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Publications

Publications from the staff of the Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

Filter Total Items: 2537

Late Quaternary paleoclimate of western Alaska inferred from fossil chironomids and its relation to vegetation histories Late Quaternary paleoclimate of western Alaska inferred from fossil chironomids and its relation to vegetation histories

Fossil Chironomidae assemblages (with a few Chaoboridae and Ceratopogonidae) from Zagoskin and Burial Lakes in western Alaska provide quantitative reconstructions of mean July air temperatures for periods of the late-middle Wisconsin (~39,000-34,000 cal yr B.P.) to the present. Inferred temperatures are compared with previously analyzed pollen data from each site summarized here by...
Authors
Joshua Kurek, Les C. Cwynar, Thomas A. Ager, Mark B. Abbott, Mary E. Edwards

Hydrologic characterization of desert soils with varying degrees of pedogenesis: 1. field experiments evaluating plant-relevant soil water behavior Hydrologic characterization of desert soils with varying degrees of pedogenesis: 1. field experiments evaluating plant-relevant soil water behavior

To assess the eff ect of pedogenesis on the soil moisture dynamics infl uencing the character and quality of ecological habitat, we conducted infi ltration and redistribution experiments on three alluvial deposits in the Mojave National Preserve: (i) recently deposited active wash sediments, (ii) a soil of early Holocene age, and (iii) a highly developed soil of late Pleistocene age. At...
Authors
John R. Nimmo, Kim S. Perkins, Kevin M. Schmidt, David M. Miller, Jonathan D. Stock, Kamini Singha

Rapid measurement of field-saturated hydraulic conductivity for areal characterization Rapid measurement of field-saturated hydraulic conductivity for areal characterization

To provide an improved methodology for characterizing the field‐saturated hydraulic conductivity (Kfs) over broad areas with extreme spatial variability and ordinary limitations of time and resources, we developed and tested a simplified apparatus and procedure, correcting mathematically for the major deficiencies of the simplified implementation. The methodology includes use of a...
Authors
J. R. Nimmo, K. M. Schmidt, K. S. Perkins, J. D. Stock

Geophysical setting of western Utah and eastern Nevada between latitudes 37°45′ and 40°N Geophysical setting of western Utah and eastern Nevada between latitudes 37°45′ and 40°N

Gravity and aeromagnetic data refine the structural setting for the region of western Utah and eastern Nevada between Snake and Hamlin Valleys on the west and Tule Valley on the east. These data are used here as part of a regional analysis. An isostatic gravity map shows large areas underlain by gravity lows, the most prominent of which is a large semi-circular low associated with the...
Authors
Edward A. Mankinen, Edwin H. McKee

The Portland Basin: A (big) river runs through it The Portland Basin: A (big) river runs through it

Metropolitan Portland, Oregon, USA, lies within a small Neogene to Holocene basin in the forearc of the Cascadia subduction system. Although the basin owes its existence and structural development to its convergent-margin tectonic setting, the stratigraphic architecture of basin-fill deposits chiefly reflects its physiographic position along the lower reaches of the continental-scale...
Authors
Russell C. Evarts, Jim E. O'Connor, Ray E. Wells, Ian P. Madin

Revisions to the stratigraphic nomenclature of the Abiquiu Formation, Abiquiu and contiguous areas, north-central New Mexico Revisions to the stratigraphic nomenclature of the Abiquiu Formation, Abiquiu and contiguous areas, north-central New Mexico

Stratigraphic studies and geologic mapping on the Abiquiu 7.5-min quadrangle have led to revision of the stratigraphic nomenclature for the Oligocene to Miocene Abiquiu Formation in north-central New Mexico. The Abiquiu Formation had previously been defined to include informal upper, middle (Pedernal chert member), and lower members. The basement-derived conglomeratic lower member in the...
Authors
Florian Maldonado, Shari A. Kelley

New approaches to stability analysis of steep coastal bluffs New approaches to stability analysis of steep coastal bluffs

We present a discussion on the limitations and needed improvements for existing slope stability analysis methods to accurately model steep coastal bluff failures resulting from both direct wave action at the toe in weakly cemented sands and precipitation-induced seepage failures in moderately cemented sands. Using a case-study detailing over 5 years of observations of coastal bluff...
Authors
Brian D. Collins, Nicholas Sitar

Cenozoic evolution of the abrupt Colorado Plateau–Basin and Range boundary, northwest Arizona: A tale of three basins, immense lacustrine-evaporite deposits, and the nascent Colorado River Cenozoic evolution of the abrupt Colorado Plateau–Basin and Range boundary, northwest Arizona: A tale of three basins, immense lacustrine-evaporite deposits, and the nascent Colorado River

In northwest Arizona, the relatively unextended Colorado Plateau gives way abruptly to the highly extended Colorado River extensional corridor within the Basin and Range province along a system of major west-dipping normal faults, including the Grand Wash fault zone and South Virgin–White Hills detachment fault. Large growth-fault basins developed in the hanging walls of these faults...
Authors
J. E. Faulds, Keith A. Howard, E. M. Duebendorfer

Linking soil organic matter dynamics and erosion-induced terrestrial carbon sequestration at different landform positions Linking soil organic matter dynamics and erosion-induced terrestrial carbon sequestration at different landform positions

Recently, the potential for terrestrial carbon (C) sequestration by soil erosion and deposition has received increased interest. Erosion and deposition constitute a sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide relative to a preerosional state or a noneroding scenario, if the posterosion watershed C balance is increased due to (1) partial replacement of eroded C by new photosynthate in the eroded...
Authors
Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Jennifer W. Harden, Margaret S. Torn, John Harte
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