Publications

The United States and its territories have about 170 volcanoes that have been active during the past 10,000 years, and most could erupt again in the future. In the past 500 years, 80 U.S. volcanoes have erupted one or more times. About 50 of these recently active volcanoes are monitored, although not all to the same degree. Through its five volcano observatories, the U.S. Geological...

In March of 2004, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted a geophysical survey in the Withlacoochee River of west-central Florida. This report serves as an archive of unprocessed digital boomer seismic reflection data, trackline maps, navigation files, GIS information, Field Activity Collection System (FACS) logs, observer's logbook, and FGDC metadata. Filtered and gained digital images of...

Physically based mathematical models and statistically based empirical equations each may provide useful means of forecasting runout of rock and debris avalanches. This paper compares the foundations, strengths, and limitations of a physically based model and a statistically based forecasting method, both of which were developed to predict runout across three-dimensional topography. The...

The Scenic Drive landslide in La Honda, San Mateo County, California began movement during the El Niño winter of 1997-98. Recurrent motion occurred during the mild El Niño winter of 2004-2005 and again during the winter of 2005-06. This report documents the changing geometry and motion of the Scenic Drive landslide in 2005-2006, and it documents changes and persistent features that we...

Geotechnical engineering methods are validated through comparison of field‐data of surface deformations and sub‐surface state properties. Recent advances in non‐invasive surface imaging and sub‐surface stiffness characterization allow us to rapidly and inexpensively map these spatial and physical properties in two and three dimensions. In this paper, we discuss new technologies used at...

Major-element and volatile (H2O, CO2, S) compositions of glasses from the submarine flanks of Kilauea Volcano record its growth from pre-shield into tholeiite shield-stage. Pillow lavas of mildly alkalic basalt at 2600–1900 mbsl on the upper slope of the south flank are an intermediate link between deeper alkalic volcaniclastics and the modern tholeiite shield. Lava clast glasses from...

A synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system transmits electromagnetic (EM) waves at a wavelength that can range from a few millimeters to tens of centimeters. The radar wave propagates through the atmosphere and interacts with the Earth’s surface. Part of the energy is reflected back to the SAR system and recorded. Using a sophisticated image processing technique, called SAR processing...

The Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini‐TES) on board the two Mars Exploration Rovers provides the first opportunity to observe thermal properties from the Martian surface, relate these properties to orbital data, and perform soil conductivity experiments under Martian conditions. The thermal inertias of soils, bedforms, and rock at each landing site were derived to quantify...

Two strong-motion arrays were deployed for the October 2002 Embayment Seismic Excitation Experiment to study the spatial variation of strong ground motions in the deep, unconsolidated sediments of the Mississippi embayment because there are no comparable strong-motion data from natural earthquakes in the area. Each linear array consisted of eight three-component K2 accelerographs spaced...

Multispectral observations of rocks and soils were acquired under varying illumination and viewing geometries in visible/near‐infrared wavelengths by the Panoramic Camera (Pancam) on the Spirit Mars Exploration Rover to provide constraints on the physical and mineralogical nature of geologic materials in Gusev Crater. Data sets were acquired at six sites located near the landing site, in...

The correlation spectrometer (COSPEC), the principal tool for remote measurements of volcanic SO2, is rapidly being replaced by low-cost, miniature, ultraviolet (UV) spectrometers. We compared two of these new systems with a COSPEC by measuring SO2 column amounts at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii. The two systems, one calibrated using in-situ SO2 cells, and the other using a calibrated...

Recent investigations using the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institutes (MBARI) Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) "Ventana" and "Tiburon" and interpretation of MBARI's EM 300 30 kHz multibeam bathymetric data show that the northern flank of the Santa Barbara Basin has experienced massive slope failures. Of particular concern is the large (130 km2) Goleta landslide complex located off...