By Bike, Foot or Hoof: New Arizona Maps Feature Trails plus 2 more

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Title: USGS Newsroom

By Bike, Foot or Hoof: New Arizona Maps Feature Trails plus 2 more

Link to USGS Newsroom

By Bike, Foot or Hoof: New Arizona Maps Feature Trails

Posted: 07 Jan 2015 06:00 AM PST

Summary: Newly released US Topo maps for Arizona now feature mountain bike trails, segments of the Arizona National Scenic Trail and Public Land Survey System data

Contact Information:

Mark Newell, APR ( Phone: 573-308-3850 ); Larry  Moore ( Phone: 303-202-4019 );




Newly released US Topo maps for Arizona now feature mountain bike trails, segments of the Arizona National Scenic Trail and Public Land Survey System data.  Several of the 1,880 new US Topo quadrangles for the state now display these selected new features along with other improved data layers.

“Having recently returned to Arizona, I am excited to re-explore our state using the new USGS Arizona Topo maps,” said Curtis Pulford, Arizona State Cartographer.  “Detailed topographic maps are one of the best ways I know to visualize the terrain one is planning to examine.  All who use these will appreciate the newly updated reference features, such as BLM Public Lands Survey System, roadways, schools, fire and police stations, post offices, and hospitals.   Mountain bikers will appreciate the addition of International Mountain Biking Association trails.  And the addition of the 817 mile, border to border, Arizona National Scenic Trail will be an outstanding resource for nature enthusiasts, hikers and equestrians.” 

For Arizona residents and visitors who want to explore the landscape on a bicycle seat, the new mountain bike trails will come in handy. The mountain bike trail data is provided through a partnership with the International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) and MTB Project. During the past two years, the IMBA has been building a detailed national database of mountain bike trails with the aid and support of the MTB Project. This activity allows local IMBA chapters, IMBA members, and the public to provide trail data and descriptions through their website.  MTB Project and IMBA then verify the quality of the trail data provided, ensure accuracy and confirm that the trail is legal.  This unique “crowdsourcing” project has allowed availability of mountain bike trail data though mobile and web apps, and the revised US Topo maps.

National Scenic Trail enthusiasts can now find the “Arizona Trail” on new US Topo map segments. The Arizona National Scenic Trail stretches more than 800 miles from the Mexican border to Utah to connect deserts, mountains, canyons, wilderness, history, communities and people.  Rugged, wild and challenging, this trail showcases Arizona’s diverse vegetation, wildlife, scenery, and historic and prehistoric sites in a way that provides a unique and unparalleled Arizona experience.

“For more than 20 years the Arizona Trail Association’s members have been creating, maintaining, and mapping the Arizona National Scenic Trail,” said Aaron Seifert, GIS Director for the Arizona Trail Association. “Since the trail was designated as a National Scenic Trail in 2009 and completed in 2011, it is very exciting to display the entire trail on the new set of US Topo maps for many more to discover the diverse landscape of Arizona from this amazing trail.”

The USGS partnered with the U.S. Forest Service and the Arizona Trail Association to incorporate the trail data onto the Arizona US Topo maps. This NST joins the Ice Age National Scenic Trail, the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail the North Country National Scenic Trail, the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, and the Appalachian National Scenic Trail as being featured on the new US Topo quads. The USGS hopes to eventually include all National Scenic Trails in The National Map products.

Another important addition to the new Arizona US Topo maps in the inclusion of Public Land Survey System. PLSS is a way of subdividing and describing land in the US. All lands in the public domain are subject to subdivision by this rectangular system of surveys, which is regulated by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

These new maps replace the first edition US Topo maps for Arizona and are available for free download from The National Map, the USGS Map Locator & Downloader website , or several other USGS applications.

To compare change over time, scans of legacy USGS topo maps, some dating back to the late 1800s, can be downloaded from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection

For more information on US Topo maps: http://nationalmap.gov/ustopo/

caption below caption below caption below
New (2014) Black Canyon City, Arizona US Topo quadrangle with orthoimage turn on. (1:24,000 scale). (high resolution image 1.3 MB) Historical USGS topographic map of the Prescott, Arizona area (1887). !:250,000 scale. (high resolution image 1.6 MB) Zoom of the Black Canyon City, Arizona, US Topo quadrangle. The Blank Canyon Trail (BCT) is denoted by a dashed line on the left side of the graphic. (high resolution image 1.2 MB)

Fewer Large Earthquakes in 2014

Posted: 07 Jan 2015 05:00 AM PST

Summary: While the number of large earthquakes fell to 12 in 2014, from 19 in 2013, several moderate temblors hit areas relatively new to seismicity, including Oklahoma and Kansas, according to the U.S. Geological Survey

Contact Information:

Heidi  Koontz ( Phone: 303-202-4763 );




While the number of large earthquakes fell to 12 in 2014, from 19 in 2013, several moderate temblors hit areas relatively new to seismicity, including Oklahoma and Kansas, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Worldwide, 11 earthquakes reached magnitude 7.0-7.9 and one registered magnitude 8.2, in Iquique, Chile, on April 1. This is the lowest annual total of earthquakes magnitude 7.0 or greater since 2008, which also had 12.

Earthquakes were responsible for about 664 deaths in 2014, with 617 having perished in the magnitude 6.1 Ludian Xian, Yunnan, China, event on August 3, as reported by the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Deadly quakes also occurred in Chile, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, and the United States.

A magnitude 6.0 quake struck American Canyon, California (South Napa) in the early hours of August 24, triggering more than 41,300 responses via the USGS Did You Feel It? website. One woman died from her injuries 12 days later. This temblor also represents northern California’s strongest earthquake since the October 1989 Loma Prieta event.

The biggest earthquake in the United States, and the second largest quake of 2014, was a magnitude 7.9 event in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska on June 23. Several quakes below magnitude 5.0 rattled Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Arkansas and Arizona throughout the year. The USGS estimates that several million earthquakes occur throughout the world each year, although most go undetected because they have very small magnitudes or hit remote areas.

On average, the USGS National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) publishes the locations for about 40 earthquakes per day, or about 14,500 annually. The USGS NEIC publishes worldwide earthquakes with a magnitude of 4.0 or greater or U.S. earthquakes of 2.5 or greater. On average each year since about 1900, 18 have a magnitude of 7.0 or higher.

To monitor earthquakes worldwide, the USGS NEIC receives data in real-time from about 1,700 stations in more than 90 countries. These stations include the 150-station Global Seismographic Network, which is jointly supported by the USGS and the National Science Foundation, and is operated by the USGS in partnership with the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) consortium of universities. Domestically, the USGS partners with 13 regional seismic networks operated by universities that provide detailed coverage for the areas of the country with the highest seismic risk. 

In the U.S., 42 of the 50 states, plus Puerto Rico, may experience damaging ground shaking from an earthquake in 50 years, the nominal lifetime of a building. The USGS and its partners in the multi-agency National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program are working to improve earthquake monitoring and reporting capabilities through the development of the USGS Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS). More information about ANSS can be found on the ANSS website.

Read a USGS feature story to learn more about other natural hazards in 2014.

Polar Bears Shifting to Areas with More Sea Ice -- Genetic Study Reveals

Posted: 06 Jan 2015 10:00 AM PST

Summary: Editors: B-roll footage of polar bear research is available for your use.

Contact Information:

Paul Laustsen ( Phone: 650-329-4046 );




Editors: B-roll footage of polar bear research is available for your use.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — In a new polar bear study published today, scientists from around the Arctic have shown that recent generations of polar bears are moving towards areas with more persistent year-round sea ice.

Research scientists, led by the U.S. Geological Survey, found that the 19 recognized subpopulations of polar bears group into four genetically-similar clusters, corresponding to ecological and oceanographic factors. These four clusters are the Eastern Polar Basin, Western Polar Basin, Canadian Archipelago, and Southern Canada.

The scientists also detected directional gene flow towards the Canadian Archipelago within the last 1-3 generations. Gene flow of this type can result from populations expanding and contracting at different rates or directional movement and mating over generations. The findings of spatial structure (clusters) and directional gene flow are important because they support the hypothesis that the species is coalescing to the region of the Arctic most likely to retain sea ice into the future.

“The polar bear’s recent directional gene flow northward is something new,” said Elizabeth Peacock, USGS researcher and lead author of the study. “In our analyses that focused on more historic gene flow, we did not detect movement in this direction.” The study found that the predominant gene flow was from Southern Canada and the Eastern Polar Basin towards the Canadian Archipelago where the sea ice is more resilient to summer melt due to circulation patterns, complex geography, and cooler northern latitudes.

Projections of future sea ice extent in light of climate warming typically show greater retention of sea ice in the northern Canadian Archipelago than in other regions.

“By examining the genetic makeup of polar bears, we can estimate levels and directions of gene flow, which represents the past story of mating and movement, and population expansion and contraction,” said Peacock. “Gene flow occurs over generations, and would not be detectable by using data from satellite-collars which can only be deployed on a few polar bears for short periods of time.”

The authors also found that female polar bears showed higher fidelity to their regions of birth than did male polar bears. Data to allow comparison of the movements of male and female polar bears is difficult to obtain because male bears cannot be collared as their necks are wider than their heads.

The study also confirmed earlier work that suggests that modern polar bears stem from one or several hybridization events with brown bears. No evidence of current polar bear-brown bear hybridization was found in the more than 2,800 samples examined in the current study. Scientists concluded that the hybrid bears that have been observed in the Northern Beaufort Sea region of Canada represent a recent and currently localized phenomenon. Scientists also found that polar bear populations expanded and brown bear populations contracted in periods with more ice. In periods with less ice, the opposite was true.

The goal of the study was to see how genetic diversity and structure of the worldwide polar bear population have changed over the recent dramatic decline in their sea-ice habitat. The USGS and the Government of Nunavut led the study with scientists from 15 institutions representing all five nations with polar bears (U.S., Canada, Greenland, Norway, and Russia).  

This circumpolar, multi-national effort provides a timely perspective on how a rapidly changing Arctic is influencing the gene flow and likely future distribution of a species of worldwide conservation concern.  

The paper “Implications of the circumpolar genetic structure of polar bears for their conservation in a rapidly warming Arctic” was published today in the journal PLOS One.


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