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At least 1,243 records · Page 69Linked to original sources
USGS1998

Geology, ground-water flow, and dissolved-solids concentrations in ground water along hydrogeologic sections through Wisconsin aquifers

A cooperative project between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) was begun with the objectives of describing water quality and its relation to the hydrology of Wisconsin's principal aquifers and summarizing instances of ground-water contamination and quality problems from information available in DNR files. The first objective was met by a hydrologic investigation done by the USGS, and the second, by preparation of a report by the DNR, for their internal use, that describes the State's water resources and known ground-water quality and contamination problems and makes policy recommendations for ground-water management. The USGS investigation was divided into two phases. The first phase consisted of compiling available water-quality and hydrogeologic data and collecting new data to describe general regional water-quality and hydrogeologic relations within and between Wisconsin aquifers. The second phase began concurrently with the later part of the first phase and consisted of an areal description of water quality and flow in the State's shallow aquifer system (Kammerer, 1995). The overall purpose of this investigation was to provide a regional framework that could serve as a basis for intensive local and site specific ground-water investigations by State and local government agencies. This report presents the results of the first phase of the USGS investigation. Regional hydrogeologic and water-quality relations within and between aquifers are shown along 15 hydrogeologic sections that traverse the State. Maps are used to show surficial geology of bedrock and unconsolidated deposits and horizontal direction of ground-water flow. Interpretations on the maps and hydrogeologic sections are based on data from a variety of sources and provide the basis for the areal appraisal of water quality in the State's shallow aquifer system in the second phase of the investigation.

Wisconsin↗
USGS2024

Analysis of water use associated with hydraulic fracturing and determination of baseline water quality in watersheds within the shale play of eastern Ohio, 2021–23

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, performed a two-part study to (1) assess water use and temporal trends and changes in streamflow, and to (2) characterize 2021–23 baseline water quality, as they relate to oil and gas extraction activities in selected eastern Ohio watersheds. Between calendar years 2010 and 2019, hydraulic fracturing water withdrawals totaling about 27,168 million gallons were reported at 643 locations in Ohio. In 2021, wells developed with hydraulic fracturing were the source of most of the oil and gas produced in Ohio. Daily streamflow time-series data from seven study gages and two reference gages were used to assess temporal trends and changes in streamflow. The study gages were in basins with reported water withdrawals for hydraulic fracturing. The reference gages, which have long periods of record and were subject to minimal streamflow regulation, were in nearby basins with no hydraulic fracturing water withdrawals. Trend slopes for the period of record annual minimum and median daily streamflows and for annual daily streamflow nonexceedance probabilities less than 0.9 were all uniformly positive at the study and reference gages. This trend indicates a consistently increasing pattern over the periods of record, except for high flows. In addition, analyses of annual streamflow statistics showed no general indication that low flows or extreme low flows at the reference or study gages have lowered, become more frequent, or lengthened in duration since 2010, when records for hydraulic fracturing water withdrawals began in Ohio. In fact, in almost all cases, the opposite was indicated. Nonexceedance percentiles of daily streamflows were compared between the full and pre-2012 periods of record for reference and study gages. The streamflows associated with nonexceedance percentiles in the lower quartile of daily streamflows determined for the full period of record were larger than or equal to those determined for the pre-2012 period of record for all study and reference gages. This indicates that low flows did not decrease during the post-2011 period of record when water was withdrawn for hydraulic fracturing. Water-quality data were collected eight times at each of eight sampling sites (six of which were colocated with the study gages). Sampling was done during a variety of flow conditions to assess baseline water quality. In 2021, the 8 sampling sites had drainage basins that were wholly or partially within 7 of the 10 most active counties in Ohio for oil and gas development. As part of the record of baseline conditions, water-quality data were used to assess (1) water types based on major-ion chemistry; (2) sources of salinity to streams; (3) exceedances of aquatic life use criteria; and (4) the correlations between water chemistry and drainage-basin characteristics, such as density of oil and gas wells, density of wastewater treatment plants, or the percentage of different types of land cover (agriculture, developed, forest). Seven of the water-quality sampling sites were designated as coal-mine impacted based on criteria developed for assessing mine-drainage impacts in Ohio. Mine drainage from historical coal mining in the region likely affected the quality of these streams and complicated the use of some constituents typically used as indicators of oil and gas influence. Based on major-ion chemistry, three main types of water were in the study area―sulfate (three sites), calcium-bicarbonate (one site), and mixed bicarbonate-chloride (four sites) type waters. One site had samples with a higher proportion of sodium and chloride ions than other stream samples, indicating potential contamination with oil-field brine or road salt. Binary mixing curves revealed that 11 samples from 4 of the sampling sites likely contained a component of brine. The results of the baseline assessment of surface-water quality in the study area showed no exceedances of Ohio Environmental Protection Agency aquatic life use criteria. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients indicated no significant positive correlations with the density of vertical or horizontal oil and gas wells.

Ohio↗
USGS2013

Emergent wetlands status and trends in the northern Gulf of Mexico: 1950-2010

Throughout the past century, emergent wetlands have been declining across the Gulf of Mexico. Emergent wetland ecosystems provide many resources, including plant and wildlife habitat, commercial and recreational economic activity, water quality, and natural barriers against storms. As emergent wetland losses increase, so does the need for information on the causes and effects of this loss; emergent wetland mapping, monitoring and restoration efforts; and education. The Emergent Wetlands Status and Trends in the Northern Gulf of Mexico: 1950-2010 report provides scientists, managers, and citizens with valuable baseline information on the background, current status, and historical trends of estuarine and palustrine emergent wetlands along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, causes of status change, emergent wetlands mapping and monitoring, and restoration and enhancement activities. This presentation examines emergent wetlands in six individual estuarine areas, including Corpus Christi/Nueces/Aransas Bays and Galveston Bay in Texas; Mississippi Sound in Mississippi; Mobile Bay in Alabama; and the Florida Panhandle and Tampa Bay in Florida.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2024

Peak streamflow trends in South Dakota and their relation to changes in climate, water years 1921–2020

Peak-flow (flood) frequency analysis is essential to water-resources management applications, including the design of critical infrastructure such as bridges and culverts, and floodplain mapping. Federal guidelines for performing peak-flow flood frequency analyses are presented in a U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods Report known as Bulletin 17C. A basic assumption within Bulletin 17C, which documents the guidelines for determining annual peak streamflow frequency, is that, for basins without major hydrologic alterations (for example, regulation, diversion, and urbanization), statistical properties of the distribution of annual peak streamflows are stationary; that is, the mean, variance, and skew are constant through time. Nonstationarity is a statistical property of a peak-flow series such that the long-term (on the order of decades) distributional properties change one or more times either gradually or abruptly through time. Individual nonstationarities may be attributed to one source such as flow regulation, land-use change, or climate but are often the result of a combination of sources, making detection and attribution of nonstationarities challenging. In response to a growing concern regarding nonstationarity in peak streamflows in the region, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Departments of Transportation of Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation; and the North Dakota Department of Water Resources, assessed the potential nonstationarity in peak streamflows in the north-central United States. This chapter characterizes the effects of natural hydroclimatic shifts and potential climate change on annual peak streamflows in the State of South Dakota. Annual peak and daily streamflow as well as model-simulated gridded climatic data were examined for temporal monotonic trends, change points, and other statistical properties indicative of changing climatic and environmental conditions. Changes in annual peak and daily flows were evaluated among 13, 35, and 81 qualifying U.S. Geological Survey streamgages for the 75-, 50-, and 30-year trend periods through water year 2020 (the period from October 1, 2019, to September 30, 2020) in South Dakota, respectively. No qualifying streamgages were in the 100-year trend period in the State. Statistical tests for autocorrelation (independent and identically distributed assumption), monotonic trends, and change points in the median and scale are analyzed to evaluate potential stationarity violations (nonstationarity) for performing at-site peak-flow flood-frequency analysis. The trends are reported using a likelihood approach as an alternative to simply reporting significant trends with an arbitrary p -value cutoff point. A distinct east-west spatial pattern of likely upward and downward monotonic trends and change points, respectively, was detected in 75- and 50-year trend periods, but an inconsistent spatial pattern was detected in the 30-year trend period. Additionally, change points in the median annual peak streamflows were detected in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the western part of the State, but in the east, the change point was more commonly detected in 1992–93. A similar east-west spatial pattern of likely upward and downward trends was detected in the annual peak-flow timing, the day of the year of the annal peak streamflow. In the western part of the State, the annual peak streamflows are arriving earlier, but in the east, the annual peak streamflows are arriving later. A peaks-over-threshold (POT) analysis where, on average, there are two events per year (POT2) and four events per year (POT4) was also used to evaluate changes in the frequency (count) of daily streamflows exceeding the threshold. Similar to detected changes in the annual peak streamflow, an east-west likely upward or downward change corresponding to an increase or decrease, respectively, in the frequency of daily streamflow greater than a POT2 and POT4 threshold was detected. A monthly water-balance model was used to evaluate hydroclimatic variation in annual and seasonal precipitation, snowfall, potential evapotranspiration, and soil moisture storage for all qualifying streamgages in the 75-, 50-, and 30-year trend periods. Detected trends in the annual hydroclimatic metrics for the 75- and 50-year trend periods indicate a spatially consistent statewide increase in precipitation, decrease in snowfall, increase in potential evapotranspiration, and increase in soil moisture storage. Furthermore, detected trends in seasonal precipitation in the 75- and 50-year trend periods highlight a pronounced change in precipitation in winter and later into the summer season, especially in the 50-year trend period in the eastern part of the State. Statewide increases in seasonal soil moisture storage were also detected, highlighting year-round increasing flood magnitudes, particularly in the eastern part of the State. Based on the results of these stationarity tests for the qualifying streamgages in South Dakota among the 75-, 50-, and 30-year trend periods, consistent temporal and spatial patterns of nonstationarity were detected among the 75- and 50-year trend periods. Furthermore, when nonstationarity is detected in daily streamflow, increased streamflow and volume (increasing frequency in POT), as well as potentially bridge scour, may have implications on culvert and highway design in the eastern part of South Dakota. Thus, when performing at-site peak-flow flood-frequency analyses in South Dakota, potential nonstationarities and alternative approaches are important considerations.

South Dakota↗
USGS2012

U.S. Geological Survey, National Wildlife Health Center, 2011 report of selected wildlife diseases

The National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) was founded in 1975 to provide technical assistance in identifying, controlling, and preventing wildlife losses from diseases, conduct research to understand the impact of diseases on wildlife populations, and devise methods to more effectively manage these disease threats. The impetus behind the creation of the NWHC was, in part, the catastrophic loss of tens of thousands of waterfowl as a result of an outbreak of duck plague at the Lake Andes National Wildlife Refuge in South Dakota during January 1973. In 1996, the NWHC, along with other Department of Interior research functions, was transferred from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), where we remain one of many entities that provide the independent science that forms the bases of the sound management of the Nation’s natural resources. Our mission is to provide national leadership to safeguard wildlife and ecosystem health through dynamic partnerships and exceptional science. The main campus of the NWHC is located in Madison, Wis., where we maintain biological safety level 3 (BSL–3) diagnostic and research facilities purposefully designed for work with wildlife species. The NWHC provides research and technical assistance on wildlife health issues to State, Federal, and international agencies. In addition, since 1992 we have maintained a field station in Hawaii, the Honolulu Field Station, which focuses on marine and terrestrial natural resources throughout the Pacific region. The NWHC conducts diagnostic investigations of unusual wildlife morbidity and mortality events nationwide to detect the presence of wildlife pathogens and determine the cause of death. This is also an important activity for detecting new, emerging and resurging diseases. The NWHC provides this crucial information on the presence of wildlife diseases to wildlife managers to support sound management decisions. The data and information generated also allows for further indepth analyses for determining the biological and ecological significance of disease events, detecting disease trends over time and space, as well as detecting any significant changes to how diseases manifest in the field. Moreover, this information allows us to gain insight into the significance of future wildlife disease events. The purpose of this report is to provide a sample of NWHC data that are available from our Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS). These data are presented in summary format with minimal statistical analysis and interpretation. The goal is to share these data with wildlife managers and other stakeholders, promote the use of NHWC data, and encourage the sharing of wildlife disease data to improve temporal and geographic surveillance coverage. Continued national surveillance for wildlife diseases is essential for providing early detection and warning of events that have the potential to result in harm to human health, economic losses, declines in wildlife populations, and subsequent ecological disturbances. Increased collaboration, coordination, and sharing of surveillance data will enhance this Nation’s ability to detect and respond to wildlife disease threats.

Scientific Investigations Report↗
USGS2012

Leopardus braccatus (Carnivora: Felidae)

Leopardus braccatus (Cope, 1889) is a small felid—not much larger than a domestic house cat—commonly called the Pantanal cat. No comprehensive surveys have been conducted to determine how many L. braccatus exist in the wild. It is found in humid, warm grasslands and wooded areas of extreme northwestern Argentina, southwestern and south- and north-central (newly reported ranges) Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Habitat loss and degradation are considered major threats throughout most of its range. It is uncommon in captivity and museum collections, listed with all Felidae under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, and considered “Near Threatened” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources in the pampas cat group (= L. colocolo).

Mammalian Species↗
USGS2009

Assessment of Undiscovered Petroleum Resources of the Barents Sea Shelf

Four geologic provinces of the Barents Sea shelf were assessed for undiscovered crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquid or condensate resources as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's Circum-Arctic Oil and Gas Resource Appraisal. Using a geology-based methodology, the mean undiscovered, conventional, technically recoverable petroleum resources in the Barents Sea Shelf are estimated to be more than 76 billion barrels of oil equivalent, which includes approximately 11 billion barrels of crude oil, 380 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and 2 billion barrels of natural gas liquids.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2023

The 3D Elevation Program—Supporting Oregon's economy

Introduction Oregon’s physical environments and vegetation are diverse. The varied geologic and climatic conditions combined with increasing population have created the need for high-quality elevation data that can be used for infrastructure management, forestry and wildfire management, agriculture, natural resources conservation, and other business uses. Critical applications that meet the State’s management needs depend on light detection and ranging (lidar) data that provide a highly detailed three-dimensional (3D) model of the Earth’s surface and aboveground features.

Oregon↗
USGS2012

The U.S. Geological Survey Ecosystem Science Strategy, 2012-2022 - Advancing discovery and application through collaboration

Ecosystem science is critical to making informed decisions about natural resources that can sustain our Nation’s economic and environmental well-being. Resource managers and policy-makers are faced with countless decisions each year at local, state, tribal, territorial, and national levels on issues as diverse as renewable and non-renewable energy development, agriculture, forestry, water supply, and resource allocations at the urban-rural interface. The urgency for sound decision-making is increasing dramatically as the world is being transformed at an unprecedented pace and in uncertain directions. Environmental changes are associated with natural hazards, greenhouse gas emissions, and increasing demands for water, land, food, energy, mineral, and living resources. At risk is the Nation’s environmental capital, the goods and services provided by resilient ecosystems that are vital to the health and well-being of human societies. Ecosystem science—the study of systems of organisms interacting with their environment and the consequences of natural and human-induced change on these systems—is necessary to inform decision-makers as they develop policies to adapt to these changes. This Ecosystems Science Strategy is built on a framework that includes basic and applied science. It highlights the critical roles that USGS scientists and partners can play in building scientific understanding and providing timely information to decision-makers. The strategy underscores the connection between scientific discoveries and the application of new knowledge. The strategy integrates ecosystem science and decision-making, producing new scientific outcomes to assist resource managers and providing public benefits. The USGS is uniquely positioned to play an important role in ecosystem science. With its wide range of expertise, the agency can bring holistic, cross-scale, interdisciplinary capabilities to the design and conduct of monitoring, research, and modeling and to new technologies for data collection, management, and visualization. Collectively, these capabilities can be used to reveal ecological patterns and processes, explain how and why ecosystems change, and forecast change over different spatial and temporal scales. USGS science can provide managers with options and decision-support tools to use resources sustainably. The USGS has long-standing, collaborative relationships with the DOI and other partners in the natural sciences, in both conducting science and its application. The USGS engages these partners in cooperative investigations that otherwise would lack the necessary support or be too expensive for a single bureau to conduct. The heart of this strategy is a framework and vision for USGS ecosystems science that focuses on five long-term goals, which are seen as interconnected and reinforcing components: • Improve understanding of ecosystem structure, function, and processes. The focus for this goal is an understanding of how ecosystems work, including the dynamics of species, their populations, interactions, and genetics, and how they change across spatial and temporal scales. • Advance understanding of how drivers influence ecosystem change. The challenges here are explaining the drivers of ecosystem change, their spatio-temporal patterns, their uncertainties and interactions, and their influence on ecosystem processes and dynamics. • Improve understanding of the services that ecosystems provide to society. Here the emphasis is on the measurement of environmental capital and ecosystem services, and the identification of sources and patterns of change in space and time. • Develop tools, technologies, and capacities to inform decision-making about ecosystems. This includes developing new technologies and approaches for conducting applications-oriented ecosystem science. A principal challenge will be how to quantify uncertainty and incorporate it in decision analysis. • Apply science to enhance strategies for management, conservation, and restoration of ecosystems. These challenges include development of novel approaches to monitoring, assessment, and restoration of ecosystems; new methods to address species of concern and communities at risk; and innovations in decision analysis and support to address imminent ecosystem changes or those that are underway. Closely integrated with the five goals are four strategic approaches that provide the path forward for the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area. These approaches cross-cut all of the goals and are seen as essential to the implementation of this strategy: • Assess information needs for ecosystem science through enhanced partnerships. Work with the DOI and other agencies and institutions to identify, design, and implement priority decision-driven ecological research. • Promote the use of interdisciplinary ecosystem science. Design and conduct interdisciplinary process-oriented research in ecosystem science. • Enhance modeling and forecasting. Build models to forecast ecosystem change, assess future management scenarios, and reduce uncertainties through an adaptive learning process. • Support decision-making. Use quantitative approaches to assess the vulnerabilities of ecosystems, habitats, and species, and evaluate strategies for adaptation, restoration, and sustainable management. Following the strategic approaches are a set of proposed actions that represent a sampling of specific activities that align with this strategy and that address the Nation’s most pressing environmental needs. The strategy emphasizes coordination of activities across the USGS mission areas pursuant to these goals. Ecosystem science is inherently interdisciplinary and requires a broad perspective that incorporates the biological and physical sciences, climate science, information technology, and scientific capacity in mission areas across the Bureau. With its emphasis on coordination, this strategy can provide a critical underpinning for integrated science efforts with scientists from multiple mission areas of the USGS working together. Of course, the USGS will continue to conduct both discipline-specific and interdisciplinary investigations, and both will continue to be vital parts of the ecosystem science portfolio. Finally, the strategy stresses the importance of coordination with other Federal agencies and organizations in the natural resources community. The USGS collaborates with resource agencies in the DOI and other organizations throughout the world to meet societal needs for species and ecosystem management. Working with these agencies and organizations, the USGS will play a key role over the next decade in advancing the scientific foundation for sustaining the natural resources that diverse, productive, resilient ecosystems provide.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1999

Learning to live with geologic and hydrologic hazards

The Seattle, Washington, area is known for its livability and its magnificent natural setting. The city and nearby communities are surrounded by an abundance of rivers and lakes and by the bays of Puget Sound. Two majestic mountain ranges, the Olympics and the Cascades, rim the region. These splendid natural features are products of dynamic forces -- landslides, earthquakes, tsunamis, glaciers, volcanoes, and floods. The same processes that formed this beautiful landscape pose hazards to the ever-growing population of the region. To maintain the Seattle area's livability, public and private policymakers must learn to manage the area's vulnerability to natural hazards to protect its three million residents from loss and damage from future disasters. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is working with other Federal and State agencies, the city of Seattle, and other local governments to provide necessary scientific information that will help communities manage the natural hazards. This information will be useful in planning future development, siting public facilities and businesses, and developing effective emergency plans. -- Gori, et.al., 1999

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗
USGS2010

Shaded seafloor relief, backscatter strength, and surficial geology; German Bank, Scotian Shelf, offshore Nova Scotia

This map is part of a three-map series of German Bank, located on the Scotian Shelf off southern Nova Scotia. This map is the product of a number of surveys (1997-2003) that used a multibeam sonar system to map 5321 km 2 of the seafloor. Other surveys collected geological data for scientific interpretation. This map sheet shows the seafloor topography of German Bank in shaded-relief view and seafloor depth (coded by colour) at a scale of 1:1000,000. Topographic contours generated from the multibeam data are shown (in white) on the colour-coded multibeam topography at a depth interval of 20 m. Bathymetic contours (in blue) outside the multibeam survey area, presented at a depth interval of 10 m, are from the Natural Resource Map series (Canadian Hydrographic Service, 1967, 1971a, 1971b, 1972). Sheet 2 shows coloured backscatter strength in shaded-relief view. Sheet 3 shows seafloor topography in shaded-relief view with colour-coded surficial geological units.

Nova Scotia↗
USGS2015

Characterizing and simulating sediment loads and transport in the lower part of the San Antonio River Basin

This extended abstract is based on the U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Reports by Crow et al. (2013) and Banta and Ockerman (2014). Suspended sediment in rivers and streams can play an important role in ecological health of rivers and estuaries and consequently is an important issue for water-resource managers. The quantity and type of suspended sediment can affect the biological communities (Wood and Armitage, 1997), the concentration and movement of natural constituents and anthropogenic contaminants (Moran and others, 2012), and the amount of sediment deposition in coastal environments (Milliman and Meade, 1983). To better understand suspended-sediment characteristics in the San Antonio River Basin, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the San Antonio River Authority and Texas Water Development Board, conducted a two-phase study to (1) collect and analyze sediment data to characterize sediment conditions in the San Antonio River downstream of San Antonio, Texas, and (2) develop and calibrate a watershed model to simulate hydrologic conditions and suspended-sediment loads for four watersheds in the San Antonio River Basin, downstream from San Antonio, Texas.

Texas↗
USGS2016

Riparian groundwater and baseflow studies in the Upper Colorado River Basin

Executive summary As part of an ongoing effort to understand baseflow in the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB) and implications for stream-dependent ecosystems, we conducted a brief review of literature related to groundwater and baseflow in the UCRB. We included primary literature, federal and state resources, databases and gray literature studies on groundwater, baseflow, and springs in the UCRB region. This review provides examples of the types of groundwater and baseflow studies published for the UCRB with sections on whole-basin studies, catchment and reach studies and their locations, water quality studies, studies adjacent to the UCRB, state and federal groundwater resources, and finally a discussion of potential further directions. Despite the limited nature of the review, we summarize numerous studies related to groundwater in the UCRB which will be valuable to researchers interested in groundwater and baseflow dynamics in the region.

Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming↗
USGS2020

Fisheries research and monitoring activities of the Lake Erie Biological Station, 2019

A comprehensive understanding of fish populations and their interactions is the cornerstone of modern fishery management and the basis for Fish Community Goals and Objectives for Lake Erie (Ryan et al. 2003). This report is responsive to U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) obligations via Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Great Lakes Council of Lake Committees (CLC) to provide scientific information in support of fishery management. Goals for the USGS Great Lakes Deepwater Fish Assessment and Ecological Studies in 2019 were to monitor long-term changes in the fish community and population dynamics of key fishes of interest to management agencies. Specific to Lake Erie, expectations of this agreement were sustained investigations of native percids, forage (prey) fish populations, and Lake Trout. Our 2019 deepwater program operations began in April and concluded in December, and utilized trawl, gillnet, hydroacoustic, lower trophic sampling, and telemetry methods. This work resulted in 88 bottom trawls covering 65 ha of lake-bottom and catching 24,140 fish totaling 3,622 kg during three separate trawl surveys in the West and Central basins of Lake Erie. Overnight gillnet sets (n=44) for cold water species were performed at 42 unique locations in the West and East basins of Lake Erie. A total of 8.0 km of gillnet was deployed during these surveys, which caught 286 fish, 114 of which were native coldwater species: Lake Trout, Burbot, and Lake Whitefish. USGS hydroacoustic surveys in 2019 produced 240 km of transects, and lower trophic sampling provided data from zooplankton samples (n=21) and water quality profiles (n=21) to populate a database maintained by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (OMNRF), Ohio Division of Natural Resources (ODNR), Michigan Division of Natural Resources (MDNR), Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC), and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC). USGS also assisted CLC member agencies with deployment and maintenance of the Great Lakes Acoustic Telemetry Observation System (GLATOS) throughout all three Lake Erie sub-basins, supporting multiple coordinated telemetry investigations. In 2019, Lake Trout investigations included annual gill net surveys and acoustic telemetry of spawning migration and habitat use in coordination with OMNRF, NYSDEC, and PFBC. Results from Lake Trout investigations were reported in the Coldwater Task Group annual report to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC) and the CLC (Coldwater Task Group 2020). Likewise, interagency forage fish assessments conducted with hydroacoustics were summarized and reported in the Forage Task Group annual report (Forage Task Group 2020). This report presents biomass-based summaries of fish communities in western Lake Erie derived from USGS bottom trawl surveys conducted from 2013 to 2019 during June and September. The survey design provided temporal and spatial coverage that did not exist in the historic interagency trawl database, and thus complemented the August ODNR-OMNRF effort to reinforce stock assessments with more robust data. Analyses herein evaluated trends in: total biomass, abundance of dominant predator and forage species, non-native species composition, biodiversity and community structure. Data from this effort can be explored interactively online (https://lebs.shinyapps.io/western-basin/), and are accessible for download (https://doi.org/10.5066/P9LL6YOR, Keretz et al. 2020). Annual survey data are added to these sources as the data become available.

Lake Erie↗
USGS1999

Use of environmental tracers to evaluate ground-water age and water-quality trends in a buried-valley aquifer, Dayton area, southwestern Ohio

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC method) and tritium and helium isotopes (3H-3He method) were used as environmental tracers to estimate ground-water age in conjunction with efforts to develop a regional ground-water flow model of the buried-valley aquifer in the Dayton area, southwestern Ohio. This report describes results of CFC and water-quality sampling, summarizes relevant aspects of previously published work, and describes the use of 3H-3He ages to characterize temporal trends in ground-water quality of the buried-valley aquifer near Dayton, Ohio. Results of CFC sampling indicate that approximately 25 percent of the 137 sampled wells were contaminated with excess CFC's that rendered the ground water unsuitable for age dating. Evaluation of CFC ages obtained for the remaining samples indicated that the CFC compounds used for dating were being affected by microbial degradation. The degradation occurred under anoxic conditions that are found in most parts of the buried-valley aquifer. As a result, ground-water ages derived by the CFC method were too old and were inconsistent with measured tritium concentrations and independently derived 3H-3He ages. Limited data indicate that dissolved methane may play an important role in the degradation of the CFC's. In contrast, the 3H-3He technique was found to yield ground-water ages that were chemically and hydrologically reasonable. Ground-water ages derived by the 3H-3He technique were compared to values for selected water- quality characteristics to evaluate temporal trends in ground-water quality in the buried- valley aquifer. Distinct temporal trends were not identified for pH, alkalinity, or calcium and magnesium because of rapid equilibration of ground-water with calcite and dolomite in aquifer sediments. Temporal trends in which the amount of scatter and the number of outlier concentrations increased as ground-water age decreased were noted for sodium, potassium, boron, bromide, chloride, ammonia, nitrate, phosphate, sulfate, and organic carbon. Elevated concentrations of these constituents in shallow ground water are probably related to human activities. Temporal trends in which concentrations declined as ground-water age increased may reflect natural processes that reduce constituent concentrations to low levels. For example, the absence of nitrate detections in ground water recharged before 1980 may indicate natural removal of nitrate by bacterially mediated denitrification. Temporal trends observed for dissolved oxygen, iron, nitrate and silica indicate that these constituents may help identify recently (post-1990) recharged ground water.

Ohio↗
USGS2014

Geologic implications of gas hydrates in the offshore of India: Krishna-Godavari Basin, Mahanadi Basin, Andaman Sea, Kerala-Konkan Basin

Gas hydrate resource assessments that indicate enormous global volumes of gas present within hydrate accumulations have been one of the primary driving forces behind the growing interest in gas hydrates. Gas hydrate volumetric estimates in recent years have focused on documenting the geologic parameters in the “gas hydrate petroleum system” that control the occurrence of gas hydrates in nature. The primary goals of this report are to review our present understanding of the geologic controls on the occurrence of gas hydrate in the offshore of India and to document the application of the petroleum system approach to the study of gas hydrates. National Gas Hydrate Program of India executed the National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 01 (NGHP-01) in 2006 in four areas located on the eastern and western margins of the Indian Peninsula and in the Andaman Sea. These areas have experienced very different tectonic and depositional histories. The peninsular margins are passive continental margins resulting from a series of rifting episodes during the breakup and dispersion of Gondwanaland to form the present Indian Ocean. The Andaman Sea is bounded on its western side by a convergent margin where the Indian plate lithosphere is being subducted beneath southeast Asia. NGHP-01 drilled, logged, and/or cored 15 sites (31 holes) in the Krishna–Godavari Basin, 4 sites (5 holes) in the Mahanadi Basin, 1 site (2 holes) in the Andaman Sea, and 1 site (1 hole) in the Kerala–Konkan Basin. Holes were drilled using standard drilling methods for the purpose of logging-while-drilling and dedicated wireline logging; as well as through the use of a variety of standard coring systems and specialized pressure coring systems. NGHP-01 yielded evidence of gas hydrate from downhole log and core data obtained from all the sites in the Krishna–Godavari Basin, the Mahanadi Basin, and in the Andaman Sea. The site drilled in the Kerala–Konkan Basin during NGHP-01 did not yield any evidence of gas hydrate. Most of the downhole log-inferred gas hydrate and core-recovered gas hydrate were characterized as either fracture-filling in clay-dominated sediments or as pore-filling or grain-displacement particles disseminated in both fine- and coarse-grained sediments. Geochemical analyses of gases obtained from sediment cores recovered during NGHP-01 indicated that the gas in most all of the hydrates in the offshore of India is derived from microbial sources; only one site in the Andaman Sea exhibited limited evidence of a thermogenic gas source. The gas hydrate petroleum system concept has been used to effectively characterize the geologic controls on the occurrence of gas hydrates in the offshore of India.

Marine and Petroleum Geology↗
USGS1993

Undiscovered oil and gas resources and leasing status of forestlands in Wyoming

All of four national forests, one national grassland, and parts of four additional forests lie within the State of Wyoming. Some of these National Forest System lands have moderate to high potential for undiscovered oil and gas resources. In the 1989 National Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas and in various Open-File Reports, the U.S. Geological Survey described oil and gas plays and presented estimates of recoverable conventional oil and gas resources for these plays. Estimated resources in plays affecting NFS lands in Wyoming are substantial. Of special significance are undiscovered recoverable conventional resources (mean estimate) of approximately 1,010 million barrels of oil, 10,611 billion cubic feet of gas, and 188 million barrels of natural gas liquids assessed in ten plays that include National Forest System lands in the Thunder Basin National Grassland and the Bridger-Teton, Targhee, Caribou, and Shoshone National Forests in Wyoming. Approximately 5,715,570 acres in the forests and grassland are available for leasing or are expected to be available for leasing by mid-1993. Poor accessibility, environmental concerns, and geologic factors such as complex structure and greater drilling depths to potential reservoirs may cause higher exploration risks and operating costs on NFS lands. However, cooperative arrangements with the U.S. Forest Service, in addition to carefully planned exploration and development programs, can facilitate operations in remote and environmentally sensitive areas, and could result in opening new exploration frontiers in Wyoming.

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