Publications

We consider the statistical modeling of the occurrence in time of large Kp magnetic storms as a Poisson process, testing whether or not relatively rare, large Kp events can be considered to arise from a stochastic, sequential, and memoryless process. For a Poisson process, the wait times between successive events occur statistically with an exponential density function. Fitting an...

The Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964 caused major damage and 43 deaths in the coastal communities of Seward and Valdez. Most of these losses were caused by tsunamis that occurred immediately after the earthquake and were most likely induced by local submarine landslides. Recent NOAA multibcam bathymetric surveys near Seward and Valdez provide detailed information about the morphology of...

We model the rainfall-induced initiation of shallow landslides over a broad region using a deterministic approach, the Transient Rainfall Infiltration and Grid-based Slope-stability (TRIGRS) model that couples an infinite-slope stability analysis with a one-dimensional analytical solution for transient pore pressure response to rainfall infiltration. This model permits the evaluation of...

We tested whether routes of raptors migrating over areas with homogeneous topography follow constant geomagnetic courses more or less closely than constant geographical courses. We analysed the routes taken over land of 45 individual raptors tracked by satellite-based radiotelemetry: 25 peregrine falcons, Falco peregrinus, on autumn migration between North and South America, and seven...

The Scenic Drive landslide in La Honda, San Mateo County, California began movement during the El Niño winter of 1997-98. Recurrent motion occurred during the mild El Niño winter of 2004-2005 and again during the winter of 2005-06. This report documents the changing geometry and motion of the Scenic Drive landslide in 2005-2006, and it documents changes and persistent features that we...

Recent investigations using the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institutes (MBARI) Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) "Ventana" and "Tiburon" and interpretation of MBARI's EM 300 30 kHz multibeam bathymetric data show that the northern flank of the Santa Barbara Basin has experienced massive slope failures. Of particular concern is the large (130 km2) Goleta landslide complex located off...

[No abstract available]

The Niigata Ken Chuetsu earthquake triggered a vast number of lanslides in the epicentral region. Landslide concentrations were among the highest ever measured after an earthquake, and most of the triggered landslides were relatively shallow failures parallel to the steep slope faces. The dense concentration of landslides can be attributed to steep local topography in relatively weak...

We tested whether routes of raptors migrating over areas with homogeneous topography follow constant geomagnetic courses more or less closely than constant geographical courses. We analysed the routes taken over land of 45 individual raptors tracked by satellite-based radiotelemetry: 25 peregrine falcons, Falco peregrinus, on autumn migration between North and South America, and seven...

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the United States military have requirements for design, location, and construction of compass calibration pads (compass roses), these having been developed through collaboration with US Geological Survey (USGS) personnel. These requirements are detailed in the FAA Advisory Circular AC 150/5300-13, Appendix 4, and in various military...

Two alternative procedures for estimating landslide hazards were evaluated using data on topographic digital elevation models (DEMs) and bedrock lithologies in an area adjacent to the Missouri River in Atchison County, Kansas, USA. The two procedures are based on the likelihood ratio model but utilize different assumptions. The empirical likelihood ratio model is based on non-parametric...

The Tecomán, Mexico earthquake (also called the “Colima earthquake”) of January 21, 2003 (M 7.6) triggered several hundreds of landslides in the coastal cordilleras of Colima State, near the earthquake source, and several thousands in the volcanic highlands north and northwest of Colima City. These landslides, mostly shallow and disrupted failures, caused minor damage to roads, to a...