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Search indexed USGS publications on groundwater, aquifers, geologic maps, mineral resources and earthquakes. Explore source records by subject and place.

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At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
USGS2019

U.S. Geological Survey—Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center 2017 research activity report

The mission of Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center is to provide scientific information needed to conserve and manage the Nation’s natural capital for current and future generations, with an emphasis on migratory birds, Department of the Interior trust resources, and ecosystems of the Nation’s interior. This report provides an overview of the studies conducted at Northern Prairie during fiscal year 2017 in pursuit of this mission. Studies are organized under a framework developed by the U.S. Geological Survey Ecosystems Mission Area, identifying primary and secondary alignment with focal areas of research, and summarizing recent scientific products resulting from these studies. Partnerships with Federal, State, and non-Governmental organizations are essential to a robust program of applied ecological research, and we thank our many collaborators and colleagues whose contributions made this work possible.

Circular↗
USGS2020

U.S. Geological Survey—Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center 2018 research activity report

The mission of Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center is to provide scientific information needed to conserve and manage the Nation’s natural capital for current and future generations, with an emphasis on migratory birds, Department of the Interior trust resources, and ecosystems of the Nation’s interior. This report provides an overview of the studies conducted at Northern Prairie during fiscal year 2018 in pursuit of this mission. Studies are organized under a framework developed by the U.S. Geological Survey Ecosystems Mission Area, identifying primary and secondary alignment with focal areas of research, and summarizing recent scientific products resulting from these studies. Partnerships with Federal, State, and non-Governmental organizations are essential to a robust program of applied ecological research, and we thank our many collaborators and colleagues whose contributions made this work possible.

Circular↗
USGS2021

U.S. Geological Survey—Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center 2019–20 research activity report

The mission of Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center is to provide scientific information needed to conserve and manage the Nation’s natural capital for current and future generations, with an emphasis on migratory birds, Department of the Interior trust resources, and ecosystems of the Nation’s interior. This report provides an overview of the studies conducted at Northern Prairie during fiscal years 2019–20 in pursuit of this mission. Studies are organized under a framework developed by the U.S. Geological Survey Ecosystems Mission Area, identifying primary and secondary alignment with focal areas of research, and summarizing recent scientific products resulting from these studies. Partnerships with Federal, State, and non-Governmental organizations are essential to a robust program of applied ecological research, and we thank our many collaborators and colleagues whose contributions made this work possible.

North Dakota↗
USGS2024

U.S. Geological Survey—Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center 2021–23 research activity report

The mission of Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center is to provide scientific information needed to conserve and manage the Nation’s natural capital for current and future generations, with an emphasis on migratory birds, Department of the Interior trust resources, and ecosystems of the Nation’s interior. This report provides an overview of the studies conducted at Northern Prairie during fiscal years 2021–23 in pursuit of this mission. Studies are organized under a framework developed by the U.S. Geological Survey Ecosystems Mission Area, identifying primary and secondary alignment with focal areas of research, and summarizing recent scientific products resulting from these studies. Partnerships with Federal, State, and non-Governmental organizations are essential to a robust program of applied ecological research, and we thank our many collaborators and colleagues whose contributions made this work possible.

Circular↗
USGS2007

Welcome to the National Wetlands Research Center Library: Successful Research Begins @ Your Library

The National Wetlands Research Center (NWRC) library is part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and is the only USGS library dedicated to wetland science. The mission of the NWRC library is to support the research and information needs of scientists, managers, and support personnel by providing a specialized, scientific collection of library materials and related information services that are responsive to and reflect internal and external customer needs and work processes. The NWRC library participates in international cataloging and resource sharing that allows libraries from throughout the world to borrow from its collections and lend to NWRC. This sharing of materials facilitates the research of other governmental agencies, universities, and those interested in the study of wetlands.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS1985

STATE WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE PROGRAM: GROUND WATER RESEARCH.

This paper updates a review of the accomplishments of the State Water Resources Research Program in ground water contamination research. The aim is to assess the progress made towards understanding the mechanisms of ground water contamination and based on this understanding, to suggest procedures for the prevention and control of ground water contamination. The following research areas are covered: (1) mechanisms of organic contaminant transport in the subsurface environment; (2) bacterial and viral contamination of ground water from landfills and septic tank systems; (3) fate and persistence of pesticides in the subsurface; (4) leachability and transport of ground water pollutants from coal production and utilization; and (5) pollution of ground water from mineral mining activities.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2008

Fish passage research: S.O. Conte Anadromous Fish Research Laboratory

The Leetown Science Center’s S.O. Conte Anadromous Fish Research Laboratory conducts basic and applied scientific studies of fish passage and migration to define underlying principles and relationships of fish behavior and hydraulics, and to develop integrated, predictive research that can be applied to a wide range of fish passage problems.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS1984

Ground-water contamination by crude oil at the Bemidji, Minnesota, research site- An introduction: Chapter A in Ground-water contamination by crude oil at the Bemidji, Minnesota, research site; US Geological Survey Toxic Waste--ground-water contamination study

The U.S. Geological Survey has begun a research project to improve understanding of the mobilization, transport, and fate of petroleum contaminants in the shallow subsurface and to use this understanding to develop predictive models of contaminant behavior. The project site is near Bemidji in northern Minnesota where an accidental spill of 10,500 barrels of crude oil occurred when a pipeline broke on August 20, 1979. Regulatory and remedial actions have been completed. The site is in a remote area with neither man-made hydraulic stresses nor other anthropogenic sources of the compounds of interest. The spill is in the recharge area of a local flow system that discharges to a small closed lake approximately 1,000 feet down the hydraulic gradient. The aquifer is pitted outwash dissected by younger glacial channels and is underlain by poorly permeable till at a depth of about 80 feet. Ground water dissolves oil floating on the water table under the spill site and moves toward the lake. At the water table, ground water enters the lake through lacustrine sediments; at depth, flow may be underneath the lake through the outwash. Contaminant transport has been as rapid as 4 feet per day based on the rate of movement of contaminants monitored through wells installed within a few days of the spill, but average rates are undoubtedly much less.

Minnesota↗
USGS1996

A spatial decision support system for coastal management: A research project at the National Wetlands Research Center of the U.S. Geological Survey

Environmental resource managers and scientists are being challenged in developing strategies to manage complex coastal systems. From an ecological perspective, there are myriad dynamic, interrelated natural and human-induced processes that affect the health and stability of coastal systems. However, the problems associated with managing coastal resources usually transcend purely ecological factors when one considers societal needs and expectations from these resources. For example, at least nine Federal, State, and local government agencies, often with widely varying responsibilities or interests, are charged with managing environmental resources and/or regulating human activities within Louisiana's coastal systems; that number may be higher in other coastal areas of the United States. In many coastal systems, a declining resource base and environmental quality combined with an expanding human population exert increased demands on those systems. This results in a number of conflicting resource management and environmental impact assessment issues. The issues include determining the most cost-effective strategies for restoring degraded natural systems, local and regional planning for future urban and commercial development in or near sensitive coastal habitats, predicting impacts from acute and chronic pollutant discharges (oil spills, fecal coliform contamination) as well as from natural hazard damages to coastal systems, and optimal partitioning of coastal resources among competing user groups (e.g., commercial and recreational fishermen). Solving such complex environmental resource management problems often involves a multidisciplinary approach, requires computerized analytical modeling abilities to manipulate large quantities of spatial-temporal data according to a defined set of objectives or constraints, and needs a mechanism to provide quick responses for dynamic resource and environmental issues. For this, a GIS-based multifunctional Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) is being developed at the National Wetlands Research Center of the U.S. Geological Survey (formerly the Southern Science Center of the US. Fish and Wildlife Service/National Biological Service).

Louisiana↗
USGS2014

Reply to: Turner, R.E., 2014. Discussion of: Olea, R.A. and Coleman, J.L., Jr., 2014. A synoptic examination of causes of land loss in southern Louisiana as related to the exploitation of subsurface geologic resources, Journal of Coastal Research, 30(5), 1025–1044; Journal of Coastal Research, 30(6), 1330–1334.

To a large extent, geology is a science of solving inverse problems based on some data and scientific principles. Solutions to these types of problems are not unique, especially when using different data, invoking different principles, or both. It is not surprising that the discussant and we have reached different conclusions on the same specific issue of land loss along the coast of Louisiana because we use different observations and view those observations in a different context. The objective of this reply is to orient the reader, who then can decide which approach is more likely to be the correct analysis.

Journal of Coastal Research↗
USGS2021

Making research relevant: Sharing climate change research with rangeland advisors to transform results into drought resilience

On the Ground • Public programs, strategies, and incentives to implement rangeland climate adaptation are more effective if they are tailored to local drought exposures, sensitivities, and adaptation opportunities. As such, local rangeland advisers who aid in climate adaptation are pivotal to the development of these resources. • We hosted a virtual workshop with rangeland advisors to share results from our climate vulnerability assessment, gain their insight on finding usability, and discuss visions for resource creation. • Climate adaptation resources should not follow a one-size-fits-all approach. Accommodating variety in resource development and outreach must consider multiple factors: variation in the ranching community, instability in the environment beyond climate, and rancher/manager identified variables in climate vulnerability assessment analyses.

Rangelands↗
USGS1964

Tritium-hydrologic research: Some results of the U.S. Geological Survey Research Program

In general tritium is of limited usefulness as a tool in hydrologic studies because the tritium content of ground water, as a result of radioactive decay, becomes too low to be detectable after about 50 years. Nevertheless, a unique study was made of the hydrologic cycle of small stream basins in Wisconsin and New Jersey on the basis of measurements relative to the peak of tritium fallout in the spring of 1958. The continental and the coastal basins received approximately the same tritium fallout. Approximately 30 percent went into ground-water storage, the remainder being exported as runoff and evapotranspiration. The mean residence time for ground-water recharge for the two basins was 45 and 30 days, respectively.

New Jersey, Wisconsin↗
USGS2016

HESS Opinions: Repeatable research: what hydrologistscan learn from the Duke cancer research scandal

In the past decade, difficulties encountered in reproducing the results of a cancer study at Duke University resulted in a scandal and an investigation which concluded that tools used for data management, analysis, and modeling were inappropriate for the documentation of the study, let alone the reproduction of the results. New protocols were developed which require that data analysis and modeling be carried out with scripts that can be used to reproduce the results and are a record of all decisions and interpretations made during an analysis or a modeling effort. In the hydrological sciences, we face similar challenges and need to develop similar standards for transparency and repeatability of results. A promising route is to start making use of open-source languages (such as R and Python) to write scripts and to use collaborative coding environments (such as Git) to share our codes for inspection and use by the hydrological community. An important side-benefit to adopting such protocols is consistency and efficiency among collaborators.

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences↗