United States Geological Survey

About: United States Geological Survey is a government organization based out in Reston, Virginia, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Groundwater. The organization has 17899 authors who have published 51097 publications receiving 2479125 citations. The organization is also known as: USGS & US Geological Survey.

Kinetics of water-rock interaction

Abstract: Analysis of Rates of Geochemical Reactions.- Transition State Theory and Molecular Orbital Calculations Applied to Rates and Reaction Mechanisms in Geochemical Kinetics.- The Mineral-Water Interface.- Kinetics of Sorption-Desorption.- Kinetics of Mineral Dissolution.- Data Fitting Techniques with Applications to Mineral Dissolution Kinetics.- Nucleation, Growth, and Aggregation of Mineral Phases: Mechanisms and Kinetic Controls.- Microbiological Controls on Geochemical Kinetics 1: Fundamentals and Case Study on Microbial Fe(III) Oxide Reduction.- Microbiological Controls on Geochemical Kinetics 2: Case Study on Microbial Oxidation of Metal Sulfide Minerals and Future Prospects.- Quantitative Approaches to Characterizing Natural Chemical Weathering Rates.- Geochemical Kinetics and Transport.- Isotope Geochemistry as a Tool for Deciphering Kinetics of Water-Rock Interaction.- Kinetics of Global Geochemical Cycles.

Ecosystem Consequences of Changing Inputs of Terrestrial Dissolved Organic Matter to Lakes: Current Knowledge and Future Challenges

Abstract: Lake ecosystems and the services that they provide to people are profoundly influenced by dissolved organic matter derived from terrestrial plant tissues. These terrestrial dissolved organic matter (tDOM) inputs to lakes have changed substantially in recent decades, and will likely continue to change. In this paper, we first briefly review the substantial literature describing tDOM effects on lakes and ongoing changes in tDOM inputs. We then identify and provide examples of four major challenges which limit predictions about the implications of tDOM change for lakes, as follows: First, it is currently difficult to forecast future tDOM inputs for particular lakes or lake regions. Second, tDOM influences ecosystems via complex, interacting, physical-chemical-biological effects and our holistic understanding of those effects is still rudimentary. Third, non-linearities and thresholds in relationships between tDOM inputs and ecosystem processes have not been well described. Fourth, much understanding of tDOM effects is built on comparative studies across space that may not capture likely responses through time. We conclude by identifying research approaches that may be important for overcoming those challenges in order to provide policy- and management-relevant predictions about the implications of changing tDOM inputs for lakes.

Beyond clay: Towards an improved set of variables for predicting soil organic matter content

Abstract: Improved quantification of the factors controlling soil organic matter (SOM) stabilization at continental to global scales is needed to inform projections of the largest actively cycling terrestrial carbon pool on Earth, and its response to environmental change Biogeochemical models rely almost exclusively on clay content to modify rates of SOM turnover and fluxes of climate-active CO2 to the atmosphere Emerging conceptual understanding, however, suggests other soil physicochemical properties may predict SOM stabilization better than clay content We addressed this discrepancy by synthesizing data from over 5,500 soil profiles spanning continental scale environmental gradients Here, we demonstrate that other physicochemical parameters are much stronger predictors of SOM content, with clay content having relatively little explanatory power We show that exchangeable calcium strongly predicted SOM content in water-limited, alkaline soils, whereas with increasing moisture availability and acidity, iron- and aluminum-oxyhydroxides emerged as better predictors, demonstrating that the relative importance of SOM stabilization mechanisms scales with climate and acidity These results highlight the urgent need to modify biogeochemical models to better reflect the role of soil physicochemical properties in SOM cycling