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Geomorphology
Branch of geology dealing with surface land features and the processes that create and change them.
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Results 1 - 41 of 41 listed alphabetically [list by similarity]
PDF A dryland river transformed--the Little Colorado, 1936-2010 [More info]
We mapped substantial migration of the river channel between the City of Winslow and the Navajo Nation community of Leupp; in a human lifetime the river has moved more than a mile across its valley floor.
Assessment of potential coastal impacts: Hurricane Rita [More info]
Areas susceptible to inundation during landfall of Hurricane Rita are assessed by comparing lidar-derived dune elevations to simulated storm surge values. Results shown on pictorial maps.
Bedrock geology of the Yosemite Valley area Yosemite National Park, California [More info]
Site explains the general bedrock geology of the Yosemite Valley area.
Biological soil crusts [More info]
Explains biological soil crusts, organism-produced soil formations commonly found in semiarid and arid environments, with special reference to their biological composition, physical characteristics, and ecological significance.
PDF Biological soil crusts: webs of life in the desert [More info]
Fact sheet on the need to protect biological soil crusts in the desert. These crusts are most of the soil surface in deserts not covered by green plants and are inhabited by cyanobacterium (blue-green algae) and other organisms useful to the ecosystem.
PDF Candidate cave entrances on Mars [More info]
Newly discovered candidate cave entrances into Martian near-surface lava tubes, volcano-tectonic fracture systems, and pit craters and describes their characteristics and exploration possibilities.
Costly landslide events in the United States: map layer description file [More info]
GIS data set from the USGS National Landslides Hazards Program showing major landslide events in the United States and Puerto Rico with metadata. Map layer can be downloaded in shapefile format or SDTS format.
Detection and measurement of land subsidence using Global Positioning System surveying and interferometric synthetic aperture radar, Coachella Valley, California, 1996-2005 [More info]
Detailed measurements of elevation help to understand the extent and severity of subsidence. Study asks if subsidence indicates the aquifer system is compacting temporarily or permanently, and are the changes human-induced or tectonic.
Digital shorelines for Boston Harbor [More info]
Modified version of paper by F.T. Manheim and A.G. McIntire, Civil Engineering Practice, Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 35-48 (1998). A new shoreline file has been created for Boston Harbor by digitizing and combining the most recent charts.
Eastern Earth Surface Processes Team [More info]
The Eastern Earth Surface Processes Team provides geologic mapping regional geologic studies to determine stratigraphy and geologic structure, topical studies to understand geologic and surficial processes, and syntheses of earth science data.
Erosion in the Rio Puerco: geography and processes [More info]
Paper on the accelerated erosion of the Rio Puerco, a tributary of the Rio Grande in New Mexico, which has deepened and widened its channel, or arroyo, since the settlement of the region.
Extent of Pleistocene lakes in the western Great Basin [More info]
Map of Pleistocene pluvial lakes in the western Great Basin (Nevada, eastern California, southern Oregon). Includes metadata, online PDF map view, and downloadable ArcInfo export files, ArcView shapefiles, and TIFF files.
Fluvial geomorphology studies in Kansas [More info]
Report of completed studies that have investigated the response of river and stream channels in Kansas to a variety of human-caused and natural disturbances.
Geologic hazards: landslide images [More info]
Photographs of examples of landslides viewable online as 100-200kb or 800 x 600kb images.
Geologic mapping in National Parks: National Park Service Support Project [More info]
Summaries of geologic projects in cooperation with the National Park Service including Grand Canyon National Park, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Joshua Tree National Park, Yosemite National Park, and others.
Geomorphology and sediment transport -- river mechanics [More info]
Current river mechanics research on particle friction angles of fluvial gravels (data files compressed in BenHex, Winzip and Unix) and Grand Canyon Beach evolution (animation requiring Java 1.0) plus digital elevation files (*.hgx and *.zip files).
PDF Impacts and predictions of coastal change during hurricanes [More info]
Shows how observations and modeling can help anticipate practical problems in coastal areas when hurricanes arrive. Focuses primarily on areas where people have built houses and roads that may be destroyed during storms.
PDF Inventory and protection of salt marshes from risks of sea-level rise at Acadia National Park, Maine [More info]
Will salt marshes survive if sea level rises quickly? The answer depends on whether the areas surrounding them can allow salt marsh fauna and flora to migrate there. Local topography, both natural and manmade, is the main factor limiting this migration.
Landslide types and processes [More info]
An introductory primer giving basic scientific facts about landslides--the types of landslides, how they are initiated, and how they can begin to be managed as a hazard.
PDF Lidar postcards [More info]
Four postcards available for downloading and printing, illustrating the use of lidar (light detection and ranging) to construct high-resolution topographic and habitat maps.
Mars Global Digital Dune Database; MC-1 [More info]
Distribution and morphological character of moderate to large size dune fields on Mars from 65 degrees North to the north pole.
Mass Wasting Following the 2002 Missionary Ridge Fire near Durango, Colorado, a Field Trip Guidebook [More info]
Guidebook with photos, maps, and diagrams explaining how forest fires have affected the likelihood of mass wasting, with discussions of steps taken to minimize future impacts.
Mass wasting presentation [More info]
Presentation explaining the various types of mass wasting, how they work, and how they differ from one another, with diagrams and photos.
Measuring human-induced land subsidence from space [More info]
Examples of the use of Satellite Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar to measure and map changes on the Earth's surface as an aid to understanding how ground-water pumping, hydrocarbon production, or other human activities cause land subsidence.
Measuring land subsidence from space [More info]
Describes the use of satellite-borne Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) to precisely measure, monitor, and assess small changes in land surface elevation resulting from human-induced or naturally occuring land subsidence.
PDF Monitoring and analysis of sand dune movement and growth on the Navajo Nation, southwestern United States [More info]
We combine long-term records from aerial photographs, detailed mapping using survey-grade GPS, and ground-based lidar with meteorological monitoring. Sand dune migration rates are currently about 35 meters per year.
National Assessment of Coastal Change Hazards [More info]
The National Assessment of Coastal Change Hazards is a multi-year undertaking to identify and quantify the vulnerability of U.S. shorelines to coastal change hazards such as the effects of severe storms, sea-level rise, and shoreline erosion and retreat.
National Assessment of Shoreline Change Project [More info]
The Coastal and Marine Geology Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is conducting an analysis of historical shoreline changes along open-ocean sandy shores of the conterminous United States and parts of Alaska and Hawaii.
National assessment of coastal vulnerability to sea-level rise: preliminary results for the U.S. Pacific Coast [More info]
Report on the potential of coastal change due to future sea level rise using the coastal vulnerability index (C.V.I.) with two regional examples in San Francisco and Monterey Bay and Tillamook Head, Oregon, to Ocean Shores, WA.
National assessment of coastal vulnerability to sea-level rise: preliminary results of the U.S. Atlantic coast [More info]
Brief report on map showing the relative vulnerability of the Atlantic coast to changes due to future rise in sea level. Includes links to similar maps in Open-file report 2000-178 on the Pacific Coast and 2000-179 on the Gulf of Mexico Coast.
Our dynamic desert landscape [More info]
Overview of studies of fragile and active landscape of the American Southwest deserts, including projects on geologic mapping, surface processes, remote sensing research, ecological processes, and earthquake hazard applications.
Sea-floor morphology between Año Nuevo and Santa Cruz, California [More info]
Report with preliminary sea floor map displaying submarine rock exposures found along the northern part of Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, extent based on side-scan sonar records, seismic-reflection records, and underwater video.
Sinkholes [More info]
Explains sinkhole formation and distribution, with special emphasis on their occurrence in Missouri
PDF South Carolina coastal erosion study [More info]
USGS project to understand coastal evolution and modern beach behavior; to identify and model the physical processes affecting coastal ocean circulation and sediment transport; and to identify sediment sources and construct a regional sediment budget.
The Great Ice Age [More info]
Booklet (PDF format) on the Pleistocene glaciations known as the Great Ice Age and the resulting geomorphological, climatic, and environmental changes that occurred on Earth during the period.
Topics in coastal and marine sciences: Coastal erosion [More info]
Topics in Coastal and Marine Sciences provides background science materials, definitions, and links to give a common context for users from a variety of backgrounds. Coastal erosion was chosen as the first topic.
USGS news and information on El Nino [More info]
Information sources on El Nino effects such as landslides, coastal hazards, floods. Includes links to maps and images.
Water science for schools: land subsidence [More info]
Site for elementary school studies on land subsidence with links to land subsidence in California, wells, ground water quality, sinkholes, glossary, and a random link.
West-central Florida erosion study [More info]
West central Florida erosion interactive map with GIS datasets to download including geologic interpretative layers, samples, bathymetry, and imagery.
Western Region Geology and Geophysics Center [More info]
Overview of the research of this organizational unit with links to projects and activities and to geologic information on the western U.S.
Yosemite Valley geologic story [More info]
Site describes the present understanding of the various geologic processes that contributed to the valley's creation. Links to Yosemite Valley's geologic maps.
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