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Paleoseismology and the Hayward Fault
A large, widely damaging earthquake will occur on the Hayward fault in the future. That much we know.
What we don't know is when.
Aerial Seabird and Marine Mammal Surveys
The Seabird Studies Team at the USGS Western Ecological Research Center is conducting aerial photographic surveys of the ocean off central and southern California to create comprehensive maps of seabird and marine mammal distributions. The project is supported by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and will inform planning in advance of potential offshore wind energy development along the...
Salton Seismic Imaging
Studying Earthquake Hazards and Rifting Processes in the Imperial and Coachella Valleys
San Francisco Bay Area Arrays and the East Bay Seismic Experiment
Portable Seismograph Deployments to Research the Effects of Basins, Topography, and Fault Zones on Seismic Waves.
The implosion of the Warren Hall building on California State University East Bay (CSU-EB) campus in August of 2013 provided an excellent opportunity to use a “free” seismic source that was practically located on the Hayward Fault.
Improving Forecasting for California's Snow Melt Water Supply
California's Sierra Nevada snowpack accounts for much of the water supply in many parts of the state. The snowpack retains large amounts of water in the winter that is then released as temperatures rise in the spring and summer. The snowpack also keeps the Sierra soil moist by covering it longer into spring and summer. Soil moisture influences the onset of wildfires, as well as wildfire...
Basin Characterization Model - Simulating Effects of Iowa Soil Management on Water Availability
As a result of climate change, heavy rainfall, as well as extended dry periods, are becoming more common in the Midwestern United States. These trends are only expected to continue. So, increasing the capacity of soil to store water has become more critical. Storing water increases availability in dry conditions. And the absorption of additional water in wet conditions reduces potential...
Land Subsidence in California
Extensive groundwater withdrawals from aquifer systems have caused land subsidence in many California basins. Land subsidence can cause infrastructure damage, not only to buildings and roads but also to water conveyence systems. Groundwater-level and land-subsidence monitoring provide the information needed to guide mitigation efforts and management of future effects.
Characterizing the Influence of Fire on Hydrology in Southern California
The frequency of fire in southern California forests has steadily increased over time as a result of ignitions at the growing wildland-urban interface, as well as a result of warming due to climate change. Understanding the implications of increased wildfire on hydrologic conditions and water supply is particularly important given the increasing demands for water resources to satisfy growing...
Ecosystem Restoration in San Francisco Bay and Delta
In many systems, particularly the relatively dry western United States, freshwater that historically flowed into estuaries has been diverted for drinking water, agriculture, and industry. The resulting changes to water flow profoundly altered estuarine ecosystems. CMHRP studies in this complex system...
The Coastal Storm Modeling System
The Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) provides emergency responders and coastal planners with critical storm-hazard information such as flood extent, flood depth, duration of flooding, wave height, and currents that can be used to increase public safety, mitigate physical damages, and more effectively manage complex coastal settings....
California Seafloor and Coastal Mapping Program
A Foundation for Characterizing Hazards, Monitoring Change, and Managing Resources
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 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 depth of flooding (cm) in the region landward of the present-day shoreline 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-le
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. The point cloud is referenced to previously published lidar data and contains RGB information as well as XYZ. Point Cloud Coordinates are in NAD8
This part of DS 781 presents data for the faults of the Point Sur to Point Arguello, California, region. The vector data file is included in the “Faults_PointSurToPointArguello.zip,” which is accessible from https://doi.org/10.5066/P97CZ0T7.
Faults in the Point Sur to Point Arguello region are identified on seismic-reflection data based on abrupt truncation or wa
This data contains maximum depth of flooding (cm) in the region landward of the present-day shoreline 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-le
This data contains maximum depth of flooding (cm) in the region landward of the present-day shoreline 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-le
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
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the California State Water Resources Control Board compiled and analyzed data for mapping groundwater salinity and characterizing aquifer systems in and near selected oil and gas fields in California. Data for the Lost Hills, North Belridge, and South Belridge oil fields include production and injection volumes, oil show data, form
This data set includes field data for fishes sampled using gill nets and otter trawls during daylight hours in and around Ryer Island, Suisun Bay, California. This data release includes all measured environmental parameters and fish taxa included in the analysis.
This data contains maximum depth of flooding (cm) in the region landward of the present-day shoreline 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-le
Controls on submarine canyon head evolution: Monterey Canyon, offshore central California
The Monterey submarine canyon, incised across the continental shelf in Monterey Bay, California, provides a record of the link between onshore tectonism, fluvial transport, and deep-marine deposition. High-resolution seismic-reflection imaging in Monterey Bay reveals an extensive paleocanyon unit buried below the seafloor of the continental shelf...
Maier, Katherine L.; Johnson, Samuel Y.; Hart, Patrick E. Analysis of mean seismic ground motion and its uncertainty based on the UCERF3 geologic slip rate model with uncertainty for California
The Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast v.3 (UCERF3) model (Field et al., 2014) considers epistemic uncertainty in fault‐slip rate via the inclusion of multiple rate models based on geologic and/or geodetic data. However, these slip rates are commonly clustered about their mean value and do not reflect the broader distribution of...
Zeng, Yuehua Faunal and stable isotopic analyses of benthic foraminifera from the Southeast Seep on Kimki Ridge offshore southern California, USA
We investigated the benthic foraminiferal faunal and stable carbon and oxygen isotopic composition of a 15-cm push core (NA075-092b) obtained on a Telepresence-Enabled cruise to the Southeast Seep on Kimki Ridge offshore southern California. The seep core was taken at a depth of 973 m in the vicinity of a Beggiatoa bacterial mat and vesicomyid...
McGann, Mary; Conrad, James E.
Effects of the proposed California WaterFix North Delta Diversion on survival of juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, northern California
The California Department of Water Resources and Bureau of Reclamation propose new water intake facilities on the Sacramento River in northern California that would convey some of the water for export to areas south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (hereinafter referred to as the Delta) through tunnels rather than through the Delta. The...
Perry, Russell W.; Pope, Adam C.
Juvenile Lost River and shortnose sucker year class strength, survival, and growth in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, and Clear Lake Reservoir, California—2016 Monitoring Report
Executive SummaryThe largest populations of federally endangered Lost River (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose suckers (Chasmistes brevirostris) exist in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, and Clear Lake Reservoir, California. Upper Klamath Lake populations are decreasing because adult mortality, which is relatively low, is not being balanced by...
Burdick, Summer M.; Ostberg, Carl O.; Hoy, Marshal S.
Effects of the proposed California WaterFix North Delta Diversion on flow reversals and entrainment of juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) into Georgiana Slough and the Delta Cross Channel, northern California
The California Department of Water Resources and Bureau of Reclamation propose new water intake facilities on the Sacramento River in northern California that would convey some of the water for export to areas south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (hereinafter referred to as the Delta) through tunnels rather than through the Delta. The...
Perry, Russell W.; Romine, Jason G.; Pope, Adam C.; Evans, Scott D. Clayey landslide initiation and acceleration strongly modulated by soil swelling
Largely unknown mechanisms restrain motion of clay-rich, slow-moving landslides that are widespread worldwide and rarely accelerate catastrophically. We studied a clayey, slow-moving landslide typical of thousands in northern California, USA, to decipher hydrologic-mechanical interactions that modulate landslide dynamics. Similar to some other...
Schulz, William; Smith, Joel B.; Wang, Gonghui; Jiang, Yao; Roering, Joshua J. Variability in soil-water retention properties and implications for physics-based simulation of landslide early warning criteria
Rainfall-induced shallow landsliding is a persistent hazard to human life and property. Despite the observed connection between infiltration through the unsaturated zone and shallow landslide initiation, there is considerable uncertainty in how estimates of unsaturated soil-water retention properties affect slope stability assessment. This source...
Thomas, Matthew A.; Mirus, Benjamin B.; Collins, Brian D.; Lu, Ning; Godt, Jonathan W. Earthquake potential in California-Nevada implied by correlation of strain rate and seismicity
Rock mechanics studies and dynamic earthquake simulations show that patterns of seismicity evolve with time through (1) accumulation phase, (2) localization phase, and (3) rupture phase. We observe a similar pattern of changes in seismicity during the past century across California and Nevada. To quantify these changes, we correlate GPS strain...
Zeng, Yuehua; Petersen, Mark D.; Shen, Zheng-Kang Seafloor fluid seeps on Kimki Ridge, offshore southern California: Links to active strike-slip faulting
The Kimki Ridge fluid seeps are located in western Catalina Basin about 60 km southwest of the southern California mainland and at a water depth of approximately 1100 m. Multichannel seismic reflection profiles collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 2014 show acoustic transparency within the Kimki...
Conrad, James E.; Prouty, Nancy G.; Walton, Maureen A. L.; Kluesner, Jared W.; Maier, Katherine L.; McGann, Mary; Brothers, Daniel; Roland, Emily C.; Dartnell, Peter A prototype operational earthquake loss model for California based on UCERF3-ETAS – A first look at valuation
We present a prototype operational loss model based on UCERF3-ETAS, which is the third Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast with an Epidemic Type Aftershock Sequence (ETAS) component. As such, UCERF3-ETAS represents the first earthquake forecast to relax fault segmentation assumptions and to include multi-fault ruptures, elastic-rebound...
Field, Edward H.; Porter, Keith; Milner, Kevn Reconstructing the evolution of the submarine Monterey Canyon System from Os, Nd, and Pb isotopes in hydrogenetic Fe-Mn crusts
The sources of terrestrial material delivered to the California margin over the past 7 Myr were assessed using 187Os/188Os, Nd, and Pb isotopes in hydrogenetic ferromanganese crusts from three seamounts along the central and southern California margin. From 6.8 to 4.5 (± 0.5) Ma, all three isotope systems show more radiogenic values at...
Conrad, T.A.; Nielsen, S.G.; Peucker-Ehrenbrink, Bernhard; Blusztajn, J.; Winslow, D.; Hein, James R.; Paytan, A.
PubTalk 08/2019 — Pliocene World
Title: Pliocene World: Earth's Climate 3 Million Years Ago and How it Relates to our Future
By Marci Robinson, USGS Research Geologist
- Three million years ago, during the late Pliocene, CO2 levels were similar to today, but global temperatures and sea level were much higher
- Find out how we use microfossils to reconstruct
Scott Lydeen on Strawberry Peak Seismic Station Tower
USGS technicial Scott Lydeen climbing the tower at the Strawberry Peak seismic station tower, part of the Southern California Seismic Network.
Animation of a Scenario M6.9 Earthquake on the Rose Canyon Fault
This video presents an animation of computer-simulated ground motions that might occur for a magnitude 6.9 earthquake rupturing the Rose Canyon fault in southern California. The scenario earthquake ruptures a 65-km-long section of the Rose Canyon fault that lies just offshore of San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Mexico. In this scenario, the rupture starts near the
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Image of the Week - A Tear in the Mojave
Satellite imagery shows the rupture and shifting of land near Ridgecrest, CA from the July 2019 earthquakes.
PubTalk 07/2019 — Taking the Pulse of Our Planet
Title: Taking the Pulse of our Planet: A 10-year status report from the USA National Phenology Network
- Plants and animals in your backyard are sensitive indicators of climate variation and change
- Understanding and predicting plant and animal seasonal activity, a science called phenology, helps humans adapt to a changing world
- Learn about a
Navy Base Commander Commends USGS Work Following Earthquake Sequence
US Navy Captain Paul Dale discusses the collaborative efforts between the USGS and Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake after the Ridgecrest earthquake sequence.
Streamgage Solar Panel Installation for Continuous Data Collection
Sierra Keller, Physical Science Technician, and Sharon Mulready, Student Trainee, both of the USGS California Water Science Center's Santa Cruz Field Office, install a solar panel on a rural streamgage station along the Arroyo Seco near Greenfield in Monterey County, California. Streamgaging stations require power to record and transmit data associated to flow conditions.
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Collecting Geophysical Data, Fort Irwin National Training Center
USGS Hydrologist, Krishangi Groover, lays wire in preparation for geophysical data collection at the U.S. Army's Fort Irwin National Training Center in California. The metal bits on this wire connect to metal stakes (one can be seen in the foreground), which allows for the transmission of electricity into the ground to measure sediment properties. This geophysical data
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It takes two to measure this Giant Sequoia
Teodora Rautu and Eva Lopez, Biological Science Technicians on the field crew for the USGS Western Ecological Research Center's Sierra Nevada Forest Dynamics project, work together to measure the diameter of a Giant Sequoia. Every tree in the project's long-term study plots are re-measured every 5 years, not only for determining the size of the trees but also for tracking
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ShakeAlert Sensor and Station
This is b-roll footage of a ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system seismic station. These seismic stations and sensors are deployed around California and are used to monitor earthquake activity.
Conducting a high tide waterbird survey on San Fransisco Bay
San Francisco Bay and the surrounding wetlands and ponds provide important habitat for waterfowl and shorebirds. To aid land and resource managers in tracking wildlife responses to habitat restoration efforts, Biological Science Technician, Aliya, conducts a high tide waterbird survey of a restored salt pond in the Napa-Sonoma Marshes Wildlife Area at the northern edge of
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Measuring a red fir tree in the Sierra Nevada
This is Teodora Rautu. She is a Biological Science Technician on the field crew for USGS Western Ecological Research Center's Sierra Nevada Forest Dynamics project. She is measuring the diameter of a red fir and trying to navigate the tape through the branches. All of the trees in the Sierra Nevada Forest Dynamics plots are measured every 5 years, not only for
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Oceanographer Juliette Finzi Hart of the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center was invited by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to provide an overview of the USGS Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) at the 2019 California Transportation Planning Conference in San Diego.
On Monday, February 25, 2019, research geologist Jonathan Warrick of the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center spoke with ABC7 News about a February 22 landslide that injured one woman and buried another at San Francisco’s Fort Funston beach.
The potential for damaging earthquakes, landslides, floods, tsunamis, and wildfires is widely recognized in California.
Core players in “Expanding Pacific Research and Exploration of Submerged Systems” (EXPRESS) held a planning workshop at the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz, California, November 29–30.
Great Lakes Phragmites programs served as a case study for the Delta Stewardship Council
During a tour of western USGS offices, Director James F. Reilly II visited the CalVO offices and operations center in Menlo Park, CA.
This month California Water Science Center Scientist Dr. Michelle Hladik and others published an article on water treatment processes and their effects on neonicotinoid pesticides and the potential health threats they pose.
Researchers from the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center (PCMSC) participated in a research cruise to survey deep-water coral, sponge, and fish habitats off U.S. West Coast.
A low-flying helicopter under contract to the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the California State Water Resources Control Board, has begun collecting and recording geophysical measurements for purpose of groundwater salinity and aquifer mapping.
Turbidity currents have historically been described as fast-moving currents that sweep down submarine canyons, carrying sand and mud into the deep sea. But a new paper in Nature Communications shows that, rather than just consisting of sediment-laden seawater flowing over the seafloor, turbidity currents also involve large-scale movements of the seafloor itself.
From October 9–15, USGS personnel surveyed beaches and the adjacent ocean floor along Monterey Bay’s northern coast.
On October 17, 2018, 17 staff members from the City of Santa Cruz, California toured USGS facilities in the city.
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Locations
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