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Passive and Active Seismic Data Collected Near Beaver Pond Locations in Storrs, CT; Willington, CT; and Gunnison County, CO in 2025

March 30, 2026

This data release documents seismic data collected immediately adjacent to beaver ponds and in their surrounding floodplain environments using active and passive seismic measurements at three sites. These sites are located in the University of Connecticut (UConn) Forest in Storrs, Connecticut; Fenton-Ruby Park in Willington, Connecticut; and in Gunnison County, Colorado. Horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio (HVSR) measurements were acquired using three-component Tromino seismometers (MoHo, S.R.L.) at non-inundated locations during late summer 2025 (51 total HVSR points). Resonance frequencies were identified from Fourier spectra using GRILLA software (MoHo, S.R.L.). Active 1D Multichannel Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW) test data were collected to estimate 1D seismic shear-wave velocity (Vs) structure at the UConn Forest and Fenton-Ruby Park sites using GRILLA (2 total MASW points). We used literature estimates of Vs for the Gunnison County site. We then converted the resonance frequencies to sediment thickness (depth to bedrock) using a range of plausible sediment shear-wave velocities to demonstrate potential uses of the geophysical data. The average inferred bedrock depth for the UConn Forest was 10.6 +/- 0.8 m; Fenton-Ruby Park was 5.3 +/- 0.9 m; and Gunnison County was 18 +/- 1.9 m. The uncertainty of these example calculations is based on how distinct the HVSR resonance frequency response was, as evaluated automatically with GRILLA software.

Publication Year 2026
Title Passive and Active Seismic Data Collected Near Beaver Pond Locations in Storrs, CT; Willington, CT; and Gunnison County, CO in 2025
DOI 10.5066/P1LGT6KX
Authors Annie E Tucker, Yeonju Kim, Lijing Wang, Eric A White, David M Rey, Fritz J Jean, Samuel Pierce, Martin Briggs
Product Type Data Release
Record Source USGS Asset Identifier Service (AIS)
USGS Organization Water Resources Mission Area - Headquarters
Rights This work is marked with CC0 1.0 Universal
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