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USGS2009

Mineral Commodity Summaries 2009

Each chapter of the 2009 edition of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Commodity Summaries (MCS) includes information on events, trends, and issues for each mineral commodity as well as discussions and tabular presentations on domestic industry structure, Government programs, tariffs, 5-year salient statistics, and world production and resources. The MCS is the earliest comprehensive source of 2008 mineral production data for the world. More than 90 individual minerals and materials are covered by two-page synopses. For mineral commodities for which there is a Government stockpile, detailed information concerning the stockpile status is included in the two-page synopsis. Because specific information concerning committed inventory was no longer available from the Defense Logistics Agency, National Defense Stockpile Center, that information, which was included in earlier Mineral Commodity Summaries publications, has been deleted from Mineral Commodity Summaries 2009. National reserves and reserve base information for most mineral commodities found in this report, including those for the United States, are derived from a variety of sources. The ideal source of such information would be comprehensive evaluations that apply the same criteria to deposits in different geographic areas and report the results by country. In the absence of such evaluations, national reserves and reserve base estimates compiled by countries for selected mineral commodities are a primary source of national reserves and reserve base information. Lacking national assessment information by governments, sources such as academic articles, company reports, common business practice, presentations by company representatives, and trade journal articles, or a combination of these, serve as the basis for national reserves and reserve base information reported in the mineral commodity sections of this publication. A national estimate may be assembled from the following: historically reported reserves and reserve base information carried for years without alteration because no new information is available; historically reported reserves and reserve base reduced by the amount of historical production; and company reported reserves. International minerals availability studies conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Mines, before 1996, and estimates of identified resources by an international collaborative effort (the International Strategic Minerals Inventory) are the basis for some reserves and reserve base estimates. The USGS collects information about the quantity and quality of mineral resources but does not directly measure reserves, and companies or governments do not directly report reserves or reserve base to the USGS. Reassessment of reserves and reserve base is a continuing process, and the intensity of this process differs for mineral commodities, countries, and time period. Abbreviations and units of measure, and definitions of selected terms used in the report, are in Appendix A and Appendix B, respectively. A resource/reserve classification for minerals, based on USGS Circular 831 (published with the U.S. Bureau of Mines) is Appendix C, and a directory of USGS minerals information country specialists and their responsibilities is Appendix D. The USGS continually strives to improve the value of its publications to users. Constructive comments and suggestions by readers of the MCS 2009 are welcomed.

Mineral Commodity Summaries↗

USGS2009

Defining winter trophic habitat of juvenile Gulf Sturgeon in the Suwannee and Apalachicola rivermouth estuaries, acoustic telemetry investigations

Three automated listening post-telemetry studies were undertaken in the Suwannee and Apalachicola estuaries to gain knowledge of habitats use by juvenile Gulf Sturgeons ( Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi ) on winter feeding grounds. A simple and reliable method for external attachment of small acoustic tags to the dorsal fin base was developed using shrink-tubing. Suspending receivers on masts below anchored buoys improved reception and facilitated downloading; a detection range of 500–2500 m was realized. In the Apalachicola estuary, juvenile GS stayed in shallow water (< 2 m) within the estuarine transition zone all winter in the vicinity of the Apalachicola River mouth. Juvenile GS high-use areas did not coincide with high density benthic macrofauna areas from the most recent (1999) benthos survey. In the Suwannee estuary, juveniles ranged widely and individually throughout oligohaline to mesohaline subareas of the estuary, preferentially using mesohaline subareas seaward of Suwannee Reef (52% of acoustic detections). The river mouth subarea was important only in early and late winter, during the times of adult Gulf Sturgeon migrations (41% of detections). Preferred winter feeding subareas coincided spatially with known areas of dense macrofaunal benthos concentrations. Following a dramatic drop in air and water temperatures, juvenile GS left the river mouth and estuary, subsequently being detected 8 km offshore in polyhaline open Gulf of Mexico waters, before returning to the estuary. Cold-event offshore excursions demonstrate that they can tolerate full-salinity polyhaline waters in the open Gulf of Mexico, for at least several days at a time. For juvenile sturgeons, the stress and metabolic cost of enduring high salinity (Jarvis et al., 2001; McKenzie et al., 2001; Singer and Ballantyne, 2002) for short periods in deep offshore waters seems adaptively advantageous relative to the risk of cold-event mortality in shallow inshore waters of lower salinity. Thus, while juveniles can tolerate high salinities for days to weeks to escape cold events, they appear to make only infrequent use of open polyhaline waters. Throughout the winter foraging period, juvenile GS stayed primarily within the core area of Suwannee River mouth influence, extending about 12 km north and south of the river mouth, and somewhat seaward of Suwannee Reef (< 5 km offshore). None were detected departing the core area past either of the northern or southern acoustic gates, located 66 and 52 km distant from the river mouth, respectively.

Florida↗

USGS1998

Analysis and simulation of reactive transport of metal contaminants in ground water in Pinal Creek Basin, Arizona

Large-scale mining activities have generated a plume of acidic ground water more than 15 km long in the regional aquifer of the Pinal Creek Basin. A one-dimensional reactive-transport model was developed using PHREEQC to aid in the analysis of transport and chemical processes in the plume and to determine the uses and limitations of this type of modeling approach. In 1984, the acidic part of the plume had a pH as low as 3.4 and contained milligram-per-liter concentrations of iron, copper, aluminum and other metals. From 1984 to 1994, concentrations of contaminants in the alluvial aquifer in Pinal Creek Basin, Arizona, decreased as a result of mixing, recharge, remedial pumping and chemical reactions. For reactions involving gypsum and rhodochrosite, the equilibrium modeling assumption of a local geochemical equilibrium was generally valid. From 1984 to 1990, water along the simulated flow path was at equilibrium or slightly supersaturated with gypsum, and gypsum equilibria controlled dissolved concentrations of calcium and sulfate. Beginning in 1991, water in the acidic part of the plume became increasingly undersaturated with respect to gypsum, indicating that the gypsum available for dissolution in the aquifer may have been completely consumed by about 1991. Rhodochrosite precipitation was thought responsible for the measured attenuation in dissolved manganese in the neutralized zone. For reactions involving calcite, the assumption of a local geochemical equilibrium was generally not valid. Dissolution of calcite in the transition zone was not sufficient to establish equilibrium although, following neutralization, the calcite saturation index decreased to −1.2 in 1986. Calcite undersaturation decreased along the flow path in the neutralized zone, and equilibrium was attained about 7 km downgradient of the transition zone. The assumption of a local geochemical equilibrium was not valid for oxidation–reduction reactions that involved iron oxides and manganese oxides. Kinetically controlled oxidation–reduction reactions continued in the acidic part of the flow path for years following the passage of the transition zone. Although the equilibrium approach helped to provide an increased understanding of contaminant transport at Pinal Creek, future work will require a kinetic modeling approach to more accurately simulate selected reactions between the plume and aquifer materials.

Arizona↗

USGS2000

Atrazine adsorption and colloid-facilitated transport through the unsaturated zone

One explanation for unexpectedly widespread ground water contamination from atrazine (2-chloro-4-ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-s-triazine) may be the occurrence of colloid-facilitated transport, whereby the dissolved herbicide becomes adsorbed to mobile colloids that migrate through preferential flow-paths in the soil zone and into the ground water. The objectives of this study were to determine the extent of adsorpton of atrazine to bulk soil and to soil colloids and to determine the extent of colloid-facilitated transport of atrazine at a field site in Virginia during simulated rainfall events. Equilibrium batch adsorption experiments were performed over a concentration range of 0.05 to 10.0 mg atrazine L-1 on bulk soil samples and on colloidal suspensions of 75 mg L-1, a concentration comparable with those observed at the field site. Linear partition coefficients ranged from 0.496 to 2.48 L kg-1 for the bulk soil and from 70.8 to 832 L kg-1 for the soil colloids. In the field, gravity lysimeters were insured at a depth of 25 cm below the surface of six 0.25-m2 undisturbed plots. Mass recovery of surface-applied atrazine in the lysimeters was not significantly affected by rainfall rate and was, on average, 2.7% for plots receiving 25 mm h-1 simulated rainfall and 3.6% for plots receiving 50 mm h-1 simulated rainfall. Of the total atrazine collected in the lysimeters, the fraction that was colloid-associated ranged from 4.9 to 30% (mean of 15%), indicating that a measurable portion of mobile atrazine is transported via association with colloids.One explanation for unexpectedly widespread ground water contamination from atrazine (2-chloro-4-ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-s-triazine) may be the occurrence of colloid-facilitated transport, whereby the dissolved herbicide becomes adsorbed to mobile colloids that migrate through preferential flow-paths in the soil zone and into the ground water. The objectives of this study were to determine the extent of adsorption of atrazine to bulk soil and to soil colloids and to determine the extent of colloid-facilitated transport of atrazine at a field site in Virginia during simulated rainfall events. Equilibrium batch adsorption experiments were performed over a concentration range of 0.05 to 10.0 mg atrazine L-1 on bulk soil samples and on colloidal suspensions of 75 mg L-1, a concentration comparable with those observed at the field site. Linear partition coefficients ranged from 0.496 to 2.48 L kg-1 for the bulk soil and from 70.8 to 832 L kg-1 for the soil colloids. In the field, gravity lysimeters were installed at a depth of 25 cm below the surface of six 0.25-m2 undisturbed plots. Mass recovery of surface-applied atrazine in the lysimeters was not significantly affected by rainfall rate and was, on average, 2.7% for plots receiving 25 mm h-1 simulated rainfall and 3.6% for plots receiving 50 mm h-1 simulated rainfall. Of the total atrazine collected in the lysimeters, the fraction that was colloid-associated ranged from 4.9 to 30% (mean of 15%), indicating that a measurable portion of mobile atrazine is transported via association with colloids.In the Muddy Creek watershed, VA, the extent of atrazine adsorption to the immobile soil matrix and mobile soil colloids was examined in an agricultural silt loam soil, and atrazine transport during simulated rainfall events of different intensities was assessed. Results from batch equilibration experiments revealed that atrazine adsorption was significantly greater on the colloids than on the bulk soil, which was attributed to the higher specific surface area and organic content of the colloids. Despite the mobilization of colloids, however, the mass recovery of colloid-associated atrazine was low for all plots. Precipitation rate did not significantly affect atrazine mass recovery.

Journal of Environmental Quality↗

USGS2025

Advancing broadscale spatial evapotranspiration modelling by incorporating sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence measurements

Evapotranspiration (ET) describes the sum of water transfer from the ground surface through soil evaporation and water loss from leaf stomata into the atmosphere − critical factors linking the global water and carbon cycles. Myriad ET models based on remote sensing data provide spatially continuous estimates of ET; however, leaf photosynthetic information is critical to ensure accurate ET estimates, which are difficult to measure from space. Remotely sensed sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) provides a proxy of stomatal conductance activity with high performance in predicting plant transpiration, which can account for a large proportion of terrestrial and riverine ET. This study aims to improve estimates of tree water use in semi-arid to arid environments. In this study, a fixed stomatal conductance model and three SIF-driven canopy conductance (g sc ) models were applied to model potential ET (PET). The models estimated PET using the Penman-Monteith equation with: (1) a constant leaf stomatal conductance; (2) a transpiration-driven g sc model; (3) a g sc model based on electron-transfer rate and vapor pressure deficit, and a (4) Ball-Berry stomatal conductance model. A machine learning model was then applied to scale PET to actual ET (AET) using remote sensing and climate data. Accordingly, four AET models were cross-validated with in-situ measured AET at 52 sites, including 21 eddy covariance flux tower sites, and 31 sap-flow measurement sites (semi-arid and plantation area), for various plant functional types in Australia. This study demonstrated that SIF effectively captured seasonal variations of g sc , finding that AET models with SIF-driven g sc models correlated well with in-situ measured AET (R 2 = 0.64). Modelled AET with dynamic variations of g sc generated lower prediction error (0.85 mm day −1 ), while the AET model with fixed stomatal conductance tended to overestimate AET in floodplains and underestimate it in evergreen broadleaf forests, indicating using fixed stomatal conductance results in unstable performance when modelling AET. This study demonstrated that SIF-driven AET models improved broadscale estimation of ET. Our findings provide vital broadscale hydrological data to assist catchment and regional water management, particularly over unmonitored areas at risk of future climate-driven reductions in rainfall.

Journal of Hydrology↗

USGS2025

Population and outmigration characteristics of juvenile Bull Trout in a montane ecosystem

Bull Trout Salvelinus confluentus is a federally threatened species in the conterminous United States. Although some populations are stable or increasing, Bull Trout in the United States Fish and Wildlife Service's designated Coeur d'Alene Core Area in Idaho have experienced substantial declines in abundance. Today, the remaining extant population in the Coeur d'Alene Core Area returns to the headwaters of the St. Joe River to spawn. The population has been monitored annually since 1992 using spawning ground surveys, but little is known about early life stages in the system. The objective of our research was to evaluate the distribution and abundance, age and size structure, habitat associations, and outmigration characteristics of juvenile Bull Trout in the upper St. Joe River basin. In 2022–2023, we sampled 200 stream reaches on the mainstem St. Joe River and four tributaries (Heller, Medicine, Sherlock, and Wisdom creeks). We sampled 1,529 Bull Trout varying in length from 29−257 mm in total length (TL; mean ± SD; 108 ± 44 mm). Population estimates suggested there were 1,841 (95% CI = 1,188−2,494) juvenile Bull Trout in the study area in 2022 and 2,388 (1,646−3,130) in 2023. Regression models indicated that abundance was positively related to canopy cover, amount of large substrate, amount of large woody debris, and amount of gravel, and negatively related to water temperature. We tagged 1,142 fish with passive integrated transponders (PIT) and detected 163 (14%) of these fish using a stationary tag array that was operational during June or July through October. Peak autumn outmigration occurred in October of both sampling years. Of the fish that were detected moving, age varied from 1−4 years, but age-1 and age-2 fish were more commonly detected moving downstream compared to other age classes. This study provides important information on the ecology of juvenile Bull Trout that can be used to guide conservation and recovery efforts in montane ecosystems. Furthermore, juvenile Bull Trout in the upper St. Joe River basin were present at similar densities and experienced growth rates similar to more robust adfluvial populations (e.g., Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho), thereby indicating that factors contributing to the low abundance of adults are not likely occurring in the headwaters of the St. Joe River. Thus, conservation efforts may be more successful if they are focused on the migration corridor and Coeur d'Alene Lake.

Idaho↗

USGS2008

Hematite spherules at Meridiani: results from MI, Mini-TES, and Pancam

We report on observations of hematite‐bearing spherules at Meridiani Planum made using the Microscopic Imager (MI), Mini‐Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini‐TES), and Panoramic Camera (Pancam) instruments on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. Spherules were observed on soil surfaces and in outcrop rocks, both on undisturbed surfaces and in abraded surfaces ground using the Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT). Spherule size and shape change little along the 850 m eastward traverse from Eagle Crater to Endurance Crater, but spherules decrease and then slightly increase in size along the 6 km traverse from Endurance south to Victoria Crater. Local populations range from submillimeters to several millimeters in diameter. An additional small diameter (100 μ m) size population is possible. An increase in irregular shapes is found near Victoria Crater. This, combined with the size decrease south of Endurance, suggests either a changing depositional environment, or variation in the duration and timing of diagenetic events. The dominant smaller size population observed early in the mission in aeolian areas and ripple crests is observed as the primary size population in abraded outcrop farther south. This suggests that successively younger beds are exposed at the surface along the southward traverse. Stratigraphically higher units removed by erosion could be recorded by the present surface lag deposit. Coordinated systematic observations are used to determine optical and infrared hematite indices of the surface soils in Pancam and Mini‐TES. In spite of the systematic variation seen in MI, both Pancam and Mini‐TES indices are highly variable based on the local surface, and neither show systematic trends south of Endurance. The lack of a 390 cm −1 feature in Mini‐TES spectra suggests concentric or radial interior structure within the spherules at scales too fine for MI to observe. Mini‐TES does not detect any silicate component in the spherules. A bound water component in soils or in exchange with the atmosphere is observed. These spherules have been previously interpreted as concretions formed within what were once water‐saturated, diagenetically altered “dirty evaporate” sandstone sediments. Our observations support this interpretation; however, no single terrestrial analog provides a model that can account for all attributes of the spherules on Mars.

Journal of Geophysical Research↗

USGS2006

The western pond turtle (Clemmys marmorata) in the Mojave River, California, USA: Highly adapted survivor or tenuous relict?

Aspects of the ecology of populations of the western pond turtle Clemmys marmorata were investigated in the Mojave River of the central Mojave Desert, California, U.S.A. One population occupied man-made ponds and the other occurred in natural ponds in the flood plain of the Mojave River. Both habitats are severely degraded as a result of ground water depletion from human activities along the river and one is infested with the exotic shrub saltcedar Tamarix ramosissima . Mean female carapace length (CL) was significantly greater (14.4 cm) than that of males (13.7 cm). Live juveniles were not detected during the period of study. Shelled eggs were visible in X-radiographs from 26 May to 14 July. Mean clutch size was 4.46 and ranged from 3 to 6 eggs. Clutch size did not vary between 1998 and 1999 but was significantly correlated with CL for both years combined, increasing at the rate of 0.548 eggs/cm CL. Gravid female CL ranged from 13.3–16.0 cm. Some females nested in both years. Mean X-ray egg width (21.8 mm) was not significantly correlated with CL or clutch size. X-ray egg width differed more among clutches than within, whether including CL as a co-variate or not. Nesting migrations occurred from 6 June to 8 July with minimum round trip distances ranging from 17.5–585 m with a mean of 195 m. Mean estimated time of departure as measured at the drift fence was 18:13. Most females returned to the ponds in the early morning. Nesting migrations required females to be out of the water for estimated periods of 0.83 to 86 h. The destination of nesting females was typically fluvial sand bars in the channel of the dry riverbed. Overall, the ecology of C. marmorata in the Mojave River is very similar to that reported for populations in less severe habitats along the west coast of the United States. Notable exceptions include long nesting migrations to sandbars in the dry river channel, a possible result of human modifications to the environment, and an apparent lack of terrestrial overwintering behaviour in Mojave River populations. The general similarity of desert and coastal populations is possibly a reflection of their recent geographic separation. Overall, populations in the Mojave River exhibit few obvious adaptations to living in the desert and are considered to be tenuous relicts of the Pleistocene. The small size and tenuous status of these populations suggests that immediate conservation action is needed, including establishment of satellite populations as a hedge against extirpation.

California↗

USGS2007

A new towed platform for the unobtrusive surveying of benthic habitats and organisms

Maps of coral ecosystems are needed to support many conservation and management objectives, as well as research activities. Examples include ground-truthing aerial and satellite imagery, characterizing essential habitat, assessing changes, and monitoring the progress of restoration efforts. To address some of these needs, the U.S. Geological Survey developed the Along-Track Reef-Imaging System (ATRIS), a boat-based sensor package for mapping shallow-water benthic environments. ATRIS consists of a digital still camera, a video camera, and an acoustic depth sounder affixed to a moveable pole. This design, however, restricts its deployment to clear waters less than 10 m deep. To overcome this limitation, a towed version has been developed, referred to as Deep ATRIS. The system is based on a light-weight, computer-controlled, towed vehicle that is capable of following a programmed diving profile. The vehicle is 1.3 m long with a 63-cm wing span and can carry a wide variety of research instruments, including CTDs, fluorometers, transmissometers, and cameras. Deep ATRIS is currently equipped with a high-speed (20 frames · s-1) digital camera, custom-built light-emitting-diode lights, a compass, a 3-axis orientation sensor, and a nadir-looking altimeter. The vehicle dynamically adjusts its altitude to maintain a fixed height above the seafloor. The camera has a 29° x 22° field-of-view and captures color images that are 1360 x 1024 pixels in size. GPS coordinates are recorded for each image. A gigabit ethernet connection enables the images to be displayed and archived in real time on the surface computer. Deep ATRIS has a maximum tow speed of 2.6 m · s-1and a theoretical operating tow-depth limit of 27 m. With an improved tow cable, the operating depth can be extended to 90 m. Here, we present results from the initial sea trials in the Gulf of Mexico and Biscayne National Park, Florida, USA, and discuss the utility of Deep ATRIS for map-ping coral reef habitats. Several example mosaics illustrate the high-quality imagery that can be obtained with this system. The images also reveal the potential for unobtrusive animal observations; fish and sea turtles are unperturbed by the presence of Deep ATRIS

Florida↗

USGS2022

Section 5: Remote sensing of vegetation in the riparian corridor of the Colorado River’s delta 2013-2018

This remote sensing section is based on Nagler et al. (in preparation for the journal Hydrological Processes) and is a summary of the USGS preliminary findings to date. This report documents the changes in green foliage density (greenness) as measured by satellite vegetation index (VI) data and corresponding evapotranspiration (ET) in the riparian corridor of the Colorado River delta associated with the Minutes 319 and 323 environmental water deliveries using time-series data from 2013 through 2018. The report focuses on what happened only within the riparian corridor’s seven reaches since the 2014 flows, and despite being a continuation of measuring greenness and ET after the 2017 end of Minute 319, this study continued the tracking of these two variables, greenness and ET, in these original riparian corridor focal areas. Two spatial scales are used here: (1) Landsat satellite imagery at 30 m pixels and (2) the EOS-1 satellite sensor the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) with a resolution of 250 m pixels. The focal period includes 2013 (prepulse flow) and the years 2014-2018, with a focus on imagery collected from the Summer growing seasons 2014 through 2018 (one-year, pre-pulse and several post-pulse years, respectively). This report re-creates the 2013-2017 Landsat-based results from Jarchow et al. (2017a, b) by using the same region of interest (ROI). The report now provides revised and re-created results using all new imagery acquisition and processing techniques, as well as extraction code, created by the Vegetation Index and Phenology (VIP) Lab of the Biosystems Engineering Department of the University of Arizona (UofA). In 2018, methods employed by the VIP lab (and not ArcGIS) were used. ArcGIS was only used in the newly processed data to display the final difference maps. The entire spatial tile data from NASA was downloaded and processed at the VIP Lab using satellite imagery at two resolutions: 250 m MODIS and 30 m Landsat using three sensors, Landsat 5, Landsat 7 ETM+ and Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI), with added scenes for each year based on new clear atmosphere requirements. The VIP lab clipped the river boundary and seven riparian reaches from the previously existing ROI used in Jarchow et al. (2017 a, b) for the analyses done under Minute 319. The NASA image datasets for this riparian corridor ROI in seven reaches were re-processed to produce additional vegetation index (VI) information for years 2013 to 2018 for this report. At the same time, the report acquired and processed imagery from 2000- 2018 (data outside the scope of this report and data not shown here). The additional VIs (NDVI, scaled NDVI, EVI, EVI2) were analyzed so that new assessments of greenness and ET could be produced from the imagery datasets following methods in Nagler et al. (2013). These VI choices were based on previous performance comparisons between biophysical ground-based data and radiometric satellite-based data collected from this riparian ecosystem (Nagler et al., 2001) as well as performance related to ET estimation (Nagler et al., 2005a, b) and current advancements in VIs such as EVI2.

Colorado River Delta↗

USGS2023

Providing a framework for seagrass mapping in United States coastal ecosystems using high spatial resolution satellite imagery

Seagrasses have been widely recognized for their ecosystem services, but traditional seagrass monitoring approaches emphasizing ground and aerial observations are costly, time-consuming, and lack standardization across datasets. This study leveraged satellite imagery from Maxar's WorldView-2 and WorldView-3 high spatial resolution, commercial satellite platforms to provide a consistent classification approach for monitoring seagrass at eleven study areas across the continental United States, representing geographically, ecologically, and climatically diverse regions. A single satellite image was selected at each of the eleven study areas to correspond temporally to reference data representing seagrass coverage and was classified into four general classes: land, seagrass, no seagrass, and no data. Satellite-derived seagrass coverage was then compared to reference data using either balanced agreement, the Mann-Whitney U test, or the Kruskal-Wallis test, depending on the format of the reference data used for comparison. Balanced agreement ranged from 58% to 86%, with better agreement between reference- and satellite-indicated seagrass absence (specificity ranged from 88% to 100%) than between reference- and satellite-indicated seagrass presence (sensitivity ranged from 17% to 73%). Results of the Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests demonstrated that satellite-indicated seagrass percentage cover had moderate to large correlations with reference-indicated seagrass percentage cover, indicative of moderate to strong agreement between datasets. Satellite classification performed best in areas of dense, continuous seagrass compared to areas of sparse, discontinuous seagrass and provided a suitable spatial representation of seagrass distribution within each study area. This study demonstrates that the same methods can be applied across scenes spanning varying seagrass bioregions, atmospheric conditions, and optical water types, which is a significant step toward developing a consistent, operational approach for mapping seagrass coverage at the national and global scales. Accompanying this manuscript are instructional videos describing the processing workflow, including data acquisition, data processing, and satellite image classification. These instructional videos may serve as a management tool to complement field- and aerial-based mapping efforts for monitoring seagrass ecosystems.

Alaska, California, Delaware, Florida, Maine, Mary↗

USGS2020

Conterminous United States land cover change patterns 2001–2016 from the 2016 National Land Cover Database

The 2016 National Land Cover Database (NLCD) product suite (available on www.mrlc.gov), includes Landsat-based, 30 m resolution products over the conterminous (CONUS) United States (U.S.) for land cover, urban imperviousness, and tree, shrub, herbaceous and bare ground fractional percentages. The release of NLCD 2016 provides important new information on land change patterns across CONUS from 2001-2016. For land cover, seven epochs were concurrently generated for years 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2013, and 2016. Products reveal that land cover change is significant across most land cover classes and time periods. The land cover product was validated using existing reference data from the legacy NLCD 2011 accuracy assessment, applied to the 2011 epoch of the NLCD 2016 product line. The legacy and new NLCD 2011 overall accuracies were 82% and 83%, respectively, (standard error was 0.5%), demonstrating a small but significant increase in overall accuracy. Between 2001-2016, the CONUS landscape experienced significant change, with almost 8% of the landscape having experienced a land cover change at least once during this time. Nearly 50% of that change involves forest, driven by change agents of harvest, fire, disease and pests that resulted in an overall forest decline, including increasing fragmentation and loss of interior forest. Agricultural change represented 15.9% of the change, with total agricultural spatial extent showing only a slight increase of 4,778 km2, however there was a substantial decline (7.94%) in pasture/hay during this time, transitioning mostly to cultivated crop. Water and wetland change comprised 15.2% of change and represent highly dynamic land cover classes from epoch to epoch, heavily influenced by precipitation. Grass and shrub change comprise 14.5% of the total change, with most change resulting from fire. Developed change was the most persistent and permanent land change increase adding almost 29,000 km2 over 15 years (5.6% of total CONUS change), with southern states exhibiting expansion much faster than most of the northern states. Temporal rates of developed change increased in 2001-2006 at twice the rate of 2011-2016, reflecting a slowdown in CONUS economic activity. Future NLCD plans include increasing monitoring frequency, reducing latency time between satellite imaging and product delivery, improving accuracy and expanding the variety of products available in an integrated database.

ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing↗

USGS2015

Ground-truthing electrical resistivity methods in support of submarine groundwater discharge studies: Examples from Hawaii, Washington, and California

Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) is an important conduit that links terrestrial and marine environments. SGD conveys both water and water-borne constituents into coastal waters, where these inflows may impact near-shore ecosystem health and sustainability. Multichannel electrical resistivity techniques have proven to be a powerful tool to examine scales and dynamics of SGD and SGD forcings. However, there are uncertainties both in data aquisition and data processing that must be addressed to maximize the effectiveness of this tool in estuarine or marine environments. These issues most often relate to discerning subtle nuances in the flow of electricity through variably saturated media that can also be highly conductive ( i.e., seawater). Three contrasting field sites were examined for this study to assess the effectiveness of electrical resistivity techniques in varying coastal settings by comparing resistivity data to direct salinity and resistivity observations, quantifying changes in lithology and beach geomorphology, and fine-tuning inversion protocols. The three study sites all have substantial (up to 85 cm day −1 ) submarine groundwater discharge rates, but the hydrologic, oceanographic, and geologic characteristics of the sites are all very different. At a site in Pelekane Bay on the Big Island of Hawaii, seasonal flooding introduces very high concentrations of fine to coarse sediment into the bay. Near-shore circulation is limited in Pelekane Bay, so this newly introduced sediment can become deposited in the bay where it accumulates over time. At a site in Hood Canal, a fjord within Puget Sound, Washington, SGD rates can be high because of the large tidal range, abundant recharge, and steep hydrologic gradients. At Younger Lagoon in northern California, the flow of groundwater towards the coast is much more parsimonious, but here marine processes, including recirculated seawater, are important in controlling the flow of material towards the coast. Rigorous ground-truthing at each field site showed that multi-channel electrcial resistivity techniques can reproduce the scales and dynamics of a seepage field when such data are correctly collected, and when the model inversions are tuned to field site characteristics. Such information can provide a unique perspective on the scales and dynamics of exchange processes within a coastal aquifer—information essential to scientists and resource managers alike.

California, Hawaii, Washington↗

USGS2018

Findings and lessons learned from the assessment of the Mexico-United States transboundary San Pedro and Santa Cruz aquifers: The utility of social science in applied hydrologic research

Study Region This study region encompasses the Transboundary San Pedro and Santa Cruz aquifers which are shared between the states of Sonora (Mexico) and Arizona (US). Special regional considerations include a semi-arid climate, basin-fill aquifers with predominantly montane recharge areas, economic drivers in the mining, trade, and military sectors, groundwater-dependent cities with expanding cones of depression, interbasin groundwater transfers, ground- and surface-water contamination, and protected aquatic and riparian habitats that act as significant migration corridors for hundreds of species, including some that are threatened and endangered. Study Focus We focus on lessons learned from the hydrologic assessment of the Transboundary San Pedro and Santa Cruz aquifers. We conducted the work, in two phases: (1) laying the groundwork and (2) implementation. The “laying the groundwork” phase consisted of binational meetings with stakeholders and key actors (agencies and individuals), and the development of an understanding of the physical, institutional, historical, and socio-political context. This led to signing of the binational Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program (TAAP) agreement in 2009 and detailed the process for cooperation and coordination in the assessment of shared aquifers. The implementation phase began with an agreement to proceed with the study of four “focus” aquifers (Santa Cruz, San Pedro, Mesilla (Conejos-Médanos in Mexico), and Hueco Bolson (Bolsón del Hueco in Mexico)) and development of associated technical teams. Though we do include a brief discussion of the lessons learned from the physical science portion of the study, the results have been described and published elsewhere. The bulk of the paper instead focuses on the findings and lessons learned from the integration of social-science perspectives into a largely physical-science based program, since there is a growing recognition of the need for this type of approach especially in the management and assessment of transboundary aquifers. New Hydrological Insights for the Region The Sonora-Arizona effort succeeded because both countries were adequately represented, and because of flexibility of skills and ability of teams comprising both university and government scientists. Teams included social and earth scientists. Including the social sciences was critical to research design and implementation, and to addressing the cultural, institutional, and socio-political contexts of transboundary aquifer assessment. Significant components of the continuing implementation phase include strategic planning, data compilation and analysis, cross-border integration of datasets, geophysical and geochemical surveys, and internal, peer, and stakeholder engagement.

Arizona, Sonora↗

USGS2003

Inferences on the hydrothermal system beneath the resurgent dome in Long Valley Caldera, east-central California, USA, from recent pumping tests and geochemical sampling

Quaternary volcanic unrest has provided heat for episodic hydrothermal circulation in the Long Valley caldera, including the present-day hydrothermal system, which has been active over the past 40 kyr. The most recent period of crustal unrest in this region of east-central California began around 1980 and has included periods of intense seismicity and ground deformation. Uplift totaling more than 0.7 m has been centered on the caldera's resurgent dome, and is best modeled by a near-vertical ellipsoidal source centered at depths of 6-7 km. Modeling of both deformation and microgravity data now suggests that (1) there are two inflation sources beneath the caldera, a shallower source 7-10 km beneath the resurgent dome and a deeper source ???15 km beneath the caldera's south moat and (2) the shallower source may contain components of magmatic brine and gas. The Long Valley Exploration Well (LVEW), completed in 1998 on the resurgent dome, penetrates to a depth of 3 km directly above this shallower source, but bottoms in a zone of 100??C fluid with zero vertical thermal gradient. Although these results preclude extrapolations of temperatures at depths below 3 km, other information obtained from flow tests and fluid sampling at this well indicates the presence of magmatic volatiles and fault-related permeability within the metamorphic basement rocks underlying the volcanic fill. In this paper, we present recently acquired data from LVEW and compare them with information from other drill holes and thermal springs in Long Valley to delineate the likely flow paths and fluid system properties under the resurgent dome. Additional information from mineralogical assemblages in core obtained from fracture zones in LVEW documents a previous period of more vigorous and energetic fluid circulation beneath the resurgent dome. Although this system apparently died off as a result of mineral deposition and cooling (and/or deepening) of magmatic heat sources, flow testing and tidal analyses of LVEW water level data show that relatively high permeability and strain sensitivity still exist in the steeply dipping principal fracture zone penetrated at a depth of 2.6 km. The hydraulic properties of this zone would allow a pressure change induced at distances of several kilometers below the well to be observable within a matter of days. This indicates that continuous fluid pressure monitoring in the well could provide direct evidence of future intrusions of magma or high-temperature fluids at depths of 5-7 km. ?? 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

California↗

USGS1997

Land cover mapping, fire regeneration, and scaling studies in the Canadian boreal forest with 1 km AVHRR and Landsat TM data

A multitemporal 1 km advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) land cover analysis approach was used as the basis for regional land cover mapping, fire disturbance-regeneration, and multiresolution land cover scaling studies in the boreal forest ecosystem of central Canada. The land cover classification was developed by using regional field observations from ground and low-level aircraft transits to analyze spectral-temporal clusters that were derived from an unsupervised cluster analysis of monthly normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) image composites (April-September 1992). Quantitative areal proportions of the major boreal forest components were determined for a 821 km ?? 619 km region, ranging from the southern grasslands-boreal forest ecotone to the northern boreal transitional forest. The boreal wetlands (mostly lowland black spruce, tamarack, mosses, fens, and bogs) occupied approximately 33% of the region, while lakes accounted for another 13%. Upland mixed coniferous-deciduous forests represented 23% of the ecosystem. A SW-NE productivity gradient across the region is manifested by three levels of tree stand density for both the boreal wetland conifer and the mixed forest classes, which are generally aligned with isopleths of regional growing degree days. Approximately 30% of the region was directly affected by fire disturbance within the preceding 30-35 years, especially in the Canadian Shield Zone where large fire-regeneration patterns contribute to the heterogeneous boreal landscape. Intercomparisons with land cover classifications derived from 30-m Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) data provided important insights into the relative accuracy of the 1 km AVHRR land cover classification. Primarily due to the multitemporal NDVI image compositing process, the 1 km AVHRR land cover classes have an effective spatial resolution in the 3-4 km range; therefore fens, bogs, small water bodies, and small patches of dry jack pine cannot be resolved within the wet conifer mosaic. Major differences in the 1-km AVHRR and 30-m Landsat TM-derived land cover classes are most likely due to differences in the spatial resolution of the data sets. In general, the 1 km AVHRR land cover classes are vegetation mosaics consisting of mixed combinations of the Landsat classes. Detailed mapping of the global boreal forest with this approach will benefit from algorithms for cloud screening and to atmospherically correct reflectance data for both aerosol and water vapor effects. We believe that this 1 km AVHRR land cover analysis provides new and useful information for regional water, energy, carbon, and trace gases studies in BOREAS, especially given the significant spatial variability in land cover type and associated biophysical land cover parameters (e.g., albedo, leaf area index, FPAR, and surface roughness). Multiresolution land cover comparisons (30 m, 1 km, and 100 km grid cells) also illustrated how heterogeneous landscape patterns are represented in land cover maps with differing spatial scales and provided insights on the requirements and challenges for parameterizing landscape heterogeneity as part of land surface process research.

Journal of Geophysical Research D: Atmospheres↗

USGS2008

Distribution and variability of redox zones controlling spatial variability of arsenic in the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer, southeastern Arkansas

Twenty one of 118 irrigation water wells in the shallow (25-30??m thick) Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer in the Bayou Bartholomew watershed, southeastern Arkansas had arsenic (As) concentrations (< 0.5 to 77????g/L) exceeding 10????g/L. Sediment and groundwater samples were collected and analyzed from the sites of the highest, median, and lowest concentrations of As in groundwater in the alluvial aquifers located at Jefferson County, Arkansas. A traditional five-step sequential extraction was performed to differentiate the exchangeable, carbonate, amorphous Fe and Mn oxide, organic, and hot HNO3-leachable fraction of As and other compounds in sediments. The Chao reagent (0.25??M hydroxylamine hydrochloride in 0.25??M HCl) removes amorphous Fe and Mn oxides and oxyhydroxides (present as coatings on grains and amorphous minerals) by reductive dissolution and is a measure of reducible Fe and Mn in sediments. The hot HNO3 extraction removes mostly crystalline metal oxides and all other labile forms of As. Significant total As (20%) is complexed with amorphous Fe and Mn oxides in sediments. Arsenic abundance is not significant in carbonates or organic matter. Significant (40-70????g/kg) exchangeable As is only present at shallow depth (0-1??m below ground surface). Arsenic is positively correlated to Fe extracted by Chao reagent (r = 0.83) and hot HNO3 (r = 0.85). Arsenic extracted by Chao reagent decreases significantly with depth as compared to As extracted by hot HNO3. Fe (II)/Fe (the ratio of Fe concentration in the extracts of Chao reagent and hot HNO3) is positively correlated (r = 0.76) to As extracted from Chao reagent. Although Fe (II)/Fe increases with depth, the relative abundance of reducible Fe decreases noticeably with depth. The amount of reducible Fe, as well as As complexed to amorphous Fe and Mn oxides and oxyhydroxides decreases with depth. Possible explanations for the decrease in reducible Fe and its complexed As with depth include historic flushing of As and Fe from hydrous ferric oxides (HFO) by microbially-mediated reductive dissolution and aging of HFO to crystalline phases. Hydrogeochemical data suggests that the groundwater in the area falls in the mildly reducing (suboxic) to relatively highly reducing (anoxic) zone, and points to reductive dissolution of HFO as the dominant As release mechanism. Spatial variability of gypsum solubility and simultaneous SO42- reduction with co-precipitation of As and sulfide is an important limiting process controlling the concentration of As in groundwater in the area. ?? 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Journal of Contaminant Hydrology↗

USGS2017

Life history and status of Shortnose Sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum LeSueur, 1818)

Shortnose Sturgeon = SNS (Acipenser brevirostrum) is a small diadromous species with most populations living in large Atlantic coast rivers and estuaries of North America from New Brunswick, Canada, to GA, USA. There are no naturally landlocked populations, so all populations require access to fresh water and salt water to complete a natural life cycle. The species is amphidromous with use of fresh water and salt water (the estuary) varied across the species range, a pattern that may reflect whether freshwater or saltwater habitats provide optimal foraging and growth conditions. Migration is a dominant behavior during life history, beginning when fish are hatchling free embryos (southern SNS) or larvae (northeastern and far northern SNS). Migration continues by juveniles and nonspawning adult life stages on an individual time schedule with fish moving between natal river and estuary to forage or seek refuge, and by spawning adults migrating to and from riverine spawning grounds. Coastal movements by adults throughout the range (but particularly in the Gulf of Maine = GOM and among southern rivers) suggest widespread foraging, refuge use, and widespread colonization of new rivers. Colonization may also be occurring in the Potomac River, MD–VA–DC (midAtlantic region). Genetic studies (mtDNA and nDNA) identified distinct individual river populations of SNS, and recent rangewide nDNA studies identified five distinct evolutionary lineages of SNS in the USA: a northern metapopulation in GOM rivers; the Connecticut River; the Hudson River; a Delaware River–Chesapeake Bay metapopulation; and a large southern metapopulation (SC rivers to Altamaha River, GA). The Saint John River, NB, Canada, in the Bay of Fundy (north of the GOM), is the sixth distinct genetic lineage within SNS. Life history information from telemetry tracking supports the genetic information documenting extensive movement of adults among rivers within the three metapopulations. However, individual river populations with spawning adults are still the best basal unit for management and recovery planning. The focus on individual river populations should be complemented with attention to migratory processes and corridors that foster metapopulation level risks and benefits. The species may be extirpated at the center of the range, i.e., the midAtlantic region (Chesapeake Bay, MD–VA, and probably, NC), but large rivers in VA, including the James and Potomac rivers, need study. The largest SNS populations in GOM and northeastern rivers, like the Kennebec, Hudson, and Delaware rivers, typically have tens of thousands of adults. This contrasts with southern rivers, where rivers typically have much fewer (<2500) adults, except for the Altamaha River (>6000 adults). River damming in the 19th and 20th Centuries extirpated some populations, and also, created two dysfunctional segmented populations: the Connecticut River SNS in CT–MA and the SanteeCooper rivers–Lake Marion SNS in SC. The major anthropogenic impact on SNS in marine waters is fisheries bycatch. The major impacts that determine annual recruitment success occur in freshwater firstly, where adult spawning migrations and spawning are blocked or spawning success is affected by river regulation and secondly, where poor survival of early life stages is caused by river dredging, pollution, and unregulated impingement/entrainment in water withdrawal facilities. Climate warming has the potential to reduce abundance or eliminate SNS in many rivers, particularly in the South. In 1998, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) recommended management of 19 rivers as distinct population segments (DPSs) based on strong fidelity to natal rivers. A Biological Assessment completed in 2010 reaffirmed this approach. NMFS has not formally listed DPSs under the ESA and the species remains listed as endangered rangewide in the USA.

Journal of Applied Ichthyology↗