Conference Papers

A study of the State Route 32 crossing of the Sacramento River near Hamilton City, California, is being made to determine those channel and bridge factors that contribute to scour at the site. Three types of scour data have been measured-channel bed (natural) scour, constriction (general) scour, and local (bridge-pier induced) scour. During the years 1979-93, a maximum of 3.4 ft of...

No abstract available at this time

Permafrost has been suggested as a high-latitude source of methane (a greenhouse gas) during global warming. To begin to assess the magnitude of this source, we have examined the methane content of permafrost in samples from shallow cores (maximum depth, 9.5m) at three sites in Fairbanks, Alaska, where discontinuous permafrost is common. These cores sampled frozen loess, peat, and water...

A time-dependent, three-dimensional numerical modeling study of the tides of Massachusetts and Cape Code Bays, motivated by construction of a new sewage treatment plant and ocean outfall for the city of Boston, has been undertaken by the authors. The numerical model being used is a hybrid version of the Blumberg and Mellor ECOM3D model, modified to include a semi-implicit time-stepping...

We present an updated view of the geological and geophysical complexities of the upper crust in The Geysers-Clear Lake region in order to provide additional information regarding local structures and possible heat sources. New models and ideal-body analysis of the gravity data, new electromagnetic sounding models, and arguments made from other geophysical data sets suggest that many of...

The Utah Geological Survey complied a preliminary database consisting of over 800 records on thermal wells and springs in Utah with temperatures of 20??C or greater. Each record consists of 35 fields, including location of the well or spring, temperature, depth, flow-rate, and chemical analyses of water samples. Developed for applications on personal computers, the database will be...

Methods alternative to spectral ratios are introduced to characterize site amplification. The methods are developed by using a range of models, from the simple constant amplification model to the time-varying filter model. Examples are given for each model by using a pair of rock- and soil-site recordings from the Loma Prieta earthquake.

Several thousand earthquakes were recorded in each area. We report an initial investigation of the focal mechanisms based on P-wave polarities. Distortion by complicated three-dimensional crustal structure was minimized using tomographically derived three-dimensional crustal models. Events with explosive and implosive source mechanisms, suggesting cavity opening and collapse, have been...

No abstract available at this time

Numerical models are useful for demonstrating principles of open-channel flow. Such models can allow experimentation with cause-and-effect relations, testing concepts of physics and numerical techniques. Four PT is a numerical model written primarily as a teaching supplement for a course in one-dimensional stream-flow modeling. Four PT options particularly useful in training include...

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Weather Service (NWS) have developed an operational warning system for debris flows during severe rainstorms in the San Francisco Bay region. The NWS makes quantitative forecasts of precipitation from storm systems approaching the Bay area and coordinates a regional network of radio-telemetered rain gages. The USGS has...

Palynologic samples of the Fort Union Formation (Paleocene) were collected from selected composite measured sections and a drill hole in the Wind River Basin. Intervals studied are in outcrop in the Wind River Reservation in the Shotgun Butte area and near Hudson, Wyoming, and in the subsurface in the Muddy Ridge field. Age determinations were made using the palynostratigraphic zonation...