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Differentiation of debris-flow and flash-flood deposits: implications for paleoflood investigations Differentiation of debris-flow and flash-flood deposits: implications for paleoflood investigations

Debris flows and flash floods are common geomorphic processes in the Colorado Rocky Mountain Front Range and foothills. Usually, debris flows and flash floods are associated with excess summer rainfall or snowmelt, in areas were unconsolidated surficial deposits are relatively thick and slopes are steep. In the Front Range and foothills, flash flooding is limited to areas below about...
Authors
Christopher F. Waythomas, Robert D. Jarrett

Mapping debris-flow hazard in Honolulu using a DEM Mapping debris-flow hazard in Honolulu using a DEM

A method for mapping hazard posed by debris flows has been developed and applied to an area near Honolulu, Hawaii. The method uses studies of past debris flows to characterize sites of initiation, volume at initiation, and volume-change behavior during flow. Digital simulations of debris flows based on these characteristics are then routed through a digital elevation model (DEM) to...
Authors
Stephen D. Ellen, Robert K. Mark

Lime-mud layers in high-energy tidal channels: A record of hurricane deposition Lime-mud layers in high-energy tidal channels: A record of hurricane deposition

During or immediately following the transit of Hurricane Andrew (August 23-24, 1992) across the northern part of the Great Bahama Bank, thin laminated beds of carbonate mud were deposited in high-energy subtidal channels (4 m depth) through the ooid shoals of south Cat Cay and Joulters Cays. During our reconnaissance seven weeks later, we observed lime-mud beds exposed in the troughs of...
Authors
E.A. Shinn, R.P. Steinen, R.F. Dill, R. Major

Preventing volcanic catastrophe; the U.S. International Volcano Disaster Assistance Program Preventing volcanic catastrophe; the U.S. International Volcano Disaster Assistance Program

When the seismograph began to record the violent earth-shaking caused by yet another eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano in Colombia, no one thought that a few hours later more than 23,000 people would be dead, killed by lahars (volcanic debris flows) in towns and villages several tens of kilometers away from the volcano. Before the fatal eruption the volcano was being monitored by...
Authors
J.W. Ewert, T.L. Murray, A. B. Lockhart, C.D. Miller

Earthquake locations determined by the Southern Alaska seismograph network for October 1971 through May 1989 Earthquake locations determined by the Southern Alaska seismograph network for October 1971 through May 1989

This report describes the instrumentation and evolution of the U.S. Geological Survey’s regional seismograph network in southern Alaska, provides phase and hypocenter data for seismic events from October 1971 through May 1989, reviews the location methods used, and discusses the completeness of the catalog and the accuracy of the computed hypocenters. Included are arrival time data for...
Authors
Kent A. Fogleman, John C. Lahr, Christopher D. Stephens, Robert A. Page

The Loma Prieta, California, earthquake of October 17, 1989: Preseismic observations The Loma Prieta, California, earthquake of October 17, 1989: Preseismic observations

The October 17, 1989, Loma Prieta, Calif., Ms=7.1 earthquake provided the first opportunity in the history of fault monitoring in the United States to gather multidisciplinary preearthquake data in the near field of an M=7 earthquake. The data obtained include observations on seismicity, continuous strain, long-term ground displacement, magnetic field, and hydrology. The papers in this...
Authors
Malcolm J. S. Johnston, Jean A. Olson, David P. Hill, Anthony C. Fraser-Smith, Arman Bernardi, Robert A. Helliwell, Paul R. McGill, O.G. Villard, Robert J. Mueller, Randall A. White, William L. Ellsworth, Evelyn A. Roeloffs, Alan T. Linde, M. T. Gladwin, R. L. Gwyther, R.H.G. Hart, Michael Lisowski, James C. Savage, William H. Prescott, Jerry L. Svarc, Mark Hunter Murray, P.G. Silver, N. J. Valette-Silver, Olga Kolbek

The Loma Prieta, California, earthquake of October 17, 1989 - Public response: Chapter B in The Loma Prieta, California, earthquake of October 17, 1989: Societal Response (Professional Paper 1553) The Loma Prieta, California, earthquake of October 17, 1989 - Public response: Chapter B in The Loma Prieta, California, earthquake of October 17, 1989: Societal Response (Professional Paper 1553)

Major earthquakes provide seismologists and engineers an opportunity to examine the performance of the Earth and the man-made structures in response to the forces of the quake. So, too, do they provide social scientists an opportunity to delve into human responses evoked by the ground shaking and its physical consequences. The findings from such research can serve to guide the...

Observations and modeling of seismic background noise Observations and modeling of seismic background noise

The preparation of this report had two purposes. One was to present a catalog of seismic background noise spectra obtained from a worldwide network of seismograph stations. The other purpose was to refine and document models of seismic background noise that have been in use for several years. The second objective was, in fact, the principal reason that this study was initiated and...
Authors
Jon R. Peterson

Directions of the US Geological Survey Landslide Hazards Reduction Program Directions of the US Geological Survey Landslide Hazards Reduction Program

The US Geological Survey (USGS) Landslide Hazards Reduction Program includes studies of landslide process and prediction, landslide susceptibility and risk mapping, landslide recurrence and slope evolution, and research application and technology transfer. Studies of landslide processes have been recently conducted in Virginia, Utah, California, Alaska, and Hawaii, Landslide...
Authors
G. F. Wieczorek

Analysis of the seismic origin of landslides: Examples from the New Madrid seismic zone Analysis of the seismic origin of landslides: Examples from the New Madrid seismic zone

By analyzing two landslides in the New Madrid seismic zone, we develop an approach for judging if a landslide or group of landslides of unknown origin was more likely to have formed as a result of earthquake shaking or in aseismic conditions. The two landslides analyzed are representative of two groups of land-slides that previous research on the geomorphology and regional distribution...
Authors
R.W. Jibson, D. K. Keefer
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