Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center
Publications
Impacts of climate change on groundwater availability and spring flows: Observations from the highly productive Medicine Lake Highlands/Fall River Springs Aquifer System
Medicine Lake Highlands/Fall River Springs Aquifer System, located in northeastern California, is home to some of the largest first-order springs in the United States. This work assesses the likely effects of projected climate change on spring flow. Four anticipated climate futures (GFDL A2, GFDL B1, CCSM4 rcp 8.5, CNRM rcp 8.5) for California,...
Mancewicz, Lauren K; Davisson, L.; Wheelock, Shawn J; Burns, Erick; Poulson, Simon R.; Tyler, Scott W. Influence of permafrost type and site history on losses of permafrost carbon after thaw
We quantified permafrost peat plateau and post-thaw carbon (C) stocks across a chronosequence in Interior Alaska to evaluate the amount of C lost with thaw. Macrofossil reconstructions revealed three stratigraphic layers of peat: (1) a base layer of fen/marsh peat, (2) peat from a forested peat plateau (with permafrost) and, (3) collapse-scar bog...
Manies, Kristen L.; Jones, Miriam C.; Waldrop, Mark; Leewis, Mary-Catherine; Fuller, Christopher C.; Cornman, Robert S.; Hoefke, Kristen Late Cenozoic tephrochronology of the Mount Diablo area within the evolving plate-tectonic boundary zone of northern California
We present a tephrochronologic/chronostratigraphic database for the Mount Diablo area and greater San Francisco Bay region that provides a spatial and temporal framework for geologic studies in the region, including stratigraphy, paleogeography, tectonics, quantification of earth surface processes, recurrence of natural hazards, and climate change...
Sarna-Wojcicki, Andrei; Sullivan, Raymond; Deino, Alan L.; Walkup, Laura; Wagner, J. Ross; Wan, Elmira Geologic framework of Mount Diablo, California
The basic stratigraphic and structural framework of Mount Diablo is described using a revised geologic map, gravity data, and aeromagnetic data. The mountain is made up of two distinct stratigraphic assemblages representing different depocenters that were juxtaposed by ~20 km of late Pliocene and Quaternary right-lateral offset on the Greenville-...
Graymer, Russell; Langenheim, Victoria Global biotic events evident in the Paleogene marine strata of the eastern San Francisco Bay area, California
Paleogene marine strata in the eastern San Francisco Bay area are exposed in discontinuous outcrops in the various tectonic blocks. Although there are many missing intervals, the strata were previously thought to span most of the Paleocene and Eocene. Revision of biochronology and calibration to the international time scale as well as to the...
McDougall-Reid, Kristin Redefining the age of the lower Colorado River, southwestern United States: Reply
Crow et al. (2021) report new geochronologic and paleomagnetic data indicating that the lower Colorado River (CR) became integrated to the proto–Gulf of California (GOC) between 4.8 and 4.62 Ma instead of at ca. 5.3 Ma, as suggested by Dorsey et al. (2007, 2018). Dorsey et al. (2021) dispute this new chronology but offer no alternative explanation...
Crow, Ryan S.; Schwing, Jonathan; Karlstrom, Karl; Heizler, Matt; Pearthree, Philip; House, Kyle; Dulin, Shannon; Janecke, Susane; Stelten, Mark E.; Crossey, Laurie Response to “Connectivity and pore accessibility in models of soil carbon cycling”
Here we respond to Baveye and colleagues' recent critique of our PROMISE model, describing how this new framework significantly advances our understanding of soil spatial heterogeneity and its influence on organic matter transformations.
Waring, Bonnie G.; Sulman, Benjamin N.; Reed, Sasha; Smith, A. Peyton; Averill, Colin; Creamer, Courtney Ann; Cusack, Daniela F.; Hall, Steven J.; Jastrow, Julie D.; Jilling, Andrea; Kemner, Kenneth M.; Kleber, Markus; Liu, Xiao-Jun Allen; Pett-Ridge, Jennifer; Schulz, Marjorie S.
Mineral resource inventory of North Dakota
Aside from construction aggregate materials, the value of nonfuel mineral commodities that have been produced in North Dakota is small, although there is potential for the existence of several mineral resource deposit types which are not economically viable at this time. In this report, we present a mineral resource inventory of the State of North...
Box, Stephen E.; Cossette, Pamela M. The trajectory of soil development and its relationship to soil carbon dynamics
It has been postulated that the amount of soil organic carbon (SOC) associated with soil minerals exhibits a threshold relationship in response to effective soil moisture (estimated as precipitation less evapotranspiration). To better characterize the role of moisture in influencing mechanisms of SOC storage during pedogenesis, we compare soils...
Lawrence, Corey; Schulz, Marjorie S.; Masiello, Caroline; Chadwick, Oliver A.; Harden, Jennifer W. From saline to freshwater: The diversity of western lakes in space and time
Beginning with the nineteenth-century territorial surveys, the lakes and lacustrine deposits in what is now the western United States were recognized for their economic value to the expanding nation. In the latter half of the twentieth century, these systems have been acknowledged as outstanding examples of depositional systems serving as models...
Starratt, Scott W.; Rosen, Michael R.
Geologic and geophysical maps of the Santa Maria and part of the Point Conception 30'×60' quadrangles, California
This report presents digital geologic, gravity, and aeromagnetic maps for the onshore parts of the Santa Maria and Point Conception 30'x60' quadrangles at a compilation scale of 1:100,000. The map depicts the distribution of bedrock units, surficial deposits, paleontological data, geophysical data and structural features in the Santa Maria basin...
Sweetkind, Donald S.; Langenheim, Victoria E.; McDougall-Reid, Kristin; Sorlien, Christopher C.; Demas, Shiera C.; Tennyson, Marilyn E.; Johnson, Samuel Y. Past abrupt changes, tipping points and cascading impacts in the Earth system
The geological record shows that abrupt changes in the Earth system can occur on timescales short enough to challenge the capacity of human societies to adapt to environmental pressures. In many cases, abrupt changes arise from slow changes in one component of the Earth system that eventually pass a critical threshold, or tipping point, after...
Brovkin, V.; Brook, Edward J.; Williams, J.; Bathiany, S.; Lenton, T.; Barton, M.; DeConto, R.; Donges, J.; Ganopolski, A.; McManus, J.; Praetorius, Summer K.; de Vernal, A.; Abe-Ouchi, A.; Cheng, H.; Claussen, M; Crucifix, M.; Iglesias, Virginia; Kaufman, Darrell S.; Kleinen, T.; Lambert, Fabrice; van der Leeuw, Sander; Liddy, Hannah; Loutre, Marie-France; McGee, David; Rehfeld, Kira; Rhodes, Rachael H.; Seddon, Alistair W.R.; Vanderveken, Lilian; Yu, Zicheng