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April 11, 2012
Quaternary geologic map of the Havre 1° x 2° quadrangle, Montana
Compilations by Dave Fullerton (GECSC) and Roger Colton. Digital edition by Chuck Bush (GECSC). Published as USGS Open-File Report 2012-1028.
Prepared in cooperation with the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, this map describes the surficial deposits and materials of an area along the Montana/Saskatchewan boundary. Report includes ARC/INFO export coverages.
April 11, 2012
By Anjana Shah, Peter Vogt, Joe Rosenbaum (GECSC), Wayne Newell, Thomas Cronin, Debra Willard, Rick Hagen, John Brozena, and Albert Hofstra. Published in Marine Geology, v. 303-306, p. 26-41.
In the Chesapeake Bay, shipboard magnetic field data exhibit low-amplitude, short-wavelength anomalies that reflect shallow concentrations of heavy minerals. In Holocene sediments, the distribution of heavy mineral concentrations reflects sorting during initial settling and during resuspension by wave action and tidal currents. The relation between heavy mineral concentrations and shallow-water high-energy environments provides a means of interpreting pre-Holocene sea level changes from sediment cores in the area.
April 6, 2012
By Stephanie Ann Mumma, Cathy Whitlock, and Kenneth Pierce (GECSC). Published in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 326-328, p. 30-41.
By analyzing a sediment and contained pollen record 28,000 years long, the vegetation and climate history of unglaciated Centennial Valley has been reconstructed. This reconstruction helps clarify the climate and vegetation history with respect to the pollen assemblage and elevational shifts during and since the last glacial maximum, and its comparison with other paleoecological records provides a better understanding of glacial and postglacial environments in the Northern Rocky Mountains.
April 2, 2012
Incorporating climate change into systematic conservation planning
By Craig Groves, Edward Game, Mark Anderson, Molly Cross, Carolyn Enquist, Zach Ferdaña, Evan Girvetz, Anne Gondor, Kimberly Hall, Jonathan Higgins, Rob Marshall, Ken Popper, Steve Schill, Sarah Shafer (GECSC). Published in Biodiversity and Conservation.
Systematic conservation planning principles are used by a variety of governments and non-government organizations for developing biodiversity conservation plans. As the effects of climate change have become apparent, these plans must be adjusted to take into account the potential effects of climate change on ecosystems. This paper presents five climate change adaptation approaches for use in biodiversity conservation plans and discusses some of their assumptions and trade-offs.
March 22, 2012
By Daniel Malmon, Keith Howard, Kyle House, Scott Lundstrom (GECSC), Philip Pearthree, Andrei Sarna-Wojcicki, Elmira Wan, and David Wahl. USGS Professional Paper 1786.
The Chemehuevi Formation, one of the most prominent stratigraphic units along the Colorado River below the Grand Canyon, provides the record of a major sedimentation event by the river system. This report summarizes what is known about the deposits that comprise this formation and presents new stratigraphic, sedimentologic, geomorphic, and tephrochronologic data, as well as formally defining the formation as a lithostratigraphic unit.
March 14, 2012
By Dan Muhs (GECSC), Kathleen Simmons (GECSC), Randy Schumann (GECSC), Lindsey Groves, Jerry Mitrovica, and DeAnna Laurel. Published in Quaternary Science Reviews, v. 37.
San Nicolas Island has one of the best records of fossiliferous Quaternary marine terraces in North America, making it an excellent location for studying past sea levels. The paleo-sea level estimates of these terraces, however, are significantly different than those obtained from other uplifting coasts. That difference in the height of past sea levels is likely due to the glacial isostatic adjustment processes that are described in this paper.
March 9, 2012
By Jason Rech, Jeffrey Nekola, and Jeff Pigati (GECSC). Published in Quaternary Research, v. 77.
Analysis of terrestrial gastropods at a site in eastern Wisconsin provides evidence for a mixed tundra-taiga environment prior to formation of the taiga forest bed and shows that ice-free conditions on the shore of Lake Michigan lasted nearly 600 years longer than previously thought. The results of this study provide important data for understanding the response of continental ice sheets to global climate forcing and demonstrate the potential of using terrestrial gastropod shells for both environmental reconstruction and age control in late Quaternary sediments.
February 21, 2012
By Stephen Meyers, Sarah Siewert, Brad Singer, Bradley Sageman, Daniel Condon, John Obradovich, Brian Jicha, and David Sawyer (GECSC). Published in Geology, v. 40.
This paper describes the intercalibrated astrochronologic and radioisotopic time scale for the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary interval near the Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) in Pueblo, Colorado, where orbitally influenced rhythmic strata host bentonites that contain sanidine and zircon suitable for 40Ar/39Ar and U-Pb dating.
February 21, 2012
Productivity maxima and sedimentary δ15N during the last glacial interval in the Gulf of Alaska
By Jason Addison, Bruce Finney, Walt Dean (GECSC Emeritus), Maureen Davies, Alan Mix, Joseph Stoner, and John Jaeger. Published in Paleoceanography, v. 27.
This study presents a nitrogen isotopic and trace-element study of productivity and anoxia over the last 17,000 years on the continental slope of the northern Gulf of Alaska. Nitrogen isotopes provide a link between productivity and nitrogen cycle dynamics. Accumulation rates of cadmium and molybdenum document periods of high productivity and bottom-water anoxia, respectively.
January 27, 2012
Congratulations to Ken Pierce, GECSC emeritus, who has been selected as the recipient of the 2011 American Quaternary Association (AMQUA) Distinguished Career Award. This award recognizes an outstanding Quaternary scientist who has contributed significantly and steadily to the advancement of the Quaternary sciences. Ken will be recognized at the 2012 Biennial Meeting, June 21-24 in Duluth, Minnesota.
January 26, 2012
Research geologist Dan Muhs was quoted extensively in the article "Swept From Africa to the Amazon: What the journey of a handful of dust tells us about our fragile planet," by Jeffrey Bartholet, that appears in the February issue of Scientific American. Dan discussed his research on dust from Africa that fertilizes the oceans and contributes nutrients to the Amazon rain forest, among other places.
January 20, 2012
Airborne electromagnetic imaging of discontinuous permafrost
By Burke Minsley, Jared Abraham, Bruce Smith, James Cannia, Clifford Voss, Torre Jorgenson, Michelle Walvoord, Bruce Wylie, Lesleigh Anderson (GECSC), Lyndsay Ball, Maryla Deszcz-Pan, Tristan Wellman, and Tom Ager (GECSC). Published in Geophysical Research Letters, vol. 39.
Details about the 3D-arrangement of permafrost at depth are lacking due to the difficulty in probing the subsurface over large areas. This paper, by USGS scientists of multiple disciplines, shows that remotely sensed airborne electromagnetic data can be used to identify the subsurface configuration of permafrost as well as infer the thermal legacy of surface water and groundwater in permafrost regions. Also contributing to this report was GECSC member Paco Van Sistine.
January 18, 2012
The Paleoclimate Variability of the American Southwest project has been added to the GECSC Research Activities web page. The goal of the project is to determine how climate conditions in general, and precipitation in particular, have changed over time in the American Southwest. Scientists on this project are tasked with reconstructing the paleoclimate from lake deposits, groundwater discharge deposits, and vegetation records. Geologic mapping is also used to gain understanding of the drainage-basin history of the region.
January 4, 2012
Geologic Map of the Cochiti Dam Quadrangle, Sandoval County, New Mexico
By David Dethier, Ren Thompson (GECSC), Mark Hudson (GECSC), Scott Minor (GECSC), and David Sawyer (GECSC). USGS Scientific Investigations Map 3194.
This map, prepared in cooperation with the National Park Service, includes the eastern part of Bandelier National Monument and the western part of the Cerros del Rio volcanic field in New Mexico's Española Basin. Members of the GECSC conducted geologic mapping, geochronologic, geochemical, petrologic, paleomagnetic and stratigraphic studies to establish the temporal evolution of faulting and volcanism in this segment of the northern Rio Grande rift.
December 16, 2011
Interim geologic map of the west part of the Panguitch 30' × 60' quadrangle, Garfield, Iron, and Kane Counties, Utah—Year 3 progress report
By Robert Biek, John Anderson, Pete Rowley, and Florian Maldonado (GECSC). Utah Geological Survey Open-File Report OFR-585.
This report (available on CD) shows the progress made in mapping the Panguitch 30' x 60' quadrangle of southwestern Utah. In addition to the mapping shown in the Year 1 and Year 2 reports, this Year 3 report includes the western portion of the mapping sheet.
November 28, 2011
Geologic map of the Bailey 30′ × 60′ quadrangle, North-Central Colorado
By Cal Ruleman, Bob Bohannon, Bruce Bryant, Ralph Shroba, and Wayne Premo. U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3156.
This 1:100,000-scale map describes the geology of the the Bailey 30′ × 60′ quadrangle, which encompasses parts of the Front Range and South Park regions of Colorado.
November 18, 2011
An article about Great Sand Dunes National Park, published in Weekly Reader's "Current Science" magazine, featured the work of Rich Madole (GECSC) and Shannon Mahan. "Sands of Time: How and When did the Nations Biggest Sand Dunes Take Shape?" appeared in the magazine's September 23 edition.
November 18, 2011
By Chris Fridrich and Ren Thompson. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1783.
This study integrates observations of space-time patterns in the migration of extensional tectonism, related magmatism, and associated basin-fill tectono-stratigraphy of the Death Valley region.
November 17, 2011
Quaternary Geologic Map of the Wichita 4° × 6° Quadrangle, United States
Digital edition by Chuck Bush (GECSC). Original map compiled by Jane Denne, Kenneth Luza, Gerald Richmond, Katheryn Jensen, William Fishman, and E.G. Wermund, Jr., edited and integrated by Gerald Richmond and Ann Coe Christiansen. U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Series I-1420 (NJ-14).
The Wichita 4° × 6° Quadrangle, part of the Quaternary Geologic Atlas of the United States, is now available in digital form. First published as a printed edition in 1993, the geologic data has been posted online along with images of the printed map sheet and component parts as PDF files.
November 16, 2011
Cover sequences at the northern margin of the Antongil Craton, NE Madagascar
By Wilfried Bauer, Gregory Walsh, Bert de Waele, Robert Thomas, Matthew Horstwood, Laura Bracciali, David Schofield, Uwe Wollenberg, David Lidke (GECSC), Imboarina Rasaona, Mamy Rabarimanana. Published in Precambrian Research, v. 189, p. 292-312.
The island of Madagascar is composed of Precambrian metamorphic basement domains that are locally overlain by unmetamorphosed sedimentary rocks and poorly understood low-grade metasediments. This examination of an area on the northern part of the island sheds light on those less understood cover sequences.
November 16, 2011
Polyphase Neoproterozoic orogenesis within the East Africa-Antarctica Orogenic Belt in central and northern Madagascar
By Key, R.M., Pitfield, P.E.J., Thomas, R.J., Goodenough, K.M., Dewaele, B., Schofield, D.I., Bauer, W., Horstwood, M.S.A., Styles, M.T., Conrad, J., Encarnacion, J., Lidke, D.J. (GECSC), O'Connor, E.A., Potter, C., Smith, R.A., Walsh, G.J., Ralison, A.V., Randriamananjara, T., Rafahatelo J.-M., and Rabarimanana, M. Published in The Formation and Evolution of Africa: A Synopsis of 3.8 Ga of Earth History by Geological Society, London.
This geological survey of the basement of central and northern Madagascar presents a re-evaluation of the evolution of this part of the East Africa-Antarctica Orogen (EAAO). Using available data, the study aimed to create a consistent new model for the evolution of the region and the EAAO as a whole.
November 14, 2011
By Jeff Pigati (GECSC), David Miller, Jordan Bright, Shannon Mahan, Jeffrey Nekola, and Jim Paces (GECSC). Published in Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 123.
In this study, geologic mapping and stratigraphic relations were used to identify two distinct wetland sequences at Valley Wells, California, which were dated to the late Pleistocene using multiple techniques. The timing and magnitude of changes in ground-water levels at this site is consistent with other paleowetland systems in the region, which suggests that ground-water levels during the late Pleistocene in desert wetlands scattered throughout the Southwest were likely driven by synoptic-scale climate processes.
November 1, 2011
Geologic map of the Montoso Peak quadrangle, Santa Fe and Sandoval Counties, New Mexico
By Ren Thompson, Mark Hudson, Ralph Shroba, Scott Minor, and Dave Sawyer. USGS Scientific Investigations Map 3179, 20 p. pamphlet, 1 sheet, scale 1:24,000.
This map and accompanying pamphlet describes the geology of the Montoso Peak quadrangle, which lies in the Cerros del Rio volcanic field of the Española Basin. The rocks and sediments of this area record volcanic, faulting, alluvial, colluvial, and eolian processes over the past three million years. The mapping was carried out in support of the USGS Rio Grande Basin Project, funded by the USGS National Cooperative Geologic mapping Program.
November 1, 2011
By Alberto Reyes, Grant Zazula, Svetlana Kuzmina, Tom Ager (GECSC), and Duane Froese. Published Journal of Quaternary Science, v. 26, no. 3.
Last interglacial sediments in unglaciated Alaska and Yukon (eastern Beringia) are commonly identified by palaeoecological indicators and stratigraphic position ~2-5 m above the regionally prominent Old Crow tephra (124±10 ka). We demonstrate that this approach can yield erroneous age assignments using data from a new exposure at the Palisades, a site in interior Alaska with numerous exposures of Quaternary sediments.
October 20, 2011
By Walt Dean (GECSC) and Lisa Doner. Published in the Journal of Paleolimnology, v. 47, no. 1.
Sediment core analyses show that the high concentrations of iron and manganese found in the sediments of Little Shingobee Lake and Fen are derived mostly from deep groundwater sources, and not from more typical detrital sources. The geochemical and pollen information contained in the sediment cores from this locality also reveal much about the environment of this part of Minnesota during the late Pleistocene through late Holocene.
October 18, 2011
By J.L. Till, M.J. Jackson, J.G. Rosenbaum (GECSC), and P. Solheid. Published in Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, v. 12, Qo7Z26.
The paper presents rock magnetic results from the glassy basal portion of the Tiva Canyon Tuff. The size of magnetite grains increases upwards from the rapidly chilled base of the tuff with concomitant changes in magnetic properties. Because each sample contains tiny, well-dispersed magnetite grains of nearly uniform size, the research provides important tests of rock magnetic theories that form the basis for a wide range of applied studies (e.g., environmental magnetism and paleointensity of the earth’s magnetic field).
October 11, 2011
By Karl Kellogg, Ralph Shroba, Wayne Premo, and Bruce Bryant. USGS Scientific Investigations Map 3170.
Recent mapping and geochronologic studies for the eastern half of the Vail 1:100,000 quadrangle have significantly improved our understanding of (1) Paleoproterozoic history of the basement rocks of the Gore Range and Williams Fork Mountains, (2) Late Paleozoic history of the Gore fault system, (3) Laramide contractional tectonism within the mapping area, (4) Oligocene and younger extensional history of the Blue River half graben, (5) late Neogene and Quaternary surficial history, and (6) the significant geological hazards in the area.
October 11, 2011
By Florian Maldonado (GECSC), Jan Mengal, Shahid Khan, and Peter Warwick. USGS Open-File Report 2011-1224.
The Quetta-Muslim Bagh-Sibi region is a structurally complex area characterized by broad and tight folds, and reverse, thrust, and strike-slip faults that formed during four major periods of deformation related to oblique convergence of the India and Eurasia plates. Obduction of an ophiolite complex onto the northwestern continental margin of the India plate occurred during the Late Cretaceous to early Paleocene, followed by collision of the ophiolitic complex of the India plate with the Eurasia plate in the Eocene. Lower Eocene marine strata overlie the ophiolitic complex suggesting that suturing was completed by early Eocene time.
October 11, 2011
Modeling the impacts of climate change on ecosystem services.
By Joshua Lawler, Erik Nelson, Marc Conte, Sarah Shafer (GECSC), Driss Ennaanay, and Guillermo Mendoza. Chapter 18 of Natural Capital: Theory and Practice of Mapping Ecosystem Services, edited by Peter Kareiva, Heather Tallis, Taylor Ricketts, Gretchen Daily, and Stephen Polasky, Oxford University Press.
This chapter discusses the use of ecosystem-service models in evaluating the effects of climate change on natural and human systems and presents a case study of potential climate impacts on ecosystem-services in the Willamette Basin of Oregon. The chapter appears in Natural Capital, a new book on ecosystem services from Oxford University Press.
October 11, 2011
U.S. Geological Survey Science for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative—2010 Annual Report
By Zachary Bowen, Cameron Aldridge, Patrick Anderson, Timothy Assal, Laura Biewick, Steven Blecker, Gregory Boughton, Sky Bristol, Natasha Carr, Anna Chalfoun, Geneva Chong, Melanie Clark, Jay Diffendorfer, Bradley Fedy, Katharine Foster, Steven Garman, Stephen Germaine, JoAnn Holloway, Collin Homer, Matthew Kauffman, Douglas Keinath, Natalie Latysh, Daniel Manier, Robert McDougal, Cynthia Melcher, Kirk Miller, Jessica Montag, Christopher Potter, Spencer Schell, Sarah Shafer (GECSC), David Smith, Lisa Stillings, Michele Tuttle, and Anna Wilson. USGS Open-File Report 2011-1219.
This is the third report produced by the USGS for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative, a science-based program founded to assess, monitor, and enhance aquatic and terrestrial habitats at a landscape scale in the state. The report details annual work activities conducted in Fiscal Year 2010 and covers 35 ongoing/expanded, completed, or new projects conducted under the multi-disciplinary science and technical-assistance activities.
September 29, 2011
Geologic map of Big Bend National Park, Texas
By Kenzie Turner (GECSC), Margaret Berry (GECSC), Ric Page (GECSC), Thomas Lehman, Bob Bohannon (GECSC), Bob Scott (GECSC), Dan Miggins, James Budahn, Roger Cooper, Benjamin Drenth, Eric Anderson, and Van Williams (GECSC). USGS Scientific Investigations Map 3142.
The purpose of this publication is to provide the National Park Service and the public with a modern digital geologic map of Big Bend National Park. This map can be utilized with standard GIS applications to aid researchers in geologic data analysis, natural resource and ecosystem management, monitoring, assessment, inventory activities, and educational and recreational uses.
September 26, 2011
By By Scott Christenson, Noel Osborn, Christopher Neel, Jason Faith, Chuck Blome (GECSC), James Puckette, and Mike Pantea (GECSC). USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5029.
The Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer provides water for public supply, farms, mining, wildlife conservation, and recreation. Proposed development of water supplies from the aquifer revealed a need for more study of this resource. The Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) collaborated with the USGS and others in order to determine the volume of water that could be withdrawn from the aquifer while protecting it. This report produced by the USGS, in cooperation with the OWRB, describes the hydrogeology and simulation of groundwater flow of the aquifer.
September 13, 2011
Geologic Map of the Latir Volcanic Field and Adjacent Areas, Northern New Mexico
Original map by Peter Lipman and Jack Reed (GECSC), with digital edition and database by Ted Brandt (GECSC). USGS Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map I-1907.
This map, first published as a printed edition in 1989, encompasses all or parts of ten 7.5 minute quadrangles in the Taos Range of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. This Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map makes available the digitally captured geologic data, images of the printed map sheet, and component parts as PDF files.
August 31, 2011
The Snowmastodon Project has been added to the GECSC Research Activities web page.
In October 2010, construction workers enlarging a reservoir near Snowmass Village, Colorado, unearthed several bones of a Columbian mammoth. Subsequent excavations led by the Denver Museum of Nature and Science recovered more than 5000 bones from a variety of Ice Age animals. Exceptional preservation of bones and plants at the site offer researchers from the USGS and fifteen other institutions the opportunity to understand how high-elevation ecosystems responded to climate change during the late Pleistocene.
August 25, 2011
The U.S. Board of Geographic Names, following the recommendation of the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names, has approved the name Fitzpatrick Glacier, Antarctica, for a glacier at 77°49'18"S, 160°08'49"E. The feature was named in honor of Dr. Joan J. Fitzpatrick, Research Scientist with the GEC Science Center specializing in geology and climatology, and serving as a principal investigator in numerous projects involving ice core analysis.
August 10, 2011
Deglaciation and Postglacial Treeline Fluctuation in the Northern San Juan Mountains, Colorado
By Paul E. Carrara. USGS Professional Paper 1782.
In 1978, Lake Emma, in Colorado's San Juan Mountains, was suddenly drained by the collapse of underground mine workings. The draining exposed a well-preserved archive of subfossil coniferous wood fragments that provided a unique opportunity to further our understanding of the paleoclimatic history of this region. The more than 100 radiocarbon ages obtained from wood fragments at this and other nearby sites makes this study one of the best-documented records of Holocene treeline fluctuations in North America.
August 5, 2011
By Harland L. Goldstein (GECSC), George N. Breit, James C. Yount (GECSC), Richard L. Reynolds (GECSC), Marith C. Reheis (GECSC), Gary L. Skipp (GECSC), Eric M. Fisher (GECSC), and Paul J. Lamothe. USGS Data Series 607.
This report presents data and describes the methods used to determine the physical attributes, as well as the chemical and mineralogical composition of surficial deposits; groundwater levels; and water composition in the area of Franklin Lake playa and Ash Meadows, California and Nevada. The results support studies that examine (1) the interaction between groundwater and the ground surface, and the transport of solutes through the unsaturated zone; (2) the potential for the accumulation of metals and metalloids in surface crusts; (3) emission of dust from metal-rich salt crust; and (4) the effects of metal-rich dusts on human and ecosystem health.
August 5, 2011
Dust: Small-Scale Processes With Global Consequences [PDF]
By G.S. Okin, J.E. Bullard, R.L. Reynolds (GECSC), J.-A.C. Ballantine, K. Schepanski, M.C. Todd, J. Belnap, M.C. Baddock, T.E. Gill, and M.E. Miller. Published in Eos, v. 92, no. 29.
Atmospheric mineral dust has wide-ranging effects in the Earth System, influencing Earth's climate, providing essential nutrients for marine phytoplankton productivity, fertilizing terrestrial ecosystems, accelerating the melting of snow and ice, and impacting human health. This article identifies the key research questions surrounding the production and sources of dust and suggests interdisciplinary approaches to answering these questions.
July 28, 2011
By Walter Dean (GECSC) and Lisa Doner, USGS Open-File Report 2011-1106.
Sediment core analyses show that the high concentrations of iron and manganese found in the sediments of Little Shingobee Lake and Fen are derived mostly from deep groundwater sources, and not from more typical detrital sources. The geochemical and pollen information contained in the sediment cores from this locality also reveal much about the environment of this part of Minnesota during the late Pleistocene through late Holocene.
July 21, 2011
By Ric Page (GECSC), Daniel Scheirer, Victoria Langenheim, and Mary Berger, USGS Open-File Report 2006-1040.
Open-File Report 2006-1040 presents 10 geologic cross sections that were constructed to better understand the hydrogeologic framework for parts of the southwestern U.S., and to provide the National Park Service with geologic framework data for numerical groundwater models. This report is now revised with corrections and additions to parts of seven of the ten cross sections. These revisions correct errors in some of the original cross sections and show new parts of several sections that were extended and (or) appended to the original section profiles.
July 19, 2011
Geology for a changing world 2010-2020—Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey science strategy
By Linda Gundersen, Jayne Belnap, Martin Goldhaber, Arthur Goldstein, Peter Haeussler, S.E. Ingebritsen, John Jones, Geoffrey Plumlee, Robert Thieler, Bob Thompson (GECSC), and Judith Back, USGS Circular 1369.
This report presents six goals with accompanying strategic actions and products that implement the science directions of the USGS. These six goals focus on providing the geologic underpinning needed to wisely use our natural resources, understand and mitigate hazards and environmental change, and understand the relationship between humans and the environment. The goals emphasize the critical role of the USGS in providing long-term research, monitoring, and assessments for the Nation and the world.
July 7, 2011
Climate Change Considerations
By Gary Clow (GECSC), Anthony DeGange, Dirk Derksen, and Christian Zimmerman. Published as Chapter 4 of An Evaluation of the Science Needs to Inform Decisions on Outer Continental Shelf Energy Development in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, Alaska, USGS Circular 1370.
This report concerns oil and gas development in the Arctic outer continental shelf, which is one of the least frequented areas in the U.S. yet home to ecosystems already under extreme threat from climate change.
July 1, 2011
By Ken Pierce (GECSC) , Dan Muhs (GECSC), Maynard Fosberg, Shannon Mahan, Joe Rosenbaum (GECSC), Joseph Licciardi, and Milan Pavich. Published in Quaternary Research.
The analysis of a section of Bull Lake outwash terrace in northwestern Wyoming reveals how the climate changed at this location from the end of the last interglacial-glacial cycle onward.
July 1, 2011
Regional and climatic controls on seasonal dust deposition in the southwestern U.S.
By Marith Reheis and Frank Urban, published in Aeolian Research (v. 3, p. 3-21).
This paper contrasts the dust deposition rates of two regions, the Mojave-southern Great Basin deserts and the eastern Colorado Plateau. The findings show that dust deposition is higher in the eastern Colorado Plateau study area due to gustier winds, drought, and animal grazing, especially in the summer-fall season.
June 30, 2011
Preliminary geologic map of the Bowen Mountain quadrangle, Grand and Jackson Counties, Colorado
By Jim Cole (GECSC), William Braddock, and Ted Brandt (GECSC), published as U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2011-1111.
This preliminary map depicts the geology of an alpine region in the southern Never Summer Mountains, including parts of the Never Summer Wilderness Area, the Bowen Gulch Protection Area, and the Arapaho National Forest in north-central Colorado.
May 19, 2011
By Florian Maldonado (GECSC), Jan Mohammad Mengal, Shahid Hasan Khan, and Jean-Claude Thomas. USGS Open-File Report 2011-1093.
This generalized digital geologic map of west-central Pakistan was part of a cooperative program between the Geological Survey of Pakistan and the USGS. The original nondigital map was modified using new information obtained from reconnaissance field work and photo interpretation of 1:250,000-scale Landsat Thematic Mapper photo imagery.
May 18, 2011
GEC emeritus Walt Dean accepted the William F. Twenhofel Medal from Mitch Harris at the 2011 President's Reception and Awards Ceremony during the Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM) Annual Meeting on April 12, 2011. The William F. Twenhofel Medal is SEPM's highest award, and was presented to Walt in recognition of "Outstanding Contributions to Sedimentary Geology."
May 9, 2011
Geology and Karst Landscapes of the Buffalo National River Area, Northern Arkansas in U.S. Geological Survey Karst Interest Group Proceedings, Fayetteville, Arkansas, April 26-29, 2011
By Mark Hudson (GECSC), Kenzie Turner (GECSC), and Chuck Bitting. U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5031, p. 191-212
Mapping studies in the western Buffalo River area reveal the geologic controls on karst features in the southern Ozark Plateaus region and provide a scientific basis for resource management at Buffalo National River (administered by the National Park Service). This field-trip guide demonstrates relations of caves, springs, sinkholes and losing streams in this karst landscape to the underlying geology as determined by geologic mapping and three-dimensional modeling.
May 5, 2011
Preliminary geologic map of the Cottonwood Mountain quadrangle, Iron County, Utah
By By Florian Maldonado (GECSC), John Anderson, and Robert Biek. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2010-1334.
The Utah Geological Survey, incorporating work by GECSC members and others, has been mapping this 1:24,000-scale quadrangle located in southwestern part of that state. The information from this map will be used in the compilation of the planned Panquitch 1:100,000-scale geologic map.
April 5, 2011
Geologic and topographic maps of the Kabul South 30' x 60' quadrangle, Afghanistan
By Bob Bohannon, U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3137.
This map and supporting materials presents the best geologic information available of the area southeast of Kabul and gives a better understanding Afghanistan's mineral and energy resources. The report was produced as a cooperative effort with USAID, the Afghan Ministry of Mines, the Afghanistan Geological Survey, as well as the Afghan Geodesy and Cartography Head Office.
March 28, 2011
Three-Dimensional Geologic Model of the Southeastern Española Basin, Santa Fe County, New Mexico
By Mike Pantea (GECSC), Mark Hudson (GECSC), V.J.S. Grauch, and Scott Minor (GECSC), USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5025.
This multimedia model and report show and describe digital three-dimensional faulted surfaces and volumes of lithologic units that confine and constrain the basin-fill aquifers within the Española Basin. It also shows the connectivity of geologic units of high and low permeability between and across faults, and to show approximate dips of the lithologic units.
March 21, 2011
By Lesleigh Anderson (GECSC), Bruce Finney, and Mark Shapley, published in Quaternary Science Reviews (v. 30, p. 887-898).
A 1000-year history of climate change is inferred from sediment composition and isotope geochemistry from small, groundwater fed, Seven Mile Lake in the Yukon Territory, Canada. Climate was wetter than today between ~AD 1000 and 1600 with a shift to more arid conditions after ~AD 1650. The 19th and 20th centuries have been the driest of the past 1000 years. Comparison with regional glacial activity suggests differing regional moisture patterns during early and late Little Ice Age advances.
March 11, 2011
Cosmogenic nuclide and uranium-series dating of old, high shorelines in the western Great Basin, USA
By Gabrielle Kurth, Fred Phillips, Marith Reheis (GECSC), Joanna Redwine, and Jim Paces (GECSC), published in the March GSA Bulletin (v. 123).
Closed-basin pluvial lakes, like those in Nevada sampled for this study, are sensitive recorders of effective moisture, and they provide a terrestrial signal of climate change that can be compared to marine and ice records of glacial-interglacial cycles. Cosmogenic nuclide and uranium-series dating of shoreline sequences above the latest Pleistocene level show that their ages increase as a function of increasing altitude.
March 11, 2011
By Dan Muhs (GECSC), Kathleen Simmons (GECSC), Randy Schumann (GECSC), and Robert Halley, published in the March issue of Quaternary Science Reviews (v. 30, p. 570-590).
The dates obtained from fossil corals and their location in tectonically stable areas of Florida indicate that sea level was significantly higher than present for at least 9,000 years during the Last Interglacial period. This study shows that local sea level in southern Florida was at least 6.6 m, and possibly as much as 8.3 m higher than present. If sea-level returned to these past levels, vast populated areas around the world would be inundated by water. The cause of this sea-level change was likely melted ice from both Greenland and Antarctica.
March 9, 2011
Enhanced Late Holocene ENSO/PDO expression along the margins of the eastern North Pacific
By John Barron and Lesleigh Anderson (GECSC), published in Quaternary International (v. 235, iss. 1-2, p. 3-12).
This is a compilation of terrestrial and marine proxy data that indicates suppressed El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions between 8,000 and 4,000 years ago. A climate transition around 4200-3000 years ago appears to be the expression of a more modern-like Pacific, with more variable El Niño/La Niña-like, and more positive PDO (Pacific Decadal Oscillation)-like conditions.
March 9, 2011
Digital version 1.1 of the Quaternary Geologic Map of the Dakotas 4° x 6° Quadrangle, United States
By Chuck Bush, USGS Miscellaneous Investigations Series I-1420 (NL-14).
The geologic data of this map, first published as a printed edition in 1995 as part of the Quaternary Geologic Atlas of the United States, has been captured digitally for use with GIS applications. This data is presented here along with images of the printed map sheet, map text, and component parts as PDF files.
March 2, 2011
Geologic map of the Chisos Mountains, Big Bend National Park, Texas
By Bob Bohannon, U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3140.
This 1:50,000 scale map with pamphlet describes the geology of the Chisos Mountains of southwestern Texas within Big Bend National Park.
February 25, 2011
By Lesleigh Anderson, published in the March issue of Geology (v. 39, no. 3, p. 211-214). [Geology's summary of this article can be found on their highlights page.]
Geochemical analyses of alpine lake sediments in northwestern Colorado provides a record of precipitation for the past 10,000 years. The record documents past changes in the seasonal balance between rain and snow. Corresponding variations in solar radiation and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycles suggest that they are the major influences. This long-term perspective suggests that ENSO has been, and will likely continue to be, an important driver of Rocky Mountain snowpack and corresponding water availability.
February 25, 2011
By Robert Biek, Florian Maldonado (GECSC), Dave Moore (GECSC), John Anderson, Peter Rowley, Van Williams (GECSC), David Nealey, and Edward Sable, Utah Geological Survey Open-File Report OFR-577.
The Panguitch 30' x 60' quadrangle encompasses several counties of southwestern Utah. The Utah Geological Survey has been working on completing a geologic map, based on work by GECSC members and others, of this area. This preliminary map shows the progress made toward completing the planned 1:100,000 scale geologic map of the quadrangle.
February 17, 2011
By Margaret Berry, Scott Lundstrom, Janet Slate, Dan Muhs, David Sawyer, and Darren Van Sistine, U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2011-1010, 34 p.
This report provides an overview of geologic mapping and research underway in the Greater Platte River Basins as a part of the Greater Platte River Basins and Northern Plains Geologic Framework Studies Project. The report includes an explanation of the project's goals and research strategies, as well as an index of existing geologic map coverage for the Greater Platte River Basins area.
February 11, 2011
The Greater Platte River Basins and Northern Plains Geologic Framework Studies Project has been added to the GECSC Research Activities web page. The project aims to conduct surficial geologic mapping and hydrogeologic framework studies in the central and northern Great Plains in support of ecosystem and climate change research. Areas of study include parts of the South Platte, Niobrara, Republican, and Missouri Rivers, the Nebraska Sand Hills and other dune fields in the Greater Platte River Basins, and northeastern Montana.
January 19, 2011
By James B. Paces (GECSC), Leonid A. Neymark, Joseph F.Whelan, Joseph L. Wooden, Steven P. Lund, and Brian D. Marshall. Published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, vol. 300, iss. 3-4, p.287.
Development of semi-arid environments for both water resources and hazardous-waste isolation sites requires improved understanding of water movement through thick vadose zones. Hydrologic responses to Pleistocene climate change within a deep vadose zone at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, were evaluated using U-series dating methods by ion microprobe. Results indicate that the compositions of percolating solutions varied in response to near-surface, climate-driven processes, but that growth rates of minerals 200-300 m below the surface remained uniform over the last 300,000 years. The long-term hydrologic stability of this thick vadose zone is likely caused by a number of hydrogeologic processes acting in concert to buffer water fluxes.
January 7, 2011
By Walt Dean (GECSC) and Michael A. Arthur, U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2010-1323, 29 p.
This report describes the sediment geochemistry of the Black Sea for the Holocene and latest Pleistocene.
December 20, 2010
Assessing the potential for luminescence dating of basalts
By Tsukamoto, S., Duller, G. A. T, Wintle, A. G., and Muhs, D. (GEC), Quaternary Geochronology, v. 6, p. 61-70.
Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), a tool commonly used in dating Quaternary sediments, has been suggested as a method that could be applied to dating volcanic materials (basalt) on the surface of Mars. Testing basalt samples with independent age control from the Cima volcanic field in California shows that the OSL ages are mostly consistant with previous age estimates, showing that the technique has potential.
December 15, 2010
The potential effects of climate change on Oregon's vegetation
By Sarah L. Shafer (GEC), Mark E. Harmon, Ronald P. Neilson, Rupert Seidl, Brad St. Clair, and Andrew Yost. Appears as a chapter in the Oregon Climate Assessment Report published by the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute, College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University.
Oregon's vegetation is remarkably diverse and directly contributes to the state's environmental, economic, and cultural well-being. This chapter of the Oregon Climate Assessment Report provides a brief overview of some of the potential effects of future climate change on Oregon's terrestrial vegetation.
November 24, 2010
Geologic map of the Sand Creek Pass quadrangle, Larimer County, Colorado, and Albany County, Wyoming
By Jeremiah B. Workman (GEC) and William A. Braddock, U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3133, scale 1:24,000.
This new geologic map within the Sand Creek Pass 7.5 minute quadrangle defines geologic relationships within the northern Front Range of Colorado along the Wyoming border.
November 22, 2010
Characterization of geologic deposits in the vicinity of US Ecology, Amargosa Basin, southern Nevada
By Emily M. Taylor, USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5134, 194 p.
US Ecology is a hazardous waste facility located near Beatty, Nevada. This site is being monitored by the USGS to track any possible movement of the waste. By integrating completed geologic, hydrologic, and geophysical studies, as well as employing numerous mapping techniques, this report brings us to a better understanding of the hydrologic parameters controlling the containment of the waste.
November 22, 2010
Geologic map of the Fraser 7.5-minute quadrangle, Grand County, Colorado
By Ralph R. Shroba (GEC), Bruce Bryant (GEC), Karl S. Kellogg (GEC) Paul K. Theobald, and Theodore R. Brandt (GEC), U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3130, 1 sheet, 26 p. pamphlet, scale 1:24,000.
This map portrays the surficial and bedrock geology along the western boundary of Colorado's Front Range and the eastern part of the Fraser basin near the towns of Fraser and Winter Park.
November 22, 2010
By Jim Cole (GEC), Jim Trexler, Jr., Pat Cashman, Ian Miller, Ralph Shroba (GEC), Mike Cosca, and Jeremy Workman (GEC), in Morgan, L.A., and Quane, S.L., eds., Through the Generations: Geologic and Anthropogenic field excursions in the Rocky Mountains from modern to ancient: Geological Society of America Field Guide 18, p. 55-76.
Accompanying a field trip given at the 2010 meeting of the Geological Society of America is this guide containing highlights of recent research into the Laramide uplift, erosion, and sedimentation on the western side of the northern Colorado Front Range.
November 9, 2010
By Daniel R. Muhs (GEC), James Budahn, Gary Skipp (GEC), Joseph M. Prospero, DeAnna Patterson (GEC), and E. Arthur Bettis III, published in the December issue of Terra Nova, vol. 22, iss. 6, p. 399-410.
It has long been inferred that the Sahara is the most important source of dust to Canary Islands soils. The soil analysis undertaken by this study shows that dust from the Sahel, a transitional climatic region between the Sahara and tropical Africa, is also a major contributor to the islands soils.
October 29, 2010
Geologic Map of the Maumee Quadrangle, Searcy and Marion Counties, Arkansas
By By Kenzie J. Turner and Mark R. Hudson, USGS Scientific Investigations Map 3134.
This new map summarizes the geology of the Maumee 7.5-minute quadrangle in northern Arkansas, which includes part of the Buffalo National River. The publication of this map coincides with an update of the Geologic Mapping Studies at Buffalo National River project webpage.
September 27, 2010
By Muhs, D.R. (GECSC), Budahn, J., Avila, A., Skipp, G. (GECSC), Freeman, J. (GECSC), and Patterson, D. (GECSC), published in Quaternary Science Reviews, v. 29, p. 2518-2543.
This study shows that soils in southern Europe are partly derived from African dust.
September 27, 2010
By Ardyth M. Simmons and John S. Stuckless (GECSC), USGS Professional Paper 1779, 195 p.
There is world-wide agreement that geologic disposal provides the best method for long-term isolation of high level radioactive waste. There is no single analogue for a radioactive waste repository, but analogues can be found for nearly every aspect of a geologic repository. This paper assembles quantitative and qualitative analogues from a variety of geologic and anthropogenic environments over various spans of time that can be used to evaluate processes, materials, and features likely to be common to a mined geologic repository. Taken together, the analogues show why geologic disposal is favored by so many countries.
September 27, 2010
By Tom Ager, Paul Carrara, and Jack McGeehin, published in the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, v. 47, p. 971-985.
Pollen analysis of two cores from a peat bog provides the basis for reconstructing the first radiocarbon-dated outline of postglacial history of vegetation in the upper Turnagain Arm area of Cook Inlet. These new records are discussed within a larger regional context of topographic and climatic influences. This analysis helps show how vegetation changed in this area over more than 10,000 years since deglaciation.
September 10, 2010
Radiocarbon dating of small terrestrial gastropod shells in North America
By Jeffrey S. Pigati (GECSC), Jason A. Rech, and Jeffrey C. Nekola, in Quaternary Geochronology, Volume 5, Issue 5, October 2010, Pages 519-532.
Terrestrial gastropods are one of the most successful animal groups on Earth. They occupy and thrive in incredibly diverse habitats, ranging from marshes and grasslands to upland forests and arctic tundra. Their distribution in the fossil record is equally diverse. Yet despite their widespread occurrence, fossil gastropod shells are usually avoided for 14C dating because many large taxa incorporate "dead" carbon from limestone when building their shells—i.e., "the Limestone Problem." This study analyzed nearly 250 aliquots of small gastropod shells from 46 different species (3750 individual shells). In sum, nearly 80% of the shells, including some of the most common gastropods in North America, did not contain dead carbon from limestone even though it was available at all sites. Fossil gastropod shells are common in a wide range of Quaternary deposits in North America and, therefore, our results should have broad chronologic applications to Quaternary geology.
September 10, 2010
"Interpreting the Landscapes of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, Recent and Ongoing Geology" by John M. Good and Kenneth L. Pierce (GECSC Emeritus) has gone into its fifth revised printing (first edition 1996). Published by Grand Teton National History Association.
August 3, 2010
Atmospheric mineral dust in dryland ecosystems: Application of environmental magnetism
By Richard L. Reynolds (GECSC), Harland L. Goldstein (GECSC), and Mark E. Miller in Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, v. 11, no. 1.
Using a combination of magnetic, geochemical, and petrologic methods, this study reveals an association between far-traveled atmospheric dust and potential plant nutrients in dryland soils of the American Southwest. Moreover, the results document that disturbance of arid grasslands by historic grazing has resulted in preferential wind-erosion loss of previously deposited dust, leading to current degraded states of dry landscapes. Declines in soil fertility and water holding capacity can be estimated in some field settings as decreases in magnetic susceptibility (a proxy for dust amounts) relative to nearby undisturbed areas.
July 26, 2010
By Reynolds, R. L. (GECSC), Mordecai, J. S., Rosenbaum, J. G. (GECSC), Ketterer, M. E., Walsh, M.K., and Moser, K. A. in the Journal of Paleolimnology.
Sub-alpine lakes of the Uinta Mountains provided the setting to test the hypothesis that dust generated by human activities since European settlement of western North America has changed lake-sediment chemistry. High concentrations of metals (including lead, zinc, copper, cadmium, tin, and arsenic) are attributed to smelter activities. Generation of regional dust also includes activities such as agriculture, urbanization, transportation, and coal combustion. This study also examines the potential influence of local to regional dust sources on high-elevation ecosystems.
July 26, 2010
By Moser, K. A., Mordecai, J. S., Reynolds, R. L. (GECSC), Rosenbaum, J. G. (GECSC), and Ketterer, M. E. in Hydrobiologia.
Diatoms, unicellular algae typically well preserved in sediment records, are particularly helpful in studying lake changes because of their abundance and rapid response to environmental change. By studying diatoms in the record we can see that mountain lakes, commonly considered to be pristine, are not immune to the effects of dust and aerosols that originate hundreds to thousands of kilometers upwind. This study employed a multi-proxy, paleolimnological approach to determine the downwind effects of human activities on mountain lake ecosystems in the Uinta Mountains, Utah.
July 26, 2010
Chemical and textural controls on phosphorus mobility in drylands of southeastern Utah
By Buckingham, S. E., Neff, J., Titiz-Maybach, B., and Reynolds, R. L. (GECSC) in Biogeochemistry.
Phosphorus is an essential, and sometimes limiting, element for plant growth and plays an important function in soil-nutrient cycling. The result of this study of dryland soils indicates that the controls on phosphorus distribution are initially closely tied to the chemical and physical properties of the bedrock units that contribute to soil formation. In these soils different minerals can play important roles in the stabilization and release of phosphorus.
July 23, 2010
Gary Clow and Frank Urban are sharing in the 2009 Excellence in Partnership Award from the National Oceanographic Partnership Program. They will share the award with staff from INSTAAR and the Naval Postgraduate School for their work on Arctic and coastal retreat. The award will be presented in Seward, Alaska, July 27.
July 15, 2010
North Park-Medicine Bow Mountains Project
The North Park-Medicine Bow Mountains Project has been added to the GECSC Research Activities web page. The project's purpose is to build an understanding of the geologic history of North Park and Middle Park in north-central Colorado, the southern Saratoga and Laramie River valleys of Wyoming, and the surrounding highlands of the Front Range, Medicine Bow Mountains, the Rabbit Ears Range, and the Park Range-Sierra Madre, focusing on the last 65 million years.
June 29, 2010
Tree-ring dated landslide movements and seismic events in southwestern Montana, USA
By Carrara, P.E. (GECSC) and O’Neill. J.M., in Tree Rings and Natural Hazards: A State-of-Art (p. 421-436).
To determine periods of incremental landslide movement and their possible relationship to regional seismic events, tree-ring records of tilted and damaged conifers on landslides in the Gravelly Range of Montana were examined. Several signs of disturbance in the tree-ring record indicating landslide movement were observed, such as a marked reduction in annual ring width and/or reaction wood formation. Often, periods of movement indicated by the tree-ring records occurred in the year following significant earthquakes in the region. This suggests that many of the landslide movements were triggered by, or are coincident with, earthquakes in the study area.
June 18, 2010
Edited by Joan Fitzpatrick, Quaternary Science Reviews Volume 29, Issues 15-16, Pages 1674-1790.
This special volume of Quaternary Science Reviews contains the papers originally written for the U.S. Climate Change Science Program’s Synthesis and Assessment Product 1.2— "Past Climate Variability and Change in the Arctic and at High Latitudes." Among the authors of the papers included in the report are GEC Science Center members Joan Fitzpatrick, Dan Muhs, and Lesleigh Anderson.
June 11, 2010
Geologic and topographic maps of the Kabul North 30' × 60' quadrangle, Afghanistan
By Robert Bohannon, USGS Scientific Investigations Map 3120.
This map and pamphlet are part of several broader programs funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development designed to stimulate growth in the energy and mineral sectors of the Afghan economy. While being a work-in-progress, the map should assist scientists of the Afghan Ministry of Mines, the Afghanistan Geological Survey, and the Afghan Geodesy and Cartography Head Office in their efforts to rebuild the energy and mineral sectors of their economy as well as jumpstarting the internal mapping programs of those agencies.
May 28, 2010
Real-Time Permafrost and Climate Monitoring Network in Arctic Alaska
The Cryospheric Studies Project have made near real time data, collected from climate and permafrost monitoring stations in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, available on the web. Along with instrument data, several sites have camera displays and webcams that are updated every few hours. This web portal will have many uses for both research and logistical operations.
May 19, 2010
U.S.-Mexico Border Geologic Framework Project
Added to the GECSC Research Activities web pages is the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands project. This project provides framework geology through geologic mapping activities to support border-wide science investigations related to themes of the USGS Science Strategy. Tasks covered by the project are the Big Bend National Park Geologic Map, Geologic Investigations in the Upper Santa Cruz basin in Southern Arizona and Northern Mexico, and the Geology Component of the U.S.-Mexico Border Environmental Health Initiative.
May 19, 2010
Walt Dean is being awarded the Twenhofel Medal, which is the highest award one can receive from the Society for Sedimentary Geology, in recognition of "Outstanding Contributions to Sedimentary Geology." The award will be presented at the Society's spring annual meeting in Houston in April 2011.
April 23, 2010
Geologic Map of the Clark Peak Quadrangle, Jackson and Larimer Counties, Colorado
By Karl S. Kellogg (GECSC), Chester A. Ruleman (GECSC), Ralph R. Shroba (GECSC), and William A. Braddock, USGS Scientific Investigations Map 3010.
The Clark Peak quadrangle encompasses the southern end of the Medicine Bow Mountains and the northernmost end of the Mummy Range in north-central Colorado.
April 16, 2010
Stratigraphy and Mesozoic-Cenozoic Tectonic History of northern Sierra Los Ajos, Sonora Mexico
By Page, W.R. (GECSC), Gray, F., Iriondo, A., Miggins, D.P., Blodgett, R., Maldonado, F. (GECSC), and Miller, R.J., in the Journal of South American Earth Sciences.
The Sierra Los Ajos mountain range is ecologically significant because it is part of the Madrean Archipelago ecozone, a group of forested "sky islands" characterized by successions of biotic communities with unique plant and animal species, and adjacent to an important water resource for Mexico and the United States. This paper's objective is to establish the geologic framework of northern Sierra Los Ajos to support ground-water studies of the upper San Pedro River basin and for environmental studies to assess potential impacts of local mining in Cananea, Sonora, and Bisbee, Arizona.
April 12, 2010
Preface—Why and How to Use This Synthesis and Assessment Report in Past Climate Variability and Change in the Arctic and at High Latitudes
Lead author Joan Fitzpatrick. A Report by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program and the Subcommittee on Global Change Research, USGS.
The U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP), a consortium of Federal agencies that investigates climate, has established a Synthesis and Assessment Program as part of its Strategic Plan. A primary objective of the CCSP is to provide the best science-based knowledge possible to support public discussion and government- and private-sector decisions about the risks and opportunities associated with changes in climate and in related environmental systems.
April 12, 2010
Paleoenvironments of Bear Lake, Utah and Idaho, and Its Catchment
Edited by Joseph G. Rosenbaum (GECSC) and Darrell S. Kaufman, GSA Special Paper 450.
Bear Lake, which is one of the oldest extant lakes in North America, occupies a tectonically active half-graben and contains hundreds of meters of Quaternary sediment. This volume is the culmination of more than a decade of coordinated investigations aimed at a holistic understanding of this long-lived alkaline lake in the semiarid western United States. The studies in this Special Paper's 14 chapters by 20 contributing authors span both modern and paleoenvironments, including a 120-m-long sediment core that captures a continuous record of the last two glacial-interglacial cycles.
April 2, 2010
A group of artists, calling themselves Friends of the Pleistocene (sure to be confused with the informal interdisciplinary earth science group of the same name!), published a fascinating interview with Marith Reheis about the field trip she led, her career, and the intersection of geology and art.
April 2, 2010
By Dave Moore, USGS Scientific Investigations Map 3105.
The Edwards aquifer is the most prolific carbonate aquifer in south-central Texas. It supplies water to agriculture, industry, military, natural ecosystems, and potable water to more than two million people in the region. Knowing the nature of the rock strata in the recharge and confined zones of the Edwards aquifer is necessary for understanding water volumes and flow in the aquifer.
March 12, 2010
Marine Tephrochronology of the Mt. Edgecumbe Volcanic Field, Southeast Alaska, USA
By Addison, J.A., Beget, J.E., Ager, T.A. (GECSC), and Finney, B.P. in Quaternary Research
The first author Jason Addison has just been awarded a Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellowship with the GECSC. His co-author Tom Ager is also with the GECSC.
February 26, 2010
Geology and Environmental Change presented the following talks and posters at the USGS Climate Change Conference in Denver, March 9-11, 2010
February 26, 2010
Geoff Plumlee and Dan Muhs (GECSC) were interviewed by the Associated Press for the story "Scientists vacuum up the data on dust" about their presentations on dust at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The article was also picked up by the New York Times, msnbc, Univision (translated into Spanish), and others.
February 26, 2010
Postglacial Vegetation History of Mitkof Island, Alexander Archipelago, Southeastern Alaska
By Ager, T.A. (GECSC), Carrara, P.E. (GECSC), Smith, J.L., Anne, V., and Johnson, J. in Quaternary Research.
This paper presents results of analysis of a pollen record sampled from peat deposits near Petersburg, on Mitkof Island in the southern Alexander Archipelago of southeastern Alaska. This investigation provides the first radiocarbon-dated postglacial vegetation history to be documented from within southern southeastern Alaska.
February 26, 2010
By Reyes, A.V., Jensen, B.J.L., Zazula, G.D., Ager, T.A. (GECSC), Kuzmina, S., La Farge, C., and Froese, D.G. in Quaternary Science Reviews.
This paper reports the presence of a vegetated surface buried by Old Crow tephra at the Palisades, a series of bluffs on the Yukon River in interior Alaska. It compares multiple paleoecological indicators (bryophyte, pollen, vascular plant, and insect assemblages) from the vegetated surface and associated sediments.
January 29, 2010
Projected Climate Impacts for the Amphibians of the Western Hemisphere
By Lawler, J.J., Shafer, S.L. (GECSC), Bancroft, B.A., and Blaustein, A.R. in Conservation Biology.
Given their physiological requirements, limited dispersal abilities, and hydrologically sensitive habitats, amphibians are likely to be highly sensitive to future climatic changes. The authors mapped areas in the western hemisphere where amphibians are likely to be affected by climate change and formed a potential assessment of the geographic vulnerability of amphibians to climate change and as such provide broad-scale guidance for directing conservation efforts.
January 15, 2010
Dan Muhs was interviewed by McClatchy Newspapers and quoted in a Seattle Times article, that also appeared in the Kansas City Star, "Dust nothing to sneeze at, scientists say: Scientists are beginning to have new respect for the way dust alters the environment and affects the health of people, animals and plants." The story also appeared in the Kansas City Star.
January 15, 2010
By Tom Ager and Joe Rosenbaum, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1760-G.
A radiocarbon-dated history of vegetation development since late Wisconsin deglaciation has been reconstructed from pollen evidence preserved in a sediment core from Pass Lake on Prince of Wales Island, southeastern Alaska.
January 15, 2010
By Fraser, J., Pigati, J. S. (GECSC), Hubert-Ferrari, A., Vanneste, K., Avsar, U., and Altinok, S. in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America.
The North Anatolian fault is a fault zone in northern Turkey that extends from the Karliova triple junction to the Aegean Sea. Prolonged human occupation in this region provides an extensive historical record of large earthquakes prior to the twentieth century that covers much of the last 2000 years. This study extends our knowledge of rupture events in the region by evaluating the stratigraphy and chronology of sediments exposed in a paleoseismic trench across a splay of the North Anatolian fault.
January 15, 2010
Scientist Emeritus Walt Dean was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Paleolimnology Association at the 11th International Paleolimnology Symposium in Guadalajara, Mexico in December. Walt was recognized as one of the world's most cited authors in the field of geochemistry of both lacustrine and marine sediments deposited from the Permian to modern times. From the citation: "Besides his scientific competence and diversity, Walt impresses by his openness for new collaborations, his humour, his willingness to share knowledge and experience, and his support of young scientists."
December 18, 2009
By Walt Dean, USGS Open-File Report 2009-1238.
Lake Pepin is a natural impoundment formed by damming of the Mississippi River about 9,180 radiocarbon years ago by an alluvial fan deposited by the Chippewa River, a tributary of the Mississippi in Wisconsin. Unique among 26 Mississippi River impoundments, Lake Pepin has stratigraphically preserved Holocene materials, including pollutants, that have been transported down the Mississippi. This natural Holocene record can then be compared to changes that have occurred since European settlement, and since enactment of clean air and water legislation.
December 18, 2009
Scott Minor was inaugurated as President of the Colorado Scientific Society at the monthly meeting last week.
December 18, 2009
Joan Fitzpatrick has been elected to be an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow for "national and world leadership in the science and communication of paleoclimatology and as the developer and Technical Director of the National Ice Core Laboratory."
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