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Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 2.9 billion barrels of conventional oil and 108.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the Upper Jurassic Bossier Formation in onshore lands and State waters of the U.S. Gulf Coast region.
Expanded coal production and conversion in the Yampa River basin , Colorado and Wyoming, may have substantial impacts on water resources, environmental amenities, and socioeconomic conditions. Preliminary results of a 3-year basin assessment by the U.S. Geological Survey are given for evaluation of surface- and ground-water resources using available data, modeling analysis of waste-load capacity of a Yampa River reach affected by municipal wastewater-treatment plant effluents, and semiquantitative descriptions of ambient air- and water-quality conditions. Aspects discussed are possible constraints on proposed development due to basin compacts and laws regulating water resources, possible changes in environmental-control regulations, and policies on energy-resource leasing and land use that will influence regional economic development. (Woodard-USGS)
Marine birds in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico have long been poorly studied. Given statutory obligations to protect migratory birds and endangered species, three broad-scale vessel and aerial programs initiated since 2010 have now surveyed the entire northern Gulf. Vessel coverage alone exceeds 700 d and 74,000 km of observer effort using 300-m strip transects. We supplemented these survey data with earlier, smaller-scale studies, eBird checklists, literature reviews, and other less accessible sources to create snapshot summaries of relative abundance, seasonal occurrence, and regional distribution for 117 taxa of marine and water birds reported from the northern Gulf (113 of which were substantiated with physical evidence). Using taxonomic and functional criteria, we identified 56 taxa characteristic of open shelf, slope, and pelagic waters (federal jurisdiction), 41 taxa with primarily coastal affinities (state and federal jurisdiction), and 20 taxa of sea and diving ducks. High species richness of marine birds in the northern Gulf is attributed to (1) a temperate-to-tropical gradient facilitating diverse marine environments year-round; (2) varied geographic origins of marine bird species using the Gulf; and (3) a mostly enclosed sea basin acting as a vagrant trap for wide-ranging species. Our taxonomic list and status updates seek to bridge information gaps for marine birds now subject to accelerated commercial uses of this region's continental shelf, including newly proposed offshore wind energy development. Other applications include guiding risk and vulnerability assessments of Gulf marine birds, providing core content for seabird observer training, and prioritizing environmental impact reviews and monitoring programs in offshore energy construction and operations plans.
Beach erosion is a chronic problem along many open-ocean shores of the United States. As coastal populations continue to grow and community infrastructures are threatened by erosion, there is increased demand for accurate information regarding past and present trends and rates of shoreline movement. There is also a need for a comprehensive analysis of shoreline movement that is consistent from one coastal region to another. To meet these national needs, the U.S. Geological Survey is conducting an analysis of historical shoreline changes along open-ocean sandy shores of the conterminous United States and parts of Hawaii and Alaska. One purpose of this work is to develop standard repeatable methods for mapping and analyzing shoreline movement so that periodic updates regarding coastal erosion and land loss can be made nationally that are systematic and internally consistent. In the case of this study, the shoreline being measured is the boundary between the ocean water surface and the sandy beach. This report on the California Coast represents the first of two reports on long-term sandy shoreline change for the western U.S., the second of which will include the coast of the Pacific NW, including Oregon and Washington. A report for the Gulf of Mexico shoreline was completed in 2004 and is available at: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2004/1043/. This report summarizes the methods of analysis, interprets the results, provides explanations regarding long-term and short-term trends and rates of change, and describes how different coastal communities are responding to coastal erosion. Shoreline change evaluations are based on comparing three historical shorelines digitized from maps, with a recent shoreline derived from lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) topographic surveys. The historical shorelines generally represent the following periods: 1800s, 1920s-1930s, and 1950s-1970s, whereas the lidar shoreline is from 1998-2002. Long-term rates of change are calculated using all four shorelines (1800s to lidar shoreline), whereas short-term rates of change are calculated for only the most recent period (1950s-1970s to lidar shoreline). The rates of change presented in this report represent past conditions and therefore are not intended for predicting future shoreline positions or rates of change. Due to the geomorphology of the California Coast (rocky coastline instead of beach) as well as to data gaps in some areas, this report presents beach erosion rates for 45% of California's 1100 km of coast. The average rate of long-term shoreline change for the State of California was 0.2?0.1 m/yr, an accretional trend. This is based on shoreline change rates averaged from 14,562 individual transects, of which 40% were eroding. Of the transects on which the shoreline was eroding, the long-term erosion rates were generally lowest in Southern California where coastal engineering projects have greatly altered the natural shoreline movement. On a regional scale, long-term accretion rates were either equal to (Central California) or greater than (Northern and Southern California) the long-term erosion rates, yielding the net accretional trend for the entire state. This accretional trend is most likely due to changes in the large volumes of sediment that are added to the system from large rivers and to the impact from coastal engineering and beach nourishment projects. The average rate of short-term shoreline change for the state was erosional. The net short-term rate as averaged along 16,142 transects was -0.2?0.4 m/yr. Of the transects used to measure short-term change, 66% had erosional trends. In addition erosion rates were higher in the short-term period, possibly related to the localized artificial nourishment that occurred over much of the 20th century but that has recently slowed or stopped (Flick, 1993; Wiegel, 1994). Short-term accretion rates were highest in Northern California where the overall magnitudes of shoreline change are systematically higher than in Central and Southern California. The most stable (low erosion and accretion rates) California beaches were most commonly found in Central California. Seawalls and/or riprap revetments have been constructed in all three sections of California, although many of these structures were built to protect houses and infrastructures from the erosion of coastal cliffs and bluffs rather than to protect against long-term beach erosion. California permits shoreline stabilization structures where homes, buildings or other community infrastructure are imminently threatened by erosion. A second California report that is following this publication will include analyses and reports on long-term coastal cliff erosion, as this hazard is of equal or greater concern to coastal communities in many areas along the California Coast.
Monitoring the status and trends in the availability of the Nation's ground-water supplies is important to scientists, planners, water managers, and the general public. This is especially true in the semiarid to arid southwestern United States where rapid population growth and limited surface-water resources have led to increased use of ground-water supplies and water-level declines of several hundred feet in many aquifers. Individual well observations may only represent aquifer conditions in a limited area, and wells may be screened over single or multiple aquifers, further complicating single-well interpretations. Additionally, changes in ground-water conditions may involve time scales ranging from days to many decades, depending on the timing of recharge, soil and aquifer properties, and depth to the water table. The lack of an easily identifiable ground-water property indicative of current conditions, combined with differing time scales of water-level changes, makes the presentation of ground-water conditions a difficult task, particularly on a regional basis. One approach is to spatially present several indicators of ground-water conditions that address different time scales and attributes of the aquifer systems. This report describes several methods and indicators for presenting differing aspects of ground-water conditions using water-level observations in existing data-sets. The indicators of ground-water conditions developed in this study include areas experiencing water-level decline and water-level rise, recent trends in ground-water levels, and current depth to ground water. The computer programs written to create these indicators of ground-water conditions and display them in an interactive geographic information systems (GIS) format are explained and results illustrated through analyses of ground-water conditions for selected alluvial basins in the Lower Colorado River Basin in Arizona.
Biodiversity and its associated genetic diversity are being lost at an unprecedented rate. Simultaneously, the distributions of flora, fauna, fungi, microbes and pathogens are rapidly changing. Novel technology can help to capture and record genetic diversity before it is lost and to measure population shifts and pathogen distributions. Here we report the rapid application of shotgun long-read environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis for non-invasive biodiversity, genetic diversity and pathogen assessments from air. We also compared air eDNA with water and soil eDNA. Coupling long-read sequencing with established cloud-based biodiversity pipelines enabled a 2-day turnaround from airborne sample collection to completed analysis by a single investigator. To determine the full utility of airborne eDNA, we also conducted a local bioinformatic analysis and deep short-read shotgun sequencing. From outdoor air eDNA alone, comprehensive genetic analysis was performed, including population genetics (phylogenetic placement) of a charismatic mammal (bobcat, Lynx rufus ) and a venomous spider (golden silk orb weaver, Trichonephila clavipes ), and haplotyping humans ( Homo sapiens ) from natural complex community settings, such as subtropical forests and temperate locations. The rich datasets also enabled deeper analysis of specific species and genomic regions of interest, including viral variant calling, human variant analysis and antimicrobial resistance gene surveillance from airborne DNA. Our results highlight the speed, versatility and specificity of pan-biodiversity monitoring via non-invasive eDNA sampling using current benchtop/portable and cloud-based approaches. Furthermore, they reveal the future feasibility of scaling down (equipment and temporally) these approaches for near real-time analysis. Together these approaches can enable rapid simultaneous detection of all life and its genetic diversity from air, water and sediment samples for unbiased non-targeted information-rich genomics-empowered (1) biodiversity monitoring, (2) population genetics, (3) pathogen and disease-vector genomic surveillance, (4) allergen and narcotic surveillance, (5) antimicrobial resistance surveillance and (6) bioprospecting.
Tetrachloroethylene (PCE), a volatile organic compound, was detected in groundwater from deep (more than (>) 300 feet (ft) below land surface) fractures in monitoring wells tapping a crystalline-rock aquifer beneath operable unit 1 (OU1) of the Savage Municipal Well Superfund site (Weston, Inc., 2010). Operable units define remedial areas of contaminant concern. PCE contamination within the fractured-rock aquifer has been designated as a separate operable unit, operable unit 3 (OU3; Weston, Inc., 2010). PCE contamination was previously detected in the overlying glacial sand and gravel deposits and basal till, hereafter termed the Milford-Souhegan glacial-drift (MSGD) aquifer (Harte, 2004, 2006). Operable units 1 and 2 encompass areas within the MSGD aquifer, whereas the extent of the underlying OU3 has yet to be defined. The primary original source of contamination has been identified as a former manufacturing facility—the OK Tool manufacturing facility; hence OU1 sometimes has been referred to as the OK Tool Source Area (New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, undated). A residential neighborhood of 30 to 40 houses is located in close proximity (one-quarter of a mile) from the PCE-contaminated monitoring wells. Each house has its own water-supply well installed in similar rocks as those of the monitoring wells, as indicated by the New Hampshire State geologic map (Lyons and others, 1997). An investigation was initiated in 2010 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) region 1, and the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) to assess the potential for PCE transport from known contaminant locations (monitoring wells) to the residential wells. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the NHDES entered into a cooperative agreement in 2011 to assist in the evaluation of PCE transport in the fractured-rock aquifer. Periodic sampling over the last decade by the USEPA and NHDES has yet to detect PCE in groundwater from the residential-supply wells (as of 2012). However, part of assessing the potential for PCE transport involves understanding the origin of the groundwater in the monitoring and residential wells. One of the tools in delineating the movement of groundwater to wells, particularly in complex, highly heterogeneous fractured-rock aquifers, is the understanding of the geochemical and isotopic composition of groundwater (Lipfert and Reeve, 2004; Harte and others, 2012). This report summarizes findings from analyses of geochemical, isotopic, and dissolved gas characteristics of groundwater. Samples of groundwater were collected in 2011 from monitoring wells and nearby residential-supply wells in proximity to OU1.
Factors related to contamination of ground water by dissolved nitrite plus nitrate as nitrogen (NO 2 +NO 3 -N) in parts of the upper Snake River Basin were evaluated at regional and local scales. Regional-scale relations between NO 2 +NO 3 -N concentrations and depth to first-encountered ground water, land use, precipitation, and soils were evaluated using a geographic information system. Local-scale relations between NO 2 +NO 3 -N concentrations and other nutrients, major ions, nitrogen isotopes, stable isotopes, and tritium in five areas with different hydrogeologic settings, land use, and sources of irrigation water were evaluated to determine the factors causing differences in NO 2 +NO 3 -N. Data were collected and analyzed as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment Program, which began in 1991.
The overarching goal of the Gulf of Mexico Marine Assessment Project for Protected Species: sea turtles (GOMMAPPS) study was to collect broad-scale information on the distribution and abundance of sea turtles in the Gulf to inform seasonally- and spatially-explicit density estimates for priority species. GOMMAPPS represents a multi-agency partnership between BOEM, USFWS, NOAA, and USGS, all of whom collect information on large marine vertebrates to provide improved spatially-explicit density distributions for multiple management objectives. Though GOMMAPPS is intended to provide broad-scale information, specific locations identified for satellite tagging targeted regions of highest oil and gas activity (i.e., in the Central and Western Gulf of Mexico).
The African continent contains approximately 5 percent of the world's proven recoverable reserves of coal (World Energy Council, 2007). Energy consumption in Africa is projected to grow at an annual rate of 2.3 percent from 2004 through 2030, while average consumption in first-world nations is expected to rise at 1.4 percent annually (Energy Information Administration, 2007). Coal reserves will undoubtedly continue to be part of Africa's energy portfolio as it grows in the future. A review of academic and industrial literature indicates that 27 nations in Africa contain coal-bearing rock. South Africa accounts for 96 percent of Africa's total proven recoverable coal reserves, ranking it sixth in the world. This report is a digital compilation of information on Africa's coal-bearing geology found in the literature and is intended to be used in small scale spatial investigations in a Geographic Information System (GIS) and as a visual aid for the discussion of Africa's coal resources. Many maps of African coal resources often include points for mine locations or regional scale polygons with generalized borders depicting basin edges. Point locations are detailed but provide no information regarding extent, and generalized polygons do not have sufficient detail. In this dataset, the polygons are representative of the actual coal-bearing lithology both in location and regional extent. Existing U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) digital geology datasets provide the majority of the base geologic polygons. Polygons for the coal-bearing localities were clipped from the base geology that represented the age and extent of the coal deposit as indicated in the literature. Where the 1:5,000,000-scale geology base layer's ages conflicted with those in the publications, polygons were generated directly from the regional African coal maps (1:500,000 scale, approximately) in the published material. In these cases, coal-bearing polygons were clipped to the literature's indicated coal extent, without regard to the underlying geology base or topographic constraints. Indication of the presence of African coal is based on multiple sources. However, the quality of the sources varies and there is often disagreement in the literature. This dataset includes the rank, age, and location of coal in Africa as well as the detailed source information responsible for each coal-bearing polygon. The dataset is not appropriate for use in resource assessments of any kind. Attributes necessary for tasks, such as number of coal seams, thickness of seams, and depth to coal are rarely provided in the literature and accordingly not represented in this data set. Small-scale investigations, representations and display uses are most appropriate for this product. This product is the first to show coal distribution as bounded by actual geologic contacts for the entire African continent. In addition to the spatial component of this dataset, complete references to source material are provided for each polygon, making this product a useful first step resource in African coal research. Greater detail regarding the creation of this dataset as well as the sources used is provided in the metadata file for the Africa_coal.shp file.
We report chemical data for selected shallow wells and coastal springs that were sampled in 2014 to determine whether geothermal power production in the Puna area over the past two decades has affected the characteristics of regional groundwater. The samples were analyzed for major and minor chemical species, trace metals of environmental concern, stable isotopes of water, and two organic compounds (pentane and isopropanol) that are injected into the deep geothermal reservoir at the power plant. Isopropanol was not detected in any of the groundwaters; confirmed detection of pentane was restricted to one monitoring well near the power plant at a low concentration not indicative of source. Thus, neither organic compound linked geothermal operations to groundwater contamination, though chemical stability and transport velocity questions exist for both tracers. Based on our chemical analysis of geothermal fluid at the power plant and on many similar results from commercially analyzed samples, we could not show that geothermal constituents in the groundwaters we sampled came from the commercially developed reservoir. Our data are consistent with a long-held view that heat moves by conduction from the geothermal reservoir into shallow groundwaters through a zone of low permeability rock that blocks passage of geothermal water. The data do not rule out all impacts of geothermal production on groundwater. Removal of heat during production, for example, may be responsible for minor changes that have occurred in some groundwater over time, such as the decline in temperature of one monitoring well near the power plant. Such indirect impacts are much harder to assess, but point out the need for an ongoing groundwater monitoring program that should include the coastal springs down-gradient from the power plant.
The Coastwide Reference Monitoring System (CRMS) program was established to assess the effectiveness of individual coastal restoration projects and the cumulative effects of multiple projects at regional and coastwide scales. In order to make these assessments, analytical teams have been assembled for each of the primary data types sampled under the CRMS program, including vegetation, hydrology, landscape, and soils. These teams consist of scientists and support staff from the U.S. Geological Survey and other Federal agencies, the Louisiana Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration, and university academics. Each team is responsible for developing or identifying parameters, indices, or tools that can be used to assess coastal wetlands at various scales. The CRMS Vegetation Analytical Team has developed a Floristic Quality Index for coastal Louisiana to determine the quality of a wetland based on its plant species composition and abundance.
The California State Water Resources Control Board’s (SWRCB) GAMA Program is a comprehensive assessment of statewide groundwater quality in California. From 2004 to 2012, the GAMA Program’s Priority Basin Project focused on assessing groundwater resources used for public drinking-water supplies. More than 2,000 public-supply wells were sampled by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for this effort. Starting in 2012, the GAMA Priority Basin Project began an assessment of water resources in shallow aquifers in California. These shallow aquifers provide water for domestic and small community-supply wells, which are often drilled to shallower depths in the groundwater system than public-supply wells. Shallow aquifers are of interest because shallow groundwater may respond more quickly and be more susceptible to contamination from human activities at the land surface, than the deeper aquifers. The SWRCB’s GAMA Program was developed in response to the Groundwater Quality Monitoring Act of 2001 (Water Code sections 10780-10782.3): a public mandate to assess and monitor the quality of groundwater resources used for drinking-water supplies, and to increase the availability of information about groundwater quality to the public. The U.S. Geological Survey is the technical lead of the Priority Basin Project. Stewardship of California’s groundwater resources is a responsibility shared between well owners, communities, and the State. Participants and collaborators in the GAMA Program include Regional Water Quality Control Boards, Department of Water Resources, Department of Public Health, local and regional groundwater management entities, county and local water agencies, community groups, and private citizens. Well-owner participation in the GAMA Program is entirely voluntary.
Research and development projects at EROS apply unique resources to support the USGS mission of developing understanding, monitoring, and modeling of climate variability and change and their human, physical, and biological impacts. Remote sensing resources, both new and archived, form the core of our ability to determine changes in the state or condition of the Earth’s surface and its dynamic landscape and ecosystem processes. This rich resource provides powerful biophysical information for local to global areas. Archival data form the basis for assessing human and climate impacts on the land surface, trends of land use, and an understanding of climate and management impacts. Biophysical information from satellite data is assimilated into quantitative models that allow all disciplines of the USGS to understand impacts on ecosystem processes. Major processes and problems we address include: carbon fluxes, hydrological processes, albedo changes and regional climates, mangroves and wetland protection of coastal environments, natural and manmade hazards (e.g., fire and drought), ecosystem change and succession, land use and land cover change, and more. The integration of remote sensing, modeling, and multidisciplinary approaches fosters international scientific leadership across all disciplines for the USGS.
The Everglades vulnerability analysis (EVA) is a project led by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the National Park Service and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to accomplish one of the science goals of Restoration Coordination & Verification (RECOVER), a multiagency group responsible for providing scientific and technical evaluations and assessments for improving the ability of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan to restore, preserve, and protect the south Florida ecosystem while providing for the region’s other water-related needs. In 2016, RECOVER acknowledged the need for a tool that could synthesize the decades of Everglades ecosystem science and identify areas vulnerable to changing conditions on the landscape. The EVA tool answers this need through a landscape-scale modeling framework that provides annual responses and relative vulnerability for a suite of indicators of Everglades ecosystem health.
Natural and anthropogenic factors influence water-quality conditions in the Yellowstone River Basin. Physiography parallels the structural geologic setting that is generally composed of several uplifts and structural basins. Contrasts in climate and vegetation reflect topographic controls and the midcontinental location of the study unit. Surface-water hydrology reflects water surpluses in mountainous areas that are dominated by snowmelt runoff, and arid to semiarid conditions in the plains that are dissected by typically irrigated valleys in the remainder of the study unit. Principal shallow aquifers are Tertiary sandstones and unconsolidated Quaternary deposits. Human population, though sparsely distributed in general, is growing most rapidly in a few urban centers and resort areas, mostly in the northwestern part of the basin. Land use is areally dominated by grazing in the basins and plains and economically dominated by mineral-extraction activities. Forests are the dominant land cover in mountainous areas. Cropland is a major land use in principal stream valleys. Water use is dominated by irrigated agriculture overall, but mining and public-supply facilities are major users of ground water. Coal and hydrocarbon production and reserves distinguish the Yellowstone River Basin as a principal energy-minerals resources region. Current metallic ore production or reserves are nationally significant for platinum-group elements and chromium. The study unit was subdivided as an initial environmental stratification for use in designing the National Water-Quality Assessment Program investigation that began in 1997. Ecoregions, geologic groups, mineral-resource areas, and general land-cover and land-use categories were used in combination to define 18 environmental settings in the Yellowstone River Basin. It is expected that these different settings will be reflected in differing water-quality or aquatic-ecological characteristics.
Mineral deposit models are important in exploration planning and quantitative resource assessments for two reasons: (1) grades and tonnages among deposit types are significantly different, and (2) many types occur in different geologic settings that can be identified from geologic maps. Mineral deposit models are the keystone in combining the diverse geoscience information on geology, mineral occurrences, geophysics, and geochemistry used in resource assessments and mineral exploration. Too few thoroughly explored mineral deposits are available in most local areas for reliable identification of the important geoscience variables or for robust estimation of undiscovered deposits-thus we need mineral-deposit models. Globally based deposit models allow recognition of important features because the global models demonstrate how common different features are. Well-designed and -constructed deposit models allow geologists to know from observed geologic environments the possible mineral deposit types that might exist, and allow economists to determine the possible economic viability of these resources in the region. Thus, mineral deposit models play the central role in transforming geoscience information to a form useful to policy makers. The foundation of mineral deposit models is information about known deposits-the purpose of this publication is to make this kind of information available in digital form for porphyry copper deposits. This report is an update of an earlier publication about porphyry copper deposits. In this report we have added 84 new porphyry copper deposits and removed 12 deposits. In addition, some errors have been corrected and a number of deposits have had some information, such as grades, tonnages, locations, or ages revised. This publication contains a computer file of information on porphyry copper deposits from around the world. It also presents new grade and tonnage models for porphyry copper deposits and for three subtypes of porphyry copper deposits and a map showing the location of all deposits. The value of this information and any derived analyses depends critically on the consistent manner of data gathering. For this reason, we first discuss the rules used in this compilation. Next, the fields of the data file are considered. Finally, we provide new grade and tonnage models.
The potential for damaging earthquakes, landslides, floods, tsunamis, and wildfires is widely recognized in California. The same cannot be said for volcanic eruptions, despite the fact that they occur in the state about as frequently as the largest earthquakes on the San Andreas Fault. At least ten eruptions have taken place in the past 1,000 years, and future volcanic eruptions are inevitable. The U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) national volcanic threat assessment identifies eight young volcanic areas in California as moderate, high, or very high threat. Of the eight volcanic areas that exist in California, molten rock resides beneath at least seven of these—Medicine Lake volcano, Mount Shasta, Lassen Volcanic Center, Clear Lake volcanic field, the Long Valley volcanic region, Coso volcanic field, and Salton Buttes—and are therefore considered “active” volcanoes producing volcanic earthquakes, toxic gas emissions, hot springs, geothermal systems, and (or) ground movement. The USGS California Volcano Observatory in Menlo Park, California, monitors these potentially hazardous volcanoes to help communities and government authorities understand, prepare for, and respond to volcanic activity. Although volcanic activity can sometimes be forecast, eruptions, like earthquakes or tsunamis, cannot be prevented. Understanding the hazards and identifying what and who is in harm’s way is the first step in mitigating volcanic risk and building community resilience to volcanic hazards. This report, which was prepared in collaboration with the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and the California Geological Survey, provides a broad perspective on the state’s exposure to volcanic hazards by integrating volcanic hazard information with geospatial data on at-risk populations, infrastructure, and resources. This information is intended to prompt site- and sector-specific vulnerability analyses and preparation of hazard mitigation and response plans.