Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Publications

Filter Total Items: 3068

Evaluation of viscoplastic slope movement based on triaxial tests Evaluation of viscoplastic slope movement based on triaxial tests

Viscoplastic soil parameters are used in a nonlinear viscoplastic constitutive model to predict time-dependent displacement of slow-moving landslides. The viscoplastic material parameters are determined by a novel method that uses a standard triaxial apparatus. This method employs data obtained from consolidated drained triaxial tests and consolidated drained stress-controlled strain...
Authors
Wylie W. -H. Wong, Carlton L. Ho, Richard M. Iverson, Cynthia Hovind

History and hazards of Mount Rainier, Washington History and hazards of Mount Rainier, Washington

Mount Rainier is an active volcano that first erupted about half a million years ago. Because of Rainier's great height (14,410 feet above sea level) and northerly location, glaciers have cut deeply into its lavas, making it appear deceptively older than it actually is. Mount Rainier is known to have erupted as recently as in the 1840s, and large eruptions took place as recently as about...
Authors
Thomas W. Sisson

Fluid-inclusion evidence for past temperature fluctuations in the Kilauea East Rift Zone geothermal area, Hawaii Fluid-inclusion evidence for past temperature fluctuations in the Kilauea East Rift Zone geothermal area, Hawaii

Heating and freezing data were obtained for fluid inclusions in hydrothermal quartz, calcite, and anhydrite from several depths in three scientific observation holes drilled along the lower East Rift Zone of Kilauea volcano, Hawaii. Compositions of the inclusion fluids range from dilute meteoric water to highly modified sea water concentrated by boiling. Comparison of measured drill-hole
Authors
Keith E. Bargar, Terry E.C. Keith, Frank A. Trusdell

Roof-rock contamination of magma along the top of the reservoir for the Bishop Tuff Roof-rock contamination of magma along the top of the reservoir for the Bishop Tuff

The Bishop Tuff, a Quaternary high-silica rhyolite in east-central California, is widely considered the type example of a vertically and monotonically zoned pyroclastic deposit that represents zoning in the source magma reservoir, inverted during the process of pyroclastic emplacement. However, the deposit of plinian pumice, which forms the base of the Bishop Tuff and represents the...
Authors
W. A. Duffield, J. Ruiz, J.D. Webster

Frequent outburst floods from South Tahoma Glacier, Mount Rainier, USA: Relation to debris flows, meteorological origin, and implications for subglacial hydrology Frequent outburst floods from South Tahoma Glacier, Mount Rainier, USA: Relation to debris flows, meteorological origin, and implications for subglacial hydrology

Destructive debris flows occur frequently at glacierized Mount Rainier volcano, Washington, U.S.A. Twenty-three such flows have occurred in the Tahoma Creek valley since 1967. Hydrologic and geomorphic evidence indicate that all or nearly all of these flows began as outburst floods from South Tahoma Glacier. Flood waters are stored subglacially. The volume of stored water discharged...
Authors
J. S. Walder, C. L. Driedger

The USGS/OFDA Volcano Disaster Assistance Program The USGS/OFDA Volcano Disaster Assistance Program

An erupting volcano is one of nature's truly spectacular sights. From a distance, or perhaps through the cameras of the news media, we often observe roiling mushroom clouds of ash or flows of incandescent lava issuing from the volcano's throat. If, however, you happen to live near that erupting volcano, your life or livelihood may be endangered and your property at risk of destruction a...
Authors
J.W. Ewert, C.D. Miller

Mining the earth's heat in the basin and range Mining the earth's heat in the basin and range

The Geothermal Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is revisiting the Basin and Range Province after a hiatus of over a decade. The Basin and Range is a region of Neogene extension and generally high, but regionally and locally variable heat flow. The northern Basin and Range (Great Basin) has higher mean elevation and more intense Quaternary extension than does the southern...
Authors
John H. Sass

Can magma-injection and groundwater forces cause massive landslides on Hawaiian volcanoes? Can magma-injection and groundwater forces cause massive landslides on Hawaiian volcanoes?

Landslides with volumes exceeding 1000 km3 have occurred on the flanks of Hawaiian volcanoes. Because the flanks typically slope seaward no more than 12 °, the mechanics of slope failure are problematic. Limit-equilibrium analyses of wedge-shaped slices of the volcano flanks show that magma injection at prospective headscarps might trigger the landslides, but only under very restrictive...
Authors
R.M. Iverson
Was this page helpful?