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Antarctica: Measuring glacier velocity from satellite images Antarctica: Measuring glacier velocity from satellite images

Many Landsat images of Antarctica show distinctive flow and crevasse features in the floating part of ice streams and outlet glaciers immediately below their grounding zones. Some of the features, which move with the glacier or ice stream, remain visible over many years and thus allow time-lapse measurements of ice velocities. Measurements taken from Landsat images of features on Byrd...
Authors
Baerbel K. Lucchitta, H.M. Ferguson

Seismically induced landslides: current research by the US Geological Survey. Seismically induced landslides: current research by the US Geological Survey.

We have produced a regional seismic slope-stability map and a probabilistic prediction of landslide distribution from a postulated earthquake. For liquefaction-induced landslides, in situ measurements of seismically induced pore-water pressures have been used to establish an elastic model of pore pressure generation. -from Authors
Authors
E. L. Harp, R. C. Wilson, D. K. Keefer, G. F. Wieczorek

A model for the plastic flow of landslides A model for the plastic flow of landslides

To further the understanding of the mechanics of landslide flow, we present a model that predicts many of the observed attributes of landslides. The model is based on an integration of the hyperbolic differential equations for stress and velocity fields in a two-dimensional, inclined, semi-infinite half-space of Coulomb plastic material under elevated pore pressure and gravity. Our...
Authors
William Z. Savage, William K. Smith

A plate flexure approximation to postseismic and interseismic deformation A plate flexure approximation to postseismic and interseismic deformation

The rather large postseismic deformation that is associated with two‐dimensional dip‐slip faulting in the lithosphere is related to the bending of a free plate generated by dip‐slip faulting. In the absence of gravity, asthenosphere relaxation eventually permits the faulted lithosphere to assume the dihedral configuration of a faulted free plate. For thrust faulting, the faulted area is...
Authors
James C. Savage, Guohua Gu

Rate and depth of pedogenic-carbonate accumulation in soils: Formation and testing of a compartment model. Rate and depth of pedogenic-carbonate accumulation in soils: Formation and testing of a compartment model.

The rate and depth of pedogenic carbonate accumulation in soils formed in Quaternary alluvium may be viewed as a theoretical problem that involves the mutual interaction of several independent and dependent soil-forming variables. We propose a model for carbonate accumulation in which the soil column is defined by a vertical sequence of 1-cm2-area compartments, each with a specified...
Authors
Leslie D. McFadden, John Tinsley

Inversion of seismic refraction data in planar dipping structure Inversion of seismic refraction data in planar dipping structure

A new method is presented for the direct inversion of seismic refraction data in dipping planar structure. Three recording geometries, each consisting of two common-shot profiles, are considered: reversed, split, and roll-along profiles. Inversion is achieved via slant stacking the common-shot wavefield to obtain a delay time—slowness (tau—p) wavefield. The tau—p curves from two...
Authors
Bernd Milkereit, Walter D. Mooney, W.M. Kohler

The relocation of microearthquakes in the northern Mississippi Embayment The relocation of microearthquakes in the northern Mississippi Embayment

Three-component seismograms, recorded by a small array of digital instruments in the northern Mississippi embayment, consistently show a high-amplitude phase on the vertical component that arrives approximately 0.8 s before the shear wave. On the basis of its timing and apparent velocity, this phase is identified as an S-P conversion from the boundary between the unconsolidated Cenozoic...
Authors
M.C. Andrews, Walter D. Mooney, R.P. Meyer

Remote sensing of lunar pyroclastic mantling deposits Remote sensing of lunar pyroclastic mantling deposits

Mantling deposits on the Moon are considered to be pyroclastic units emplaced on the lunar surface as a result of explosive fire fountaining. These pyroclastic units are characterized as having low albedos, having smooth fine-textured surfaces, and consisting in part of homogeneous, Febearing volcanic glass and partially crystallized spheres. Mantling units exhibit low returns on...
Authors
Lisa R. Gaddis, Carle M. Pieters, B. Ray Hawke
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