U.S. Geological Survey News Feed

WASHINGTON, D.C. —Tomorrow, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and U.S. Geological Survey Director Dr. Marcia McNutt will host the Department’s inaugural Google + Hangout with an 8th grade science class from Miles @ Cranwood School in Cleveland, Ohio. During the Hangout, Salazar and McNutt will discuss the importance of science and innovation in the classroom and Interior’s role in building a new generation of skilled workers.

When President Obama took office, he called for an all-hands-on-deck approach to science, technology, math, and engineering. He’s called for action to prepare 100,000 effective math and science teachers and to meet the urgent need to train one million additional STEM graduates over the next decade.

Engaging directly with young people about the importance of math and science is part of Secretary Salazar’s efforts to make sure we have the best, smartest, most skilled workers in the world – so that the jobs and industries of tomorrow take root right here in cities and towns across the nation. 

This Google+ Hangout is part of the Department's Youth in the Great Outdoors Initiative, which employs, educates, and engages young people from all backgrounds in exploring, connecting with and preserving America's natural and cultural heritage. For more information on this initiative, click here.

WHO:             Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior

                     Marcia McNutt, Director, U.S. Geological Survey

WHAT:          Google + Hangout on Science

WHEN:          Thursday, February 9, 2012

                        1:00 p.m. EDT                       

WHERE:       To watch, go to www.doi.gov/live.

Additional Partnership

U.S. Forest Service

 

 

 

 

 

FLAGSTAFF, AZ - Against the stunning backdrop of the Kaibab Plateau and Vermilion Cliffs, a pioneering partnership has been forged to bolster the science guiding resource management and public lands stewardship along the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.   

On January 25, 2012, the Grand Canyon Trust, Arizona Game and Fish Department, Bureau of Land Management, Northern Arizona University, University of Arizona, U.S. Forest Service, and U.S. Geological Survey signed a Memorandum of Understanding, ushering into existence the Kane and Two Mile Research and Stewardship Partnership - a collaborative group of scientists, livestock producers, and resource managers actively pursuing science-based solutions to the challenges facing this dramatic landscape. 

"This Partnership creates an exciting opportunity for us to pool resources across organizations and to work collectively to answer the questions most relevant to land managers," according to Ron Sieg, Regional Manager for the Arizona Game and Fish Department. 

"Formalizing this Partnership is an endorsement of all the hard work everyone has put in since the 2005 purchase of the ranches by the Grand Canyon Trust and The Conservation Fund. We are entering a new era in public lands stewardship, and this commitment to applied research will benefit conservation efforts across the West," added Tom Sisk, Director of the Landscape Conservation Initiative at NAU. 

Guided by the Kane and Two Mile Ranches Applied Research Plan, the Partnership has identified several key research initiatives designed to inform management across the 850,000 acres of private land, BLM, and USFS grazing leases that comprise the ranches. These include evaluating the sustainability and effects of various livestock management strategies, identifying key factors responsible for the spread of non-native species, developing methods for restoring semi-arid grasslands, and creating tools for monitoring environmental change – particularly the effects of climate and land- use change.   

"The partnership encourages and facilitates research with universities and other entities to answer these very important questions," said Lorraine Christian, Bureau of Land Management Arizona Strip Field Manager. 

These sentiments were echoed by Timothy Short, North Kaibab District Ranger, "The Kaibab National Forest is pleased to participate in this effort as we seek answers to both short and long term questions related to livestock management." 

"Sound science is essential for the development of effective solutions to the challenges faced by land managers," said David Lytle, Director of the USGS Southwest Biological Science Center. "The USGS looks forward to helping provide the information necessary for our partners to manage their resources sustainably."  

"As both grazing permitee and conservation organization, we are dedicated to actively pursuing solutions to the conservation challenges posed by a rapidly changing environment," said Matt Williamson, manager of the Kane and Two Mile Ranch Program at the Grand Canyon Trust. "This Partnership provides an opportunity to do just that." 

The Partnership is meant to formalize an innovative approach to carrying out the science necessary to inform public lands management and address the often contentious issues that arise across the Southwest. In an era of declining budgets for land management agencies, this public-private partnership will enhance capacity to address high priority conservation and stewardship activities. Work occurring under the auspices of the Partnership is already underway, and will expand rapidly over the coming year.

The value of mineral production in the United States increased by 12 percent in 2011 from that of 2010, suggesting that the nonfuel minerals industries, particularly metals, continued to recover from the economic recession that began in December 2007 and lasted well into 2009. 

The value of raw, nonfuel minerals mined in the United States was $74 billion in 2011, up from $66 billion in 2010, according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s annual release of mineral production statistics and summary of events and trends affecting domestic and global nonfuel minerals.

"Information in the Mineral Commodity Summaries helps business leaders, policy makers, managers, and anyone else understand the critically important flow of minerals through the supply chain and how they are contributing to, and reflecting the health of, our nation's economy," said USGS director Marcia McNutt. "For example, in 2011 domestic recycled metallic and mineral materials alone contributed $32 billion to our economy."

The metals sector was marked by higher prices for many domestically mined metals, resulting in a 23 percent increase in the value of domestic metal production.  The non-metallic minerals sector increased by 3 percent, the first increase since 2007. 

U.S. dependence on foreign sources for minerals increased, continuing a trend that has been evident for more than 30 years. The United States relied on foreign sources to supply more than 50 percent of domestic consumption of 43 mineral commodities in 2011. The United States was 100 percent reliant on imports for 19 mineral commodities in 2011. 

Minerals are a fundamental component of the U.S. economy. Final products, such as cars and houses, produced by major U.S. industries using mineral materials made up about 15 percent (more than $2.2 trillion) of the 2011 gross domestic product. Domestic raw materials and domestically recycled materials were used to process and produce mineral materials worth $633 billion, such as aluminum, brick, copper, fertilizers, and steel. These products were, in turn, used to produce cars, houses, and other products.

The report, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2012, is an annual report that includes statistics on about 90 mineral commodities and addresses events, trends, and issues in the domestic and international minerals industries. The report is used by public and private sector analysts regarding planning and decision-making for government and business.

The USGS is the sole Federal provider of objective resource assessments and unbiased research results on mineral potential, production, and consumption. The USGS collects, analyzes, and disseminates current data on minerals industries in the United States and about 180 other countries.

The USGS report "Mineral Commodity Summaries 2012" is available online. Hardcopies will be available in February from the Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents. For ordering information, please call (202) 512-1800 or (866) 512-1800 or go online.

For more information on this report and individual mineral commodities, please visit the USGS National Mineral Information Center.

Additional Partnerships: 

State Museum of Pennsylvania Denison University

Constrictor Snakes (B-roll):  Video footage (B-roll) of Everglades National Park biologists hunting and capturing a Burmese Python in Florida. 

Editors: For frequently asked questions about this study and Burmese pythons, please visit the Fort Collins Science Center, Giant Constrictor Snakes in Florida website.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Precipitous declines in formerly common mammals in Everglades National Park have been linked to the presence of invasive Burmese pythons, according to a study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

The study, the first to document the ecological impacts of this invasive species, strongly supports that animal communities in this 1.5-million-acre park have been markedly altered by the introduction of pythons within 11 years of their establishment as an invasive species.  Mid-sized mammals are the most dramatically affected.

Bobcats are one of the predators that may be negatively affected by pythons, which both compete with them for prey and prey on them. Photo copyrighted by Christopher Gillette, Florida International University. This photo may be used by media and others in association with the Burmese pythons and Everglades press release. (High resolution image) Once-common opossums are now rarely seen in Everglades National Park, likely because of being preyed upon by Burmese pythons. Photo copyrighted by Christopher Gillette, Florida International University. This photo may be used by media and others in association with the Burmese pythons and Everglades press release. (High resolution image)

The most severe declines, including a nearly complete disappearance of raccoons, rabbits and opossums, have occurred in the remote southernmost regions of the park, where pythons have been established the longest.  In this area, populations of raccoons dropped 99.3 percent, opossums 98.9 percent and bobcats 87.5 percent.  Marsh and cottontail rabbits, as well as foxes, were not seen at all.  

"Pythons are wreaking havoc on one of America's most beautiful, treasured and naturally bountiful ecosystems," said U.S. Geological Survey Director Marcia McNutt. "Right now, the only hope to halt further python invasion into new areas is swift, decisive and deliberate human action."  

The researchers collected their information via repeated systematic night-time road surveys within the park, counting both live and road-killed animals.  Over the period of the study, researchers traveled a total of nearly 39,000 miles from 2003 to 2011 and compared their findings with similar surveys conducted in 1996 and 1997 along the same roadways before pythons were recognized as established in Everglades National Park.  

The scientists who authored the paper noted that the timing and geographic patterns of the documented mammal declines are consistent with the timing and geographic spread of pythons. 

The authors also conducted surveys in ecologically similar areas north of the park where pythons have not yet been discovered. In those areas, mammal abundances were similar to those in the park before pythons proliferated.  At sites where pythons have only recently been documented, however, mammal populations were reduced, though not to the dramatic extent observed within the park where pythons are well established.    

"The magnitude of these declines underscores the apparent incredible density of pythons in Everglades National Park and justifies the argument for more intensive investigation into their ecological effects, as well as the development of effective control methods," said Michael Dorcas, lead author of the study, a professor at Davidson College in North Carolina, and author of the book Invasive Pythons in the United States. "Such severe declines in easily seen mammals bode poorly for the many species of conservation concern that are more difficult to sample but that may also be vulnerable to python predation." 

The mammals that have declined most significantly have been regularly found in the stomachs of Burmese pythons removed from Everglades National Park and elsewhere in Florida.  The authors noted that raccoons and opossums often forage for food near the water's edge, a habitat frequented by pythons in search of prey. 

The authors suggested that one reason for such dramatic declines in such a short time is that these prey species are “naïve” – that is, they not used to being preyed upon by pythons since such large snakes have not existed in the eastern United States for millions of years. Burmese pythons over 16 feet long have been found in the Everglades.  In addition, some of the declining species could be both victims of being eaten by pythons and of having to compete with pythons for food.   

"It took 30 years for the brown treesnake to be implicated in the nearly complete disappearance of mammals and birds on Guam; it has apparently taken only 11 years since pythons were recognized as being established in the Everglades for researchers to implicate pythons in the same kind of severe mammal declines," said Robert Reed, a USGS scientist and co-author of the paper. "It is possible that other mammal species, including at-risk ones, have declined as well because of python predation, but at this time, the status of those species is unknown." 

The scientists noted that in their native range in Asia, pythons have been documented to consume leopards. Consequently, even large animals, including top predators, are susceptible to python predation. For example, pythons have been documented consuming full-grown deer and alligators. Likewise, the authors state that birds, including highly secretive birds such as rails, make up about a fourth of the diet of Everglades pythons, and declines in these species could be occurring without managers realizing it. 

"Our research adds to the increasing evidence that predators, whether native or exotic, exert major influence on the structure of animal communities," said John Willson, a study co-author, a research scientist at Virginia Tech University and author of the book Invasive Pythons in the United States. "The effects of declining mammal populations on the overall Everglades ecosystem, which extends well beyond the national park boundaries, are likely profound, but are probably complex and difficult to predict.  Studies examining such effects are sorely needed to more fully understand the impacts pythons are having on one of our most unique and valued national parks."

The authors found little support for alternative explanations for the mammal declines, such as disease or changes in habitat structure or water management regimes.  

"This severe decline in mammals is of significant concern to the overall health of the Park's large and complex ecosystem," said Everglades National Park superintendent Dan Kimball.  "We will continue to enhance our efforts to control and manage the non-native python and to better understand the impacts on the Park.  No incidents involving visitor safety and pythons have occurred in the Park.  Encounters with pythons are very rare; that said visitors should be vigilant and report all python sightings to park rangers," Kimball said. 

On Jan. 23, 2012, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a rule in the Federal Register that will ban the importation and interstate transportation of four non-native constrictor snakes (Burmese python, northern and southern African pythons, and the yellow anaconda) that threaten the Everglades and other sensitive ecosystems. These snakes are being listed as injurious species under the Lacey Act. In addition, the FWS will continue to consider listing as injurious five other species of nonnative snakes: the reticulated python, boa constrictor, DeSchauensee’s anaconda, green anaconda and Beni anaconda. 

The paper, Severe mammal declines coincide with proliferation of invasive Burmese pythons in Everglades National Park, was published online on Jan. 30, 2012, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The authors are Michael E. Dorcas, Davidson College; John D. Willson, Virginia Tech University; Robert N. Reed, USGS; Ray W. Snow, NPS; Michael R. Rochford, University of Florida; Melissa A. Miller, Auburn University; Walter E. Meshaka, Jr., State Museum of Pennsylvania; Paul T. Andreadis, Denison University; Frank J. Mazzotti, University of Florida; Christina M. Romagosa, Auburn University; and Kristen M. Hart, USGS.

DENVER, Colo. — A pioneering airborne electromagnetic survey in the Yukon Flats near Fort Yukon, Alaska, by the U.S. Geological Survey has yielded unprecedented images of the presence and absence of permafrost to depths of roughly 328 feet. The airborne survey captured images of permafrost over a substantially larger area, and with greater data density, than has been previously achieved using sparse boreholes and ground-based geophysics.

"Liquid water conducts electricity better than ice," explained USGS director Marcia McNutt. "We can detect from the air the weak magnetic fields generated by those electric currents, thus distinguishing quickly and easily melted from frozen ground. This new technology, and the maps of changing permafrost, will be valuable for both climate change research and engineering in the challenging Alaskan environment."

Because the Yukon Flats is near the boundary between continuous permafrost to the north and discontinuous permafrost to the south, it is an important place to study permafrost dynamics. Dr. Burke Minsley, geophysicist in the USGS’ Crustal Geophysics and Geochemistry Science Center in Denver and lead author of the study in Geophysical Research Letters, and his team surveyed more than 116 square miles centered 140 miles northeast of Fairbanks. Their data not only capture in detail the distribution of permafrost and its relation to surface- and groundwater features, but also the legacy of the Yukon River lateral migration over a period of roughly 1,000 years as manifested as a thawed region of permafrost.

Knowledge of the current permafrost distribution is critical for analyses designed to evaluate hydrologic and ecologic consequences of climate warming. It also provides a baseline for future investigation of the dynamic evolution of permafrost systems.

In addition, the study is important because it presents a methodology for assessing permafrost not only in Alaska but throughout sub-Arctic and Arctic regions. The airborne approach allows periodic monitoring of perennially frozen ground over broad areas as climatic warming decreases the extent of permafrost and accelerates the emission of greenhouse gases.

“Our group, spanning seven different USGS centers, has been very excited about this extremely high-quality dataset and its far-reaching implications for other permafrost-related studies,” Minsley said.

The study is expected to have significant implications for hydrologists, ecologists, climate scientists, and land managers in the Yukon Flats and elsewhere in the Arctic.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Measurable improvements in air quality and visibility, human health, and water quality in many acid-sensitive lakes and streams, have been achieved through emissions reductions from electric generating power plants and resulting decreases in acid rain. These are some of the key findings in a report to Congress by the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program, a cooperative federal program.

The report shows that since the establishment of the Acid Rain Program, under Title IV of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, there have been substantial reductions in sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions from power plants that use fossil fuels like coal, gas and oil, which are known to be the primary causes of acid rain. As of 2009, emissions of SO2 and NOx declined by about two-thirds relative to levels in the 1990s. These emissions levels declined even further in 2010, according to recent data compiled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Because emission reductions result in fewer fine particles and lower ozone concentrations in the air, in 2010 there were thousands fewer premature human deaths, hospital admissions, and emergency room visits annually leading to estimated human health benefits valued at $170 to $430 billion per year.

"The SO2  [portion of the] program includes the use of a creative emissions cap-and-trade program that combines the best of American science, government, and market-driven innovation," said Dr. John P. Holdren, director of Office of Science and Technology Policy and assistant to the President for science and technology.

Despite these emission reductions, the report also indicates that full recovery from the effects of acid rain is not likely for many sensitive forests and aquatic ecosystems. For example, in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, an especially sensitive region, 30 percent of the lakes were receiving acid rain during 2006-08 in excess of the level needed to prevent harm.

Based on models which analyze various emission scenarios, the report concludes that beyond current SO2  and NOx emission levels, future emission reductions would likely promote additional and more widespread recovery as well as to prevent further acidification in some U.S. regions.

"The principal message of this report is that the Acid Rain Program has worked. The emissions that form acid rain have declined and some U.S. areas are beginning to recover," said Doug Burns, lead author and director of the NAPAP and also a U.S. Geological Survey hydrologist. "However, some sensitive ecosystems are still receiving levels of acid rain that exceed what is needed for full and widespread recovery.  We have every reason to believe that recovery will continue with further decreases in emissions which is why further emission reductions would be beneficial."

The NAPAP reports to Congress on the latest scientific information and analysis concerning the costs, benefits, and environmental effectiveness of the Acid Rain Program, which was established by the Clean Air Act Amendments to reduce the primary sources of acid rain. Member agencies include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Departments of Energy, Interior and Agriculture, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Acid rain occurs when emissions of SO2 and NOx react in the atmosphere with water, oxygen, and oxidants to form acidic compounds. These emissions may be transported hundreds of miles away from their emitting sources, and have the potential to impact large areas and populations.

Together these acidic compounds can damage human health, and in addition to degrading air quality and visibility, can cause further environmental damage, including acidification of lakes and streams, harm to sensitive forests and coastal ecosystems, and accelerate the decay of building materials. Adverse ecological impacts from acid rain include reductions in biodiversity, an increased risk of damaging forest fires, and increased susceptibility of trees to pests, disease, and winter temperatures.

The report also highlights the need for better information including the costs and benefits to ecosystems from emission reductions, consideration of the role of climate change, and the interactions of multiple pollutants.  

This report, "National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program Report to Congress 2011: An Integrated Assessment," is available online.

HAWAI`I ISLAND, Hawaii — In 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory celebrates its 100th anniversary of studying the volcanoes’ workings and disseminating cutting-edge volcano science throughout the world. Many public events are planned to celebrate the centennial of HVO, the first volcano observatory in the United States.

Located on the rim of Kīlauea Volcano’s summit caldera within Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, HVO monitors the seismic and volcanic activity of six Hawaiian volcanoes including Kīlauea and Mauna Loa, two of the most active volcanoes in the world. Kīlauea has erupted 48 times on HVO’s watch, with a nearly continuous flank eruption since 1983, and an ongoing summit eruption since 2008.  Mauna Loa, the largest volcano on Earth, has erupted 12 times in the same period, most recently in 1984, when lava flowed to within about 4 miles of the Hilo city limits.

"Volcanic activity and its associated earthquakes are responsible for Hawaii's fertile soil, rainfall, isolated habitat for unique species, breathtaking natural beauty, but also, unfortunately, its geologic hazards," offered USGS director Marcia McNutt. "The activities planned during HVO’s Centennial are an engaging and stimulating way for residents and visitors alike to learn more about the fascinating processes that have formed and continue to shape these enormous volcanic features, and how to live safely in the vicinity of such powerful geologic forces."

HVO’s timely and effective warnings help protect the public from these volcanic and seismic hazards – a key mission since the start of the Observatory’s work with the collaboration of Massachusetts Institute of Technology geologist Thomas A. Jaggar and pioneer volcanologist Frank Perret.

For a century, HVO has also been an international leader in volcanological studies and a magnet for researchers from around the globe. Among other breakthroughs, HVO scientists confirmed that earthquakes and volcanic tremors are closely related to volcanic activity. They installed the first seismic network in the USGS, and they determined the composition of volcanic gases and their role in driving eruptions.  They also pioneered the measurement and study of small changes in a volcano’s shape to get information about movements of vast quantities of magma within.

Centennial events include a Jan. 21 open house, for which admission to the national park will be waived; a year of talks and lectures throughout the Island of Hawai‘i and a vividly illustrated new general-interest publication that details HVO’s history and accomplishments. To learn more about HVO and the centennial events, go to http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/.

Missoula, MT – Climate change in the form of reduced snowfall in mountains is causing powerful and cascading shifts in mountainous plant and bird communities through the increased ability of elk to stay at high elevations over winter and consume plants, according to a groundbreaking study in Nature Climate Change.

The U.S. Geological Survey and University of Montana study not only showed that the abundance of deciduous trees and their associated songbirds in mountainous Arizona have declined over the last 22 years as snowpack has declined, but it also experimentally demonstrated that declining snowfall indirectly affects plants and birds by enabling more winter browsing by elk. Increased winter browsing by elk results in trickle-down ecological effects such as lowering the quality of habitat for songbirds.

The authors, USGS Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit scientist Thomas Martin and University of Montana scientist John Maron, mimicked the effects of more snow on limiting the ability of elk to browse on plants by excluding the animals from large, fenced areas. They compared bird and plant communities in these exclusion areas with nearby similar areas where elk had access, and found that, over the six years of the study, multi-decadal declines in plant and songbird populations were reversed in the areas where elk were prohibited from browsing.

"This study illustrates that profound impacts of climate change on ecosystems arise over a time span of but two decades through unexplored feedbacks," explained USGS director Marcia McNutt. "The significance lies in the fact that humans and our economy are at the end of the same chain of cascading consequences." 

The study demonstrates  a classic ecological cascade, added Martin. For example, he said, from an elk’s perspective, less snow means an increased ability to freely browse on woody plants in winter in areas where they would not be inclined to forage in previous times due to high snowpack. Increased overwinter browsing led to a decline in deciduous trees, which reduced the number of birds that chose the habitat and increased predation on nests of those birds that did choose the habitat.  

"This study demonstrates that the indirect effects of climate on plant communities may be just as important as the effects of climate-change-induced mismatches between migrating birds and food abundance because plants, including trees, provide the habitat birds need to survive," Martin said.

The study, Climate impacts on bird and plant communities from altered animal-plant interactions, was published online on Jan. 8 in the journal Nature Climate Change.

ANCHORAGE — On its way to deliver emergency fuel to Nome, Alaska, the Russian tanker Renda will move through an area used by wintering spectacled eiders, a federally threatened sea duck. But, to protect the ducks and their wintering habitat, resource managers from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and navigators from the U.S. Coast Guard are using satellite telemetry information from the U.S. Geological Survey to plot a route for the tanker that minimizes impacts to this species and its habitat.

"Nearly 20 years ago, USGS biologists used the latest satellite tracking technology available at the time to uncover the mysterious wintering behavior of the spectacled eider, now a threatened species," said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. "Little did these scientists know at the time that their information would be critical in allowing a Russian tanker decades later to thread the needle to Nome in order to deliver life-saving fuel oil without taking a toll on these elusive sea ducks."

The arctic nesting sea ducks are now wintering south of St. Lawrence Island in the northern Bering Sea, where sea ice abounds and abundant prey in the form of clams and other invertebrates appears to be critical for the species' winter survival. 

"As stewards of the environment, we found the data invaluable to our mission planning and execution while protecting our nation's critical spectacled eider habitat," said U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Craig Lloyd, District 17 Chief of Response.

Satellite telemetry provides a way to track animals regardless of location, time of day, or weather. Transmitters send information to orbiting satellites, which relay the data to land-based receivers.

Implantable satellite transmitters were first used by USGS Alaska Science Center biologists in 1993 to discover the molting (when birds shed old feathers and grow new ones) and wintering distribution of spectacled eiders. At that time, no one knew where the species lived during the many non-breeding months. But, USGS tracking data and subsequent aerial surveys revealed that spectacled eiders wintered in the northern Bering   Sea, within the pack ice.

“Not only was this a surprise, but we’ve learned that about 380,000 spectacled eiders, or almost the entire population of this species, use this area every winter for five to six months; an amazing natural phenomenon in an incredibly harsh environment,” said Matthew Sexson, USGS biologist.

In 2008, USGS biologists began marking spectacled eiders with improved transmitters with longer life cycles to learn more about the species to help resource managers plan conservation actions and strategies. Each transmitter can last as much as two years, providing an opportunity to learn more about year-round migratory patterns and habitat use of this unique species, Sexson said. Between 2008 and 2011, 129 transmitters were deployed at nesting areas in coastal Alaska. The project is expected to produce continuous tracking data from 2008 through 2013.   

“Protecting America’s fish and wildlife resources is a shared responsibility. It is satisfying to see agencies working together to protect threatened and endangered species, while meeting the needs of our communities,” said Ellen Lance, the Endangered Species Branch Chief for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Alaska Region.

More information about this research can be found on the USGS Alaska Science Center webpage. One can also follow the research by subscribing to the research Twitter feed. 

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Invasive Burmese python hatchlings from the Florida Everglades can withstand exposure to salt water long enough to potentially expand their range through ocean and estuarine environments, according to research in the latest issue of the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology.

This recent study, based on lab experiments conducted by researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey,   provides initial evidence that pythons may be able to survive in marine and estuarine environments such as bays, inlets and open seas. The results raise concerns that the invasive constrictor may invade nearby islands, such as the Florida Keys, said Kristen Hart, a USGS research ecologist and lead author of the study.

“Because reptiles, in general, have poor salinity tolerance, it was hoped that salt water would naturally hinder pythons’ ability to expand their range beyond the Everglades,” Hart said.” Unfortunately, our results suggest salt water alone cannot act as a reliable barrier to the Everglades python population.”

Before the study, Burmese pythons had been found in brackish margins of the Everglades, the expansive and predominantly freshwater wetland that is home to the only known wild-breeding population of Burmese pythons in the United States. Yet, no information was available to indicate how long the snakes could persist in saline environments.

The issue of salinity tolerance is critical for understanding the risks of the giant constrictors spreading beyond the Everglades, given the Everglades location on the southernmost end of the South Florida peninsula.

"The fact that this study has ruled out one of the most hoped-for forms of physical barriers, salt water, as preventing the spread of invasive pythons in Florida puts even more onus on human action to prevent the spread of these damaging reptiles," explained USGS director Marcia McNutt. "This study demonstrates the distinct possibility that pythons could spread to new suitable habitats one estuary at a time.”

In the lab, researchers tested how long hatchling pythons could survive with only salt water to drink. They found that, when given access only to water with salinity levels equivalent to full marine water, hatchling pythons straight out of their eggs lived about a month. At salinity levels comparable with estuaries, the hatchlings survived about five months. 

The USGS research demonstrated, however, that varying salinity levels did affect the snakes, as reflected in significant survival differences between pythons exposed to freshwater, marine, and estuarine salinities in the lab. However, because hatchlings are considered the most vulnerable stage of the python’s life, it’s likely that adult snakes could persist even longer in saltwater environments, Hart and her colleagues noted. 

By comparison, pythons in the study displayed a saltwater tolerance level near that of the native mangrove snake, a salinity-tolerant native snake found in high-salinity environments in and around the Everglades.

Although the study didn’t account for the effect that access to food in saltwater environments would have on survival, lab conditions were designed to provide a conservative estimate of snake tolerance to salinity, by not allowing for the possibility that snakes could access freshwater from rain.

The study, Experimentally derived salinity tolerance of hatchling Burmese pythons (Python molurus bivattatus) from the Everglades, Florida (USA), is authored by USGS scientists Kristen M. Hart, Pamela J. Schofield, and Denise R. Gregoire. The article can be downloaded.

A key annual event in the recovery of Bald Eagle populations takes place January 4-18, when hundreds of citizen scientists take to the field for the 34th annual Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey.

“The survey is a true public-private partnership with hundreds of volunteer citizen scientists taking part, in addition to federal, state, and NGO biologists. Forty-three states continue to actively participate, with over 740 standardized survey routes across the country,” said Wade Eakle, the 2012 national survey coordinator and an ecologist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 

The data are collected during a two-week window every year; then sent to a national database set up to monitor eagle populations in the lower 48 states. It is part of a national effort to identify important winter habitat and develop a total population index for the wintering eagle population. Approximately 44% of the surveys are conducted from vehicles. 18% are conducted from fixed wing aircraft; 8% are collected from boats; and 7% are conducted by helicopter.

“Collecting data over the long-term helps scientists and wildlife managers monitor the health of Bald Eagle populations. The power of this survey is continuity,” Eakle said. “Because it’s been run every year since 1979, we have a lot of confidence in what we can now say about the status of wintering Bald Eagles in the United States.”

“We rely on citizen scientist volunteers to help cover the territory with accuracy and precision, he said. “Many come back year after year and collect data in all kinds of weather. Without their dedication and expertise this critical database would not be possible.”

Bald Eagles were officially declared an endangered species in 1967 in all areas of the United States south of the 40th parallel, under a law that preceded the Endangered Species Act of 1973. In June 2007, the U.S. Department of the Interior took the Bald Eagle off the endangered species list – making it one of a handful of species to fight its way back from the brink of extinction.

"As the length of the Bald Eagle time series grows with each annual survey, the potential scientific applications for the information increase, far beyond what was ever envisioned at the time that the survey was first initiated," commented U.S. Geological Survey Director Marcia McNutt. "Each citizen volunteer who has put in the time, care, and effort in the more than 30 years that this survey has been undertaken should be proud of being part of an exceptionally effective effort in wildlife research, recovery, and management."

Brian Millsap, National Raptor Coordinator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Albuquerque, NM, applauds the dedication of the hundreds of volunteers that continue to collect this important data. “The information gathered on population trends and habitat is increasingly important to permitting decisions being made by the Service for renewable energy and other projects,” Millsap said.

Each year the survey data are compiled to help create a long-term trend analysis. A new 25-year-trend analysis for the years 1986 – 2010 is due out this spring. Past survey results are available online.

"Periodic analyses of the counts are a key," said Eakle. "They are useful to scientists working to analyze the effects of climate change, habitat loss, and other impacts on Bald Eagles."

Users can retrieve “actual count” data used in the analysis as well as summary information for individual survey routes. They also can obtain estimates of count trends for different regions and states.

The American Eagle Foundation recently announced it will help enhance the web database and make it easier to interpret through a grant to the Northwest Alliance for Computational Science and Engineering at Oregon State University in Corvallis. NACSE hosts and maintains the survey websites in partnership with USACE and USGS.

AEF Grants Administrator Bob Hatcher said the foundation is happy to help fund the Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey website enhancements for 2012.

New web analyses will improve user’s ability to interpret national and regional trends, including climate and other contributing factors.

Hatcher, who coordinated surveys in Tennessee from 1978 to 2001 while serving as Tennessee's Endangered Wildlife Coordinator, said the results were always useful but he found it challenging to fully interpret fluctuating trends by state, and by region.  For example, midwinter count trends in many southern states have been only slightly positive and even negative in Arizona, while in the Great Lakes and New England count trends are significantly more positive.

The National Wildlife Federation began the survey in 1979, and the USGS organized and coordinated it from 1997 to 2007. In 2007, the USGS established a partnership with the USACE to maintain the long-term, national coordination of the survey, data analysis, and reporting.

USACE plays a significant role in recovery efforts of the Bald Eagle by supporting eagle conservation, including breeding season and midwinter surveys, management of habitat, education, and outreach. The geography of USACE projects has also been vital to Bald Eagle populations. USACE manages over 450 man-made lakes within the continental United States and has jurisdiction over approximately 24,000 miles of inland navigation rivers. USACE reservoir projects encompass approximately 11.6 million acres of land and open water habitat, with the total shoreline length exceeding the entire coastline of the United States.

Media interested in covering the event, please contact your state coordinator (PDF). 

IMAGES AVAILABLE:

Photos of past midwinter bald eagle surveys are available online.  

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

• National Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey
• National Database

ANCHORAGE — An international group of scientists, including one from the U.S. Geological Survey, has shown that many seabirds begin to suffer when the food available for them in the ocean declines below a critical level. This level is about one-third of the maximum amount of food available historically. They have shown that this critical level is about the same for seabirds wherever they happen to be in the world. Their study – the most comprehensive ever undertaken – covers birds from the Arctic to the Antarctic and from the Pacific to the Atlantic.

The study focuses upon seabirds that feed mainly on fish like sand lance, herring, and sardines. These fish are often key species in marine ecosystems that are sometimes also exploited by humans. In the Antarctic these fish species are replaced by krill, which are like small shrimp. The researchers used data collected from 14 seabird species including puffins, penguins, gulls, terns, murres, gannets, and jaegers.   Their success at producing chicks was measured over periods ranging from 15 years in some cases, and up to 47 years in others. The team related this to the abundance of their main fish food in the region around their breeding colonies.

"Especially as we 'fish down the food chain' to harvest smaller species for fish meal, we expect to see greater impacts to seabirds," noted USGS director Marcia McNutt, "It is truly astounding that so many long-term land-sea time series from around the globe could be simultaneously assembled for the same purpose, and that they all support the same scientific conclusion. This paper will be an instant classic." 

“This study provides critical information to resource managers in Alaska and elsewhere in the US to ensure the long term sustainability of these species and to the societal and economic benefits they provide,” said Dr. John Piatt of the USGS Alaska Science Center, a contributor to the study.

Between all the scientists working on the study, 438 cumulative years of observations were gathered, which constitutes one of the most comprehensive global databases ever assembled for a predator and its prey. Wherever they occurred in the world, the effect of low fish abundance was similar. As long as the amount of fish in the sea was greater than one-third of the maximum ever recorded, the number of chicks produced was unaffected by changes in food availability. But if the fish abundance fell below this one-third threshold, then the success at producing chicks declined.

“We were amazed by the consistency of the relationship around the globe. This suggests that we have found an important benchmark that could be used as a guide to limit the amount of fish taken from the sea in order to maintain seabird populations in the long term,” said the leader of the team, Dr. Philippe Cury of the French Research Institute for Development.

The team was motivated to undertake their study by rising concerns about the effects that fishing may be having upon some of these important species in marine ecosystems. Dr. Ian Boyd of the Scottish Ocean Institute, University of St Andrews, who co-led the study said, “When combined with the effects of climate change, we need to develop better methods of setting the limits of exploitation of important marine species. This means being able to establish general guidelines that, if exceeded, will cause changes to other important components in the ecosystems. Seabirds are some of the best and most easily measured indicators we have of the health of these ecosystems and it seems sensible to use them in this context.”

The team acknowledge that there is more to be done to understand whether what they have found applies more widely but they think that the rule-of-thumb “one-third for the birds” will be useful as part of wider approaches to making sure that we sustain our marine ecosystems.

Atmospheric deposition of mercury is about four-times higher in lakes near several major U.S. cities compared to lakes in remote areas, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey. 

Atmospheric deposition is the predominant pathway for mercury to reach sensitive ecosystems, where it can accumulate in fish and harm wildlife and humans. Coal-fired power plants and industries are among the primary sources of mercury emissions. Mercury emissions can travel far in the atmosphere, and the relative importance of local, regional, or international mercury emissions to natural waters is generally unknown.

This is the first study to quantify the relation between mercury fallout and distance from major urban centers. The study included lakes nearby, and remote from Boston, Mass., Albany, N.Y., Montreal, Canada, New Haven, Conn., Tampa and Orlando, Fla., Chicago, Ill., Minneapolis, Minn., Denver, Colo., Salt Lake City, Utah, and Portland, Ore. 

To better understand geographic patterns of mercury deposition, the USGS analyzed sediment cores from 12 lakes with undeveloped watersheds near to (less than 30 miles) and remote from (more than 90 miles) several major urban areas in the United States. Mercury deposition in the near-urban lakes greatly exceeds amounts found in remote lakes. The full report can be found in the journal Environmental Pollution. 

"With all of the environmental issues requiring attention, this study is an excellent example of how science can help target our attention and actions to geographic areas where mercury's toxic impacts are likely to be the greatest in the near term on both ecosystems and humans," said USGS director Marcia McNutt. "This study also helps scale the distance over which atmospheric deposition of mercury is most severe, although no region escapes mercury contamination."

Mercury emissions were previously known to contribute to global air pollution, but the importance of deposition near sources was less certain. Mercury deposition to South Reservoir, a protected water supply lake six miles north of downtown Boston, Mass., was five-times greater than mercury deposition to Crocker Pond, 130 miles to the north in western Maine.  This pattern was repeated in near-urban and remote lakes in other parts of the country. 

"This finding could have important implications for management of mercury emissions to reduce the risks mercury poses  to humans and wildlife,” said USGS scientist Peter Van Metre, author of the study. “The results illustrate the importance of reducing mercury emissions in the U.S. and not focusing only on emissions globally."

The study is part of the USGS National Water Quality Assessment Program, which has been using age-dated lake sediment cores from across the United States to evaluate contaminant trends. Other lake coring studies have found  elevated mercury levels in urban areas. However, many urban lakes are affected by urbanization in the watershed, which makes it difficult to distinguish atmospheric mercury deposition from other sources of mercury pollution.

An important factor in this study was finding and sampling lakes in undeveloped, protected watersheds in and near major cities. The findings of this study support previous conclusions from models that indicate increased mercury deposition near major cities.

A recent mission marked the completion of a five-year collaboration between the United States and Canada to survey the Arctic Ocean.

U.S. Geological Survey research ecologist Dr. Jill Baron has just been named President-Elect of the Ecological Society of America.

"Dr. Baron has shown excellence in both her research and her leadership, and therefore is an outstanding choice to lead the Ecological Society of America," said USGS director Marcia McNutt. "It brings honor to our scientists individually and to the USGS as an agency when our scientists are elected to such prestigious positions."

The USGS and the Department of the Interior have a policy that allows scientists to hold such positions in professional organizations while they continue their important research at the USGS.

As a USGS scientist, Dr. Baron has led national efforts to understand the consequences of nitrogen deposition and climate change on mountain ecosystems and identify ways for public lands managers to prepare for and adapt to these changes. She was a member of the Science Strategy Team that now shapes the intellectual direction of the USGS, and is founder and Co-Director of the John Wesley Powell Center for Earth System Science Analysis and Synthesis. She has been involved in other roles with the ESA since 1991.

Dr. Baron has edited two books: Rocky Mountain Futures: An Ecological Perspective (Island Press 2002), which addresses the past, present, and possible future human influences on ecosystems of the Rocky Mountains, and Biogeochemistry of a Subalpine Ecosystem (Springer-Verlag 1992), which summarized the first 10 years of long-term research in the Loch Vale Watershed in Rocky Mountain National Park. Dr. Baron received her Ph.D. from Colorado State University in 1991, and has undergraduate and master’s degrees from Cornell University and the University of Wisconsin. She has authored more than 140 publications. 

Dr. Baron is the recipient of numerous achievement awards for her work from the National Park Service, USGS, and USDA Forest Service, including the Department of the Interior Meritorious Service Award in 2002. She has been a member of the Governing Board of the Ecological Society of America, serves on several Science Advisory Boards, has given testimony to Congress on acid rain, and is an Editor-in-Chief of Issues in Ecology, an ESA publication for communicating accurate and unbiased summaries of the current status of scientific knowledge on environmental issues to non-scientists. Results from her long-term mountain research have been used to set air quality policy in the State of Colorado. 

She is married to another ecosystem ecologist, Dennis Ojima, and they have two children. Her tenure as ESA President-Elect begins in August 2012.

The ESA is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization of scientists founded in 1915 to promote ecological science by improving communication among ecologists; raise the public's level of awareness of the importance of ecological science; increase the resources available for the conduct of ecological science; and ensure the appropriate use of ecological science in environmental decision making by enhancing communication between the ecological community and policy-makers.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.  – More peer-reviewed scientific studies of the effects on wildlife of large-scale solar energy developments and operations are needed to adequately assess their impact, especially in the desert Southwest, according to a scientific literature review conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and published in the journal BioScience. 

In their literature review, the authors of the paper, USGS scientist Jeffrey Lovich and Maryville College scientist Joshua Ennen, found that out of all the scientific papers they examined, going back well before  the 1980s, only one peer-reviewed study addressed the direct impacts of large-scale solar energy development and operations on any kind of wildlife. Peer-reviewed studies are those that have been reviewed by experts in the same field of study and are then published in scientific journals.  

One reason why there are few peer-reviewed studies is that the interest in developing alternative energy has grown exponentially in recent years and science has to “catch up.” Opportunities for hypothesis-driven research on solar energy facilities of this scale, particularly research looking at baseline conditions before development, impacts of operation, or conditions after development, have been limited.   

The authors pointed out that a great deal of information exists in environmental compliance documents and other unpublished, non-peer-reviewed literature sources, but that more peer-reviewed studies are greatly needed. 

"The dearth of peer-reviewed studies, as shown by the USGS review, can happen whenever society rapidly embarks on major undertakings, such as developing large-scale solar projects," explained USGS director Marcia McNutt. "Our goal is to raise the visibility and accessibility of information of impacts of solar energy impacts on wildlife as these important projects move forward."

According to Lovich and Ennen, these studies are particularly important in sensitive habitats such as the desert Southwest with its wildlife diversity and fragile arid desert lands. "For example," said Lovich, "the desert tortoise is an ecological engineer whose burrows provide much-needed shelter for many other desert species.  Yet large areas of habitat occupied by Agassiz's desert tortoise and some other at-risk species have potential for large-scale solar-energy developments."

The review paper findings can help the Bureau of Land Management and other agencies charged with solar siting, development, and operational responsibilities to identify, prioritize, and resolve information gaps relative to development and operational impacts to wildlife, and direct monitoring efforts. 

The paper does not contain any new scientific findings; rather, it examined peer-reviewed, already published articles. This is a common way to assess the state of published knowledge on a topic, identify information and research gaps, and focus future projects.  

The paper, Wildlife conservation and solar energy development in the desert Southwest, is authored by Jeffrey E. Lovich and Joshua R. Ennen.

Mary Jo Baedecker, USGS scientist emerita and former USGS Chief Scientist for Hydrology, has been named a 2011 American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fellow for her pioneering research on aquifer contamination.

"Dr. Baedecker is joining an elite group of professionals recognized for premier achievements in research and highest regard by their peers," commented Marcia McNutt, USGS director. "The entire USGS is celebrating this honor, because it also reminds us that the foundation of each of our studies to help support timely decisions is the best quality science."

She is one of only 60 scientists, just 0.1% of AGU members, elected as AGU fellows in 2011. AGU Fellows are elected for their exceptional scientific contributions, including a major breakthrough, discovery or paradigm shift. The honor will be recognized at a ceremony on Dec. 7, 2011 at the annual AGU meeting in San Francisco.

"Mary Jo's elegant fundamental scientific investigations not only moved the field of contaminant hydrogeology forward but also influenced and inspired younger generations of scientists to tackle the difficult problem of understanding contaminants in aquifers," said Mary P. Anderson, professor emerita at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who nominated Baedecker for the award.

Baedecker joined the USGS as a research chemist in 1974. Early in her career she studied aquifers contaminated by landfill waste. Baedecker's groundbreaking work offered, for the first time, a detailed and comprehensive picture of the impact of landfills on aquifers. The paper published on this research in the journal Ground Water was selected as a 20th century benchmark paper in the field of groundwater research by the International Association of Hydrological Sciences.

Baedecker played an integral role in the development of the USGS Toxic Substances Hydrology Program. Her leadership contributed to the international recognition of the program, making it a model for aquifer studies around the world. 

She later served as the USGS Chief Scientist for Hydrology and the leader of the USGS National Research Program, which develops new information, theories, and techniques to anticipate, understand, and solve problems facing resources managers.

In 1993 Baedecker was named the Darcy Lecturer for the Association of Groundwater Scientists and Engineers, and in 2002 she received Distinguished Service Awards from both the Department of the Interior and the Geological Society of America for her professional leadership and service. She received the Meinzer Award from the Geological Society of America in 2010 for her significant contributions to the field of hydrogeology.

Baedecker retired from the USGS in 2004, where she continues work in contaminant hydrogeology as a scientist emerita.

Her undergraduate work was completed at Vanderbilt University (1964). She received a master's degree in chemistry from the University of Kentucky (1967) and a Ph.D in geochemistry from The George Washington University (1985). From 1968 until 1973 she was a research scientist at the University of California-Los Angeles.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of the Interior today released the first in a series of regional studies measuring the amount of carbon stored in U.S. ecosystems. Published by Interior's U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the study examines the current and projected future carbon storage in the Great Plains region, as part of a nation-wide assessment.

Interior Releases First-of-its-Kind Regional Study as Part of National Assessment of Carbon Storage in U.S. Ecosystems

WASHINGTON–The Department of the Interior will hold a press conference on Monday, December 5, at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting in California to unveil the first regional study in a national assessment of how much carbon may be stored in U.S. ecosystems.

SAN FRANCISCO — From nearly 900 abstracts by USGS presenters at this year’s American Geophysical Union conference, we’ve selected some of the newest, most exciting topics that USGS scientists will explore at AGU. Tips are presented in topic areas, chronologically with room numbers, session numbers and a summary. The AGU conference is held Dec. 5-9 at the Moscone (West and South) Convention Center in San Francisco.

"The annual AGU fall meeting is a preferred venue for showcasing USGS science across all of our areas of emphasis: Climate and Land Use Change, Ecosystems, Energy and Minerals, Environmental Health, Geospatial Information, Hazards, and Water" said USGS director Marcia McNutt. "We save up some of our most exciting results knowing that we can reach a large audience of students and professionals eager to be up to date with the latest information."

News media representatives are invited to visit the USGS booth in the AGU Exhibit Hall. This is an easy place to connect with USGS and the staff working at the booth will have data, publications, and information.

Climate Change and Western Dust

Monday, 12/5, 10:50 a.m., MW 2018

Ecohydrology across scales in drylands: Implications for water availability and society

USGS Scientist: Belnap

H12F-03/Oral presentation 

Climate and land use in dryland regions are leaving soils vulnerable to wind erosion. Dust produced is deposited on snowpack, increasing melt rates, and decreasing overall water inputs into major rivers. As dust-producing activities occur in the Upper Basin, with water shortages mostly experienced in the Lower Basin, societal implications are studied.

Monday, 12/5, 1:45 p.m., MS 104

Effects of atmospheric dust on environments and people

USGS Scientist: Reynolds

U13B-01/Oral presentation

Atmospheric dust particles can affect human health, cause visibility issues, influence atmospheric temperatures, and accelerate melting of snow and ice. This session discusses new scientific findings in this area and the scientific challenges ahead.

Thursday, 12/8, 1:40 p.m. MS Halls A-C

Increasing vulnerability to drought and climate change on the Navajo Nation

USGS Scientist: Hiza Redsteer

GC43B-0928/Poster presentation

Lifelong observations of 73 Native elders yield a record of changes in plants and animals, water availability, weather, and sand/dust storms that complements the scant long-term meteorological records. A long-term drying trend and decreasing snowpack, superimposed on regional drought cycles, is magnifying the cultural and literal erosion and desertification of Navajo lands, leaving the Navajo Nation increasingly vulnerable to climate extremes.

Debris Flows

Monday, 12/5, 8:00 a.m., MW 3010

Rainfall thresholds for post-fire debris-flow emergency-response planning

USGS Scientist: Cannon

NH11B-01/Oral presentation

Wildfires often contribute to severe flooding and debris flows during winter storms. USGS scientists have developed a four-class system that identifies the severity of these events, and these four classes are linked with information on the rainfall conditions that trigger them.

Earthquakes

Monday, 12/5, 8:00 a.m., MS Halls A-C

Seismic imaging of fault zones: Methods and examples from the San Andreas Fault

USGS Scientist: Catchings

T11A-2277/Poster

To seismically retrofit the Hetch Hetchy water delivery system, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission relies on the USGS to provide detailed fault information. USGS uses a seismic imaging technique that combines seismic P-wave and S-wave reflection, refraction, and guided-wave data.

Monday, 12/5, 10:20 a.m., MW 2007

Identifying the hazard before the earthquake: How far have we come, how well have we done?

USGS Scientist: Schwartz

S12A-01/Oral presentation

The field of paleoseismology, looking at past earthquakes to determine the likelihood of a major one in the future, has become increasingly sophisticated over the past 50 years. Recent advances in technology allow scientists to look at previously undatable earthquakes, but anticipating hazards is still difficult.

Monday, 12/5, 4:30 p.m., MW 2009

Intensity distribution of the 2011 Mw5.8 Mineral, Va., earthquake

USGS Scientist: Hough

S14B-03/Oral presentation

More than 133,000 citizen responses were submitted to the USGS “Did You Feel It?” web site the week after the magnitude 5.8 Mineral, Va., earthquake. These data show that earthquake waves traveled especially efficiently toward the northeast, and explores the data in a historical context to show that it is the largest earthquake felt in the state of Virginia.

Monday, 12/5, 3:25 p.m., MW 2007

USGS National Seismic Hazard Map 2014 update

USGS Scientist: Petersen

S13B-08/Oral presentation

The USGS is updating its U.S. National Seismic Hazard Maps, which are used in building codes, risk analyses and public policies. Improvements will include updating earthquake models for active earthquake sources (e.g., New Madrid, San Andreas, Cascadia faults), adding new ground motion models that incorporate data from recent earthquakes (e.g., Tohoku and Virginia earthquakes), and supplementing and improving the earthquake catalog.

Monday, 12/5, 4:45 p.m., MW 2007

Aftershocks can kill

USGS Scientist: Stein

S14A-04/Oral presentation 

While aftershock frequency decays as time passes, aftershock magnitude does not. This means large, late aftershocks—particularly if they strike population centers—can be as deadly as their mainshocks. Despite several examples of this, aftershocks are generally ignored in seismic hazard assessment. This presentation argues that one can do a much better job anticipating aftershock hazard than mainshock hazard, and so one should do so.

Tuesday, 12/6, 4:15 p.m., MS 302

Microsoft Kinect™ technology game play to mimic seismic sensor deployment

Scientist: Kilb, USGS Scientist: Cochran

ED24B-02/Oral presentation

Using Microsoft’s Kinect™ technology, USGS scientists have helped to create educational software that uses motion-sensing technology to simulate placing seismological sensors after a major earthquake. The game’s player faces problems such as unexpected aftershocks and equipment failure while trying to place sensors correctly and efficiently.

Friday, 12/9, 8 a.m., MS Halls A-C

Modernization of the Southern California Seismic Network – ARRA and beyond

USGS Scientist: Thomas

S51A-2194/Poster

Hear how federal economic stimulus funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act were spent to upgrade 178 of the Southern California Seismic Network stations, making them more homogenous, less expensive to maintain, and able to transmit higher-quality waveform data.

Agriculture and Food Security

Monday, 12/5, 1:40 p.m., MS Halls A-C

New and improved tools for famine early warning

USGS Scientist: Budde

B13B-0558/Poster

USGS presents new and improved data products and more targeted analysis tools for global food security monitoring. 

Mineral and Energy Resources

Monday, 12/5, 10:20 a.m., MW 2022-2024

Geological, technological and political-economic constraints on future supplies of critical elements

USGS Scientist: Long

V12A-01/Oral presentation

Minerals such as rare earth elements are in considerable demand due to the many technologies that require them. Many challenges exist to bring these minerals to market.

Monday, 12/5, 11:14 a.m., MW 2022-2024

Marine ferromanganese deposits as a source of rare metals for high- and green-tech applications: Comparison with land-based deposits

USGS Scientist: Hein

V12A-04/Oral presentation 

Deep-ocean deposits of rare earth minerals may offer a potential solution to global demand.

Thursday, 12/8, 4:45 p.m., MW 2009

Can earthquakes due to fluid injection be controlled?

USGS Scientists: McGarr; Williams; Hickman; Oppenheimer

S44B-04/Oral presentation

Injecting fluids into the earth, such as done in during enhanced geothermal development, can cause earthquakes. Case histories give some clues, but much is unresolved.

Hydrology

Wednesday, 12/7, 1:40 p.m., MS Halls A-C

Changes in continental water storage caused by groundwater depletion since 1900

USGS Scientist: Konikow       

G33B-0989/Poster

As groundwater continues to be an important part of global agriculture and industry, its supply levels are slowly decreasing. The process of groundwater being used and flowing to the oceans has been found to contribute to sea-level rise.

Monday, 12/5, 1:40 p.m., MS Halls A-C

Fens as whole-ecosystem gauges of climate change

USGS Scientist: Drexler

H13C-1227/Poster

Groundwater-fed peatlands, called fens, have the potential to be used as whole-ecosystem gauges of climate change because of their high sensitivity to changes in hydrology through time.  

Thursday, 12/8, 4:00 p.m., MW 3010

Assessment of the effects of conservation practices on water quality

USGS Scientist: Garcia

H44A-01/Oral presentation

Using a semi-empirical model used to simulate stream water quality called SPARROW, scientists found that agricultural conservation practices can significantly reduce phosphorus pollution.

Hawaiian Volcanoes

Wednesday, 12/7, 1:40 p.m., MW 2018

The changing role of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory in its first 100 years

USGS Scientist: Kauahikaua

V33E-01/Oral presentation

Owing to frequent eruptions, ease of access, and continuous record of activity since 1912, Kilauea Volcano has been the focus for volcanological study by government, academic, and international investigators. Come hear how 100 years of monitoring and research at HVO has changed the way volcanoes are understood today.

Thursday, 12/8, 4:00 p.m., MW 2020

The Vog Measurement and Prediction Project

USGS Scientist: Sutton

V44C-05/Oral presentation 

Real-time modeling and forecast systems aim to study and to warn the public of SO2 pollution from Kilauea volcano, which poses significant health and environmental risks.

Tsunamis 

Monday, 12/5, 1:40 p.m., MS Halls A-C

Estimating the likelihood of extreme seismogenic tsunamis

USGS Scientist: Geist

NH13A-1369/Poster

Because the likelihood of tsunamis caused by earthquakes is directly linked to the size of the generating earthquakes, we can determine the likelihood of a tsunami occurring in a certain location by looking at earthquake data. Because of complicated wave evolution near shore, estimates for extreme tsunamis are site-specific.

Monday, 12/5, 3:10 p.m., MW 3010

Field observations of tsunami characteristics after 2011 Japanese tsunami

USGS Scientist: Richmond

NH13G-07 /Oral presentation

Characteristics of the Tohoku tsunami deposits reveal information on the geologic processes of the destructive waves as well as criteria to identify paleotsunami deposits in the geologic record. The international team observed height and direction of tsunami flow, mapped erosion features and assessed and sampled sediment deposition in shallow trenches. 

Tuesday, 12/6, 1:45 p.m., MW 3010

Tsunami population-vulnerability index based on pedestrian-evacuation modeling

USGS Scientist: Wood

NH23B-01/Oral presentation

Previous estimates of losses due to tsunamis have only looked at the number of people in hazard zones. This study takes into account factors such as distance to safety, types of land cover, slope, and travel speeds.

Wednesday, 12/7, 11:50 a.m., MW 3010

Assessing tsunami hazard from the geologic record

USGS Scientist: Jaffe

NH32A-07/Oral presentation

Hazard assessments have begun to incorporate tsunami deposits into the few available historical records of tsunamis, a technique that is growing more accurate as scientists are able to distinguish storm deposits from tsunami deposits. However, studies of the 2011 Japan tsunami suggest that deposits may not be an accurate measurement of inundation distance, and that other proxies such as geochemical signatures and approaches such as sediment transport modeling are needed.

Planetary Science 

Wednesday, 12/7, 10:50 a.m., MS 307

The surface composition of Titan

USGS Scientist: Clark

P32C-03/ Oral presentation

Measuring the 0.35 to 5-micron spectral reflectance of compounds relevant to Saturn’s moon Titan, scientists have identified possible matches including cytosine, uracil, guanine, and adenine, the four nucleobases in the nucleic acid of RNA. If these compounds can be confirmed to be on Titan, it could have implications for the formation of life.

Thursday, 12/8, 8:00 a.m. Halls A-C

Global controlled mosaic of Mercury from MESSENGER orbital images 

USGS Scientist: Becker

P41A-1589/Poster

The USGS is constructing a highly accurate map of Mercury's surface from MESSENGER orbital 
images acquired since entering orbit March 18, 2011. Registration errors are corrected. From this work, 
USGS has derived a preliminary digital elevation model that will be used to improve the map.

Friday, 12/9, 8 a.m., MS Halls A-C

A microbial base for possible Martian life

USGS Scientist: Miller

B51G-0485/Poster

Some microorganisms can oxidize methane by using an available supply of oxygen. This study is working with organisms that reduce perchlorate to chloride and in the process make O2 that could then be used for energy by a methane oxidizer. This pathway could be in use anywhere there is perchlorate and methane, even in an environment without oxygen.

Biochemistry

Monday, 12/5, 5:40 a.m., MW 2002

Wetland plants and carbon sequestration in restored peatland of California

USGS Scientist: Windham-Myers

B14C-07 /Oral presentation

Peat soils serve as the greatest long-term carbon sink on land, containing more than a quarter of the world’s stored carbon. This study looks into the exact rates and sensitivities of plant photosynthesis and respiration in a temperate freshwater wetland in comparison with estimates of microbial respiration to explain the high rates of carbon capture documented in this managed restored wetland.

Tuesday, 12/6, 9:30 a.m., MW 2006

Sulfur and methylmercury in the Florida Everglades – the biogeochemical connection

USGS Scientist: Orem

B21L-07/Oral presentation

Fish in the Everglades have some of the highest mercury levels in the United States, posing problems to both fish-eating animals and humans. USGS studies show that among other factors, high levels of sulfur in surface water causes bacteria to produce methyl mercury. Current restoration plans for the park may cause more sulfur to be added to the southern waters; a change in the restoration strategy, taking into account sulfur levels, is needed.

Bird Behavior

Friday, 12/9, 10:20 a.m., MS 309

Do homing pigeons use acoustic signals for navigation?

USGS Scientist: Hagstrum

B52A-01/Oral presentation

This study proposes that atmospheric and topographic effects on the transmission of acoustic signals can affect avian navigation.