SEARCH · USGS Science

Results for “Group Progress Report”

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

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

USGS1992

Toward digital geologic map standards: a progress report

Establishing modern scientific and technical standards for geologic maps and their derivative map products is vital to both producers and users of such maps as we move into an age of digital cartography. Application of earth-science data in complex geographic information systems, acceleration of geologic map production, and reduction of population costs require that national standards be developed for digital geologic cartography and computer analysis. Since December 1988, under commission of the Chief Geologic of the U.S. Geological Survey and the mandate of the National Geologic Mapping Program (with added representation from the Association of American State Geologists), a committee has been designing a comprehensive set of scientific map standards. Three primary issues were: (1) selecting scientific symbology and its digital representation; (2) creating an appropriate digital coding system that characterizes geologic features with respect to their physical properties, stratigraphic and structural relations, spatial orientation, and interpreted mode of origin; and (3) developing mechanisms for reporting levels of certainty for descriptive as well as measured properties. Approximately 650 symbols for geoscience maps, including present usage of the U.S Geological Survey, state geological surveys, industry, and academia have been identified and tentatively adopted. A proposed coding system comprises four-character groupings of major and minor codes that can identify all attributes of a geologic feature. Such a coding system allows unique identification of as many as 105 geologic names and values on a given map. The new standard will track closely the latest developments of the Proposed Standard for Digital Cartographic Data soon to be submitted to the National Institute of Standards and Technology by the Federal Interagency Coordinating Committee on Digital Cartography. This standard will adhere generally to the accepted definitions and specifications for spatial data transfer. It will require separate specifications of digital cartographic quality relating to positional accuracy and ranges of measured and interpreted values such as geologic age and rock composition. Provisional digital geologic map standards will be published for trial implementation. After approximately two years, when comments on the proposed standards have been solicited and modifications made, formal adoption of the standards will be recommended. Widespread acceptance of the new standards will depend on their applicability to the broadest range of earth-science map products and their adaptability to changing cartographic technology.

Conference Paper↗

USGS2022

Biology: Integrating core to essential variables (Bio-ICE) task team report for hard corals

The Interagency Ocean Observation Committee (IOOC) is chartered by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology (SOST). The purpose of the IOOC is to advise, assist, and make recommendations to the SOST on matters related to ocean observations via task teams such as the Biology - Integrating Core to Essential Variables (Bio-ICE) task team. The goal of the Bio-ICE task team is to advance the integration of biological observations from local, regional, and federal sources using best practices to inform national needs and ultimately feed seamlessly into the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), as appropriate. To accomplish this goal, and for the first time at the U.S. federal government level, a subgroup of the Bio-ICE task team focused on tropical, shallow-water (0-30 m) hard corals to identify commonalities between the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) core biological variable1 of “coral species and abundance,” the GOOS Essential Ocean Variable2 (EOV) “hard coral cover and composition,” the Group on Earth Observations Biological Observation Network (GEO BON) Essential Biodiversity Variables3 (EBVs), and the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) Essential Climate Variables4 (ECVs) (Figure 1). The EOV data allows production of EBVs such as time series of maps of genetic composition, species populations, etc. Recognizing the complementarity of the different essential variable frameworks helps to promote best practices in observing and information management to facilitate data interoperability (Figure 1). The task team was charged with identifying where there are synergies in terms of spatial and temporal observing requirements and existing observation infrastructure and data delivery, including best practices and standard operating procedures. The task team also made suggestions to improve pathways for data flow for observations of these variables from Regional Associations of the U.S. IOOS, other nonfederal partners, and federal sources. The focus of the task team was on identifying and implementing best practices surrounding standardized data collection and data delivery to make continued progress toward adhering to the Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reuse (FAIR) and Collective benefit, Authority to control, Responsibility, and Ethics (CARE) data principles.

Task Team Report↗

USGS2019

PaCTS 1.0: A crowdsourced reporting standard for paleoclimate data

The progress of science is tied to the standardization of measurements, instruments, and data. This is especially true in the Big Data age, where analyzing large data volumes critically hinges on that data being standardized. Accordingly, the lack of community-sanctioned data standards in paleoclimatology has largely precluded the benefits of Big Data advances in the field. Building upon recent efforts to standardize the format and terminology of paleoclimate data, this article describes the Paleoclimate Community reporTing Standard (PaCTS), a crowdsourced reporting standard for such data. PaCTS captures which information should be included when reporting paleoclimate data, with the goal of maximizing the re-use value of paleoclimate datasets, particularly for synthesis work and comparison to climate model simulations. Initiated by the LinkedEarth project, this standard elicitation process involved an international workshop in 2016, various forms of digital community engagement over the next few years, and grassroots working groups. Participants in this process identified important properties across paleoclimate archives, in addition to the reporting of uncertainties and chronologies; they also identified archive-specific properties and distinguished reporting standards for new vs. legacy datasets. This work shows that at least 135 respondents overwhelmingly support a drastic increase in the amount of metadata accompanying paleoclimate datasets. Since such goals are at odds with present practices, we discuss a transparent path towards implementing or revising these recommendations in the near future, using both bottom-up and top-down approaches.

Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology↗

USGS1995

Population biology of the Florida manatee: An overview

In the following overview we discuss progress toward meeting the three objectives of the 1992 workshop: to provide a synthesis of existing information about manatee population biology; to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of current data sets and approaches to research on manatee population biology; and to provide recommendations for research. We discuss progress in six topics that were assigned to working groups at the workshop: aerial survey and estimation of population size, reproduction, age structure, mortality, photoidentification and estimation of survival, and integration and modeling of population data. The overview includes recommendations by working group participants (*2 0'Shea et al. 1992). This workshop on manatee population biology was the most recent conference on the topic since 1978 (*BrowneIl and Rails 1981). Partly as a result of recommendations made at the 1978 workshop, several long-term population-related research projects were established. Therefore, we also measure progress in relation to knowledge available at the time of the earlier workshop. Finally, we provide a brief synopsis of pertinent new information on manatee population biology that became available between the 1992 workshop and publication of the proceedings and our conclusions about the status of the Florida manatee.

Information and Technology Report↗

USGS1989

Humic substances in the Suwannee River, Georgia; interactions, properties, and proposed structures

Humic substances as a collective term and humic and fulvic acids as specific terms are not household words. For about a century, these terms belonged to the domain of the soil scientist. Even^though their chemical structures remained elusive, they were recognized as important entities in soil. During the past decade or so, there has been a renewed interest in humic substances in soil and water. Such interest has been the result of improved analytical instrumentation, and by a need to understand the structure and function of natural organic substances in water. A responsibility of the U.S. Geological Survey is to assess the Nation's water resources; this includes water quality, which is the study of material in water. Such material may be suspended, colloidal, or in true solution. Because humic substances are a major carbon source in water, they have received attention by Geological Survey scientists. This attention has been a major focus by members of the Geological Survey's organic-chemistry group. For more than a decade, this group has collected samples, made analyses, and worked toward determining the structures and function of humic substances in water. Their work has brought worldwide recognition to the field, and in 1981, through Geological Survey support, they helped organize the International Humic Substances Society, which held its first meeting in Estes Park, Colorado, in August 1983. At the second meeting of the Society in Birmingham, England, in August 1984, it became apparent that Geological Survey scientists were rapidly advancing the study of the chemistry of humic substances. It seemed appropriate, therefore, to publish this Open-File report on humic and fulvic acids from the Suwannee River in Georgia. The results represent our most definitive findings to date (1986). Though this work is not conclusive, it is state-of-the-science. Hopefully, our reporting on this work will aid in moving the science of humic substances forward as others read of our progress, findings, and theories. If so, this Open-File report will have served its purpose.

Georgia↗

USGS1972

Progress report: Apollo 16 sample documentation

This report is intended as a working document for use during the opening of the Apollo 16 sample containers and during the early phases of examination of the samples in the Lunar Receiving Laboratory (LRL). The information in this report was drawn from voice transcripts of the astronaut crew while on the lunar surface, from video tapes of lunar surface television, and from a "quick-look" at the returned 60 mm Hasselblad photographs. The planimetric station maps were compiled almost entirely from the television tapes. A thorough review of all data, plus a comparison of the rocks shown in the photographs with those in the LRL, should eliminate any errors or discrepancies. A major purpose of this document is, in fact, to point up gaps in our present knowledge of sample location, orientation, and documentation. This report will be superseded by a more accurate and complete report about two weeks hence. All sample numbers in the illustrations refer to container numbers. Those that have LRL numbers assigned as of this date are cross-referenced in table 1. The illustrations are grouped in order of ascending station numbers (fig. 1), and where possible are shown in order of ascending container numbers for each station. Table 1 also refers container numbers to pane numbers of this report.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2012

West-east lithostratigraphic cross section of Cretaceous rocks from central Utah to western Kansas

A west-east lithostratigraphic cross section of the Cretaceous rocks from central Utah to western Kansas was prepared as part of the former Western Interior Cretaceous (WIK) project, which was part of the Global Sedimentary Geology Program started in 1989. This transect is similar to that published by Dyman and others (1994) as a summary paper of the WIK project but extends further east and is more detailed. Stratigraphic control was provided by 32 geophysical logs and measured sections tied to ammonite and Inoceramus faunal zones. A variable datum was used, including the base of the Castlegate Sandstone for the western part of the section, and the fossil ammonite zone Baculites obtusus for the middle and eastern section. Lower Cretaceous units and the Frontier Formation and Mowry Shale are shown as undifferentiated units. Cretaceous strata along the transect range in thickness from more than 7,000 ft in the structural foredeep of the western overthrust belt in central Utah, to about 11,000 ft near the Colorado-Utah border as a result of considerable thickening of the Mesaverde Group, to less than 3,500 ft in the eastern Denver Basin, Kansas resulting in a condensed section. The basal Mancos Shale rises stepwise across the transect becoming progressively younger to the west as the Western Interior Seaway transgressed westward. The section illustrates large scale stratigraphic relations for most of the area covered by the seaway, from central Utah, Colorado, to west-central Kansas. These strata are predominantly continental and shoreline deposits near the Sevier thrust belt in Utah, prograding and regressive shorelines to the east with associated flooding surfaces, downlapping mudstones, and transgressive parasequences (shoreface) that correlate to condensed zones across the seaway in central Colorado and eastern Denver Basin.

Colorado;Kansas;Utah↗

USGS2021

Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group monitoring and adaptive management strategy (LA TIG MAM Strategy)

The purpose of the Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group (LA TIG) Monitoring and Adaptive Management (MAM) Strategy is to outline an approach for the LA TIG to prioritize MAM activities in Louisiana for effective and efficient evaluation of the restoration of resources injured by the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill. Working from the Restoration Goals and Restoration Approaches outlined in the Programmatic Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan (PDARP), the LA TIG developed High Level Objectives specific for Louisiana-designated Restoration Types. Fundamental Objectives were then developed for each High Level Objective to specify key natural resource processes specific to Louisiana. For each Fundamental Objective, a framework of Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, appropriate Timeline (SMART) Objectives was developed to assess progress towards attaining PDARP Restoration Goals.

Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas↗

USGS2003

Digital mapping techniques '03 - Workshop proceedings

The Digital Mapping Techniques '03 (DMT'03) workshop was attended by nearly 90 technical experts from 36 agencies, universities, and private companies, including representatives from 22 state geological surveys (see Appendix A). Although the meeting was slightly smaller than DMT'02 it was, considering the budget deficits in nearly all 50 states, very well attended. This workshop was similar in nature to the previous six meetings, held in Lawrence, Kansas (Soller, 1997), in Champaign, Illinois (Soller, 1998), in Madison, Wisconsin (Soller, 1999), in Lexington, Kentucky (Soller, 2000), in Tuscaloosa, Alabama (Soller, 2001), and in Salt Lake City, Utah (Soller, 2002). This year's meeting was hosted by the Pennsylvania Geological Survey, from June 1-4, 2003, on the Millersville University campus in Millersville, Pennsylvania. As in the previous meetings, the objective was to foster informal discussion and exchange of technical information. This objective was well met, as attendees continued to share and exchange knowledge and information, and to renew friendships and collegial work begun at past DMT workshops. All the DMT workshops have been coordinated by the Association of American State Geologists (AASG) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Data Capture Working Group, which was formed in August 1996, to support the AASG and the USGS in their effort to build a National Geologic Map Database (see Soller and Berg, this volume, and <http://ncgmp.usgs.gov/ngmdbproject/ standards/datacapt/>). The Working Group was formed because increased production efficiencies, standardization, and quality of digital map products were needed for the database— and the State and Federal geological surveys—to provide more high-quality digital maps to the public. At the 2003 meeting, oral and poster presentations and special discussion sessions emphasized 1) methods for creating and publishing map products (here, "publishing" includes Web-based release); 2) digital cartographic techniques, 3) analytical GIS techniques; 4) continued development of the National Geologic Map Database; 5) progress toward building and implementing a standard geologic map data model and standard science language, and 6) the need to archive both the published products and the data and observational data that support it.

Open-File Report↗

USGS1979

Summary appraisals of the nation's ground-water resources – Lower Mississippi region

The Lower Mississippi Region comprises an area of 102,400 square miles (265,200 square kilometers). Almost all this area is in the physiographic province known as the Gulf Coastal Plain. Three small areas on the northwest boundary of the region are in the Interior Highlands. The Lower Mississippi Region has an abundance of ground water. The geologic structure in that part of the region within the Coastal Plain is an elongated trough which has been filled with permeable materials, resulting in vast subsurface reservoirs. Except in local areas where continued large withdrawals have caused significant water-level declines, these reservoirs are full. Recharge to the region's aquifers is primarily from rainfall. Annual rainfall in most of the region is well distributed throughout the year and is sufficient to satisfy evapotranspiration requirements and still provide recharge to the aquifers. An estimated 844 billion cubic feet (24 billion cubic meters) of fresh ground water is available for withdrawal annually in the region. Only about one-third of this quantity is being utilized. Therefore, on this basis alone, the region still has much potential for ground-water development. The Coastal Plain aquifers within the Lower Mississippi Region contain large reserves of saltwater in the downdip limits of the aquifers. The quantity of saltwater in the region is several times that of freshwater. As desalinization techniques are developed and as more uses are found for saltwater, this reserve could become an important source of water for the region. At present (1976), the most productive and potentially productive aquifers or aquifer systems in the region are the Mississippi River valley alluvial aquifer of Quaternary age and the Sparta Sand and the Memphis aquifer (Memphis Sand in Tennessee) of Tertiary age. The Sparta Sand and the Memphis aquifer are heavily utilized and have shown significant water-level declines. However, selected well hydrographs indicate that water levels may be stabilizing under present pumping conditions. The Mississippi River valley alluvial aquifer is the most extensive high-yielding aquifer in the region; yields of several thousand gallons per minute may be obtained at depths of less than 200 feet (61 meters). To obtain maximum benefit from the vast quantities of ground water in the region, adequate attention must be given to the effects of proposed development upon the ground-water regime. Knowledge of the geologic structure and hydraulic properties of the aquifer systems is essential to an evaluation of the effects of such development. Some studies have been made in sufficient detail to provide this knowledge, but additional studies are needed. Activities that could cause significant changes in the groundwater regime should be undertaken only after all available information has been considered. Failure to seek out and use such information may result in inefficient development of the groundwater resource and, in some instances, degradation of the quality of the resource. Some changes always result from ground-water development. The possible changes can be grouped into three categories: hydraulic, water quality, and those affecting the physical framework of the aquifers. Generally, they are small in magnitude and areal extent. Because these changes occur below the ground surface, they are unknown to the ground-water user unless they noticeably affect the quantity or quality of water produced or cause obvious physical effects, such as land subsidence. Great advances have been made in hydrologic technology in recent years. Predictive models have been developed that make it possible for the hydroiogist to simulate aquifer responses to proposed development or other stresses. These models would be invaluable tools in progressive water-resources planning and management.

Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missou↗

USGS1999

Digital mapping techniques '99 -- workshop proceedings

The Digital Mapping Techniques '99 (DMT'99) workshop was attended by 91 technical experts from 42 agencies, universities, and private companies, including representatives from 30 state geological surveys (see Appendix A ). This workshop was similar in nature to the first two meetings, held in June, 1997, in Lawrence, Kansas (Soller, 1997), and in May, 1998, in Champaign, Illinois (Soller, 1998a). This year's meeting was hosted by the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, from May 19 to 22, 1999, on the University of Wisconsin campus in Madison. As in the previous meetings, the objective was to foster informal discussion and exchange of technical information. When, based on discussions at the workshop, an attendee adopts or modifies a newly learned technique, the workshop clearly has met that objective. Evidence of learning and cooperation among participating agencies continued to be a highlight of the DMT workshops (see example in Soller, 1998b, and various papers in this volume). The meeting's general goal was to help move the state geological surveys and the USGS toward development of more cost-effective, flexible, and useful systems for digital mapping and geographic information systems (GIS) analysis. Through oral and poster presentations and special discussion sessions, emphasis was given to: 1) methods for creating and publishing map products (here, ìpublishingî includes Web-based release); 2) continued development of the National Geologic Map Database; and 3) progress toward building a standard geologic map data model. Especially to support the interest in map preparation and publication, five representatives of the GIS hardware and software vendor community were invited to participate. The three annual DMT workshops were coordinated by the AASG/USGS Data Capture Working Group, which was formed in August, 1996, to support the Association of American State Geologists and the USGS in their effort to build a National Geologic Map Database (see Soller and Berg, this volume, and http://ncgmp.usgs.gov/ngmdbproject/standards/datacapt/datacaptureWG.html ). The Working Group was formed because increased production efficiencies, standardization, and quality of digital map products were needed to help the Database, and the State and Federal geological surveys, provide more high-quality digital maps to the public.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2014

Report of Committee on Runoff—1944–1945

The membership of the committee has been selected to afford good representation of geographic sections and of organizations engaged in runoff research. Some new members were added during the year in order to strengthen the representation of the committee in certain phases of runoff research. Norbert H. Leupold submitted his resignation in April because his work is no longer directly related to runoff‐research. At the beginning of the year members of the committee met to discuss its setup and plans for the future. The committee has two subcommittees, one dealing with floods and the other with subsurface‐flow. The question was considered whether progress might be facilitated by the addition of one or more additional committees dealing with logical classifications of the subject of runoff. The confusion in nomenclature and terminology relating to runoff was discussed,but it was thought that the present time was not fitting for comprehensive consideration of standardization. It was considered important that the writer of a paper dealing with runoff should make clear the usage of terms he follows In his paper. It was emphasized that there is still an important need for better understanding or liaison between groups dealing with the influence of land use on stream‐flow and those dealing with control and development of streams.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗

USGS2014

Impact of stressors on transmission potential of Renibacterium salmoninarum in Chinook salmon

Renibacterium salmoninarum is the causative agent of bacterial kidney disease (BKD) affecting several species of Pacific salmon. The severity of BKD can range from a chronic infection to overt disease with high mortality as in the case of large losses of adult Chinook salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ) in the Great Lakes during late 1980s. The goal of this study was to empirically evaluate how environmental stressors relevant to the Great Lakes impact R. salmoninarum disease progression and bacterial shedding, the latter parameter being a proxy of horizontal transmission. In the first study (Aim 1), we focused on how endogenous host thiamine levels and dietary fatty acids impacted resistance of Chinook salmon to R. salmoninarum . Juvenile fish were fed one of four experimental diets, including a (1) thiamine replete diet formulated with fish oil, (2) thiamine deplete diet formulated with fish oil, (3) thiamine replete diet formulated with soybean oil, and (4) thiamine deplete diet formulated with soybean oil, before being challenged with buffer or R. salmoninarum . We observed significantly higher mortality in the R. salmoninarum infected groups relative to the corresponding mock controls in only the thiamine replete diet groups. We also observed a significant effect of time and diet on kidney bacterial load and bacterial shedding, with a significant trend towards higher shedding and bacterial load in the fish oil – thiamine replete diet group. However, during the course of the study, unexpected mortality occurred in all groups attributed to the myxozoan parasite Ceratomyxa shasta . Since the fish were dually-infected with C. shasta , we evaluated parasite DNA levels (parasitic load) in the kidney of sampled fish. We found that parasite load varied across time points but there was no significant effect of diet. However, parasite load did differ significantly between the mock and R. salmoninarum challenge groups with a trend towards longer persistence of C. shasta DNA in fish dually-infected with R. salmoninarum . Overall, results in Aim 1 indicated: 1) that the experimental diets impacted bacterial but not parasitic infection patterns, 2) that low thiamine levels may reduce the severity of R. salmoninarum infection, and 3) that fish infected with R. salmoninarum may be less able to clear a secondary infection with a parasite. The second study (Aim 2) focused on the role that temperature plays in the progression of BKD from the asymptomatic infected state to a diseased state. Lake Michigan Chinook salmon were infected with R. salmoninarum at a common intermediate water temperature and, at 2 weeks post-infection, were split into three temperature groups (cool, intermediate and warm). Fish held at the cool temperature (8°C) had significantly greater mortality following challenge, significantly higher levels of bacteria in the kidney, and shed significantly greater amounts of bacteria into the water relative to fish held at the intermediate (12°C) and warm (15°C) temperatures. Thus, our results support the hypothesis that, for BKD, warm temperature stress does not contribute to greater disease progression and increased bacterial shedding. Our laboratory results are consistent with field epidemiological observations that BKD mortality in the Great Lakes is commonly associated with declining water temperatures in the fall or when water temperatures begin to increase but are still cool after over-wintering.

Report↗

USGS2000

Digital mapping techniques '00, workshop proceedings - May 17-20, 2000, Lexington, Kentucky

Introduction: The Digital Mapping Techniques '00 (DMT'00) workshop was attended by 99 technical experts from 42 agencies, universities, and private companies, including representatives from 28 state geological surveys (see Appendix A). This workshop was similar in nature to the first three meetings, held in June, 1997, in Lawrence, Kansas (Soller, 1997), in May, 1998, in Champaign, Illinois (Soller, 1998a), and in May, 1999, in Madison, Wisconsin (Soller, 1999). This year's meeting was hosted by the Kentucky Geological Survey, from May 17 to 20, 2000, on the University of Kentucky campus in Lexington. As in the previous meetings, the objective was to foster informal discussion and exchange of technical information. When, based on discussions at the workshop, an attendee adopts or modifies a newly learned technique, the workshop clearly has met that objective. Evidence of learning and cooperation among participating agencies continued to be a highlight of the DMT workshops (see example in Soller, 1998b, and various papers in this volume). The meeting's general goal was to help move the state geological surveys and the USGS toward development of more cost-effective, flexible, and useful systems for digital mapping and geographic information systems (GIS) analysis. Through oral and poster presentations and special discussion sessions, emphasis was given to: 1) methods for creating and publishing map products (here, 'publishing' includes Web-based release); 2) continued development of the National Geologic Map Database; 3) progress toward building a standard geologic map data model; 4) field data-collection systems; and 5) map citation and authorship guidelines. Four representatives of the GIS hardware and software vendor community were invited to participate. The four annual DMT workshops were coordinated by the AASG/USGS Data Capture Working Group, which was formed in August, 1996, to support the Association of American State Geologists and the USGS in their effort to build a National Geologic Map Database (see Soller and Berg, this volume, and http://ncgmp.usgs.gov/ngmdbproject/standards/datacapt/). The Working Group was formed because increased production efficiencies, standardization, and quality of digital map products were needed to help the Database, and the State and Federal geological surveys, provide more high-quality digital maps to the public.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2015

Field Manual of Wildlife Diseases

Welcome to a new version of the “Field Manual of Wildlife Diseases.” Unlike the previous printed versions of this publication, this new version is being developed as a “living“ electronic publication. Content will periodically be added and (or) updated as warranted, and it will always be reviewed by scientific experts (“peer reviewed”) before it is released. Thus, this publication will never be completed, and readers should download revised versions of specific chapters, glossaries, and the appendixes whenever they visit the publication Web site. The purpose of this manual is to provide information that will enhance the ecological understanding and comfort level of nonspecialists so that they can address various aspects of wildlife disease within the context of wildlife conservation and management. Other readers, from students to science professionals, may also find the information presented to be of interest and value. Constructive suggestions from readers will help guide adjustments as this project progresses. We begin this new manual with introductory contextual and historical background about the convergence of wildlife disease with wildlife management as a wildlife conservation concern (section A, chap. 1). The remainder of the publication is focused on pragmatic information and considerations for addressing various aspects of wildlife disease. Section B focuses on concepts associated with disease surveillance and response to outbreaks, and section C deals with specific techniques for disease surveillance and investigation. Section D, “Diseases of Wild Birds,” and others that follow will address diseases of concern in various species groups. Electronic links facilitate timely access to a wide variety of supplemental information and processes relevant to content in this new version of the “Field Manual of Wildlife Diseases.”

Techniques and Methods↗

USGS1882

Tertiary history of the Grand Canon District, with atlas

This work is chiefly devoted to a description of the methods and results of EROSION upon a grand scale. Since erosion depends for its efficiency principally upon the progressive elevation of a region, and upon its climatal conditions, these collateral subjects are also discussed in their relations to the principal theme. And in general such an erosion influences and is in turn influenced by the whole train of phenomena of which physical geology takes account. I have endeavored to show in what manner and to what extent the most important of these events and groups of events are correlated. In the analysis and synthesis of these processes may be found the materials for reconstructing the history of the evolution of the physical features of the region. This history is indeed but an outline, but in it appear many things which would not readily be discerned without such a comparison.

Arizona, Utah↗

USGS1979

Forest and flooding with special reference to the White River and Ouachita River basins, Arkansas

The observed response of trees to hydrologic stress and distribution of trees in relation to habitat indicate that flooding, ground-water level, soil moisture, soil factors, and drainage characteristics exert a strong influence on bottomland forest species distribution. The dominant hydrologic factor influencing the distribution of bottomland tree species is flooding. Individual tree species are distributed as a function of frequency and duration of flooding. In the lower White and Ouachita River basins, the flood plains consist of a series of terraces, progressively higher terraces having less frequent flooding and less duration of flooding, and a significantly different composition of forest tree species. The sites studied can be divided into four basic groups and several subgroups on the basis of flood characteristics. On Group I (water hickory-overcup oak) sites, flooded near annually 32 to 40 percent of the time, the dominant species are water hickory and overcup oak. On Group II (nuttall oak) sites, flooded near annually 10 to 21 percent of the time, a more varied flora exists including nuttall oak, willow oak, sweetgum, southern hackberry, and American elm. The third group (Group III or shagbark hickory-southern red oak) of sites is flooded at intervals from 2 to 12 years. This group includes southern red oak, shagbark hickory, and black gum. The presence of blackjack oak in addition to Group III species marks Group IV (not flooded in historic time). (Kosco-USGS)

Arkansas↗

USGS1977

Interpretation of discordant 40Ar/39Ar age-spectra of mesozoic tholeiites from Antarctica

Conventional K-Ar ages of tholeiitic basalts of the Ferrar Group in the central Transantarctic Mountains indicate significant loss of radiogenic 40 Ar from this unit over much of its outcrop area. Argon loss varies inversely with amount of devitrified matrix in the basalts, which have not been thermally or tectonically disturbed since extrusion. 40 Ar/ 19 Ar age-spectra of these tholeiites are generally discordant and indicate significant inhomogeneity in the distribution of radiogenic 40 Ar with respect to 39 Ar, but are distinctly different from release patterns of thermally disturbed samples. Amounts of argon redistribution vary directly with amounts of devitrification and are reflected in progressive modification of the age spectra. A model of redistribution of radiogenic 40 Ar by devitrification of originally glassy matrix is suggested that is consistent with disturbance of the conventional K-Ar systematics as well as the 40 Ar/ 39 Ar age-spectra. Samples with substantial redistribution but minor loss of radiogenic argon yield age spectra whose apparent ages decrease from low-temperature to high-temperature steps, similar to those reported for some lunar basalts, breccias, and soils. Modification of all the age spectra is attributed to redistribution of radiogenic 40 Ar during progressive devitrification, although 39 Ar-recoil effects suggested by Turner and Cadogan (1974) may be a factor in some cases. Where devitrification involves most potassium sites within the basalt, 40 Ar/ 39 Ar age-plateaux may be formed that have no geologic significance.

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta↗