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Publications

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

Filter Total Items: 2543

Instrumental record of debris flow initiation during natural rainfall: Implications for modeling slope stability Instrumental record of debris flow initiation during natural rainfall: Implications for modeling slope stability

The middle of a hillslope hollow in the Oregon Coast Range failed and mobilized as a debris flow during heavy rainfall in November 1996. Automated pressure transducers recorded high spatial variability of pore water pressure within the area that mobilized as a debris flow, which initiated where local upward flow from bedrock developed into overlying colluvium. Postfailure observations of...
Authors
D. R. Montgomery, K. M. Schmidt, W. E. Dietrich, J. McKean

New Permian durhaminid cerioid corals from east-central California New Permian durhaminid cerioid corals from east-central California

Permian colonial corals from Artinskian to Kungurian strata in the Conglomerate Mesa area, Inyo Mountains, east-central California, include five new species, one of which is assigned to a new genus. The new taxa are: Malpaisia maceyi n. gen. and n. sp., Pararachnastraea bellula n. sp., P. delicata n. sp., P. owensensis n. sp., and Cordillerastraea inyoensis n. sp. These species, several...
Authors
C.H. Stevens, P. Stone

Magnetostratigraphic correlations of Permian-Triassic marine-to-terrestrial sections from China Magnetostratigraphic correlations of Permian-Triassic marine-to-terrestrial sections from China

We have studied three Permian–Triassic (PT) localities from China as part of a combined magnetostratigraphic, 40Ar/39Ar and U–Pb radioisotopic, and biostratigraphic study aimed at resolving the temporal relations between terrestrial and marine records across the Permo-Triassic boundary, as well as the rate of the biotic recovery in the Early Triassic. The studied sections from Shangsi...
Authors
J.M.G. Glen, S. Nomade, J.J. Lyons, I. Metcalfe, R. Mundil, P.R. Renne

New fusulinids from Lower Permian turbidites at Conglomerate Mesa, southeastern inyo Mountains, east-central California New fusulinids from Lower Permian turbidites at Conglomerate Mesa, southeastern inyo Mountains, east-central California

Seven previously unrecognized fusulinid species from Lower Permian (Wolfcampian and Leonardian) turbidites near Conglomerate Mesa in east-central California, four of which are named as new species, are here described and figured. The four new species are Schwagerina merriami, S. wildei, Parafusulina mackevetti, and Skinnerella rossi. These fusulinid species have close affinities to...
Authors
C.H. Stevens, P. Stone

Processes that initiate turbidity currents and their influence on turbidites: A marine geology perspective Processes that initiate turbidity currents and their influence on turbidites: A marine geology perspective

How the processes that initiate turbidity currents influence turbidite deposition is poorly understood, and many discussions in the literature rely on concepts that are overly simplistic. Marine geological studies provide information on the initiation and flow path of turbidity currents, including their response to gradient. In case studies of late Quaternary turbidites on the eastern...
Authors
David J. W. Piper, William R. Normark

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
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