Russell W Graymer
Russell Graymer is a Geologist at the Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center. He received a BS in Geology from California Institute of Technology and a PhD in Geology from the University of California, Berkeley. Since joining the USGS in 1996, he has devoted his career to studying the geology of Northern California. He specializes in 2D and 3D geologic mapping.
Russell Graymer has devoted his career since 1996 to studying the geology of Northern California, especially the geologic history and the inter-relations between the distribution of geologic materials/structures and geologic hazards. Specializing in 2D and 3D geologic mapping, his research currently focuses on the 3D geology of the Northern California region and its effect on earthquake hazards.
Professional Experience
1996 - Present, Geologist, USGS, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center
Education and Certifications
PhD, Geology, University of California, Berkeley
B.S., Geology, California Institute of Technology
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 25
Geologic framework of Mount Diablo, California
The basic stratigraphic and structural framework of Mount Diablo is described using a revised geologic map, gravity data, and aeromagnetic data. The mountain is made up of two distinct stratigraphic assemblages representing different depocenters that were juxtaposed by ~20 km of late Pliocene and Quaternary right-lateral offset on the Greenville-Diablo-Concord fault. Both assemblages are composed
Authors
Russell Graymer, Victoria Langenheim
Comment on ‘New insights on Franciscan Complex geology, architecture, depositional age, and provenance for the western Mt. Tamalpais area, Marin County, California’ by Bero et al. (2020)
Serious errors and inconsistencies in the article undermine many of its interpretations to the point that principal conclusions are not valid. Much dependence is placed on the maximum depositional age (Dmax) of sandstone units based on zircon analysis of 10 samples, but calculation of those Dmax values is flawed, and their use confuses maximum with actual depositional ages and makes age distinctio
Authors
Russell Graymer, Trevor A. Dumitru, Robert J. McLaughlin, Carl M. Wentworth
Implementation plan for the southern Pacific Border and Sierra-Cascade Mountains provinces
IntroductionThe National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program (NCGMP) is publishing a strategic plan titled Renewing the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program as the Nation’s Authoritative Source for Modern Geologic Knowledge (Brock and others, in press). The plan provides a vision, mission, and goals for the program during the years 2020–2030, which are:Vision.—Create an integrated, three
Authors
Victoria E. Langenheim, Russell W. Graymer, Robert E. Powell, Kevin M. Schmidt, Donald S. Sweetkind
A geology and geodesy based model of dynamic earthquake rupture on the Rodgers Creek‐Hayward‐Calaveras Fault System, California
The Hayward fault in California's San Francisco Bay area produces large earthquakes, with the last occurring in 1868. We examine how physics‐based dynamic rupture modeling can be used to numerically simulate large earthquakes on not only the Hayward fault, but also its connected companions to the north and south, the Rodgers Creek and Calaveras faults. Equipped with a wealth of images of this faul
Authors
Ruth A. Harris, Michael Barall, David A. Lockner, Diane E. Moore, David A. Ponce, Russell Graymer, Gareth J. Funning, Carolyn A. Morrow, Christodoulos Kyriakopoulos, Donna Eberhart-Phillips
Science plan for improving three-dimensional seismic velocity models in the San Francisco Bay region, 2019–24
This five-year science plan outlines short-term and long-term goals for improving three-dimensional seismic velocity models in the greater San Francisco Bay region as well as how to foster a community effort in reaching those goals. The short-term goals focus on improving the current U.S. Geological Survey San Francisco Bay region geologic and seismic velocity model using existing data. The long-t
Authors
Brad T. Aagaard, Russell W. Graymer, Clifford H. Thurber, Arthur J. Rodgers, Taka'aki Taira, Rufus D. Catchings, Christine A. Goulet, Andreas Plesch
Status of three-dimensional geological mapping and modeling activities in the U.S. Geological Survey
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), created in 1879, is the national geological survey
for the United States and the sole science agency within its cabinet-level bureau, the
Department of the Interior. The USGS has a broad mission, including: serving the Nation by
providing reliable scientific information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss of
life and property from natural disaster
Authors
Donald S. Sweetkind, Russell Graymer, D. K. Higley, Oliver S. Boyd
Geology of San Francisco
No abstract available.
Authors
Russell W. Graymer, Robert Givler, John Baldwin, William Lettis, Samuel Johnson, H. Gary Greene, Peter Dartnell
Geology and geologic history: Overview of the geology of the San Francisco Bay region
The geology of San Francisco and the surrounding northern and central California area has played a pivotal role in the development of our understanding of Earth processes, especially the process of tectonic accretion at a continental margin and the development of transform plate margins. The Franciscan Complex, which underlies most (or perhaps all) of the City and County of San Francisco, is wide
Authors
Russell Graymer
The Evergreen basin and the role of the Silver Creek fault in the San Andreas fault system, San Francisco Bay region, California
The Evergreen basin is a 40-km-long, 8-km-wide Cenozoic sedimentary basin that lies mostly concealed beneath the northeastern margin of the Santa Clara Valley near the south end of San Francisco Bay (California, USA). The basin is bounded on the northeast by the strike-slip Hayward fault and an approximately parallel subsurface fault that is structurally overlain by a set of west-verging reverse-o
Authors
Robert C. Jachens, Carl M. Wentworth, Russell W. Graymer, Robert Williams, David A. Ponce, Edward A. Mankinen, William J. Stephenson, Victoria E. Langenheim
A summary of the late Cenozoic stratigraphic and tectonic history of the Santa Clara Valley, California
The late Cenozoic stratigraphic and tectonic history of the Santa Clara Valley illustrates the dynamic nature of the North American–Pacific plate boundary and its effect on basin and landscape development. Prior to early Miocene time, the area that became Santa Clara Valley consisted of eroding Franciscan complex basement structurally interleaved in places with Coast Range ophiolite and Mesozoic G
Authors
Victoria E. Langenheim, Robert C. Jachens, Carl M. Wentworth, Russell W. Graymer, Richard G. Stanley, Robert J. McLaughlin, Robert W. Simpson, Robert A. Williams, D. W. Andersen, David A. Ponce
Structural superposition in fault systems bounding Santa Clara Valley, California
Santa Clara Valley is bounded on the southwest and northeast by active strike-slip and reverse-oblique faults of the San Andreas fault system. On both sides of the valley, these faults are superposed on older normal and/or right-lateral normal oblique faults. The older faults comprised early components of the San Andreas fault system as it formed in the wake of the northward passage of the Mendoci
Authors
Russell W. Graymer, Richard G. Stanley, David A. Ponce, Robert C. Jachens, Robert W. Simpson, Carl M. Wentworth
Subsurface geometry of the San Andreas-Calaveras fault junction: Influence of serpentinite and the Coast Range Ophiolite
While an enormous amount of research has been focused on trying to understand the geologic history and neotectonics of the San Andreas-Calaveras fault (SAF-CF) junction, fundamental questions concerning fault geometry and mechanisms for slip transfer through the junction remain. We use potential-field, geologic, geodetic, and seismicity data to investigate the 3-D geologic framework of the SAF-CF
Authors
Janet Tilden Watt, David A. Ponce, Russell W. Graymer, Robert C. Jachens, Robert W. Simpson
Geologic Mapping in the Southern Pacific Border and Sierras provinces, California
This project uses geologic and geophysical mapping to build an earth-science framework for scientific investigations that include assessments of critical resources, such as groundwater, and of hazards, such as those resulting from earthquakes, in California west of and including the Sierra Nevada and Cascade arc. Questions of particular interest include: What are the geometries, slip rates, and...
Digital Data for a Three-Dimensional Geologic Map of the San Andreas Fault Zone Between Gold Hill and Pinnacles National Park, California
A three-dimensional geologic map was created by assembling eight geologic cross sections derived from geologic mapping, potential field geophysics, and petroleum well logs. The central feature of the map is the San Andreas Fault, with many other prominent structural features depicted that express the regional transpressional tectonic setting. The subsurface interpretation was based on existing two
Data supporting the construction of the Three-Dimensional Geologic Map and Geology-based Seismic Velocity Model of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and surrounding region, California
This report includes the previously unpublished primary and derivative data sets that underpin the construction of the three dimensional (3D) geologic map of the upper part of the Earth's crust beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, California. The primary data is X,Y,Z locations of stratigraphic horizons and, to a much lesser extent, geologic structures where penetrated by oil and gas we
Geologic Map Schema (GeMS) version of Wentworth, C.M., Knudsen, K.L., and Witter, R.C., 2023, Quaternary deposits of the 9-county San Francisco Bay Region
This is a conversion of Wentworth and others (2023)[DAS1] to the Geologic Map Schema (GeMS) for inclusion in the National Geologic Map Database. The original publication was in the Alacarte schema commonly used for geologic map databases prior to the release of the now mandatory GeMS. The GIS layers in this release have the same scientific content as the source data release. The source data releas
Digitized sonic velocity and density log data of Central Coast Ranges, California
Sonic velocity and density well logs in the Central Coast Ranges in California were digitized by hand. These logs are available as scanned files (pdfs and tiffs) on the California Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources website and the data consist of interval transit times and bulk density measured downhole in oil and gas wells in the region. Sonic velocity data were also compiled from a n
Geologic and geophysical maps of the Stockton 30’ × 60’ quadrangle, California
This pamphlet and accompanying geologic and geophysical maps are the products of cooperative efforts by the California Geological Survey (CGS) and United States Geological Survey (USGS) to compile a comprehensive, digital representation of the bedrock geology, Quaternary surficial deposits, and potential-field anomalies within the boundaries of the Stockton 30’ × 60’ quadrangle. The Stockton 30’ ×
Map showing locations of damaging landslides in Contra Costa County, California, resulting from 1997-98 El Nino rainstorms
Heavy rainfall associated with a strong El Nino caused over $150 million in landslide damage in the 10-county San Francisco Bay region during the winter and spring of 1998. A team of USGS scientists collected information on landslide locations and damage costs. About $27 million in damages were assessed in Contra Costa County.
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 25
Geologic framework of Mount Diablo, California
The basic stratigraphic and structural framework of Mount Diablo is described using a revised geologic map, gravity data, and aeromagnetic data. The mountain is made up of two distinct stratigraphic assemblages representing different depocenters that were juxtaposed by ~20 km of late Pliocene and Quaternary right-lateral offset on the Greenville-Diablo-Concord fault. Both assemblages are composed
Authors
Russell Graymer, Victoria Langenheim
Comment on ‘New insights on Franciscan Complex geology, architecture, depositional age, and provenance for the western Mt. Tamalpais area, Marin County, California’ by Bero et al. (2020)
Serious errors and inconsistencies in the article undermine many of its interpretations to the point that principal conclusions are not valid. Much dependence is placed on the maximum depositional age (Dmax) of sandstone units based on zircon analysis of 10 samples, but calculation of those Dmax values is flawed, and their use confuses maximum with actual depositional ages and makes age distinctio
Authors
Russell Graymer, Trevor A. Dumitru, Robert J. McLaughlin, Carl M. Wentworth
Implementation plan for the southern Pacific Border and Sierra-Cascade Mountains provinces
IntroductionThe National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program (NCGMP) is publishing a strategic plan titled Renewing the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program as the Nation’s Authoritative Source for Modern Geologic Knowledge (Brock and others, in press). The plan provides a vision, mission, and goals for the program during the years 2020–2030, which are:Vision.—Create an integrated, three
Authors
Victoria E. Langenheim, Russell W. Graymer, Robert E. Powell, Kevin M. Schmidt, Donald S. Sweetkind
A geology and geodesy based model of dynamic earthquake rupture on the Rodgers Creek‐Hayward‐Calaveras Fault System, California
The Hayward fault in California's San Francisco Bay area produces large earthquakes, with the last occurring in 1868. We examine how physics‐based dynamic rupture modeling can be used to numerically simulate large earthquakes on not only the Hayward fault, but also its connected companions to the north and south, the Rodgers Creek and Calaveras faults. Equipped with a wealth of images of this faul
Authors
Ruth A. Harris, Michael Barall, David A. Lockner, Diane E. Moore, David A. Ponce, Russell Graymer, Gareth J. Funning, Carolyn A. Morrow, Christodoulos Kyriakopoulos, Donna Eberhart-Phillips
Science plan for improving three-dimensional seismic velocity models in the San Francisco Bay region, 2019–24
This five-year science plan outlines short-term and long-term goals for improving three-dimensional seismic velocity models in the greater San Francisco Bay region as well as how to foster a community effort in reaching those goals. The short-term goals focus on improving the current U.S. Geological Survey San Francisco Bay region geologic and seismic velocity model using existing data. The long-t
Authors
Brad T. Aagaard, Russell W. Graymer, Clifford H. Thurber, Arthur J. Rodgers, Taka'aki Taira, Rufus D. Catchings, Christine A. Goulet, Andreas Plesch
Status of three-dimensional geological mapping and modeling activities in the U.S. Geological Survey
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), created in 1879, is the national geological survey
for the United States and the sole science agency within its cabinet-level bureau, the
Department of the Interior. The USGS has a broad mission, including: serving the Nation by
providing reliable scientific information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss of
life and property from natural disaster
Authors
Donald S. Sweetkind, Russell Graymer, D. K. Higley, Oliver S. Boyd
Geology of San Francisco
No abstract available.
Authors
Russell W. Graymer, Robert Givler, John Baldwin, William Lettis, Samuel Johnson, H. Gary Greene, Peter Dartnell
Geology and geologic history: Overview of the geology of the San Francisco Bay region
The geology of San Francisco and the surrounding northern and central California area has played a pivotal role in the development of our understanding of Earth processes, especially the process of tectonic accretion at a continental margin and the development of transform plate margins. The Franciscan Complex, which underlies most (or perhaps all) of the City and County of San Francisco, is wide
Authors
Russell Graymer
The Evergreen basin and the role of the Silver Creek fault in the San Andreas fault system, San Francisco Bay region, California
The Evergreen basin is a 40-km-long, 8-km-wide Cenozoic sedimentary basin that lies mostly concealed beneath the northeastern margin of the Santa Clara Valley near the south end of San Francisco Bay (California, USA). The basin is bounded on the northeast by the strike-slip Hayward fault and an approximately parallel subsurface fault that is structurally overlain by a set of west-verging reverse-o
Authors
Robert C. Jachens, Carl M. Wentworth, Russell W. Graymer, Robert Williams, David A. Ponce, Edward A. Mankinen, William J. Stephenson, Victoria E. Langenheim
A summary of the late Cenozoic stratigraphic and tectonic history of the Santa Clara Valley, California
The late Cenozoic stratigraphic and tectonic history of the Santa Clara Valley illustrates the dynamic nature of the North American–Pacific plate boundary and its effect on basin and landscape development. Prior to early Miocene time, the area that became Santa Clara Valley consisted of eroding Franciscan complex basement structurally interleaved in places with Coast Range ophiolite and Mesozoic G
Authors
Victoria E. Langenheim, Robert C. Jachens, Carl M. Wentworth, Russell W. Graymer, Richard G. Stanley, Robert J. McLaughlin, Robert W. Simpson, Robert A. Williams, D. W. Andersen, David A. Ponce
Structural superposition in fault systems bounding Santa Clara Valley, California
Santa Clara Valley is bounded on the southwest and northeast by active strike-slip and reverse-oblique faults of the San Andreas fault system. On both sides of the valley, these faults are superposed on older normal and/or right-lateral normal oblique faults. The older faults comprised early components of the San Andreas fault system as it formed in the wake of the northward passage of the Mendoci
Authors
Russell W. Graymer, Richard G. Stanley, David A. Ponce, Robert C. Jachens, Robert W. Simpson, Carl M. Wentworth
Subsurface geometry of the San Andreas-Calaveras fault junction: Influence of serpentinite and the Coast Range Ophiolite
While an enormous amount of research has been focused on trying to understand the geologic history and neotectonics of the San Andreas-Calaveras fault (SAF-CF) junction, fundamental questions concerning fault geometry and mechanisms for slip transfer through the junction remain. We use potential-field, geologic, geodetic, and seismicity data to investigate the 3-D geologic framework of the SAF-CF
Authors
Janet Tilden Watt, David A. Ponce, Russell W. Graymer, Robert C. Jachens, Robert W. Simpson
Geologic Mapping in the Southern Pacific Border and Sierras provinces, California
This project uses geologic and geophysical mapping to build an earth-science framework for scientific investigations that include assessments of critical resources, such as groundwater, and of hazards, such as those resulting from earthquakes, in California west of and including the Sierra Nevada and Cascade arc. Questions of particular interest include: What are the geometries, slip rates, and...
Digital Data for a Three-Dimensional Geologic Map of the San Andreas Fault Zone Between Gold Hill and Pinnacles National Park, California
A three-dimensional geologic map was created by assembling eight geologic cross sections derived from geologic mapping, potential field geophysics, and petroleum well logs. The central feature of the map is the San Andreas Fault, with many other prominent structural features depicted that express the regional transpressional tectonic setting. The subsurface interpretation was based on existing two
Data supporting the construction of the Three-Dimensional Geologic Map and Geology-based Seismic Velocity Model of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and surrounding region, California
This report includes the previously unpublished primary and derivative data sets that underpin the construction of the three dimensional (3D) geologic map of the upper part of the Earth's crust beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, California. The primary data is X,Y,Z locations of stratigraphic horizons and, to a much lesser extent, geologic structures where penetrated by oil and gas we
Geologic Map Schema (GeMS) version of Wentworth, C.M., Knudsen, K.L., and Witter, R.C., 2023, Quaternary deposits of the 9-county San Francisco Bay Region
This is a conversion of Wentworth and others (2023)[DAS1] to the Geologic Map Schema (GeMS) for inclusion in the National Geologic Map Database. The original publication was in the Alacarte schema commonly used for geologic map databases prior to the release of the now mandatory GeMS. The GIS layers in this release have the same scientific content as the source data release. The source data releas
Digitized sonic velocity and density log data of Central Coast Ranges, California
Sonic velocity and density well logs in the Central Coast Ranges in California were digitized by hand. These logs are available as scanned files (pdfs and tiffs) on the California Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources website and the data consist of interval transit times and bulk density measured downhole in oil and gas wells in the region. Sonic velocity data were also compiled from a n
Geologic and geophysical maps of the Stockton 30’ × 60’ quadrangle, California
This pamphlet and accompanying geologic and geophysical maps are the products of cooperative efforts by the California Geological Survey (CGS) and United States Geological Survey (USGS) to compile a comprehensive, digital representation of the bedrock geology, Quaternary surficial deposits, and potential-field anomalies within the boundaries of the Stockton 30’ × 60’ quadrangle. The Stockton 30’ ×
Map showing locations of damaging landslides in Contra Costa County, California, resulting from 1997-98 El Nino rainstorms
Heavy rainfall associated with a strong El Nino caused over $150 million in landslide damage in the 10-county San Francisco Bay region during the winter and spring of 1998. A team of USGS scientists collected information on landslide locations and damage costs. About $27 million in damages were assessed in Contra Costa County.