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At least 1,675 records · Page 93Linked to original sources
USGS2003

CALFED: An experiment in science and decisionmaking

The CALFED Bay-Delta Program faces a challenging assignment: to develop a collaborative state-federal management plan for the complex river system and involve multiple stakeholders (primarily municipal, agricultural, and environmental entities) whose interests frequently are in direct conflict. Although many resource-management issues involve multiple stakeholders and conflict is integral to their discussion, the CALFED experience is unique because of its shared state and federal roles, the magnitude and significance of stakeholder participation, and the complexity of the scientific issues involved.

Environment↗
USGS2007

Geologic and anthropogenic factors influencing karst development in the Frederick region of Maryland

Karst features pervade the outcrop belts of Triassic, Ordovician, and Cambrian rocks in the Frederick Valley region of Maryland's western Piedmont. Detailed stratigraphic analysis and geologic and karst mapping demonstrate that individual stratigraphic units have differing susceptibilities of karst feature creation. Although the Triassic Leesburg Member of the Bull Run Formation and Rocky Springs Station Member of the Cambrian Frederick Formation have many surface depressions within their outcrop belts, the Lime Kiln Member of the Frederick Formation and the Ceresville, Fountain Rock, and Woodsboro members of the Ordovician Grove Formation have the greatest potential for development of catastrophic collapse sinkholes. Although these four members have the highest relative susceptibility, human activity can increase the potential for sinkhole activation in all units. Rerouting of surface drainage patterns, unlined drainage, and storm-water management areas and removal of significant overburden deposits significantly increase sinkhole development, but mainly, these units are inherently more susceptible to begin with. Copyright ?? 2007. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists/Division of Environmental Geosciences. All rights reserved.

Environmental Geosciences↗
USGS2014

Long-term citizen-collected data reveal geographical patterns and temporal trends in lake water clarity

We compiled a lake-water clarity database using publicly available, citizen volunteer observations made between 1938 and 2012 across eight states in the Upper Midwest, USA. Our objectives were to determine (1) whether temporal trends in lake-water clarity existed across this large geographic area and (2) whether trends were related to the lake-specific characteristics of latitude, lake size, or time period the lake was monitored. Our database consisted of >140,000 individual Secchi observations from 3,251 lakes that we summarized per lake-year, resulting in 21,020 summer averages. Using Bayesian hierarchical modeling, we found approximately a 1% per year increase in water clarity (quantified as Secchi depth) for the entire population of lakes. On an individual lake basis, 7% of lakes showed increased water clarity and 4% showed decreased clarity. Trend direction and strength were related to latitude and median sample date. Lakes in the southern part of our study-region had lower average annual summer water clarity, more negative long-term trends, and greater inter-annual variability in water clarity compared to northern lakes. Increasing trends were strongest for lakes with median sample dates earlier in the period of record (1938–2012). Our ability to identify specific mechanisms for these trends is currently hampered by the lack of a large, multi-thematic database of variables that drive water clarity (e.g., climate, land use/cover). Our results demonstrate, however, that citizen science can provide the critical monitoring data needed to address environmental questions at large spatial and long temporal scales. Collaborations among citizens, research scientists, and government agencies may be important for developing the data sources and analytical tools necessary to move toward an understanding of the factors influencing macro-scale patterns such as those shown here for lake water clarity.

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Miss↗
USGS2018

Clarifying regional hydrologic controls of the Marañón River, Peru through rapid assessment to inform system-wide basin planning approaches

We use remote sensing to enhance the interpretation of the first baseline dataset of hydrologic, isotopic and hydrochemical variables spanning 620 km of the upper Marañón River, in Andean Peru, from the steep alpine canyons to the lower lying jungle. Remote, data-scarce river systems are under increased hydropower development pressure to meet rising energy demands. The upstream-downstream river continuum, which serves as a conduit for resource exchange across ecosystems, is at risk, potentially endangering the people, environments, and economies that rely on river resources. The Marañón River, one of the final free-flowing headwater connections between the Andes and the Amazon, is the subject of myriad large-scale hydropower proposals. Due to challenging access, environmental data are scarce in the upper Marañón, limiting our ability to do system-wide river basin planning. We capture key processes and transitions in the context of hydropower development. Two hydrologic regimes control the Marañón dry-season flow: in the higher-elevation upper reaches, a substantial baseflow is fed by groundwater recharged from wet season rains, in contrast to the lower reaches where the mainstem discharge is controlled by rain-fed tributaries that receive rain from lowland Amazon moisture systems. Sustainability of the upper corridor’s dry-season baseflow appears to be more highly connected to the massive natural storage capacity of extensive wetlands in the puna (alpine grasslands) than with cryospheric water inputs. The extent and conservation of puna ecosystems and glacier reservoirs may be interdependent, bringing to bear important conservation questions in the context of changing climate and land use in the region. More generally, this case study demonstrates an efficient combined remote sensing and field observation approach to address data scarcity across regional scales in mountain basins facing imminent rapid change.

Marañón River↗
USGS1999

Refinement, validation, and application of a benthic condition index for northern Gulf of Mexico estuaries

By applying discriminant analysis to benthic macroinvertebrate data, we have developed an indicator of benthic condition for northern Gulf of Mexico estuaries. The data used were collected by the United states Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) in the Louisianian Province from 1991 to 1994. This benthic index represents a linear combination of the following weighted parameters: the proportion of expected species diversity, the mean abundance of tubificid oligochaetes, the percent of total abundance represented by capitellid polychaetes, the percent of total abundance represented by bivalve mollusks, and the percent of total abundance represented by amphipods. We successfully validated and retrospectively applied the benthic index to all of the benthic data collected by EMAP in the Louisianian Province. This benthic index was also calculated for independent data collected from Pensacola Bay, Florida, in order to demonstrate its flexibility and applicability to different estuarine systems within the same biogeographic region. The benthic index is a useful and valid indicator of estuarine condition that is intended to provide environmental managers with a simple tool for assessing the health of benthic macroinvertebrate communities.

Gulf of Mexico↗
USGS2002

Spatial data available on the web at http://mrdata.usgs.gov/

Earth science information is important to decisionmakers who formulate public policy related to mineral resource sustainability, land stewardship, environmental hazards, the economy, and public health. To meet the growing demand for easily accessible data, the Mineral Resources Program has developed, in cooperation with other Federal and State agencies, an Internet-based, data-delivery system that allows interested customers worldwide to download accurate, up-to-date mineral resource-related data at any time. All data in the system are spatially located and customers with Internet access and a modern Web browser can easily produce maps having user-defined overlays for any region of interest.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2010

Using land-cover data to understand effects of agricultural and urban development on regional water quality

The Land-Cover Trends project is a collaborative effort between the Geographic Analysis and Monitoring Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to understand the rates, trends, causes, and consequences of contemporary land-use and land-cover change in the United States. The data produced from this research can lead to an enriched understanding of the drivers of future landuse change, effects on environmental systems, and any associated feedbacks. USGS scientists are using the EPA Level III ecoregions as the geographic framework to process geospatial data collected between 1973 and 2000 to characterize ecosystem responses to land-use changes. General land-cover classes for these periods were interpreted from Landsat Multispectral Scanner, Thematic Mapper, and Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus imagery to categorize and evaluate land-cover change using a modified Anderson Land-Use/Land-Cover Classification System for image interpretation.

General Information Product↗
USGS1975

Land-use classification of the greater Denver area, Front Range Urban Corridor, Colorado

The Greater Denver area, in the Front Range Urban Corridor of Colorado, is an area of rapid population growth and expanding land development. At present no overall land-use policy exists for this area, although man individuals and groups are concerned about environmental, economic, and social stresses caused by population pressures. A well-structured land-use policy for the entire Front Range Urban Corridor, in which compatible land uses are taken into account, could lead to overall improvements in land values. A land classification map is the first step toward implementing such a policy.

Colorado↗
USGS1976

Geology and hydrology of radioactive solid-waste burial grounds at the Hanford Reservation, Washington

The geology and hydrology of radioactive solid waste burial grounds at the Hanford Reservation were investigated, using existing data, by the U.S. Geological Survey as part of the waste management plan of the Richland Operations Office of the Energy Research and Development Administration. The purpose of the investigation was to assist the operations office in characterizing the burial sites as to present environmental safety and as to their suitability for long-term storage (several thousand to tens of thousands of years) of radioactive sol id wastes. The burial ground sites fall into two classifications: (1) those on the low stream terraces adjacent to the Columbia River, mainly in the 100 Areas and 300 Area, and (2) those lying on the high terraces south of Gable Mountain in the 200 Areas. Evaluation of the suitability of the burial grounds for long-term storage was made almost entirely on hydrologic, geologic, and topographic criteria. Of greatest concern was the possibility that radionuclides might be leached from the buried wastes by infiltrating water and carried downward to the water table. The climate is semi-arid and the average annual precipitation is 6.4 inches at the Hanford Meteorological Station. However, the precipitation is seasonally distributed with about 50 percent occurring during the months of November, December, January, and February when evapotranspiration is negligible and conditions for infiltration are most favorable. None of the burial grounds are instrumented with monitoring devices that could be used to determine if radionuclides derived from them are reaching the water table. Burial grounds on the low stream terraces are mainly underlain by permeable materials and the water table lies at relatively shallow depths. Radionuclides conceivably could be leached from these burial grounds by percolating soil water, and radionuclides might reach the Columbia River in a relatively short time. These sites could also be inundated by erosion during a catastrophic flood. For these reasons, they are judged to be unsuited for long-term storage. Local conditions at several of these burial grounds are particularly unfavorable from the standpoint of safety. Depressions and swales at some burial grounds, such as numbers 4 and 5 in the 300 Area in which runoff can collect, enhance the possibility of water infiltrating through the buried wastes and transporting radionuclides to the water table. Also, during a high stage of the Columbia River, the water table conceivably could rise into burial grounds l and 2 of the 100 F Area. Most of the burial grounds on the low terraces contain either (1) reactor components and related equipment bearing activation products, principally cobalt-60, or (2) less hazardous radioactive materials such as uranium. The inventory of activation products in these burial grounds will decay to a safe level in a relatively short period of time (about 100 years), according to estimates made by C. D. Corbit, Douglas United Nuclear, Inc., 1969. The inventory of radionuclides is not considered by the ERDA staff to be complete, however. At these burial grounds containing activation products or less hazardous materials, investigations should be made of the radioactivity in soil and ground water beneath selected representative sites to verify that radionuclides are not migrating from the burial grounds. If migration is detected, field investigations should be made to determine the source or sources of the radionuclides and the desirability of removing the source wastes. Other burial grounds on the low terraces contain plutonium and fission products, which require long-term storage. Both the 300 WYE and the 300 North burial grounds are reported to contain plutonium in large quantities. Burial ground no. l in the 300 Area reportedly also contains plutonium. The inventory records of any other burial grounds on the low terraces suspected of containing plutonium should be reviewed to determine if pl

Open-File Report↗
USGS1991

Depth to water in the western Snake River Plain and surrounding tributary valleys, southwestern Idaho and eastern Oregon, calculated using water levels from 1980 to 1988

The vulnerability of ground water to contamination in Idaho is being assessed by the ISHW/DEQ (Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Division of Environmental Quality), using a modified version of the Environmental Protection Agency DRASTIC methods (Allers and others, 1985). The project was designed as a technique to: (1) Assign priorities for development of ground-water management and monitoring programs; (2) build support for, and public awareness of, vulnerability of ground water to contamination; (3) assist in the development of regulatory programs; and (4) provide access to technical data through the use of a GIS (geographic information system) (C. Grantham, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, written commun., 1989). Digital representation of first-encountered water below land surface is an important element in evaluating vulnerability of ground water to contamination. Depth-to-water values were developed using existing data and computer software to construct a GIS data set to be combined with a soils data set developed by the SCS (Soul Conservation Service) and the IDHW/WQB (Idaho Department of Health and Welfare/Water Quality Bureau), and a recharge data set developed by the IDWR/RSF (idaho Department of Water Resources/Remote Sensing Facility). The USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) has developed digital depth-to-water values for eleven 1:100,00-scale quadrangles on the eastern Snake River Plain and surrounding tributary valleys.

Idaho↗
USGS2020

Incorporating established conservation networks into freshwater conservation planning results in more workable prioritizations

Resources for addressing stream fish conservation issues are often limited and the stressors impacting fish continue to increase, so decision makers often rely on tools to prioritize locations for conservation actions. Because conservation networks already exist in many areas, incorporating these into the planning process can increase the ability of decision makers to carry out management actions. In this study we aim to identify priority areas within established networks to provide an approach which allows managers to focus efforts on the most valuable areas they control, while identifying areas outside of the network, which support species with minimal representation within the network, for acquisition or conservation partnerships. The goal of this approach is to prioritize sites to achieve high levels of species representation while also developing workable solutions. We applied a methodology incorporating established networks into a systematic conservation planning process for fish in temperate wadeable streams located in Missouri, USA. We compared how well species were represented in our approach with two commonly used alternatives: A blank slate approach which used the same systematic conservation planning technique but did not incorporate established networks, and a habitat integrity approach based solely on anthropogenic threat data. Relative to the blank slate approach, our approach required 210% more segments for representation of all species, and contained an average of 0.5 additional occurrences for the least well-represented species. Although the blank slate solution was more efficient in achieving species representation, 77% of segments in this solution were not already protected. This would likely pose a challenge for implementing conservation actions. Relative to habitat integrity-based priorities, our approach required only 38% of the number of stream segments to achieve representation of all species and contained an average of 5 additional occurrences of the least represented species, representing a substantial gain in representation. Incorporating established networks may allow managers to focus resources on areas with the greatest conservation value within established networks and to identify the most valuable areas complementary to the established networks, resulting in priorities which may be more actionable and effective than those developed by alternative approaches.

Missouri↗
USGS2021

Applying biodiversity metrics as surrogates to a habitat conservation plan

Unabated urbanization has led to environmental degradation and subsequent biodiversity loss across the globe. As an outcome of unmitigated land use, multi-jurisdictional agencies have developed land use plans that attempt to protect threatened or endangered species across selected areas by which some trade-offs between harm to species and additional conservation approaches are allowed among the partnering organizations. Typical conservation plans can be created to focus on single or multiple species, and although they may protect a species or groups of species, they may not account for biodiversity or its protection across the given area. We applied an approach that clustered deductive habitat models for terrestrial vertebrates into metrics that serve as surrogates for biodiversity and relate to ecosystem services. In order to evaluate this process, we collaborated with the partnering agencies who are creating a Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan in southern California and compared it to the entire Mojave Desert Ecoregion. We focused on total terrestrial vertebrate species richness and taxon groupings representing amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles, and two special status species using the Normalized Index of Biodiversity (NIB). The conservation planning area had a lower NIB and was less species rich than the Mojave Desert Ecoregion, but the Mojave River riparian corridor had a higher NIB and was more species-rich, and while taxon analysis varied across the geographies, this pattern generally held. Additionally, we analyzed desert tortoise ( Gopherus agassizii ) and desert kit fox ( Vulpes macrotis arsipus ) as umbrella species and determined that both species are associated with increased NIB and large numbers of species for the conservation area. Our process provided the ability to incorporate value-added surrogate information into a formal land use planning process and used a metric, NIB, which allowed comparison of the various planning areas and geographic units. Although this process has been applied to Apple Valley, CA, and other geographies within the U.S., the approach has practical application for other global biodiversity initiatives.

California↗
USGS2004

Managing National Wildlife Refuges for historic or non-historic conditions: Determining the role of the refuge in the ecosystem

The 1997 Refuge Improvement Act mandates that National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) develop Comprehensive Conservation Plans and that the Refuge System be administered in a manner that ensures the biological integrity, diversity, and environmental health of the System are maintained. Refuges must determine their role in the landscape and decide if refuge lands will be managed for historic or non-historic conditions. This decision should be based on an understanding of the Refuge Purpose and supported by available science. Case studies for Sherburne NWR and Bosque del Apache NWR illustrate two possible approaches to determining future management.

Natural Resources Journal↗
USGS1996

The composition of fluid inclusions in ore and gangue minerals from the Silesian-Cracow Mississippi Valley-type Zn-Pb deposits Poland: Genetic and environmental implications

The composition of fluids extracted from ore and gangue sulfide minerals that span most of the paragenesis of the Silesian-Cracow district was determined using a newly developed ion chromatographic (IC) technique. Ionic species determined were Na+, NH+4, Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, Rb+, Sr2+, Ba2+, Cl-, Br-, F-, I-, PO3-4, CO2-3, HS-, S2O2-3, SO2-4, NO-3, and acetate. Mineral samples included six from the Pomorzany mine and one from the Trzebionka mine which are hosted in the Triassic Muschelkalk Formation, and two samples of drill core from mineralized Upper Devonian strata. Nine paragenetically identifiable sulfide minerals occur throughout the Silesian-Cracow district. These include from earliest to latest: early iron sulfides, granular sphalerite, early galena, light-banded sphalerite, galena, dark-banded sphalerite, iron sulfides, late dark-banded sphalerite with late galena, and late iron sulfides. Seven of the minerals were sampled for fluid inclusion analysis in this study. Only the early iron sulfides and the last galena stage were not sampled. Although the number of analyses are limited to nine samples and two replicates and there is uncertainty about the characteristics of the fluid inclusions analyzed, the data show clear temporal trends in the composition of the fluids that deposited these minerals. Fluid inclusions in minerals deposited later in the paragenesis have significantly more K+, Br-, NH+4, and acetate but less Sr2+ than those deposited earlier in the paragenesis. The later minerals are also characterized by isotopically lighter sulfur and significantly more Tl and As in the solid minerals. The change in ore-fluid chemistry is interpreted to reflect a major change in the hydrologic regime of the district. Apparently, the migrational paths of ore fluids from the Upper Silesian basin changed during ore deposition and the fluids which deposited early minerals reacted with aquifers with very different geochemical characteristics than those that deposited late minerals. The early fluids may have reacted primarily with Devonian and Lower Carboniferous carbonate aquifers deeper in the basin, whereas the later fluids appear to have had extensive contact with organic-rich rocks, probably the shallower Middle and Upper Carboniferous flysch associated with coal measures. High concentrations of toxic Tl and As occur in the readily oxidized marcasite and pyrite minerals deposited by the later fluids. In general, the geochemistry of both the early and late fluids may be explained by an evaporite related origin or by water-rock modification of a saline basinal brine. When compared to the composition of fluid inclusions in Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) ore minerals from the Ozark region of the United States, fluid inclusions in minerals from Silesian-Cracow are fundamentally different, containing more Ca2+, Mg2+, NH+4, Br-, Sr2+ and acetate in all mineral stages with significantly more K+ in later stage minerals. The differences in ore fluid chemistry between the two regions are consistent with the lithologic differences of the respective basins thought to be the source of the mineralizing brines.

Prace - Panstwowego Instytutu Geologicznego↗
USGS2000

Use of risk assessment to evaluate effects and plan remediation of abandoned mines

A framework of risk assessment is elaborated for the evaluation of the effects of abandoned mines and mills. Steps in this process include environmental description, identification and characterization of sources, assessment of exposure, assessment of effects, risk characterization, and risk management of remediation. The development and use of ecological end-points for remediation is discussed in terms of the chemical constituents, toxicity tests and the biological community.

Conference Paper↗
USGS1964

Some Middle Eocene, Lower Eocene, and Paleocene foraminiferal faunas from west Florida

This discussion of the lithology and microfauna of the clastic facies of the Ecocene and Paleocene rocks of Florida is based mainly on data obtained from the study of many cores taken in the Oil City corporation Walton Land and Timber Co. well 1, Walton County, Fla. Although the fauna of the middle Eocene rocks in western Florida is composed mainly of species that have been reported from rocks of equivalent age in the western Gulf Coast, its distinctive species, and poor representation of a few species that are diagnostic in the western area. The assemblages of small Foraminifera in the lower Eocene rocks are composed, mainly, of specimens of species that have been described from outcrops of the Wilcox Group in Alabama. The microfauna of the clastic facies of the Paleocene in western Florida is informally called the "Tamesi' Fauna" in this report. This Fauna is particularly important because it contains abundant Glorotalia velasconesis , a diagnostic species of the Velasco (Paleocene) Formation of Mexico, is also diagnostic of the "Tamesi fauna." On the basis of the environmental preference of Recent analogous pelagic forms, the preferential environment of the containing sediments, it is inferred that the "Tamesi fauna" developed in a subtropical, open sea environment. The Effect of the temperature, salinity, bathymetry, and associated factors on the distribution of Recent pelagic species of Foraminifera has been discussed by several authors. Similar controls were probably effective during Paleocene time. The presence of certain species of pelagic Foraminifera in one Paleocene unit, and their absences in another, is therefore not necessarily an index to the relative position of the units in the vertical time sequence. The stratigraphic distribution of the benthonic species of the "Tamesi Fauna" in western Florida is usually accord with their stratigraphic distribution in the Paleocene beds in other parts of the Gulf coast. Consequently, on the basis of the foregoing enviromental and distributive data, it is suggested that the "Tamesi Fauna" of the clasttic lithofacies of the Paleocene in western Florida respresents an interval of geologic time that is equivalent to the represented by the Clayton, Porters Creek, and Naheola formations of Alqabama and Correlative stratigraphic units in other parts of the Gulf region. It is believed that the outer neritic Paleocene sediments of west Florida grade northward into the inner-neritic Paleocene sediments that crop out in Alabama. Fifty seven species of Foraminifera that are characteristic of the cored Paleocene section in the Walton well, and recorded from 37 other wells distributed across northwestern Florida and southern Georgia, are discussed and figured. Two species are describes as new: Epoides libertyensis and Cibicides libertyensis.

Florida↗
USGS2003

Handbook of groundwater remediation using permeable reactive barriers: Applications to radionuclides, trace metals, and nutrients

Over the last century and a half, groundwaters have become contaminated by a growing number of organic and inorganic substances ranging from petroleum-derived hydrocarbons to radioactive compounds, to cancer-causing hexavalent chromium. The importance of uncontaminated groundwater for agriculture, human consumption, and the environmental health of ecosystems is paramount to the health and productivity of industrial society. Water scientists and managers are focused on developing cost-effective methods to reverse this trend. Several methodologies have been developed, however few are as cost-effective as the use of readily available materials, such as iron and organic compost, for absorbing and isolating contaminants within the matrix of a permeable barrier. The Handbook of Groundwater Remediation using Permeable Reactive Barriers presents readers with this latest technology and developments within four main sections: 1. Innovations in Design, Construction, and Evaluation of PRBs 2. Development of Reactive Materials 3. Evaluations of Chemical and Biological Processes 4. Case Studies of Permeable Reactive Barrier Installations The Handbook is one of the first references specifically on this topic. It is an excellent fit for graduate students entering this emerging field as well as professionals conducting research or implementing this technology.

Book↗
USGS2017

International Watershed Technology: Improving Water Quality and Quantity at the Local, Basin, and Regional Scales

This article introduces the five papers in the “International Watershed Technology” collection. These papers were selected from 60 technical presentations at the fifth biennial ASABE 21st Century Watershed Technology Conference and Workshop: Improving the Quality of Water Resources at Local, Basin, and Regional Scales, held in Quito, Ecuador, on 3-9 December 2016. The conference focused on solving spatial and temporal water quality and quantity problems and addressed topics such as watershed management in developing countries, aquatic ecology and ecohydrology, ecosystem services, climate change mitigation strategies, flood forecasting, remote sensing, and water resource policy and management. While diverse, the presentation topics reflected the continuing evolution of the “data mining” and “big data” themes of past conferences related to geospatial data applications, with increasing emphasis on practical solutions. The papers selected for this collection represent applications of spatial data analyses toward practical ends with a theme of “tools and techniques for sustainability.” The papers address a range of topics, including the matching of crops with water availability, and assessing the environmental impacts of agricultural production. The papers identify some of the latest tools and techniques for improving sustainability in watershed resource management that are relevant to both developing and developed countries.

Transactions of the ASABE↗