Unified Interior Regions
California
States L2 Landing Page Tabs
Modeling in support of development of biocriteria for wadeable California streams and rivers
The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) of California has initiated a process to develop biological objectives for wadeable freshwater streams and rivers for the entire state.
Ecology of selected tidal wetlands of the San Francisco Estuary, California
The CALFED Science Program funded a multi-party effort that worked from 2003-2005 to collect field data at six wetland sites spanning the estuarine salinity gradient from the western Delta to the North Bay. The project sought to address the question of how tidal marsh restoration efforts through the bay and delta affect ecosystem processes at different scales.
San Antonio Creek Water Availability
Located in Santa Barbara County, California, the San Antonio Creek Groundwater Basin is a rural agricultural area that is reliant on local water supplies, predominantly groundwater. Because of the growth of irrigated agriculture in the area, water demands have increased significantly, taxing local groundwater supplies. Groundwater resources are also used to supply local inhabitants, as well as...
Continuous Global Positioning System (CGPS) Stations
Measurements of elevations, aquifer-system compaction, and water levels are used to improve our understanding of the processes responsible for land-surface elevation changes. Elevation or elevation-change measurements are fundamental to monitoring land subsidence, and have been measured by using continuous GPS (CGPS) measurements and campaign global positioning system (GPS) surveying. ...
Suspended-Solids Concentrations in San Francisco Bay, California
Suspended solids are an important component of San Francisco Bay, California (USA) because they transport adsorbed toxic substances, provide habitat for benthic organisms, limit light availability and photosynthesis, and deposit in ports and waterways which require dredging. The U.S. Geological Survey has established a network of eight sites in San Francisco Bay at which suspended-solids...
San Francisco Bay Wetlands Priority Ecosystem Studies
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's (USFWS) San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge manages wildlife at a number of salt ponds that the Cargill Corporation currently operates for salt production. A number of these ponds probably will be purchased by the USFWS. With acquisition, the USFWS will be responsible for maintenance or restoration of thousands of hectares of wetlands, an extremely...
Impact of Climate Change on Future Suitability of the Sierra Nevada for Wolverines
The endeavor to ensure a viable population of the threatened wolverine to the mountains of the requires the characterization of suitable habitat.
Sources of Fecal Indicator Bacteria and Nutrients to Malibu Lagoon and Near-Shore Ocean Water, Malibu, California
Malibu Lagoon and near-shore ocean water in Malibu, Calif. have concentrations of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) that occasionally exceed public health standards for recreational water.
Source, distribution, and management of perchlorate in water from wells in the upper Santa Ana River basin, California
Perchlorate (ClO4-), a commercially produced oxidizer used in solid propellants, has contaminated public-supply wells in parts of the upper Santa Ana River basin. Both industrial and agricultural sources of perchlorate are present within the basin.
Surrogate Monitoring of Sediment Transport using Hydrophones along the San Joaquin River and Tributaries
Traditional methods for measuring coarse bedload sediment transport by discrete physical sampling tend to be labor intensive and expensive (Gray and others, 2010). As such, bedload samples often are collected too infrequently to capture the temporal variability inherent in transport rates, which can vary significantly, sometimes by a factor of ten or more, over time periods of...
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...
Forecasting Total Dissolved Solids Concentrations of Groundwater from the Lower Colorado Water Supply Project
The All-American Canal (AAC) in southern Imperial County, California, has historically been unlined, resulting in substantial losses to seepage. In 2006, the Imperial Irrigation District (IID), under a contract with the United States Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), initiated a project to build a concrete-lined canal parallel to 23 miles of the earthen AAC. Construction was completed in...
This dataset consists of 65 magnetotelluric (MT) stations collected in 2015 near Mountain Pass, California. The U.S. Geological Survey acquired these data to create a regional conductivity model near the Mountain Pass mine. This work is in support of characterizing mineral deposits.
This data contains model-derived total water levels (in meters) for the sea-level rise (SLR) and storm condition indicated.
The Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) makes detailed predictions (meter-scale) over large geographic scales (100s of kilometers) of storm-induced coastal flooding and erosion for both current and future sea-level rise (SLR) scenarios. Projecti
Presented here is a point cloud collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) using an oblique plane-mounted camera system, covering the area of the Mud Creek landslide on California State Route 1 (SR1), Mud Creek, Big Sur, California. Point cloud is referenced to previously published lidar data and contains RGB information as well as XYZ. Point cloud coordinates are in NAD83 UT
This part of DS 781 presents data for the sediment-thickness map of the Point Sur to Point Arguello, California, region. The raster data file is included in the “SedimentThickness_PointSurToPointArguello.zip,” which is accessible from https://doi.org/10.5066/P97CZ0T7.
As part of the USGS's California State Waters Mapping Project, a 50-m grid of sediment thick
This dataset includes field data for fishes sampled using gill nets during daylight hours in the Northern Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California, USA. This data release includes all measured environmental parameters and fish taxa included in the analysis. First posted - August 19, 2019 (available from author) Revised - December 18, 2019 (version 1.1)
This data contains maximum model-derived significant wave height (in meters) for the sea-level rise (SLR) and storm condition indicated.
The Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) makes detailed predictions (meter-scale) over large geographic scales (100s of kilometers) of storm-induced coastal flooding and erosion for both current and future sea-level rise (SLR) scenar
This data contains maximum model-derived ocean currents (in meters per second) for the sea-level rise (SLR) and storm condition indicated.
The Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) makes detailed predictions (meter-scale) over large geographic scales (100s of kilometers) of storm-induced coastal flooding and erosion for both current and future sea-level rise (SLR) scen
This data contains model-derived total water levels (in meters) for the sea-level rise (SLR) and storm condition indicated.
The Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) makes detailed predictions (meter-scale) over large geographic scales (100s of kilometers) of storm-induced coastal flooding and erosion for both current and future sea-level rise (SLR) scenarios. Projecti
Presented here is a point cloud produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) from historical U.S. Air Force vertical aerial imagery, covering the area of the Mud Creek landslide on California State Route 1 (SR1), Mud Creek, Big Sur, California. The point cloud is referenced to previously published lidar data and contains RGB information as well as XYZ. Point cloud coordinates are
This data contains maximum model-derived significant wave height (in meters) for the sea-level rise (SLR) and storm condition indicated.
The Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) makes detailed predictions (meter-scale) over large geographic scales (100s of kilometers) of storm-induced coastal flooding and erosion for both current and future sea-level rise (SLR) scenar
This data contains geographic extents of projected coastal flooding, low-lying vulnerable areas, and maximum/minimum flood potential (flood uncertainty) associated with the sea-level rise (SLR) and storm condition indicated.
The Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) makes detailed predictions (meter-scale) over large geographic scales (100s of kilometers) of storm-ind
This data contains model-derived total water levels (in meters) for the sea-level rise (SLR) and storm condition indicated.
The Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) makes detailed predictions (meter-scale) over large geographic scales (100s of kilometers) of storm-induced coastal flooding and erosion for both current and future sea-level rise (SLR) scenarios. Projecti
Emergency assessment of post-fire debris-flow hazards for the 2013 Springs Fire, Ventura County, California
Wildfire can significantly alter the hydrologic response of a watershed to the extent that even modest rainstorms can produce dangerous flash floods and debris flows. In this report, empirical models are used to predict the probability and magnitude of debris-flow occurrence in response to a 10-year rainstorm for the 2013 Springs fire in Ventura...
Staley, Dennis M.
Latest Quaternary paleoseismology and evidence of distributed dextral shear along the Mohawk Valley fault zone, northern Walker Lane, California
The dextral-slip Mohawk Valley fault zone (MVFZ) strikes northwestward along the eastern margin of the Sierra Nevada in the northern Walker Lane. Geodetic block modeling indicates that the MVFZ may accommodate ~3 mm/yr of regional dextral strain, implying that it is the highest slip-rate strike-slip fault in the region; however, only limited...
Gold, Ryan D.; Briggs, Richard W.; Personius, Stephen; Crone, Anthony J.; Mahan, Shannon A.; Angster, Stephen Triggered aseismic slip adjacent to the 6 February 2013 Mw 8.0 Santa Cruz Islands megathrust earthquake
Aseismic or slow slip events have been observed in many subduction zones, but whether they affect the occurrence of earthquakes or result from stress changes caused by nearby events is unclear. In an area lacking direct geodetic observations, inferences can be made from seismological studies of co-seismic slip, associated stress changes and the...
Hayes, Gavin P.; Furlong, Kevin P.; Benz, Harley M.; Herman, Matthew W.
Monitoring of adult Lost River and shortnose suckers in Clear Lake Reservoir, California, 2008–2010
Executive Summary In collaboration with the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Geological Survey began a consistent monitoring program for endangered Lost River suckers (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose suckers (Chasmistes brevirostris) in Clear Lake Reservoir, California, in the fall of 2004. The program was intended to develop a more complete...
Hewitt, David A.; Hayes, Brian S.
Borehole-explosion and air-gun data acquired in the 2011 Salton Seismic Imaging Project (SSIP), southern California: description of the survey
The Imperial and Coachella Valleys are being formed by active plate-tectonic processes. From the Imperial Valley southward into the Gulf of California, plate motions are rifting the continent apart. In the Coachella Valley, the plates are sliding past one another along the San Andreas and related faults (fig. 1). These processes build the stunning...
Rose, Elizabeth J.; Fuis, Gary S.; Stock, Joann M.; Hole, John A.; Kell, Annie M.; Kent, Graham; Driscoll, Neal W.; Goldman, Mark; Reusch, Angela M.; Han, Liang; Sickler, Robert R.; Catchings, Rufus D.; Rymer, Michael J.; Criley, Coyn J.; Scheirer, Daniel S.; Skinner, Steven M.; Slayday-Criley, Coye J.; Murphy, Janice M.; Jensen, Edward G.; McClearn, Robert; Ferguson, Alex J.; Butcher, Lesley A.; Gardner, Max A.; Emmons, Iain D.; Loughran, Caleb L.; Svitek, Joseph R.; Bastien, Patrick C.; Cotton, Joseph A.; Croker, David S.; Harding, Alistair J.; Babcock, Jeffrey M.; Harder, Steven H.; Rosa, Carla M.
Emergency assessment of post-fire debris-flow hazards for the 2013 Rim Fire, Stanislaus National Forest and Yosemite National Park, California
Wildfire can significantly alter the hydrologic response of a watershed to the extent that even modest rainstorms can produce dangerous flash floods and debris flows. In this report, empirical models are used to predict the probability and magnitude of debris-flow occurrence in response to a 10-year rainstorm for the 2013 Rim fire in Yosemite...
Staley, Dennis M.
Emergency assessment of post-fire debris-flow hazards for the 2013 Powerhouse fire, southern California
Wildfire dramatically alters the hydrologic response of a watershed such that even modest rainstorms can produce dangerous flash floods and debris flows. Existing empirical models were used to predict the probability and magnitude of debris-flow occurrence in response to a 10-year recurrence interval rainstorm for the 2013 Powerhouse fire near...
Staley, Dennis M.; Smoczyk, Gregory M.; Reeves, Ryan R.
Emergency assessment of post-fire debris-flow hazards for the 2013 Mountain fire, southern California
Wildfire dramatically alters the hydrologic response of a watershed such that even modest rainstorms can produce dangerous flash floods and debris flows. We use empirical models to predict the probability and magnitude of debris flow occurrence in response to a 10-year rainstorm for the 2013 Mountain fire near Palm Springs, California. Overall,...
Staley, Dennis M.; Gartner, Joseph E.; Smoczyk, Greg M.; Reeves, Ryan R. Characterizing and estimating noise in InSAR and InSAR time series with MODIS
InSAR time series analysis is increasingly used to image subcentimeter displacement rates of the ground surface. The precision of InSAR observations is often affected by several noise sources, including spatially correlated noise from the turbulent atmosphere. Under ideal scenarios, InSAR time series techniques can substantially mitigate these...
Barnhart, William D.; Lohman, Rowena B. Runoff-generated debris flows: observations and modeling of surge initiation, magnitude, and frequency
Runoff during intense rainstorms plays a major role in generating debris flows in many alpine areas and burned steeplands. Yet compared to debris flow initiation from shallow landslides, the mechanics by which runoff generates a debris flow are less understood. To better understand debris flow initiation by surface water runoff, we monitored flow...
Kean, Jason W.; McCoy, Scott W.; Tucker, Gregory E.; Staley, Dennis M.; Coe, Jeffrey A. Effects of stock use and backpackers on water quality in wilderness in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, USA
During 2010-2011, a study was conducted in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (SEKI) to evaluate the influence of pack animals (stock) and backpackers on water quality in wilderness lakes and streams. The study had three main components: (1) a synoptic survey of water quality in wilderness areas of the parks, (2) paired water-quality...
Clow, David W.; Forrester, Harrison; Miller, Benjamin; Roop, Heidi; Sickman, James O.; Ryu, Hodon; Santo Domingo, Jorge Whole-body concentrations of elements in three fish species from offshore oil platforms and natural areas in the Southern California Bight, USA
There is concern that offshore oil platforms off Southern California may be contributing to environmental contaminants accumulated by marine fishes. To examine this possibility, 18 kelp bass (Paralabrax clathratus Girard, 1854), 80 kelp rockfish (Sebastes atrovirens Jordan and Gilbert, 1880), and 98 Pacific sanddab (Citharichthys sordidus Girard,...
Love, Milton S.; Saiki, Michael K.; May, Thomas W.; Yee, Julie L.
Wildfire history in the mud
Marine geochemist Renee Takesue collects a sample of exposed mud in a marsh near Sonoma Creek, California. She will look here and in nearby San Pablo Bay for chemicals from the 2017 Nuns Wildfire that can harm wildlife. The stormy winter of 2018 may have transported these contaminants from the Sonoma Creek watershed into San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge. This
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Samples being analyzed on the Aqualog spectrometer
Samples being analyzed in a sealed quartz cuvette on the Aqualog spectrophotometer
Sediment Cores Reveal the History of the Pacific Ocean
USGS scientist Summer Praetorius collects samples from an ocean sediment core in the Pacific Ocean Paleoclimatology Lab at Menlo Park, CA. The sediment core is from Tanner Basin, located about 200 miles due west of San Diego in the eastern Pacific Ocean. This area is the southern-most extension of the California Current upwelling system, which brings cold nutrient-rich
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Barnstead e-pure organic free water filtration system in Trace Metals
Barnstead e-pure organic free water filtration system in Trace Metals Lab
R/V Parke Snavely departs for deployment
The USGS research vessel Parke Snavely heads out of the Vallejo Marina on June 11, 2019 to deploy instrument frames in Grizzly Bay for the ERO19 study.
Tripod preparation for ERO19
Lukas Winkler-Prins checks on the frame setup on June 10, 2019. This tripod has an RBR CTD, an RBR bursting pressure sensor, an RBR optical backscatter sensor, a LISST-200X, an altimeter, and two Nortek ADVs + Seapoint optical backscatter sensors, which will reveal information about water temperature and salinity, wave height and period, total suspended sediment
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PubTalk 5/2019 - Rodgers Creek Fault
Title: New Mapping of the Rodgers Creek Fault: It's longer and more complex than we thought
- Remote sensing technology reveals surface traces of the fault covered by trees and buildings.
- Greater fault length and linkages to neighboring faults make larger earthquakes possible.
- Fault complexity has implications for hazards from ground shaking
Coastal Drainage Basins, San Diego County, California
Coastal drainage basins and locations of realtime sites in San Diego County, California. Local features include the San Dieguito River Basin, San Diego River Basin, Sweetwater River Basin, and Otay River Basin.
San Diego Hydrogeology | Project Study Area
Location of the study area for the San Diego Hydrogeology project, and location of the major coastal river basins in San Diego County (San Dieguito River, San Diego River, Sweetwater River, Otay River, and Tijuana River).
San Pablo Bay study area
The USGS Pacific and Coastal Marine Science Center collected data to investigate sediment dynamics in the shallows of San Pablo Bay in two deployments: February to March 2011 (ITX11) and May to June 2012 (ITX12). This data release includes time-series data and grain-size distributions from sediment grabs collected during the deployments. During each deployment, time series
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Hillside at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area 9 Months After Fire
Vegetation has begun to regrow in Whiskeytown National Recreation Area 9 months after summer 2018's Carr Fire near Redding, California, where USGS WERC researchers are studying fire impacts, post-fire vegetation recovery, and post-fire erosion and debris flows.
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Members of the news media are invited to attend the next Earthquake Country Alliance - Bay Area Regional Workshop to be held at the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park on May 23. ECA workshops are educational and informational opportunities to learn more about the latest in earthquake science, preparedness, and mitigation, as well as to arrange interviews with subject matter experts.
Early on the morning of August 24, 2014, Loren Turner was awoken by clattering window blinds, a moving bed, and the sound of water splashing out of his backyard pool. He experienced what is now named the “South Napa Earthquake.”
How a wind energy facility is designed can influence the behavior of animal predators and their prey, according to a recent study published in The Journal of Wildlife Management by researchers at the University of California, Davis, and the U.S. Geological Survey.
In 2016, these five states led the pack in mineral production, accounting for about one third of the total mineral production value for the entire country.
Almost all of the turtles living in a southern California lake died following a large fire and years of drought, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey report published in the journal Knowledge and Management of Aquatic Ecosystems.
Although no one can reliably predict earthquakes, today’s technology is advanced enough to rapidly detect seismic waves as an earthquake begins, calculate the maximum expected shaking, and send alerts to surrounding areas before damage can occur. This technology is known as “earthquake early warning” (EEW).
The U.S. Geological Survey along with university, state and private-sector partners will highlight the rollout of Version 1.2 of the USGS ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system on April 10, 2017.
California is well-known for its frequent earthquakes, but less so for its volcanic history – despite the fact that the most recent eruption in the state occurred just 100 years ago.
New research on the ages of the most recent lava flows at Eagle Lake Volcanic Field, California suggest they are much older than once thought, minimizing the possibility of future eruption.
Using a newly-developed computer model called “CoSMoS-COAST” (Coastal Storm Modeling System – Coastal One-line Assimilated Simulation Tool) scientists predict that with limited human intervention, 31 to 67 percent of Southern California beaches may become completely eroded (up to existing coastal infrastructure or sea-cliffs) by the year 2100 under scenarios of sea-level rise of one to two meters.
Seal Beach, Calif.— A new collaborative study shows evidence of prior abrupt sinking of the wetlands near Seal Beach, caused by ancient earthquakes that shook the area at least three times in the past 2,000 years, according to researchers.
San Joaquin Valley: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the U.S. Geological Survey. Its weeklong mission: to explore strange new locations, to seek out abandoned scientific technologies, to boldly go where no scientist has gone before (at least in a few decades).
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Southwest Regional Director's Office
Phone: (916) 278-9551
Fax: (916) 278-9566
Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Phone: 831-460-7401
Fax: 831-427-4748
California Water Science Center - Sacramento Projects Office
Phone: (916) 278-3000
Fax: (916) 278-3070
Western Ecological Research Center - Headquarters
Phone: (916) 278-9485
Fax: (916) 278-9475
Geology, Minerals, Energy and Geophysics Science Center
Phone: (650) 329-4881
Earthquake Science Center
Western Geographic Science Center - Main Office
California Water Science Center - San Diego Projects Office
Phone: 619-225-6100
Fax: 619-225-6101
Fort Collins Science Center
Phone: 970-226-9100
Fax: 970-226-9230
USGS California Volcano Observatory (CalVO package delivery)
askcalvo@usgs.gov
Phone: 650-329-5083
USGS Menlo Park Library
men_lib@usgs.gov
Phone: 650-329-5027
Fax: 650-329-5132