Tag Archives: usgs

Surveying Ice and Fire: The First Map of All of Iceland’s Glaciers and Subglacier Volcanic Calderas Released

By Guest PostSeptember 26, 2013Environmentdanish geodetic survey, Europe, eyjafjallajökull, glacier, glacier outburst flood, glaciers of iceland, Iceland, icelandic meteorological office, imo, landsat, largest ice cap, little ice age, map, oddur sigurosson, spot, usgs, vatnajokull, volcanic calderas, volcano glaciological hazard

For the first time, all of Iceland’s glaciers are shown on a single map, produced by the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO), in collaboration with the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Iceland Geosurvey. The map is the first to incorporate historical data and coverage from aerial photographs and remote sensing satellites, such as Landsat and SPOT, to show the change in the areal extent of glaciers during the past century.

Iceland has about 300 glaciers throughout the country, and altogether, 269 glaciers, outlet glaciers and internal ice caps are named. The glaciers that lack names are small and largely newly revealed, exposed by melting of snow pack due to warmer summer temperatures. The number of identified glaciers has nearly doubled at the beginning of the 21^st century. (more…)

Real-time Monitoring Pays Off for Tracking Nitrate Pulse in Mississippi River Basin to the Gulf of Mexico

By Guest PostAugust 26, 2013Environmentbaton rouge, brian pellerin, connecticut, dead zone, gulf of mexico, hypoxic zone, kevin richards, lori caramanian, mississippi drainage, mississippi river basin, nitrate data, nitrate pulse, nitrate removal systems, noaa, raccoon river, rainfall, real time monitoring, research hydrologist, seasons, usgs, van meter

Cutting edge optical sensor technology is being used in the Mississippi River basin to more accurately track the nitrate pulse from small streams, large tributaries and ultimately to the Gulf of Mexico.

Excessive springtime nitrate runoff from agricultural land and other sources in the Mississippi drainage eventually flows into the Mississippi River. Downstream, this excess nitrate contributes to the Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone, an area with low oxygen known commonly as the “dead zone.” NOAA-supported researchers reported that the summer 2013 dead zone covered about 5,840 square miles, an area the size of Connecticut. (more…)

Pesticide Accumulation in Sierra Nevada Frogs

By Guest PostJuly 27, 2013Environment, Natureagriculture, amphibian ecologist, byproduct, california, central valley, chytrid fungus, dde, environmental problems, fungicides, herbicide, hydrologist, kelly smalling, lake tahoe, lassen, mark sogge, mountain habitats, pacific chorus frog, patrick kleeman, pesticide accumulation, pesticide ddt, pseudacris regilla, pyraclostrobin, sediment samples, sierra nevada, sierra nevada frogs, simazine, tebuconazole, U.S. Geological Survey, usgs, volcanic national park, yosemite national park

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A study on frogs in remote Sierra Nevada mountain habitats including Yosemite National Park and Giant Sequoia National Monument, detected concentrations of pesticides in frog tissue that potentially came from California’s Central Valley sources.

“Our results show that current-use pesticides, particularly fungicides, are accumulating in the bodies of Pacific chorus frogs in the Sierra Nevada,” says Kelly Smalling, a research hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and lead author of the study. “This is the first time we’ve detected many of these compounds, including fungicides, in the Sierra Nevada. The data generated by this study support past research on the potential of pesticides to be transported by wind or rain from the Central Valley to the Sierras.” (more…)

Sea Turtles Benefiting From Protected Areas

By Guest PostMay 5, 2013Naturealgae, andrew crowder, atris, benthic habitat, carolina, coral reefs, data, dave zawada, dry tortugas, endangered, florida, florida keys, georeferenced, green sea turtle, habitat, hawaii, herbivorous, invertebrates, jellyfish, kaare iverson, kristen hart, national park, protected areas, puerto rico, research ecologist, sea turtle habitat, sea turtles, seafloor, seagrasses, synergistic approach, U.S. Geological Survey, underwater camera system, usgs, vegetarian, virgin islands

Study Offers First Look at Green Sea Turtle Habitat Use in the Dry Tortugas

DRY TORTUGAS, Fla. – Nesting green sea turtles are benefiting from marine protected areas by using habitats found within their boundaries, according to a U.S. Geological Survey study that is the first to track the federally protected turtles in Dry Tortugas National Park.

Green turtles are listed as endangered in Florida and threatened throughout the rest of their range, and the habits of green sea turtles after their forays to nest on beaches in the Southeast U.S. have long remained a mystery. Until now, it was not clear whether the turtles made use of existing protected areas, and few details were available as to whether they were suited for supporting the green sea turtle’s survival. (more…)

Proximity to Coal-Tar-Sealed Pavement Raises Risk of Cancer, Study Finds

By Guest PostMarch 28, 2013Environment, Healtharizona, asphalt pavement, barbara mahler, baylor university, benzoapyrene, california, canada, cancer, Chicago, coal tar, continental divide, csa, elevated risk, higher rates, hydrologis, pahs, peter van metre, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, sealant, sealcoat, spencer williams, texas, university in waco, usgs, volatilization

People living near asphalt pavement sealed with coal tar have an elevated risk of cancer, according to a study in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. Much of this calculated excess risk results from exposures in children, age six or younger, to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from the sealant.

“The increased cancer risk associated with coal-tar-sealed asphalt (CSA) likely affects a large number of people in the U.S. Our results indicate that the presence of coal-tar-based pavement sealants is associated with significant increases in estimated excess lifetime cancer risk for nearby residents,” said E. Spencer Williams, Ph.D., principal author of the study and Baylor University assistant research scientist at the Center for Reservoir and Aquatic Systems Research in Baylor’s College of Arts & Sciences. (more…)

USGS Estimates 162 Billion Short Tons of Recoverable Coal in the Powder River Basin

By Guest PostFebruary 28, 2013Environmentbillion short tons, bst, coal production, coal resource, coal sales, database, electric power generation, entire basin, fluctuation, geologic feature, geological survey, geology, gillette coal field, low sulfur, mines, mining costs, montana, montana bureau, mst, powder river basin, prb assessment, recoverable coal, subbituminous coal, surface mining technology, suzette kimball, united states, usgs, wyoming, wyoming state

New basin-wide assessment of recoverable resources and reserves

The Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana contains about 162 billion short tons (BST) of recoverable coal from a total of 1.07 trillion short tons of in-place resources according to a new USGS assessment. This assessment also estimates that 25 BST of those resources are currently economical to recover, the first such estimate released by the USGS for coal for an entire basin.

The Powder River Basin—a large geologic feature located in northeastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana—contains the largest deposits of low-sulfur subbituminous coal in the world. This study is significant because it illustrates that only a relatively small percentage of in-place coal resources are technically and economically recoverable. (more…)

Not-So-Permanent Permafrost

By Guest PostOctober 26, 2012Environmentalaska, arctic permafrost, atmosphere, carbon, chemical cycles, climate change, climate prediction, climate warming, director, earth, ecosystems, Environment, fairbanks, frozen ground, gelisols, geological survey, jennifer harden, lakes, marcia mcnutt, mikhail kanevsiy, model, nitrogen, organic matter, peaty, rivers, scenarios, scientist, soil scientist, university, US, usgs, warmer planet, warming phenomenon, water resources

MENLO PARK, Calif. — As much as 44 billion tons of nitrogen and 850 billion tons of carbon stored in arctic permafrost, or frozen ground, could be released into the environment as the region begins to thaw over the next century as a result of a warmer planet according to a new study led by the U.S. Geological Survey. This nitrogen and carbon are likely to impact ecosystems, the atmosphere, and water resources including rivers and lakes. For context, this is roughly the amount of carbon stored in the atmosphere today.

The release of carbon and nitrogen in permafrost could exacerbate the warming phenomenon and will impact water systems on land and offshore according to USGS scientists and their domestic and international collaborators. The previously unpublished nitrogen figure is useful for scientists who are making climate predictions with computer climate models, while the carbon estimate is consistent and gives more credence to other scientific studies with similar carbon estimates. (more…)

USGS Releases First Assessment of Shale Gas Resources in the Utica Shale: 38 trillion cubic feet

By Guest PostOctober 7, 2012Environmentappalachian basin, barrel, brenda pierce, conventional oil, domestic, first assessment, gas liquid, geological survey, greater, green, hydrocarbon, marcellus shale, maryland, methodology, natural gas, new york, ohio, Pennsylvania, petroleum basin, protocol, recoverable oil, river basin, rock formation, source rock, southwestern wyoming, tcf, unconventional oil, united states, upper ordovician, US, usgs, utica shale, virginia, west virginia

The Utica Shale contains about 38 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas (at the mean estimate) according to the first assessment of this continuous (unconventional) natural gas accumulation by the U. S. Geological Survey. The Utica Shale has a mean of 940 million barrels of unconventional oil resources and a mean of 208 million barrels of unconventional natural gas liquids.

The Utica Shale lies beneath the Marcellus Shale, and both are part of the Appalachian Basin, which is the longest-producing petroleum province in the United States. The Marcellus Shale, at 84 TCF of natural gas, is the largest unconventional gas basin USGS has assessed. This is followed closely by the Greater Green River Basin in southwestern Wyoming, which has 84 TCF of undiscovered natural gas, of which 82 TCF is continuous (tight gas). (more…)