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Planetary science decadal survey planetary mission concept study report: Ceres: Exploration of Ceres’ habitability Planetary science decadal survey planetary mission concept study report: Ceres: Exploration of Ceres’ habitability

Dwarf planet Ceres is a compelling target as an evolved ocean world with, at least, regional brine reservoirs and potentially ongoing geological activity. As the most water-rich body in the inner solar system (in relative abundance), it is a representative of the population of planetesimals that brought volatiles and organics to the inner solar system. Situated in the Main Belt of...
Authors
J. C. Castillo-Rogez, John Brody, Michael T. Bland, Debra Buczkowski, Robert Grimm, A. Hendrix, Kelly Miller, Thomas Prettyman, Lynnae Quick, Carol Raymond, Jennifer Scully, Michael M. Sori, Yasuhito Sekine, David Williams, Michael Zolensky

Mobility characteristics of landslides triggered by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico Mobility characteristics of landslides triggered by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico

Mobility is an important element of landslide hazard and risk assessments yet has been seldom studied for shallow landslides and debris flows in tropical environments. In September 2017, Hurricane Maria triggered > 70,000 landslides across Puerto Rico. Using aerial imagery and a lidar digital elevation model (DEM), we mapped and characterized the mobility of debris slides and flows in...
Authors
Erin K. Bessette-Kirton, Jeffrey A. Coe, William H. Schulz, Corina Cerovski-Darriau, Mason Muir Einbund

Magnetic field variations in Alaska: Recording space weather events on seismic stations in Alaska Magnetic field variations in Alaska: Recording space weather events on seismic stations in Alaska

Seismometers are highly sensitive instruments to not only ground motion but also many other nonseismic noise sources (e.g., temperature, pressure, and magnetic field variations). We show that the Alaska component of the Transportable Array is particularly susceptible to recording magnetic storms and other space weather events because the sensors used in this network are unshielded and...
Authors
Adam T. Ringler, Robert Anthony, David C. Wilson, Abram E. Claycomb, John Spritzer

Structural controls on slope failure within the western Santa Barbara Channel based on 2D and 3D seismic imaging Structural controls on slope failure within the western Santa Barbara Channel based on 2D and 3D seismic imaging

The Santa Barbara Channel, offshore California, contains several submarine landslides and ample evidence for incipient failure. This region hosts active thrust and reverse faults that accommodate several mm/yr of convergence, yet the relationships between tectonic deformation and slope failure remain unclear. We present 3‐D and 2‐D multichannel seismic reflection (MCS) data sets...
Authors
Jared W. Kluesner, Daniel S. Brothers, Alexis L Wright, Samuel Y. Johnson

Geomorphological evidence for a dry dust avalanche origin of slope streaks on Mars Geomorphological evidence for a dry dust avalanche origin of slope streaks on Mars

Mars has several different types of slope feature that resemble aqueous flows. However, the current cold, dry conditions are inimical to liquid water, resulting in uncertainty about its role in modern surface processes. Dark slope streaks were among the first distinctive young slope features to be identified on Mars and the first with activity seen in orbital images. They form markings...
Authors
Colin M. Dundas

Accurate bathymetric maps from underwater digital imagery without ground control Accurate bathymetric maps from underwater digital imagery without ground control

Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry can be used with digital underwater photographs to generate high-resolution bathymetry and orthomosaics with millimeter-to-centimeter scale resolution at relatively low cost. Although these products are useful for assessing species diversity and health, they have additional utility for quantifying benthic community structure, such as coral...
Authors
Gerry A. Hatcher, Jonathan A. Warrick, Andrew C. Ritchie, Evan T. Dailey, David G. Zawada, Christine J. Kranenburg, Kimberly K. Yates

Changes in sediment source areas to the Amerasia Basin, Arctic Ocean, over the past 5.5 million years based on radiogenic isotopes (Sr, Nd, Pb) of detritus from ferromanganese crusts Changes in sediment source areas to the Amerasia Basin, Arctic Ocean, over the past 5.5 million years based on radiogenic isotopes (Sr, Nd, Pb) of detritus from ferromanganese crusts

Ferromanganese (FeMn) crusts provide a useful paleoenvironmental archive for studying the poorly understood climatic, oceanographic, and geologic evolution of the Arctic Ocean. This study is based on the identification and temporal reconstruction of sources and inferred transport pathways of terrigenous material in FeMn crusts collected from several sites across the Amerasia Basin...
Authors
Natalia Konstantinova, James R. Hein, Kira Mizell, Georgy Cherkashov, Brian Dreyer, Deborah Hutchinson

Direct evidence for fluid pressure, dilatancy, and compaction affecting slip in isolated faults Direct evidence for fluid pressure, dilatancy, and compaction affecting slip in isolated faults

Earthquake instability occurs as a result of strength loss during sliding on a fault. It has been known for over 50 years that fault compaction or dilatancy may cause significant weakening or strengthening by dramatically changing the fluid pressure trapped in faults. Despite this fundamental importance, we have no real understanding of the exact conditions that lead to compaction or...
Authors
Brooks P. Proctor, David A. Lockner, Brian D. Kilgore, Thomas M. Mitchell, Nicholas M. Beeler

Graphical Dispersion Plot Editor (DPE) for seismic-site characterization by using multiple surface-wave methods Graphical Dispersion Plot Editor (DPE) for seismic-site characterization by using multiple surface-wave methods

Introduction To understand the behavior of potentially damaging ground motions during earthquakes, seismic-site effects are routinely characterized by using the dispersion of surface waves. Many methods exist to measure dispersion; these methods have various advantages and disadvantages, but they all yield dispersion data that must be inverted for shear-wave velocity. This report...
Authors
Devin McPhillips, Alan K. Yong, Antony Martin, William J. Stephenson

The predictive skills of elastic Coulomb rate-and-state aftershock forecasts during the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake sequence The predictive skills of elastic Coulomb rate-and-state aftershock forecasts during the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake sequence

Operational earthquake forecasting protocols commonly use statistical models for their recognized ease of implementation and robustness in describing the short-term spatiotemporal patterns of triggered seismicity. However, recent advances on physics-based aftershock forecasting reveal comparable performance to the standard statistical counterparts with significantly improved predictive...
Authors
Simone Mancini, Margarita Segou, Maximillian J Werner, Thomas E. Parsons

A newly emerging thermal area in Yellowstone A newly emerging thermal area in Yellowstone

Yellowstone is a large restless caldera that contains many dynamic thermal areas that are the surface expression of the deeper magmatic system. In 2018, using a Landsat 8 nighttime thermal infrared image, we discovered the emergence of a new thermal area located near Tern Lake on the northeast margin of the Sour Creek dome. A high-spatial-resolution airborne visible image from August...
Authors
R. Greg Vaughan, Jefferson Hungerford, Bill Keller

Surface displacement distributions for the July 2019 Ridgecrest, California earthquake ruptures Surface displacement distributions for the July 2019 Ridgecrest, California earthquake ruptures

Surface rupture in the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake sequence occurred along two orthogonal cross faults and includes dominantly left‐lateral and northeast‐striking rupture in the Mw 6.4 foreshock and dominantly right‐lateral and northwest‐striking rupture in the Mw 7.1 mainshock. We present >650 field‐based, surface‐displacement observations for these ruptures and synthesize...
Authors
Christopher DuRoss, Ryan D. Gold, Timothy E. Dawson, Katherine M. Scharer, Katherine J. Kendrick, Sinan Akciz, Stephen J. Angster, Jeffery Bachhuber, Steven Bacon, Scott E.K. Bennett, Luke Blair, Benjamin A. Brooks, Thomas Bullard, W. Paul Burgess, Colin Chupik, Michael DeFrisco, Jaime Delano, James D. Dolan, Erik Frost, Nick Graehl, Elizabeth Haddon, Alexandra Elise Hatem, Janis Hernandez, Christopher S. Hitchcock, Kennth Hudnut, Jessica Thompson Jobe, Richard D Koehler, Ozgur Kozaci, Tyler C. Ladinsky, Christopher Madugo, Devin McPhillips, Christopher Milliner, Alexander Morelan, Brian Olson, Jason Patton, Belle E. Philibosian, Alexandra J. Pickering, Ian Pierce, Daniel J. Ponti, Gordon G. Seitz, Eleanor Spangler, Brian J. Swanson, Kate Thomas, Jerome Treiman, Francesca Valencia, Alana Williams, Robert Zinke
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