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USGS · 70272808

Proceedings of the Deepwater Hydrate Coring Expedition UT-GOM2-2

Abstract

This report was the result of a scientific collaboration between the following institutions The University of Texas at Austin (UT), DOE, NETL, the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), The Ohio State University, Columbia University, University of New Hampshire, Oregon State University, University of Washington, Tufts University, Colorado School of Mines, and Geotek Ltd. In the summer and fall of 2023, the University of Texas (UT) Deepwater Hydrate Coring Expedition (UT-GOM2-2) drilled, cored, made downhole measurements, and analyzed samples from the seafloor to the base of the gas hydrate stability zone at Site H in the Walker Ridge Protracted Area Block 313 (Site H, WR313) in the Terrebonne basin, deepwater Gulf of America (Gulf of Mexico), herein the Gulf. This report is made up of a series of files as listed below that represents the “expedition report” of the 2023 UT-GOM2-2 Expedition.

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90° N90° S · 180° W ← longitude → 180° E
Source-reported bounding extent: 26.5° to 27° latitude; -91.833° to -91.4167° longitude. This indicates report coverage, not an exact sampling location. View area on OpenStreetMap.

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BibTeXRIS

Peter Flemings, Carla Thomas, Stephen C. Phillips, Timothy Collett, Ann E. Cook, Evan Solomon, Frederick S. Colwell, Joel E. Johnson, David Awwiller, Irita Aylward, Athma Bhandari, Donald Brooks, Jessica Z. Buser-Young, Alejandro Cardona, Michael Casso, Rachel Coyte, Tom Darrah, Marcy Davis, Brandon Dugan, Dan Duncan, John T. Germaine, Melanie Holland, Jesse Houghton, Saffron Martin, N. Tanner Mills, Michael Mimitz, Daniel Minarich, Yuki Morono, Zachary Murphy, Joshua O’Connell, Ethan Petrou, Tom Pettigrew, John W. Pohlman, Alexey Portnov, Marcie Purkey Phillips, Thomas Redd, Derek E. Sawyer, Peter Schultheiss, Kelly Shannon, Cathal Small, Camille Sullivan, Kayla Tozier, Man-Yin Tsang, Camila Van Der Maal, William F. Waite, Taylor Walton. 2025. Proceedings of the Deepwater Hydrate Coring Expedition UT-GOM2-2. https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/70272808

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Factors affecting benthic macroinvertebrate health in the City of Roanoke, Virginia, 2020–2023

Major waterways in the City of Roanoke (City) have failed to meet Virginia’s aquatic life designated use since 1996. Segments of the upper Roanoke River lack healthy benthic macroinvertebrate communities which prompted a total maximum daily load (TMDL) study by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ) to identify the most probable stressor(s) causing the impairment. Excess fine sediment was identified as the most probable stressor impairing benthic macroinvertebrates on portions of the Roanoke River in 2006, and a watershed implementation plan published in 2016 required communities within the impaired watershed to implement projects that would reduce the load of fine sediment entering the Roanoke River. Additional benthic macroinvertebrate sampling and stream habitat assessments along the Roanoke River and Tinker Creek (a tributary to the Roanoke River that flows through the City) revealed continued impaired conditions, and subsequent stressor identification analysis was completed in 2023. Samples collected downstream of the City on the Roanoke River and Tinker Creek generally showed more impaired conditions relative to samples collected at locations upstream of the City. Based on this evaluation, sediment and sediment-bound polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were identified as probable stressors while specific conductance, total nitrogen, and sediment metals were possible stressors in Tinker Creek; however, only a sediment TMDL target was identified to address impaired benthic macroinvertebrate communities. In the Roanoke River upstream of the Niagara Dam, sediment and total phosphorus were identified as probable stressors, sediment polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and sediment PCB were considered possible stressors; however, the TMDL target was only for total phosphorus. The City partnered with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 2016 to continuously monitor water quality and streamflow conditions on a major tributary of Tinker Creek, Lick Run, and by 2020, four similar monitoring stations were installed on the Roanoke River and Tinker Creek near the locations of benthic macroinvertebrate sampling. Monitored parameters included streamflow and/or gage height (water level), water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, and turbidity. Turbidity is a measure of the relative clarity of the water and was previously used to model suspended-sediment concentrations at the monitoring stations. The City also contracted Kirk Environmental, LLP (KE) to collect benthic macroinvertebrate samples and stream habitat assessments near the locations of the water-quality monitoring stations. Identified benthic macroinvertebrates were used to calculate the Virginia Stream Condition Index (SCI), a multi-metric index composed of eight biological attributes that represent elements of the structure and function of the benthic macroinvertebrate community that measure diversity, composition, and tolerance to pollution. Study objective: In this report, benthic macroinvertebrate samples and stream habitat assessment scores collected at four locations on the Roanoke River and Tinker Creek by KE and the VDEQ between 2020 and 2023 were compared to measured water-quality and streamflow conditions prior to sampling to evaluate patterns between benthic macroinvertebrate health, water quality, and hydrology.

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