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At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
USGS2025

Coral reef restoration can reduce coastal contamination and pollution hazards

Coral reef restoration can reduce the wave-driven flooding for coastal communities. However, this protection has yet to be assessed in terms of the reduced risk of flood-driven environmental contamination. Here we provide the first high-resolution valuation of the reduction of flood-related land-based environmental pollution provided by potential coral reef restoration. Along Florida’s 460 km-long coral reef-fringed coastline, coral reef restoration could reduce the risk of sewage and petrochemical contamination by preventing the flooding of petroleum storage tank systems (-9%), onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems (-4%), and wastewater treatment plants (-10%). The present value of critical infrastructure protection and contamination prevention benefits provided by coral reef restoration is $3,413,503, with some areas exceeding $1,500,000/km. Annually, 48,403 U.S. gal of petrochemicals, 10,404 GPD of wastewater treatment capacity, equivalent to $281,435, could be protected from flooding, demonstrating that coral reef restoration can provide environmental risk reduction and previously undocumented additional socioeconomic benefits.

Florida↗
USGS2025

Groundwater dominates snowmelt runoff and controls streamflow efficiency in the western United States

Climate change in seasonally snow-covered mountain catchments is reducing water supply and decreasing streamflow predictability. Here, we use tritium age dating to show that contrary to the common assumption that snowmelt quickly contributes to runoff, streamflow during snowmelt in western US catchments is dominated by older groundwater. The average age of streamwater during snowmelt runoff (5.7 ± 4.3 years) was intermediate to the average age of groundwater (10.4 ± 4.5 years) and recent precipitation, indicating that 58% (±34%) of snowmelt runoff was derived from groundwater. Water ages, streamflow, and groundwater storage were mediated by bedrock geology: low-permeability hard rock/shale catchments exhibited younger ages, less storage, and more efficient streamflow generation than high-permeability sandstone/clastic catchments. Our results demonstrate that snowmelt runoff is the result of multiple prior years of climate mediated by groundwater storage. Including these interactions will be crucial for predicting water resources as climate and landscape changes accelerate.

western united States↗
USGS2025

Waterline responses to climate forcing along the North American West Coast

Understanding waterline variability at seasonal to interannual timescales is crucial for predicting coastal responses to climate forcing. However, relationships between large-scale climate variability and coastal morphodynamics remain underexplored beyond intensively monitored sites. This study leverages a newly developed 25-year (1997–2022) satellite-derived waterline dataset along the North American West Coast. Our results reveal distinct latitudinal patterns in seasonal waterline change, with excursions exceeding 25 m in the Pacific Northwest, decreasing to less than 10 m in Southern California and farther south. Waterline fluctuations strongly follow wave power in the Pacific Northwest ( R = −0.78), northern California ( R = −0.75), and Baja California ( R = −0.62), while Baja California Sur aligns more with sea-level variations ( R = −0.42). Interannually, waterline change exhibits latitudinal dependence: south of southern California, variability is low, with major erosion confined to strong El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, while northern regions show mixed responses. ENSO-driven storm track shifts modulate winter wave climate, resulting in enhanced (attenuated) erosion from southern California to Baja California Sur during El Niño (La Niña). However, further north, ENSO impacts are less consistent, reflecting a complex interplay of storm track displacement and intensification. These findings highlight the spatial complexity of ENSO-driven morphodynamics and provide a framework for assessing climate-induced coastal vulnerability.

North American West Coast↗
USGS2025

Understanding the evolution of scoria cone morphology using multivariate models

Scoria cones are the most abundant type of volcano in the Solar System. They occur in every tectonic setting and often overlap with human populations, yet our ability to provide complete geochronology within volcanic fields remains limited. Appropriate geochronology underpins the reconstruction of size-frequency distribution and is a key input for robust volcanic hazard assessment. Morphometric data have long been used to estimate relative ages of scoria cones; however, they have only shown promise at single volcanic fields and simple cones with homogenous pyroclastics. Here, we present a new global inventory of dated scoria cones ( n = 572) from 71 volcanic fields formed under diverse magmatic, tectonic and climatic regimes, and build data-driven age models for dating scoria cones using easily accessible morphometric, reflectance and climatic variables. Our models suggest chemical composition of ascending magma may influence the initial scoria cone morphology which is then gradually modified by erosion over time.

Communications Earth & Environment↗
USGS2025

Benchmarking shoreline prediction models over multi-decadal timescales

Robust predictions of shoreline change are critical for sustainable coastal management. Despite advancements in shoreline models, objective benchmarking remains limited. Here we present results from ShoreShop2.0, an international collaborative benchmarking workshop, where 34 groups submitted shoreline change predictions in a blind competition. Subsets of shoreline observations at an undisclosed site (BeachX) over short (5-year) and medium (50-year) periods were withheld from modelers and used for model benchmarking. Using satellite-derived shoreline datasets for calibration and evaluation, the best performing models achieved prediction accuracies on the order of 10 m, comparable to the accuracy of the satellite shoreline data, indicating that certain beaches can be modelled nearly as well as they can be remotely observed. The outcomes from this collaborative benchmarking competition critically review the present state-of-the-art in shoreline change prediction as well as reveal model limitations, facilitate improvements, and offer insights for advancing shoreline-prediction capabilities.

New South Wales↗
USGS2025

Metaproteomics and metagenomics reveal microbial pathways of organic matter degradation and methanogenesis in a marginally producing natural gas well

The expansion of natural gas production and utilization worldwide has led to the decline of many once-productive wells, eventually resulting in costly well-plugging and unused infrastructure. However, in areas like the Michigan basin, MI, where the majority of natural gas is biogenically produced, microbial communities could potentially be stimulated to generate additional methane, increasing gas supply and reducing the need to drill new wells. In this study, we performed metaproteomic, metagenomic, and geochemical analyses of Antrim Shale formation water from a marginally producing natural gas well to evaluate resident microbial community functions in the context of potential bioenergy production. Functional proteins involved in methanogenesis, degradation/catabolism (including organic matter degradation), biosynthesis, energy utilization, transmembrane transport, and stress response were among the most commonly identified groups. Three metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) were characterized, including Methanomicrobiaceae, Methanothrix , and Smithella . For each, the identified proteins involved in methanogenesis and the degradation of diverse organic compounds, strongly suggest their role in utilizing shale-derived organic matter. These findings provide an increased understanding of the microorganisms and their metabolisms generating natural gas in the Antrim Shale and establish a foundation for future stimulation efforts aimed at enhancing biogenic methane production in marginal gas wells.

Michigan↗
USGS2025

Memory and jamming in fault zone sediments

Many subsurface processes involve transitions in granular material states, from arrested to creeping to flowing. Experiments and frameworks for idealized systems reveal that granular fabrics develop during shearing, co-evolve with applied stress, and govern such transitions. We use microtomography to test whether fabrics at two San Andreas fault sites reflect slip history and whether idealized frameworks extend to nature. Near-surface sediments within the fault zone transition between deformation patterns over the seismic cycle, including bulk/localized grain re-arrangements, individual grain fracturing, and localized zones of fracturing. Aseismic and co-seismic shearing produce distinct preferred grain orientations. Co-seismic fabrics can be preserved after centuries of aseismic strain, aseismic fabrics may be overprinted, and grain size and coordination number influence the fabrics. Idealized frameworks, namely anisotropic critical state theory, frictional jamming, and material memory, can explain our observations, and fault zone sediments likely undergo cycles of memory creation and erasure that influence rigidity spatiotemporally.

California↗
USGS2026

Climate change has increased crop water consumption in Central Asia despite less water-intensive cropping

Climate change and land use change are crucial determinants of crop water consumption, particularly in drylands where water scarcity limits crop production. In Central Asia, the effects of land use and climate changes on crop water consumption remain unknown. We estimated the dynamics of crop water consumption by mapping annual actual evapotranspiration from Landsat imagery from 1987 to 2019 for all irrigated croplands in the Amu Darya Basin, the largest transboundary river in Central Asia. Total crop water consumption increased by 10%, while average consumption per unit area increased by 18%. Climate change was the main driver of the rising crop water consumption; land use changes towards less water-intensive cropping practices offset only 3% of this increase. Our findings underscore that crop production will become increasingly challenging amidst accelerating climatic changes and that changing cropping practices alone will be insufficient to curb the growing water scarcity without a global commitment to reducing emissions.

Amu Darya basin↗
USGS2026

Permafrost thaw controls iron flux from wetlands and sulfide-bearing rocks to Arctic rivers and streams

Recent warming has caused widespread iron mobilization into Arctic waterbodies that degrades ecosystems and threatens natural resources. Yet, understanding where and when iron flux occurs remains limited. Here, we investigate iron loading across regional to local scales in Arctic Alaska using climate, water chemistry, and borehole data together with mapped geology and permafrost presence. We show that both anoxic microbial iron reduction and acid rock drainage from iron-sulfide oxidation mobilize iron. Iron influx is strongly associated with lowland wetlands, sulfide-rich upland bedrock, and near-surface permafrost. Acid rock drainage chemistry correlates very strongly with the depth of seasonal thaw above permafrost from the previous year, indicating a one-year lag. These findings clarify the spatial and temporal dynamics of Arctic river rusting, provide a mechanistic understanding of the phenomenon, and may allow anticipation of its occurrence and assessment of its implications for aquatic ecosystem health and subsistence resources under ongoing climate change.

Alaska↗
USGS2026

Extreme droughts shrink suitable habitats and reduce fitness for large mammals in the American West

Droughts are intensifying across the biosphere, yet the consequences of this phenomenon for wildlife habitat suitability and fitness are poorly studied. We analyzed 12 years of GPS telemetry data for three large mammal species—herbivorous mule deer ( N = 2854), omnivorous black bears ( N = 103), and carnivorous cougars ( N = 105)—to evaluate the effects of drought on each species’ habitat selection across a 500,000-km 2 aridity gradient in the interior West, USA. Additionally, we evaluated interannual variation in mule deer reproduction as a function of drought intensity. Severe drought reduced the area of highly selected habitat by 10.0% for mule deer, 14.3% for black bears, and 18.2% for cougars, suggesting stronger negative effects of drought at upper trophic levels. We also found that mule deer fawn recruitment decreased by >34% under extreme drought conditions. Our findings highlight the critical influence of drought on habitat selection of large mammals and common indices of mule deer fitness. Furthermore, we underscore the need for integrating predictions of climate-driven environmental changes into wildlife conservation planning.

Communications Earth & Environment↗
USGS2026

Meso-scale pressure reactor demonstrates biostimulation of coal-dependent methanogenesis

Replicating deep subsurface conditions remains a major challenge for advancing subterranean biotechnologies. Microbially enhanced coal bed methane production offers a promising approach to increase biogenic gas recovery from coal seams, yet experimental progress has been limited by the difficulty of simulating in situ conditions. A key question is whether nutrient amendments stimulate coal-dependent methanogenesis or simply convert injected nutrients to methane. Here, we report the use of a large-scale (325 L) reactor to investigate 13 C-labeled microalgae amendments on microbially-enhanced coal bed methane production at in situ pressure. Labeled methane was detected only during the initial stimulation phase, while most of the methane produced over five months originated from the coal. These field-relevant results demonstrate that microalgae can accelerate early methanogenesis and enhance coal-derived methane production over time. This study provides a critical proof-of-concept with broad implications for advancing subsurface biotechnologies toward field-scale deployment.

Communications Earth & Environment↗
USGS2026

Future water constraints on United States lithium mining under climate change

Lithium is necessary for low-carbon technologies that combat climate change, but lithium extraction is water-intensive. Changes in temperature and precipitation arising from climate change are altering water distribution, which could further strain supplies for new mines and industry, farms, and households. Here we explored how climate change, water use, and mining siting could impact lithium mining in the United States. We analyzed whether there would be sufficient water available to support the single existing and 22 proposed U.S. lithium mines at mid-century under four socioeconomic-climate scenarios and five climate models. Though dependent on socioeconomic-climate scenario, climate model, and lithium deposit type, available water supply in most subbasins would likely be unable to support new mines’ water demands, or even non-mining water demands from other sectors. Water scarcity could hinder the ability of the United States to produce enough lithium to meet domestic demand thereby necessitating higher imports.

conterminous United States↗
USGS2026

Rapid cooling of magma-rich margins exemplified by the Eastern North American Margin

Thermal subsidence allows sediment accumulation in passive continental margins, modulating basin development, lithospheric dynamics and Earth-system processes. Classic thermal cooling models underestimate the lithospheric subsidence needed to explain thick early post-rift sedimentary sequences in magma-rich margins. Here we isolate the processes driving this anomalous subsidence at the Eastern North American Margin, a type-example for magma-rich margins. We construct an analytical model simultaneously accounting for non-uniform lithospheric extension, magmatic additions, and variable thermal diffusivity, which controls the rate at which heat spreads through rock. We then calibrate the model parameters against observed sediment and crustal thicknesses across the Baltimore Canyon Trough. Anomalous subsidence can be reconciled if early post-rift lithospheric heat transport is up to 60% faster than typically assumed, particularly at the distal margin edge. We propose that this increase represents hydrothermal fluid circulation enhancing lithospheric cooling during early post-rift periods, offering a new perspective on continental margin evolution.

Eastern North American Margin↗
USGS2026

Evaluation of seismological evidence for decadal changes in Earth’s lowermost mantle and outer core

Recent reports of decadal-scale structural changes in the lowermost mantle and transport of strong heterogeneity in the outer core may offer important insights into core-mantle structure and dynamics. These reports are derived from waveform comparisons of earthquake pairs or repeating earthquakes, particularly using differential travel-time measurements made with cross-correlation techniques. Here we show that the interpretation can contain several overlooked traps, particularly imperfect source repeatability and station-related issues. We systematically examine the earthquake-pair waveforms reported by two recent studies, and provide independent investigations on the source repeatability, along with its associated travel time shifts. We also examine the quality of related stations, using comparisons between co-located sensors. We demonstrate that the reported temporal changes in Earth’s deep interior can be largely explained by artifacts from imperfect source repeatability and station-related issues. Our findings caution that the outer core or lowermost mantle should not be considered as a likely source of detectable temporal variability unless alternative explanations have been exhaustively excluded.

Communications Earth & Environment↗
USGS2026

Frictional weakening in the highly mobile 2025 Blatten rock and ice avalanche in Switzerland

Cascading slope failures are increasing as glaciers retreat and slopes adjust to a warming climate, yet reconstructing their full dynamics from precursor to deposition remains challenging. Here we show that the 28 May 2025 Blatten rock-ice avalanche, which mobilized about 9.3 million cubic metres, can be reconstructed from seismic, geomorphological, and geotechnical evidence and numerical modeling. The observations reveal the timing, source, volume, and friction of over two weeks of accelerating rockfalls and minor glacier collapses before the main failure, followed by four stages of avalanche motion. Only with drastically reduced friction can both depth-averaged and three-dimensional models reproduce the center-of-mass force history and the deposit distribution. These friction values reflect effective frictional weakening. Geotechnical observations suggest that transient excess pore pressures possibly contributed to this weakening, but are insufficient to rule out additional mechanisms such as ice frictional reduction, segregation, and fragmentation. This work provides a reproducible and robust framework for analyzing catastrophic avalanches under a changing climate.

Birch Glacier↗
USGS2024

Modern coral range expansion off southeast Florida falls short of Late Holocene baseline

As thermal stress and disease outbreaks decimate coral reefs throughout the tropics, there is growing evidence that higher latitude marine environments may provide crucial refuges for many at-risk, temperature-sensitive coral species. However, our understanding of how coral populations expand into new areas and sustain themselves over time is constrained by the limited scope of modern observations. Here, we provide geological insights into coral range expansions by reconstructing the composition of a Late Holocene-aged subfossil coral death assemblage on the southeast Florida reef tract and comparing it to modern reefs throughout the region. Our findings show that the Late Holocene coral assemblages were dominated by now critically endangered Acropora species between ~3500 and 1800 years before present, mirroring classic zonation patterns characteristic of healthy pre-1970s Caribbean reefs. In contrast, the modern reefs off southeast Florida are becoming increasingly dominated by stress-tolerant species like Porites astreoides and Siderastrea siderea despite modest expansions of Acropora cervicornis over the past several decades. Our results suggest that ongoing anthropogenic stressors, not present during the Late Holocene, are likely limiting the ability of modern higher latitude reefs in Florida to function as long-term climate refugia.

Florida↗
USGS2021

Volatile metal emissions from volcanic degassing and lava–seawater interactions at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai’i

Volcanoes represent one of the largest natural sources of metals to the Earth’s surface. Emissions of these metals can have important impacts on the biosphere as pollutants or nutrients. Here we use ground- and drone-based direct measurements to compare the gas and particulate chemistry of the magmatic and lava–seawater interaction (laze) plumes from the 2018 eruption of Kīlauea, Hawai’i. We find that the magmatic plume contains abundant volatile metals and metalloids whereas the laze plume is further enriched in copper and seawater components, like chlorine, with volatile metals also elevated above seawater concentrations. Speciation modelling of magmatic gas mixtures highlights the importance of the S 2− ligand in highly volatile metal/metalloid degassing at the magmatic vent. In contrast, volatile metal enrichments in the laze plume can be explained by affinity for chloride complexation during late-stage degassing of distal lavas, which is potentially facilitated by the HCl gas formed as seawater boils.

Hawaii↗
USGS2023

Dense geophysical observations reveal a triggered, concurrent multi-fault rupture at the Mendocino Triple Junction

A central question of earthquake science is how far ruptures can jump from one fault to another, because cascading ruptures can increase the shaking of a seismic event. Earthquake science relies on earthquake catalogs and therefore how complex ruptures get documented and cataloged has important implications. Recent investments in geophysical instrumentation allow us to resolve increasingly complex, multi-fault ruptures for even moderate-sized earthquakes. We combine dense seismic and geodetic measurements to reveal an enigmatic rupture in late 2021 at the Mendocino Triple Junction in northern California. We show that rupture was dynamically triggered, yet concurrent, on two distinct faults roughly 30 km apart. Thus, this rupture combines features of complex ruptures usually considered to be single earthquakes, and triggered ruptures considered as multiple earthquakes. This event illustrates that moderate-sized earthquakes can exhibit similar complexity to that more commonly documented for large earthquakes.

California↗