Publications
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Late Amazonian ice near Athabasca Valles, Mars: Recent megaflood or climate change?
The Athabasca Valles outflow channel system is among the youngest such channels on Mars, with the Athabasca Valles flood lava (AVFL) covering the channel floor and reaching far beyond. Volcanic rootless cones on the AVFL indicate the presence of H2O in the shallow subsurface at the time of lava emplacement. However, Athabasca Valles are near the equator, where ice would rapidly sublime...
Authors
Colin M. Dundas, Laszlo P. Keszthelyi, Kaj E. Williams
Global patterns of coseismic landslide runout mobility differ from aseismic landslide trends
Coseismic landslides significantly contribute to human and economic losses during and immediately following earthquakes, yet very little data on the runout of such landslides exist. While well-established behavior of aseismic (e.g., hydrologically triggered) landslide runout mobility suggests strong correlation between landslide size and mobility, limited studies of coseismic landslide...
Authors
Alex R.R. Grant, Natalie K. Culhane
Smectite-rich horizons in Inceptisols trigger shallow landslides in tropical granitic terranes
Puerto Rico was affected by >70,000 landslides in the wake of 2017 Hurricane Maria, and landslide prevalence was especially high in the Utuado region in the Cordillera Central. Landslide density was highest where soil parent material is granodiorite; landslide slip surfaces tended to be shallow (
Authors
Peter C. Ryan, D. Mahmud, K. L. Derenoncourt, L. F. Nerbonne, I. L. Pérez-Martín, J. Reyes Collovati, M. Junaid, Corina Cerovski-Darriau
Distinguishing natural sources from anthropogenic events in seismic data
As seismic data are increasingly used to investigate a diverse range of subsurface phenomena beyond regular fast-rupturing earthquakes (Peng and Gomberg, 2010; Beroza and Ide, 2011), it is important to acknowledge that human-generated ground vibrations may be mistaken for naturally generated subsurface processes (Larose et al., 2015; Li et al., 2018). Correct discrimination of natural...
Authors
Sean Maher, Margaret Elizabeth Glasgow, Elizabeth S. Cochran, Zhigang Peng
Using the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio method to estimate thickness of the Barry Arm landslide, Prince William Sound, Alaska
Conducting detailed investigations of large landslides is difficult, especially in the subsurface, largely due to environmental factors such as steep slopes, difficult access, and numerous objective hazards. These factors have made it challenging to accurately estimate the depth to the failure surface of the Barry Arm landslide, a large (roughly 108 cubic meters), deep-seated bedrock...
Authors
Andrew L. Collins, Kate E. Allstadt, Dennis M. Staley
U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program decadal science strategy, 2024–33
Executive Summary Earthquakes represent one of our Nation’s most significant and costly natural hazards, with estimated annual loses from earthquakes close to $15 billion in 2023. Over the past two centuries, 37 U.S. States have experienced an earthquake exceeding a magnitude of 5, and 50 percent of States have a significant potential for future damaging shaking; these statistics speak...
Authors
Gavin P. Hayes, Annemarie S. Baltay Sundstrom, William D. Barnhart, Michael L. Blanpied, Lindsay A. Davis, Paul S. Earle, Ned Field, Jill M. Franks, Douglas D. Given, Ryan D. Gold, Christine A Goulet, Michelle M. Guy, Jeanne L. Hardebeck, Nico Luco, Frederick Pollitz, Adam T. Ringler, Katherine M. Scharer, Steven Sobieszczyk, Valerie I. Thomas, Cecily J. Wolfe
Assessing community needs for terrestrial analog studies
Executive SummaryThe U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) developed and released a survey to assess the terrestrial analog needs of the planetary science community. The goal was to assess the current state of terrestrial analog studies and determine community needs related to the use of field sites for training and research, data dissemination and archiving, and sample collections.The survey...
Authors
Lauren A. Edgar, M. Elise Rumpf, James A. Skinner,, Amber L. Gullikson, Laszlo P. Keszthelyi, Marc A. Hunter, Tenielle Gaither
Shallow lake, strong shake: Record of seismically triggered lacustrine sedimentation from the 1959 M7.3 Hebgen Lake earthquake within Henrys Lake, Idaho
We investigate a shallow lake basin for evidence of a large historic intraplate earthquake in western North America. Henrys Lake, Idaho is an atypical candidate for a lacustrine paleoseismic study given its shallow depth (~7 m) and low relief (≤2° slopes). Here, we test the earthquake-recording capacity of this basin type by showing sedimentological evidence of the 1959 M7.3 Hebgen Lake...
Authors
Sylvia R. Nicovich, Christopher DuRoss, Jessica Ann Thompson Jobe, Jessica R. Rodysill, Richard W. Briggs, Alexandra Elise Hatem, Madeleine Mai-Lynh Tan, Yann Gavillot, Noah Silas Lindberg, Laura E. Strickland, Jason Scott Padgett
Reduced injection rates and shallower depths mitigated induced seismicity in Oklahoma
The proximity of wastewater disposal to the Precambrian basement is a critical factor influencing induced earthquake rates in the Central United States, but the impact of reducing injection depths has not been widely demonstrated. Beginning in 2015, state regulatory efforts in Oklahoma and Kansas mandated that wells injecting into the lower Arbuckle Group, a basal sedimentary unit, be...
Authors
Robert J. Skoumal, Andrew J. Barbour, Justin L. Rubenstein, Margaret Elizabeth Glasgow
Evidence for low effective stress within the crust of the subducted Gorda plate from the 2022 December Mw 6.4 Ferndale earthquake sequence
Stress levels on and adjacent to megathrust faults at seismogenic depths remain a key but difficult to constrain parameter for assessing seismic hazard in subduction zones. Although strong ground motions have been observed to be generated from distinct, high-stress regions on the downdip end of the megathrust rupture areas in many great earthquakes, we lack direct constraints on the...
Authors
Hao Guo, James W. Atterholt, Jeffrey J. McGuire, Clifford Thurber
Trimming the UCERF3-TD logic tree: Model order reduction for an earthquake rupture forecast considering loss exceedance
The Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast version 3-Time Dependent depicts California’s seismic faults and their activity. Its logic tree has 5760 leaves. Considering 30 more model combinations related to ground motion produces 172,800 distinct models representing so-called epistemic uncertainties. To calculate risk to a portfolio of buildings, one also considers millions of...
Authors
Keith Porter, Kevin R. Milner, Ned Field
Intense alteration on early Mars revealed by high-aluminum rocks at Jezero Crater
The NASA Perseverance rover discovered light-toned float rocks scattered across the surface of Jezero crater that are particularly rich in alumina ( ~ 35 wt% Al2O3) and depleted in other major elements (except silica). These unique float rocks have heterogeneous mineralogy ranging from kaolinite/halloysite-bearing in hydrated samples, to spinel-bearing in dehydrated samples also...
Authors
C. Royer, C.C. Bedford, J.R. Johnson, B.H.N. Horgan, A. Broz, O. Forni, S. Connell, R.C. Wiens, L. Mandon, B.S. Kathir, E.M. Hausrath, A. Udry, J.M. Madariaga, E. Dehouck, Ryan Anderson, P.S.A. Beck, O. Beyssac, É. Clavé, S.M. Clegg, E. Cloutis, T. Fouchet, Travis S.J. Gabriel, B.J. Garczynski, A. Klidaras, H.T. Manelski, L.E. Mayhew, J. Núñez, A.M. Ollila, S.E. Schröder, J.I. Simon, U. Wolf, K.M. Stack, A. Cousin, S. Maurice