absorbed and distributed to tissues. Tebuconazole was metabolized into tert-butylhydroxy-tebuconazole. All compounds were eliminated to below detection limits …

Adjusting The Lens Of Invasion Biology To Focus On The Impacts Of Climate-Driven Range Shifts, Piper D. Wallingford, Toni Lyn Morelli, Jenica M. Allen, Evelyn M. Beaury, Dana M. Blumenthal, Bethany A. Bradley, Jeffrey S. Dukes, Regan Early, Emily J. Fusco, Deborah E. Goldberg, Inés Ibáñez, Brittany B. Laginhas, Montserrat Vilà, Cascade J.B. Sorte

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

As Earth’s climate rapidly changes, species range shifts are considered key to species persistence. However, some range-shifting species will alter community structure and ecosystem processes. By adapting existing invasion risk assessment frameworks, we can identify characteristics shared with high-impact introductions and thus predict potential impacts. There are fundamen- tal differences between introduced and range-shifting species, primarily shared evolutionary histories between range shifters and their new community. Nevertheless, impacts can occur via analogous mechanisms, such as wide dispersal, community disturbance and low biotic resistance. As ranges shift in response to climate change, we have an opportunity to develop plans to facilitate …

Trends In Streamflow And Precipitation For Selected Sites In The Elkhorn River Basin And In Streamflow In The Salt Creek And Platte River Basins, Nebraska, 1961–2011, Benjamin J. Dietsch, Kellan R. Strauch

United States Geological Survey: Publications

To better understand the streamflow trends at the streamgages in the Elkhorn River Basin in Nebraska, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Lower Elkhorn Natural Resources District further investigated streamflow trends at the eight streamgages on the Elkhorn River, Salt Creek, and the Lower Platte River that indicated a positive trend in streamflow characteristics and analyzed precipitation trends in the four basins upstream from the Elkhorn River Basin streamgages. An analysis of four streamgages in the Elkhorn River Basin, one streamgage in Salt Creek Basin, and three streamgages in the Lower Platte River Basin that had previously …

Modeling Escherichia Coli In The Missouri River Near Omaha, Nebraska, 2012–16, Brenda K. Densmore, Brent M. Hall, Matthew T. Moser

United States Geological Survey: Publications

The city of Omaha, Nebraska, has a combined sewer system in some areas of the city. In Omaha, Nebr., a moderate amount of rainfall will lead to the combination of stormwater and untreated sewage or wastewater being discharged directly into the Missouri River and Papillion Creek and is called a combined sewer overflow (CSO) event. In 2009, the city of Omaha began the implementation of their Long Term Control Plan (LTCP) to mitigate the effects of CSOs on the Missouri River and Papillion Creek. As part of the LTCP, the city partnered with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 2012 …

Annotated Bibliography Of Scientific Research On Greater Sage-Grouse Published From 2015 To 2019, Sarah K. Carter, Robert S. Arkle, Heidi L. Bencin, Benjamin R. Harms, Daniel J. Manier, Aaron N. Johnston, Susan L. Phillips, Steven E. Hanser, Zachary H. Bowen

United States Geological Survey: Publications

The greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter GRSG) has been a focus of scientific investigation and management action for the past two decades. The 2015 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listing determination of “not warranted” was in part due to a large-scale collaborative effort to develop strategies to conserve GRSG populations and their habitat and to reduce threats to both. New scientific information augments existing knowledge and can help inform updates or modifications to existing plans for managing GRSG and sagebrush ecosystems. However, the sheer number of scientific publications can be a challenge for managers tasked with evaluating and …

Groundwater Availability Of The Northern High Plains Aquifer In Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, And Wyoming, Steven M. Peterson, Jonathan P. Traylor, Moussa Guira

United States Geological Survey: Publications

The Northern High Plains aquifer underlies about 93,000 square miles of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming and is the largest subregion of the nationally important High Plains aquifer. Irrigation, primarily using groundwater, has supported agricultural production since before 1940, resulting in nearly $50 billion in sales in 2012. In 2010, the High Plains aquifer had the largest groundwater withdrawals of any major aquifer system in the United States.Nearly one-half of those withdrawals were from the Northern High Plains aquifer, which has little hydrologic interaction with parts of the aquifer farther south. Land-surface elevation ranges from more than 7,400 …

Uptake, Metabolism, And Elimination Of Fungicides From Coated Wheat Seeds In Japanese Quail (Coturnix Japonica), Michael S. Gross, Thomas G. Bean, Michelle L. Hladik, Barnett A. Rattner, Kathryn M. Kuivila

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Pesticides coated to the seed surface potentially pose an ecological risk to granivorous birds that consume incompletely buried or spilled seeds. To assess the toxicokinetics of seeds treated with current-use fungicides, Japanese quail ( Coturnix japonica) were orally dosed with commercially coated wheat seeds. Quail were exposed to metalaxyl, tebuconazole, and fludioxonil at either a low dose (0.0655, 0.0308, and 0.0328 mg/kg of body weight, respectively) or a high dose (0.196, 0.0925, and 0.0985 mg/kg of body weight, respectively). Fungicides were rapidly absorbed and distributed to tissues. Tebuconazole was metabolized into tert-butylhydroxy-tebuconazole. All compounds were eliminated to below detection limits …

Altitude Of The Potentiometric Surface In The Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer, Spring 2018, Virginia L. Mcguire, Ronald C. Seanor, William H. Asquith, Anna M. Nottmeier, David C. Smith, Roland W. Tollett, Wade H. Kress, Kellan R. Strauch

United States Geological Survey: Publications

The Mississippi River Valley alluvial (MRVA) aquifer is an important surficial aquifer in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain (MAP) area. The aquifer is generally considered to be an unconfined aquifer (fig. 1; Clark and others, 2011), and withdrawals are primarily used for irrigation (Maupin and Barber, 2005). These groundwater withdrawals have resulted in substantial areas of water-level decline in parts of the aquifer. Concerns about water-level declines and the sustainability of the MRVA aquifer have prompted the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), as part of the USGS Water Availability and Use Science Program and with assistance from other Federal, State, and local …

Water Quality Of Groundwater Used For Public Supply In Principal Aquifers Of The Western United States, Celia C. Rosencrans, Marylynn Musgrove

United States Geological Survey: Publications

Groundwater provides nearly half of the Nation’s drinking water. As the Nation’s population grows, the importance of (and need for) high-quality drinking-water supplies increases. As part of a national-scale effort to assess groundwater quality in principal aquifers (PAs) that supply most of the groundwater used for public supply, the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project staff sampled six principal aquifers in the western United States between 2013 and 2017: (1) the Basin and Range carbonate-rock aquifers, (2) Basin and Range basin-fill aquifers, (3) Rio Grande aquifer system, (4) High Plains aquifer, (5) Colorado Plateaus aquifers, and (6) Columbia …

Estimated Groundwater Withdrawals From Principal Aquifers In The United States, 2015, John K. Lovelace, Martha G. Nielsen, Amy L. Read, Chid J. Murphy, Molly A. Maupin

United States Geological Survey: Publications

In 2015, about 84,600 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of groundwater were withdrawn in the United States for various uses including public supply, self-supplied domestic, industrial, mining, thermoelectric power, aquaculture, livestock, and irrigation. Of this total, about 94 percent (79,200 Mgal/d) was withdrawn from principal aquifers, which are defined as regionally extensive aquifers or aquifer systems that have the potential to be used as sources of water of suitable quality and quantity to meet various needs. The remaining 6 percent (5,400 Mgal/d) was withdrawn from other, nonprincipal aquifers in the United States. Sixty-six principal aquifers belonging to 5 major lithologic …

Estimating Abiotic Thresholds For Sagebrush Condition Class In The Western United States, Stephen Boyte, Bruce K. Wylie, Yingxin Gu, Donald J. Major

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Sagebrush ecosystems of the western United States can transition from extended periods of relatively stable conditions to rapid ecological change if acute disturbances occur. Areas dominated by native sagebrush can transition from species-rich native systems to altered states where non-native annual grasses dominate, if resistance to annual grasses is low. The non-native annual grasses provide relatively little value to wildlife, livestock, and humans and function as fuel that increases fire frequency. The more land area covered by annual grasses, the higher the potential for fire, thus reducing the potential for native vegetation to reestablish, even when applying restoration treatments. Mapping …

Correlating The Plant Height Of Wheat With Above-Ground Biomass And Crop Yield Using Drone Imagery And Crop Surface Model, A Case Study From Nepal, U. S. Panday, Nawaraj Shrestha, S. Maharjan, A. K. Pratihast, Shahnawaz, K. L. Shrestha, J. Aryal

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

2019 Nebraska Water Leaders Academy Final Report, M.E. Burbach, R.M. Joeckel, G.S. Matkin

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Interpretive Geologic Maps And Cross Sections For Phelps, Kearney, And Adams Counties In Nebraska, Dana Divine, Leslie M. Howard

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

Data from thousands of test-hole and well logs were interpreted to improve understanding and management of the High Plains aquifer in a three-county study area adjacent to the Big Bend reach of the Platte River. Five principal conclusions resulted from these interpretations: (1) the extent of Neogene Ogallala deposits beneath the study area is different than previously mapped; (2) a large paleovalley incised into Cretaceous bedrock probably cuts across Kearney and Adams counties and may be the course of the ancestral Platte River prior to formation of the Big Bend; (3) a groundwater mound created by irrigation canals artificially raises …

Acoustic Space Occupancy: Combining Ecoacoustics And Lidar To Model Biodiversity Variation And Detection Bias Across Heterogeneous Landscapes, Danielle I. Rappaport, J. Andrew Royle, Douglas C. Morton

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

There is global interest in quantifying changing biodiversity in human-modified landscapes. Ecoacoustics may offer a promising pathway for supporting multi-taxa monitoring, but its scalability has been hampered by the sonic complexity of biodiverse ecosystems and the imperfect detectability of animal-generated sounds. The acoustic signature of a habitat, or soundscape, contains information about multiple taxa and may circumvent species identification, but robust statistical technology for characterizing community-level attributes is lacking. Here, we present the Acoustic Space Occupancy Model, a flexible hierarchical framework designed to account for detection artifacts from acoustic surveys in order to model biologically relevant variation in acoustic space …

Human-Associated Species Dominate Passerine Communities Across The United States, Helen R. Sofaer, Curtis H. Flather, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Kristin P. Davis, Liba Pejchar

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Aim: Human development and agriculture can have transformative and homogenizing effects on natural systems, shifting the composition of ecological communities towards non-native and native species that tolerate or thrive under human-dominated conditions. These impacts cannot be fully captured by summarizing species presence, as they include dramatic changes to patterns of species abundance. However, how human land use patterns and species invasions intersect to shape patterns of abundance and dominance within ecological communities is poorly understood even in well-known taxa.

Location: Conterminous United States.

Time period: 2010–2012.

Major taxa studied: Passeriformes.

Methods: We analyse continental-scale monitoring data to study the proportional …

Ecosystem Processes, Land Cover, Climate, And Human Settlement Shape Dynamic Distributions For Golden Eagle Across The Western Us, J.D. Tack, Barry R. Noon, Zachary Bowen, Brad C. Fedy

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Species–environment relationships for highly mobile species outside of the breeding season are often highly dynamic in response to the collective effects of everchanging climatic conditions, food resources, and anthropogenic disturbance. Capturing dynamic space-use patterns in a model-based framework is critical as model inference often drives place-based conservation planning. We applied dynamic occupancy models to broad-scale golden eagle Aquila chrysaetos survey data collected annually from 2006 to 2012 during the late summer post-fledging period in the western US. We defined survey sites as 10 km transect segments with a 1 km buffer on either transect side (n = 3540). Derived estimates …

Human-Associated Species Dominate Passerine Communities Across The United States, Helen R. Sofaer, Curtis H. Flather, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Kristin P. Davis

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Aim: Human development and agriculture can have transformative and homogenizing effects on natural systems, shifting the composition of ecological communities towards non-native and native species that tolerate or thrive under human-dominated conditions. These impacts cannot be fully captured by summarizing species presence, as they include dramatic changes to patterns of species abundance. However, how human land use patterns and species invasions intersect to shape patterns of abundance and dominance within ecological communities is poorly understood even in well-known taxa.

Location: Conterminous United States.

Time period: 2010–2012.

Major taxa studied: Passeriformes.

Methods: We analyse continental-scale monitoring data to study the proportional …

Acoustic Space Occupancy: Combining Ecoacoustics And Lidar To Model Biodiversity Variation And Detection Bias Across Heterogeneous Landscapes, Danielle I. Rappaport, J. Andrew Royle, Douglas C. Morton

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

There is global interest in quantifying changing biodiversity in human-modified landscapes. Ecoacoustics may offer a promising pathway for supporting multi-taxa monitoring, but its scalability has been hampered by the sonic complexity of biodiverse ecosystems and the imperfect detectability of animal-generated sounds. The acoustic signature of a habitat, or soundscape, contains information about multiple taxa and may circumvent species identification, but robust statistical technology for characterizing community-level attributes is lacking. Here, we present the Acoustic Space Occupancy Model, a flexible hierarchical framework designed to account for detection artifacts from acoustic surveys in order to model biologically relevant variation in acoustic space …

Characterization Of Pallid Sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus Albus) Spawning Habitat In The Lower Missouri River, Caroline M. Elliott, Aaron J. Delonay, Kimberly Chojnacki, Robert B. Jacobson

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Acipenseriformes (sturgeons and paddlefish) globally have declined throughout their range due to river fragmentation, habitat loss, overfishing, and degradation of water quality. In North America, pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) populations have experienced poor to no recruitment, or substantial levels of hybridization with the closely related shovelnose sturgeon (S. platorynchus). The Lower Missouri River is the only portion of the species’ range where successful reproduction and recruitment of genetically pure pallid sturgeon have been documented. This paper documents spawning habitat and behavior on the Lower Missouri River, which comprises over 1,300 km of unfragmented river habitat. The …

Late Quaternary Sea-Level History Of Saipan, Commonwealth Of The Northern Mariana Islands, Usa: A Test Of Tectonic Uplift And Glacial Isostatic Adjustment Models, Daniel R. Muhs, Eugene S. Schweig, Kathleen R. Simmons

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

In 1979, S. Uyeda and H. Kanamori proposed a tectonic model with two end members of a subduction-boundary continuum: the “Chilean” type (shallow dip of the subducting plate, great thrust events, compression, and uplift of the overriding plate) and a “Mariana” type (steep dip of the subducting plate, no great thrust events, tension, and no uplift). This concept has been used to explain variable rates of Quaternary uplift around the Pacific Rim, yet no uplift rates have been determined for the Mariana Islands themselves, one of the end members in this model. We studied the late Quaternary Tanapag Limestone, which …

Resolving Time-Space Histories Of Late Cenozoic Bedrock Incision Along The Upper Colorado River, Usa, Andres Aslan, Karl E. Karlstrom, Eric Kirby, Matthew T. Heizler, Darryl E. Granger, James K. Feathers, Paul R. Hanson, Shannon A. Mahan

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The upper Colorado River basin drains the western slope of the Rocky Mountains province of North America and hosts a rich record of fluvial terraces and volcanic deposits that provide an archive of bedrock river incision since the Late Miocene. Here we present new geochronology from fluvial deposits and associated volcanic units using multiple methods (luminescence, cosmogenic-burial, 40Ar/39Ar basalt and detrital sanidine, and U/Pb detrital zircon) to reconstruct a detailed record of bedrock incision in the upper Colorado River over timescales ranging from Miocene to Late Pleistocene. Late Miocene (ca. 11–8 Ma) basalt flows perched 800–1700 m above the Colorado …

Improving Aquifer Characterization Through Integration Of Airborne Electromagnetics (Aem) And Well Hydrographs, Jacqueline Polashek

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The objective of this study is to evaluate methods of hydrostratigraphic modeling using geophysics and well hydrographs at the eastern edge of the High Plains aquifer (HPA) in Platte and Colfax counties within Nebraska, USA. The HPA is very heterogeneous in the study area, being hosted by architecturally complex glacial sediments and having many irregular hydraulic boundaries. Further, the HPA exhibits local variations between unconfined and confined conditions. Pumping in such bounded aquifers can be unsustainable because of cost increases and lost agricultural productivity. Moreover, the large drawdowns typical of confined aquifers can contribute to well interference during heavy pumping. …

Evidence Of Limited Recruitment Of Pallid Sturgeon In The Lower Missouri River, Kirk D. Steffensen, Kimberly Chojnacki, Jeffrey A. Kalie, Meredith L. Bartron, Edward J. Heist, Kyle R. Winders, Nathan C. Loecker, Wyatt J. Doyle, Timothy L. Welker

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Pallid Sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus are endemic to the Missouri and Mississippi river basins and are rare throughout their range. The species was listed as federally endangered with little to no evidence of natural recruitment. Since population augmentation was initiated as a recovery objective in the early 1990s, thousands of hatchery-origin Pallid Sturgeon have been stocked in the lower Missouri River (Gavins Point Dam [river kilometer 1,305.1] to the confluence of the Mississippi River [river kilometer 0.0]). Efforts to discriminate natural reproduction and recruitment of wild-origin Pallid Sturgeon from hatchery-origin fish has been hampered by tag loss in hatchery-origin sturgeon, inconsistent …

Seismic Evidence For Significant Melt Beneath The Long Valley Caldera, California, Usa, Ashton F. Flinders, David R. Shelly, Philip B. Dawson, David P. Hill, Barbara Tripoli, Yang Shen

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

A little more than 760 ka ago, a supervolcano on the eastern edge of California (United States) underwent one of North America’s largest Quaternary explosive eruptions. Over this ~6-day-long eruption, pyroclastic flows blanketed the surrounding ~50 km with more than 1400 km3 of the now-iconic Bishop Tuff, with ashfall reaching as far east as Nebraska. Collapse of the volcano’s magma reservoir created the restless Long Valley Caldera. Although no rhyolitic eruptions have occurred in 100 k.y., beginning in 1978, ongoing uplift suggests new magma may have intruded into the reservoir. Alternatively, the reservoir could be approaching final crystallization, with present-day …