Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

High-resolution seismic imaging of the West Napa Fault Zone at Saintsbury Winery, Napa, California

March 6, 2020

In November 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey acquired high resolution P- and S-wave seismic data across the trace of the West Napa Fault zone in Saintsbury winery in Napa, California. The primary goal of the seismic survey was to image the subsurface damage from the 2014 MW 6.0 South Napa earthquake to assist in a near-surface fault slip and deformation investigation. We acquired seismic reflection, refraction, and guided-wave data along a 115-m-long profile across the expected trend of the West Napa Fault zone. To acquire the reflection and refraction data, we co-located shots and geophones, spaced every meter along the profile. We used 116 SercelTM L40A P-wave (40-Hz vertical-component) geophones with a sensitivity of 22.34 volts/meter/second to record 116 P-wave shots, and 116 SercelTM L28-LBH S-wave (4.5-Hz horizontal-component) geophones with a sensitivity of 31.3 volts/meter/second to record 116 S-wave shots. We generated P-wave data using a 3.5-kg sledgehammer and steel plate combination. S-wave sources were generated by horizontally striking an aluminum block with a 3.5-kg sledgehammer. We acquired fault-zone guided-wave data by generating P- and S-wave energy (3.5-kg sledgehammer and steel plate or aluminum block) approximately 22, 45, and 105 m northwest of the P- and S-wave recording arrays. All data were recorded using two 60-channel Geometrics Stratavisor NX-60TM seismographs with a 24-bit analog-to-digital converter with a roll-along descaling factor (Subcommittee of the SEG Engineering and Groundwater Geophysics Committee, 1990); the seismographs were connected to the P- and S-wave geophones via refraction cables. Each shot was recorded for two seconds, with data recording starting 100 ms before the actual time of the shot. Data were recorded at a sampling rate of 0.5 ms, or 2000 samples per second. This report provides the metadata needed to utilize the seismic data.

Publication Year 2020
Title High-resolution seismic imaging of the West Napa Fault Zone at Saintsbury Winery, Napa, California
DOI 10.5066/P9UREVME
Authors Joanne H Chan, Rufus D Catchings, Mark R Goldman, Johanna M Nevitt, Coyn J Criley, Robert R Sickler, Benjamin A Brooks
Product Type Data Release
Record Source USGS Asset Identifier Service (AIS)
USGS Organization Earthquake Hazards Program
Rights This work is marked with CC0 1.0 Universal
Was this page helpful?