Publications
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Assessing rockfall susceptibility in steep and overhanging slopes using three-dimensional analysis of failure mechanisms Assessing rockfall susceptibility in steep and overhanging slopes using three-dimensional analysis of failure mechanisms
Rockfalls strongly influence the evolution of steep rocky landscapes and represent a significant hazard in mountainous areas. Defining the most probable future rockfall source areas is of primary importance for both geomorphological investigations and hazard assessment. Thus, a need exists to understand which areas of a steep cliff are more likely to be affected by a rockfall. An...
Authors
Battista Matasci, Greg M. Stock, Michael Jaboyedoff, Dario Carrea, Brian D. Collins, Antoine Guerin, G. Matasci, L. Ravanel
Integrating adaptive management and ecosystem services concepts to improve natural resource management: Challenges and opportunities Integrating adaptive management and ecosystem services concepts to improve natural resource management: Challenges and opportunities
Executive Summary—Overview Natural resource managers must make decisions that affect broad-scale ecosystem processes involving large spatial areas, complex biophysical interactions, numerous competing stakeholder interests, and highly uncertain outcomes. Natural and social science information and analyses are widely recognized as important for informing effective management. Chief among...
Authors
Rebecca S. Epanchin-Niell, James W. Boyd, Molly K. Macauley, Lynn Scarlett, Carl D. Shapiro, Byron K. Williams
Crustal structure and quaternary acceleration of deformation rates in central Washington revealed by stream profile inversion, potential field geophysics, and structural geology of the Yakima folds Crustal structure and quaternary acceleration of deformation rates in central Washington revealed by stream profile inversion, potential field geophysics, and structural geology of the Yakima folds
Post‐Miocene tectonic uplift along fault‐cored anticlines within central Washington produced the Yakima Fold Province, a region of active NNE‐SSW shortening in the Cascadian backarc. The relative timing and rate of deformation along individual structures is coarsely defined yet imperative for seismic hazard assessment. In this work, we use geomorphic and geophysical mapping, stream...
Authors
Lydia M. Staisch, Richard J. Blakely, Harvey Kelsey, Richard Styron, Brian Sherrod
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Susitna Basin, southern Alaska, 2017 Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Susitna Basin, southern Alaska, 2017
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently completed an assessment of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources in the Susitna Basin of southern Alaska. Using a geology-based methodology, the USGS estimates that mean undiscovered volumes of about 2 million barrels of oil and nearly 1.7 trillion cubic feet of gas may be found in this area.
Authors
Richard G. Stanley, Christopher J. Potter, Kristen A. Lewis, Paul G. Lillis, Anjana K. Shah, Peter J. Haeussler, Jeffrey D. Phillips, Zenon C. Valin, Christopher J. Schenk, Timothy R. Klett, Michael E. Brownfield, Ronald M. Drake, Thomas M. Finn, Seth S. Haines, Debra K. Higley, David W. Houseknecht, Phuong A. Le, Kristen R. Marra, Tracey J. Mercier, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Stanley T. Paxton, Ofori N. Pearson, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Cheryl A. Woodall, Margarita V. Zyrianova
Supporting natural resource management—The role of economics at the Department of the Interior—A workshop report Supporting natural resource management—The role of economics at the Department of the Interior—A workshop report
The first U.S. Department of the Interior Economics Workshop was held April 5–7, 2017 in Washington, D.C., to identify, highlight, and better understand needs and opportunities for economic analysis to support the Department of the Interior’s mission. The Economics Workshop, jointly convened by the Department of the Interior Office of Policy Analysis and the U.S. Geological Survey...
Authors
Emily Pindilli, Christian S.L. Crowley, Sarah A. Cline, Anthony J. Good, Carl D. Shapiro, Benjamin Simon
A time-lapse gravity survey of the Coso geothermal field, China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station, California A time-lapse gravity survey of the Coso geothermal field, China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station, California
We have conducted a gravity survey of the Coso geothermal field to continue the time-lapse gravity study of the area initiated in 1991. In this report, we outline a method of processing the gravity data that minimizes the random errors and instrument bias introduced into the data by the Scintrex CG-5 relative gravimeters that were used. After processing, the standard deviation of the...
Authors
Geoffrey Phelps, Collin Cronkite-Ratcliff, Kelly Blake
New geologic mapping of the northwestern Willamette Valley, Oregon, and its American Viticultural Areas (AVAs)—A foundation for understanding their terroir New geologic mapping of the northwestern Willamette Valley, Oregon, and its American Viticultural Areas (AVAs)—A foundation for understanding their terroir
A geologic map of the greater Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area is planned that will document the region’s complex geology (currently in review: “Geologic map of the greater Portland metropolitan area and surrounding region, Oregon and Washington,” by Wells, R.E., Haugerud, R.A., Niem, A., Niem, W., Ma, L., Evarts, R., Madin, I., and others). The map, which is planned to be published...
Authors
Ray E. Wells, Ralph A. Haugerud, Alan Niem, Wendy Niem, Lina Ma, Ian Madin, Russell C. Evarts
Disentangling the effects of low pH and metal mixture toxicity on macroinvertebrate diversity Disentangling the effects of low pH and metal mixture toxicity on macroinvertebrate diversity
One of the primary goals of biological assessment of streams is to identify which of a suite of chemical stressors is limiting their ecological potential. Elevated metal concentrations in streams are often associated with low pH, yet the effects of these two potentially limiting factors of freshwater biodiversity are rarely considered to interact beyond the effects of pH on metal...
Authors
Riccardo Fornaroli, Alessio Ippolito, Mari J. Tolkkinen, Heikki Mykra, Timo Muotka, Laurie S. Balistrieri, Travis S. Schmidt
By
Geology, Energy, and Minerals Mission Area, Contaminant Biology, Energy Resources Program, Environmental Health Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Toxic Substances Hydrology, Colorado Water Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center
Computational fluid dynamics simulations of the Late Pleistocene Lake Bonneville flood Computational fluid dynamics simulations of the Late Pleistocene Lake Bonneville flood
At approximately 18.0 ka, pluvial Lake Bonneville reached its maximum level. At its northeastern extent it was impounded by alluvium of the Marsh Creek Fan, which breached at some point north of Red Rock Pass (Idaho), leading to one of the largest floods on Earth. About 5320 km3 of water was discharged into the Snake River drainage and ultimately into the Columbia River. We use a 0D...
Authors
Jose M. Abril-Hernandez, Raul Perianez, Jim E. O'Connor, Daniel Garcia-Castellanos
James Dwight Dana and John Strong Newberry in the US Pacific Northwest: The roots of American fluvialism James Dwight Dana and John Strong Newberry in the US Pacific Northwest: The roots of American fluvialism
Recognition of the power of rivers to carve landscapes transformed geology and geomorphology in the late nineteenth century. Wide acceptance of this concept—then known as “fluvialism”—owes to many factors and people, several associated with exploration of western North America. Especially famous are the federal geographic and geologic surveys of the US Southwest with John Wesley Powell...
Authors
Jim E. O'Connor
Monogenetic origin of Ubehebe Crater maar volcano, Death Valley, California: Paleomagnetic and stratigraphic evidence Monogenetic origin of Ubehebe Crater maar volcano, Death Valley, California: Paleomagnetic and stratigraphic evidence
Paleomagnetic data for samples collected from outcrops of basaltic spatter at the Ubehebe Crater cluster, Death Valley National Park, California, record a single direction of remanent magnetization indicating that these materials were emplaced during a short duration, monogenetic eruption sequence ~ 2100 years ago. This conclusion is supported by geochemical data encompassing a narrow...
Authors
Duane E. Champion, Andrew J. Cyr, Judith Fierstein, Edward Hildreth
Middle Pleistocene infill of Hinkley Valley by Mojave River sediment and associated lake sediment: Depositional architecture and deformation by strike-slip faults Middle Pleistocene infill of Hinkley Valley by Mojave River sediment and associated lake sediment: Depositional architecture and deformation by strike-slip faults
Hinkley Valley in the Mojave Desert, near Barstow about 140 km northeast of Los Angeles and midway between Victorville Valley and the Lake Manix basin, contains a thick sedimentary sequence delivered by the Mojave River. Our study of sediment cores drilled in the valley indicates that Hinkley Valley was probably a closed playa basin with stream inflow from four directions prior to Mojave...
Authors
David M. Miller, Elizabeth Haddon, Victoria E. Langenheim, Andrew J. Cyr, Elmira Wan, Laura Walkup, Scott W. Starratt