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Publications

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High resolution measurement of levee subsidence related to energy infrastructure in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta High resolution measurement of levee subsidence related to energy infrastructure in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

We assess flood overtopping potential (when flood water elevation exceeds levee elevation) to the levees surrounding the islands in the interior of California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Because critical natural gas infrastructure is susceptible to overtopping-related disruption, we focus our analysis on regions that are crossed by the network of the state's natural gas pipelines. We...
Authors
Benjamin A. Brooks, Jennifer Telling, Todd Leroy Ericksen, Craig L. Glennie, Noah Knowles, Daniel Cayan, Darren L. Hauser, Adam LeWinter

Characterizing the Los Angeles Aqueduct crossing of the San Andreas Fault for improved earthquake resilience Characterizing the Los Angeles Aqueduct crossing of the San Andreas Fault for improved earthquake resilience

The five-mile-long Elizabeth Tunnel, which crosses the San Andreas fault (SAF) zone near Lake Hughes, California, is part of the Los Angeles Aqueduct (LAA) that delivers water from Owens Valley to the City of Los Angeles. Geologic characterization of the Elizabeth Tunnel alignment is focused on developing a better understanding of fault displacement hazards at the SAF crossing to support...
Authors
Scott Lindvall, Scott Kerwin, Chris Heron, Craig A. Davis, Jeff Tyson, Jim Chestnut, Kevin Mass, Mike Farr, Katherine M. Scharer, Devin McPhillips

Tilt Trivia: A free multiplayer app to learn geoscience concepts and definitions Tilt Trivia: A free multiplayer app to learn geoscience concepts and definitions

Today’s technology is opening up new ways to learn. Here, we introduce Tilt Trivia, a suite of quiz‐style, multiplayer games for use on mobile devices and tablets (Android or Apple) to help students learn simple definitions and facts. This mobile device game was built using the Unity engine and has a multiplayer functionality that runs seamlessly, all day, every day. A single game...
Authors
Debi Kilb, Alan Yang, Nathan Garrett, Kristine L. Pankow, Justin L. Rubinstein, Lisa Linville

KG²B, a collaborative benchmarking exercise for estimating the permeability of the Grimsel granodiorite - Part 2: modeling, microstructures and complementary data KG²B, a collaborative benchmarking exercise for estimating the permeability of the Grimsel granodiorite - Part 2: modeling, microstructures and complementary data

Measuring and modelling the permeability of tight rocks remains a challenging task. In addition to the traditional sources of errors that affect more permeable formations (e.g. sample selection, non-representative specimens, disturbance introduced during sample acquisition and preparation), tight rocks can be particularly prone to solid–fluid interactions and thus more sensitive to the...
Authors
Christian David, J. Wassermann, F. Amann, J.M. Klaver, C. Davy, J. Sarout, L. Esteban, E.H. Rutter, Q. Hu, L. Louis, P. Delage, David A. Lockner, A.P.S. Selvadurai, T Vanorio, A. Amann Hildenbrand, P.G. Meredith, J. Browning, T.M. Mitchell, C. Madonna, J. Billiotte, T. Reuschle, D. Lasseux, J. Fortin, R. Lenormand, D. Loggia, F. Nono, G. Boitnott, E. Jahns, Fleury. M., G. Berthe, P. Braun, D. Gregoire, L. Perrier, P. Polito, Y. Jannot, A. Sommier, B. Krooss, R. Fink, A. Clark

Decomposing leftovers: Event, path, and site residuals for a small magnitude ANZA region GMPE Decomposing leftovers: Event, path, and site residuals for a small magnitude ANZA region GMPE

Ground‐motion prediction equations (GMPEs) are critical elements of probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA), as well as for other applications of ground motions. To isolate the path component for the purpose of building nonergodic GMPEs, we compute a regional GMPE using a large dataset of peak ground accelerations (PGAs) from small‐magnitude earthquakes (⁠0.5 ≤ M ≤ 4.5 with > 10,000...
Authors
Valerie Jean Sahakian, Annemarie S. Baltay Sundstrom, Thomas C. Hanks, Janine S. Buehler, Frank L. Vernon, Deborah L. Kilb

Geoelectric hazard maps for the Pacific Northwest Geoelectric hazard maps for the Pacific Northwest

Maps of extreme value, horizontal component geoelectric field amplitude are constructed for the Pacific Northwest United States (and parts of neighboring Canada). Multidecade long geoelectric field time series are calculated by convolving Earth surface impedance tensors from 71 discrete magnetotelluric survey sites across the region with historical 1‐min (2‐min Nyquist) geomagnetic...
Authors
Jeffrey J. Love, Greg M. Lucas, Anna Kelbert, Paul A. Bedrosian

Controls on submarine canyon head evolution: Monterey Canyon, offshore central California Controls on submarine canyon head evolution: Monterey Canyon, offshore central California

The Monterey submarine canyon, incised across the continental shelf in Monterey Bay, California, provides a record of the link between onshore tectonism, fluvial transport, and deep-marine deposition. High-resolution seismic-reflection imaging in Monterey Bay reveals an extensive paleocanyon unit buried below the seafloor of the continental shelf around Monterey and Soquel canyon heads
Authors
Katherine L. Maier, Samuel Y. Johnson, Patrick E. Hart

Turing-style tests for UCERF3 synthetic catalogs Turing-style tests for UCERF3 synthetic catalogs

Epidemic-Type Aftershock Sequence (ETAS) catalogs generated from the 3rd Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF3) model are unique in that they are the first to combine a complex, fault-based long-term forecast with short-term earthquake clustering statistics. We present Turing-style tests to examine whether these synthetic catalogs can successfully imitate observed...
Authors
Morgan T. Page, Nicholas van der Elst

Stronger peak ground motion, beyond the threshold to initiate a response, does not lead to larger stream discharge responses to earthquakes Stronger peak ground motion, beyond the threshold to initiate a response, does not lead to larger stream discharge responses to earthquakes

The impressive number of stream gauges in Chile, combined with a suite of past and recent large earthquakes, makes Chile a unique natural laboratory to study several streams that recorded responses to multiple seismic events. We document changes in discharge in eight streams in Chile following two or more large earthquakes. In all cases, discharge increases. Changes in discharge occur...
Authors
Christian H. Mohr, Michael Manga, David J. Wald

The science, engineering applications, and policy implications of simulation-based PSHA The science, engineering applications, and policy implications of simulation-based PSHA

We summarize scientific methods for developing probabilistic seismic hazard assessments from 3-D earthquake ground motion simulations, describe current use of simulated ground motions for engineering applications, and discuss on-going efforts to incorporate these effects in the U.S. national seismic hazard model. The 3-D simulations provide important, additional information about...
Authors
Morgan P. Moschetti, Sandra P. Chang, C.B Crouse, Arthur D. Frankel, Robert Graves, H Puangnak, Nico Luco, Christine A. Goulet, Sanaz Rezaeian, Allison Shumway, Peter M. Powers, Mark D. Petersen, Scott Callaghan, T.H. Jordan, Kevin R. Milner

Collections management plan for the U.S. Geological Survey Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center Samples Repository Collections management plan for the U.S. Geological Survey Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center Samples Repository

Since 2002, the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center Samples Repository has been supporting research by providing secure storage for geological, biological, and geochemical samples; maintaining organization and an active inventory of these sample collections; and providing researchers access to these scientific collections for study and reuse. Over the years, local storage...
Authors
Brian J. Buczkowski

Rapid, remote assessment of Hurricane Matthew impacts using four-dimensional structure-from-motion photogrammetry Rapid, remote assessment of Hurricane Matthew impacts using four-dimensional structure-from-motion photogrammetry

Timely assessment of coastal landforms and structures after storms is important for evaluating storm impacts, aiding emergency response and restoration, and initializing and assessing morphological models. Four-dimensional multiview photogrammetry, also known as structure from motion (4D SfM), provides a method for generating three-dimensional reconstructions of landscapes at two times...
Authors
Christopher R. Sherwood, Jonathan A. Warrick, Andrew D. Hill, Andrew C. Ritchie, Brian D. Andrews, Nathaniel G. Plant
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