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This data release includes climatic variables and associated descriptive material created for the purpose of assessing uncertainties associated with climatic estimates based on vegetation assemblages (Thompson and others, 2021). The data are from the interior of the western United States, including all of Arizona, and portions of California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah. The data are observed, interpolated, and estimated values for the mean temperature of the coldest month (MTCO, degrees C), mean temperature of the warmest month (MTWA, degrees C), and mean annual total precipitation (MAP, mm).
This document includes sandstone provenance data for Upper Cretaceous to Paleocene strata preserved in the Crazy Mountains Basin of western Montana, USA. The dataset includes detrital zircon data for six samples from the Upper Cretaceous Hoppers Formation (1 sample), Upper Cretaceous Billman Creek Formation (1 sample), and Paleocene Fort Union Formation (4 samples). Detrital zircon data were acquired at the University of Arizona LaserChron Center in 2017.
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This data release contains numerical U- and Th-isotopic data used to calculate uranium-series age estimates and initial 234U/238U activity ratios for samples of carbonate-rich clast coatings, oncoidal tufa rinds, calcite-replaced rhizoliths, carbonate nodules, and ostracod shells from sites associated with different lake levels of paleo Lake Manix near Barsow, CA. In addition, measured U concentrations and 234U/238U activity ratios for modern streamflow in the Mojave River and shallow groundwater from wells along the course of the Mojave River and nearby vicinity are included to help define the uranium-isotope composition of water that likely supplied paleolakes. Electronic data included herein support age interpretations...
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Global trends in wetland degradation and loss have created an urgency to monitor wetland extent, as well as track the distribution and causes of wetland loss. Satellite imagery can be used to monitor wetlands over time, but few efforts have attempted to distinguish anthropogenic wetland loss from climate-driven variability in wetland extent. We present an approach to concurrently track land cover disturbance and inundation extent across the Mid-Atlantic region, United States, using the Landsat archive in Google Earth Engine. Disturbance was identified as a change in greenness, using a harmonic linear regression approach, or as a change in growing season brightness. Inundation extent was mapped using a modified version...
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Andrews Meadow in the Loch Vale watershed, Rocky Mountain National Park. Sample Collection: Englemann spruce (Picea engelmannii) living on slopes surrounding and at the edge of Andrews meadow (Latitude 40˚ 17’ 24” N, Longitude 105˚ 40’ 01” W NAD83). At the time of collection, the climate-sensitive upland P. engelmannii trees were growing on well-drained slopes above the meadow. Seventeen trees, two cores per tree when possible, were collected using a 5mm-diameter increment borer. During sample collection, diameter at breast height (DBH) was also measured. These cores were processed following standard dendrochronological methods. The annual (TW) and earlywood (EW) ring-widths of each core were measured to 0.001mm...
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This data release provides a digital inventory of the Robert S. Thompson packrat midden collection consisting of 1,740 midden samples and subsamples primarily collected in the Great Basin region of Nevada, as well as in Arizona, California, Colorado, Oklahoma, Utah, and Washington, USA, by Robert S. Thompson (USGS scientist emeritus) and others between 1977 and 2006. Middens are waste piles composed of the urine and feces of packrats (Neotoma spp.) also containing plant materials, bones, and insects. Radiocarbon dating of middens indicates they can be preserved for as long as 50,000 years, and their fossil plant assemblages document changes in plant community composition through time, providing important records...
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The Edwards and Trinity aquifers are major sources of water in south-central Texas and are both classified as major aquifers by the State of Texas. The population in Hays and Comal Counties is rapidly growing, increasing demands on the area's water resources. To help effectively manage the water resources in the area, refined maps and descriptions of the geologic structures and hydrostratigraphic units (HSUs) of the aquifers are needed. This digital map database presents the detailed 1:24,000-scale bedrock hydrostratigraphic map as well as names and descriptions of the geologic and hydrostratigraphic units of the Driftwood and Wimberley 7.5-minute quadrangles in Hays and Comal Counties, Tex. These digital data...
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Disturbance disrupts the balance between gross primary productivity and respiration, resulting in a net C loss for some time after a stand-replacing fire. However, our understanding of this process is based on a limited number of studies. Ecosystem C recovery post-fire must be explicitly and carefully examined in order to generate accurate predictions of C cycle impacts of future wildfires and change in fire regimes. Montane ponderosa and lodgepole pine forests, either single-species stands or mixed, dominate surface area in the Southern Rockies. These species have drastically different relationships with wildfire; the current narrative portrays ponderosa pine as accustomed to low-severity surface fires with low...
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Landscape carbon (C) flux estimates are necessary for assessing the ability of terrestrial ecosystems to buffer further increases in anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Advances in remote sensing have allowed for coarse-scale estimates of gross primary productivity (GPP) (e.g., MODIS 17), yet efforts to assess spatial patterns in respiration lag behind those of GPP. Here, we demonstrate a method to predict growing season soil respiration at a regional scale in a forested ecosystem. We related field measurements (n=144) of growing season soil respiration across subalpine forests in the Southern Rocky Mountains ecoregion to a suite of biophysical predictors with a Random Forest model (30 m pixel size). We...
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These data were created to describe the causes of land cover change that occurred in the Interior Highland region of the United States for the time intervals of 2001 to 2006 and 2006 to 2011. This region, which covers approximately 17.5 million hectares, includes portions of the U.S. states of Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas. Most of the area is covered by gently rolling hills of forests and pastureland. Two raster maps were created at a 30-meter resolution showing the causes of land change using automated and manual photo interpretation techniques. There were 30 categories of land change causes (i.e., forest harvest or surficial mining) discovered over the Interior Highlands. These categories can be used...
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Aquatic features critical to watershed hydrology range widely in size from narrow, shallow streams to large, deep lakes. In this study we evaluated wetland, lake, and river systems across the Prairie Pothole Region to explore where pan-sharpened high-resolution (PSHR) imagery, relative to Landsat imagery, could provide additional data on surface water distribution and movement, missed by Landsat. We used the monthly Global Surface Water (GSW) Landsat product as well as surface water derived from Landsat imagery using a matched filtering algorithm (MF Landsat) to help consider how including partially inundated Landsat pixels as water influenced our findings. The PSHR outputs (and MF Landsat) were able to identify...
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Post-fire shifts in vegetation composition will have broad ecological impacts. However, information characterizing post-fire recovery patterns and their drivers are lacking over large spatial extents. In this analysis we used Landsat imagery collected when snow cover (SCS) was present, in combination with growing season (GS) imagery, to distinguish evergreen vegetation from deciduous vegetation. We sought to (1) characterize patterns in the rate of post-fire, dual season Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) across the region, (2) relate remotely sensed patterns to field-measured patterns of re-vegetation, and (3) identify seasonally-specific drivers of post-fire rates of NDVI recovery. Rates of post-fire...
This data release provides inputs needed to run the LANDIS-II landscape change model, NECN and Base Fire extensions for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), USA, and simulation results that underlie figures and analysis in the accompanying publication. We ran LANDIS-II simulations for 112 years, from 1988-2100, using interpolated weather station data for 1988-2015 and downscaled output from 5 general circulation models (GCMs) for 2016-2100. We also included a control future scenario with years drawn from interpolated weather station data from 1980-2015. Model inputs include raster maps (250 × 250 m grid cells) of climate regions and tables of monthly temperature and precipitation for each climate region. We...
This document provides two data sets that characterize outcrops of fluvial deposits of the Upper Cretaceous-Paleogene Raton and Poison Canyon Formations of the Raton Basin of Colorado-New Mexico, USA. First, the dataset includes stratigraphic sections measured through fluvial deposits of the Raton and Poison Canyon Formations (ten unique .tif files), currently exposed in roadside outcrops. Second, the dataset includes raw paleocurrent data (one .csv file) measured from features within those outcrops. The data support a journal article entitled "Evidence for variable precipitation and discharge from Upper Cretaceous-Paleogene fluvial deposits of the Raton Basin, Colorado-New Mexico, USA", published by the authors...
This document includes two suites of zircon U-Pb ages that help to characterize the magmatic and sedimentary history of the North American Cordillera between ~28 and 50 degrees north. The first dataset is a compilation of published zircon U-Pb ages of igneous rocks associated with the Mesozoic-Cenozoic North American Cordilleran arc. The compilation of igneous zircon data includes 1,492 U-Pb ages from the Peninsular Ranges, Sierra Nevada, Idaho, Boulder, and Coast Mountains batholiths, as well as spatially and temporally associated igneous bodies. The second dataset is a compilation of published detrital zircon U-Pb ages from Jurassic to Paleocene strata preserved in forearc and foreland basins of the North American...
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This dataset includes tables of stratigraphic age-depth information for Paisley Caves 2 and 5, in Oregon U.S.A., along with tables of fish bone abundance and stable and strontium isotopic data for fish remains and geological samples from the study area surrounding the Paisley Caves.
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Despite its subdued expression and isolated location within the Great Plains of southeastern Colorado, the 80-km-long Cheraw fault may be one of the most active faults in North America east of the Southern Rocky Mountains. We present geomorphic analyses, geochronology, and paleoseismic trenching data to 1) document the rupture history of the ~45-km-long southwestern section of the Cheraw fault over the past ~19 ka, and 2) evaluate slip-rate changes for the entire fault over the past ~200 ka. Results from new trenches excavated at the Old Ranch site show evidence of four surface-rupture events since ~19 ka, each with an average vertical displacement of 0.75 m. An additional event is likely only slightly older than...
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Public participation geographic information systems (PPGIS) is increasingly used in coastal settings to inform natural resource management and spatial planning. Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES), a PPGIS tool that systematizes the mapping and modeling of social values and cultural ecosystem services, is promising for use in coastal settings but has seen relatively limited applications relative to other PPGIS approaches; it has also to our knowledge not yet been applied in a barrier island setting. In this study, we surveyed two visitor groups and residents living near Cape Lookout National Seashore (North Carolina, USA) to understand social values they hold for the area in the context of the park’s management...
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This digital map shows the geographic extent of rock stratigraphic units (formations) as compiled by Colton in 1976 under the Front Range Urban Corridor Geology Program. Colton used his own geologic mapping and previously published geologic maps to compile one map having a single classification of geologic units. The resulting published color paper map (USGS Map I-855-G, Colton, 1978) was intended for land-use planning and to depict the regional geology. In 1997-1999, another USGS project designed to address urban growth issues was undertaken. This project, the USGS Front Range Infrastructure Resources Project, undertook to digitize Colton's map at 1:100,000 scale, making it useable in Geographical Information Systems...
Tags: Boulder, Boulder County, Boulder Creek granodiorite, Colorado, Colorado Front Range, All tags...
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Stabilizing the eastern, migratory population of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) is expected to require substantial habitat restoration on agricultural land in the core breeding area of the Upper Midwestern U.S. Previous research has considered the potential to utilize marginal land for this purpose because of its low productivity, erodible soils, and high nutrient input requirements. This strategy has strong potential for restoring milkweed (Asclepias spp.), but may be limited in terms of its ability to generate additional biophysical and socioeconomic benefits for local communities. Here we explore the possibility of restoring milkweed via the creation of continuous riparian buffer strips around perennial...
map background search result map search result map Data release for bedrock geology and hydrostratigraphy of the Edwards and Trinity Aquifers within the Driftwood and Wimberley 7.5-Minute Quadrangles, Hays and Comal Counties, Texas at 1:24,000 scale Colorado Landcarbon: Accounting for Wildfire Data release for the potential role of very high-resolution imagery to characterise lake, wetland and stream systems across the Prairie Pothole Region, United States Data release for estimating soil respiration in a subalpine landscape using point, terrain, climate and greenness data Data release for the Land Change Causes for the United States Interior Highlands (2001 to 2006 and 2006 to 2011 time intervals) Data release for Monarch Habitat as a Component of Multifunctional Landscape Restoration Using Continuous Riparian Buffers Landscape inputs and simulation output for the LANDIS-II model in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Data release for tracking rates of post-fire conifer regeneration distinct from deciduous vegetation recovery across the western U.S. Tracking disturbance and inundation to identify wetland loss Measured sections and paleocurrent data from fluvial deposits of the Upper Cretaceous-Paleogene Raton and Poison Canyon Formations, Raton Basin, Colorado-New Mexico, USA Data Release for Reconstructing paleohydrology in the northwest Great Basin since the last deglaciation using Paisley Caves fish remains (Oregon, U.S.A.) Compilation of in situ and detrital zircon U-Pb ages for the Jurassic-Paleocene North American Cordillera (28-50 degrees north) Preliminary detrital zircon data for Upper Cretaceous to Paleocene strata of the Crazy Mountains Basin, Montana Uranium- and thorium-isotope data used to estimate uranium-series ages of Pleistocene lake deposits in the Lake Manix basin, Mojave Desert, California Spatial social value distributions for multiple user groups in a coastal national park Data Release for Luminescence: Mid to Late Quaternary Geomorphic and Paleoseismic Event History, Cheraw Fault, Colorado Digital database of the previously published geologic map of the Boulder-Fort Collins-Greeley area, Colorado Tree-ring widths of Picea engelmannii at Andrews Meadow, Rocky Mountain National Park Tree-ring widths of Picea engelmannii at Andrews Meadow, Rocky Mountain National Park Data Release for Luminescence: Mid to Late Quaternary Geomorphic and Paleoseismic Event History, Cheraw Fault, Colorado Digital database of the previously published geologic map of the Boulder-Fort Collins-Greeley area, Colorado Spatial social value distributions for multiple user groups in a coastal national park Preliminary detrital zircon data for Upper Cretaceous to Paleocene strata of the Crazy Mountains Basin, Montana Data Release for Reconstructing paleohydrology in the northwest Great Basin since the last deglaciation using Paisley Caves fish remains (Oregon, U.S.A.) Measured sections and paleocurrent data from fluvial deposits of the Upper Cretaceous-Paleogene Raton and Poison Canyon Formations, Raton Basin, Colorado-New Mexico, USA Uranium- and thorium-isotope data used to estimate uranium-series ages of Pleistocene lake deposits in the Lake Manix basin, Mojave Desert, California Colorado Landcarbon: Accounting for Wildfire Data release for the potential role of very high-resolution imagery to characterise lake, wetland and stream systems across the Prairie Pothole Region, United States Landscape inputs and simulation output for the LANDIS-II model in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Data release for the Land Change Causes for the United States Interior Highlands (2001 to 2006 and 2006 to 2011 time intervals) Data release for estimating soil respiration in a subalpine landscape using point, terrain, climate and greenness data Tracking disturbance and inundation to identify wetland loss Data release for Monarch Habitat as a Component of Multifunctional Landscape Restoration Using Continuous Riparian Buffers Data release for tracking rates of post-fire conifer regeneration distinct from deciduous vegetation recovery across the western U.S. Compilation of in situ and detrital zircon U-Pb ages for the Jurassic-Paleocene North American Cordillera (28-50 degrees north)