Publications
Publications from the staff of the Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center
Filter Total Items: 2486
Geology, geochronology, and paleogeography of the southern Sonoma volcanic field and adjacent areas, northern San Francisco Bay region, California Geology, geochronology, and paleogeography of the southern Sonoma volcanic field and adjacent areas, northern San Francisco Bay region, California
Recent geologic mapping in the northern San Francisco Bay region (California, USA) supported by radiometric dating and tephrochronologic correlations, provides insights into the framework geology, stratigraphy, tectonic evolution, and geologic history of this part of the San Andreas transform plate boundary. There are 25 new and existing radiometric dates that define three temporally...
Authors
David L. Wagner, George J. Saucedo, Kevin B. Clahan, Robert J. Fleck, Victoria E. Langenheim, Robert J. McLaughlin, Andrei M. Sarna-Wojcicki, James R. Allen, Alan L. Deino
Low strength of deep San Andreas fault gouge from SAFOD core Low strength of deep San Andreas fault gouge from SAFOD core
The San Andreas fault accommodates 28–34 mm yr−1 of right lateral motion of the Pacific crustal plate northwestward past the North American plate. In California, the fault is composed of two distinct locked segments that have produced great earthquakes in historical times, separated by a 150-km-long creeping zone. The San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) is a scientific...
Authors
David A. Lockner, Carolyn A. Morrow, Diane E. Moore, Stephen H. Hickman
Stratigraphy and chronology of offshore to nearshore deposits associated with the Provo shoreline, Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, Utah Stratigraphy and chronology of offshore to nearshore deposits associated with the Provo shoreline, Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, Utah
Stratigraphic descriptions and radiocarbon data from eleven field locations are presented in this paper to establish a chronostratigraphic framework for offshore to nearshore deposits of Lake Bonneville. Based on key marker beds and geomorphic position, the deposits are interpreted to have accumulated during the period from the late transgressive phase, through the overflowing phase...
Authors
Holly S. Godsey, Charles G. Oviatt, David M. Miller, Marjorie A. Chan
Disaster risk assessment case study: Recent drought on the Navajo Nation, USA Disaster risk assessment case study: Recent drought on the Navajo Nation, USA
The Navajo Nation is an ecologically sensitive semi-arid to arid section of the southern Colorado Plateau. In this remote part of the United States, located at the Four Corners (Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah), traditional people live a subsistence lifestyle that is inextricably tied to, and dependent upon, landscape conditions and water supplies. Soft bedrock lithologies and...
Authors
Margaret Hiza, Klara B. Kelley, Harris Francis, Debra Block
Stratigraphy and depositional environments of the upper Pleistocene Chemehuevi Formation along the lower Colorado River Stratigraphy and depositional environments of the upper Pleistocene Chemehuevi Formation along the lower Colorado River
The Chemehuevi Formation forms a conspicuous, widespread, and correlative set of nonmarine sediments lining the valleys of the Colorado River and several of its larger tributaries in the Basin and Range geologic province. These sediments have been examined by geologists since J. S. Newberry visited the region in 1857 and are widely cited in the geologic literature; however their origin...
Authors
Daniel V. Malmon, Keith A. Howard, P. Kyle House, Scott C. Lundstrom, Philip A. Pearthree, Andrei M. Sarna-Wojcicki, Elmira Wan, David B. Wahl
Impact of mine and natural sources of mercury on water, sediment, and biota in Harley Gulch adjacent to the Abbott-Turkey Run mine, Lake County, California Impact of mine and natural sources of mercury on water, sediment, and biota in Harley Gulch adjacent to the Abbott-Turkey Run mine, Lake County, California
Executive Summary Stable-isotope data indicate that there are three sources of water that effect the composition and Hg concentration of waters in Harley Gulch: (1) meteoric water that dominates water chemistry during the wet season; (2) thermal water effluent from the Turkey Run mine that effects the chemistry at sample site HG1; and (3) cold connate groundwater that dominates water...
Authors
James J. Rytuba, Roger L. Hothem, Brianne E. Brussee, Daniel N. Goldstein
Correlation between deep fluids, tremor and creep along the central San Andreas fault Correlation between deep fluids, tremor and creep along the central San Andreas fault
The seismicity pattern along the San Andreas fault near Parkfield and Cholame, California, varies distinctly over a length of only fifty kilometres. Within the brittle crust, the presence of frictionally weak minerals, fault-weakening high fluid pressures and chemical weakening are considered possible causes of an anomalously weak fault northwest of Parkfield. Non-volcanic tremor from...
Authors
M. Becken, O. Ritter, P. A. Bedrosian, U. Weckmann
Shallow lithological structure across the Dead Sea Transform derived from geophysical experiments Shallow lithological structure across the Dead Sea Transform derived from geophysical experiments
In the framework of the DEad SEa Rift Transect (DESERT) project a 150 km magnetotelluric profile consisting of 154 sites was carried out across the Dead Sea Transform. The resistivity model presented shows conductive structures in the western section of the study area terminating abruptly at the Arava Fault. For a more detailed analysis we performed a joint interpretation of the...
Authors
J. Stankiewicz, G. Munoz, O. Ritter, Paul A. Bedrosian, T. Ryberg, U. Weckmann, M. Weber
Hydrothermal alteration of the Late Eocene Caetano ash-flow caldera, north-central Nevada: A field and ASTER remote sensing study Hydrothermal alteration of the Late Eocene Caetano ash-flow caldera, north-central Nevada: A field and ASTER remote sensing study
Geologic mapping and analysis of ASTER remote sensing data were used to define the effects of a large hydrothermal system in the 12–18 by 22 km Caetano caldera. The caldera formed at ~33.8Ma during eruption of >1100km3 of the rhyolitic Caetano Tuff that left a 1 km deep basin which was partly filled by a lake. Magma resurgence resulted in shallow(
Authors
David A. John, Barnaby W. Rockwell, Christopher D. Henry, Joseph P. Colgan
Erosion of tilted fault blocks and deposition of coarse sediments in half-graben basins during late stages of extension: Gold Butte area, Basin and Range Province Erosion of tilted fault blocks and deposition of coarse sediments in half-graben basins during late stages of extension: Gold Butte area, Basin and Range Province
The provenance and stratigraphic architecture of basin-filling Miocene sediments around the Gold Butte area, southern Nevada, and adjacent highlands record the erosion of fault blocks that progressively tilted during extension. This study focuses especially on upper Miocene correlatives of the red sandstone unit and the Muddy Creek Formation that were deposited during waning stages of...
Authors
Keith A. Howard, Sue Beard, M. A. Kuntz, Michael J. Kunk, Andrei M. Sarna-Wojcicki, M. E. Perkins, Ivo Lucchitta
Rainfall infiltration-induced landslides Rainfall infiltration-induced landslides
Unfavorable groundwater conditions are often the determining factor in triggering landslides. Whereas regional hydrogeology typically determines overall groundwater conditions, surficial rainfall infiltration into slopes also drives potential instability.
Authors
Brian D. Collins, Dobroslav Znidarcic
By
Geology, Energy, and Minerals Mission Area, Natural Hazards Mission Area, Energy Resources Program, Landslide Hazards Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Geologic Hazards Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center
Archeomagnetic dating in western North America: An updated reference curve based on paleomagnetic and archeomagnetic data sets Archeomagnetic dating in western North America: An updated reference curve based on paleomagnetic and archeomagnetic data sets
[1] A robust database of paleomagnetic (PM) and archeomagnetic (AM) data for western North America covering the past 4 millennia is assembled from three data sets: (1) published PM data for dated lava flows, (2) recently published AM data generated by R. L. DuBois, and (3) published AM data generated by J. L. Eighmy. Chronologic information for the AM data sets has been reassessed, and...
Authors
Jonathan T. Hagstrum, Eric Blinman