Unified Interior Regions
California
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Relation of Groundwater Age to Herbicide Concentration Trends in Fresno and Tulare Counties, California
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) has been monitoring pesticide concentrations in about 70 domestic drinking water wells located in vulnerable areas of Fresno and Tulare Counties for approximately 15 years. A recent analysis of the monitoring data indicated that there were decreases in simazine, diuron, and bromacil concentrations in many wells during 2000-2010.
Determining Water Availability in the Russian River Watershed
The Russian River Watershed covers 1,500 square miles of urban, agricultural and forested lands in northern Sonoma County and southern Mendocino County, California. Communities in the Russian River Watershed (RRW) depend on a combination of Russian River water and groundwater to meet their water-supply demands. Water is used primarily for agricultural irrigation, municipal and private wells...
Water-Level, Water-Quality and Land-Subsidence Studies in the Mojave River and Morongo Groundwater Basins
Groundwater has been the primary source of domestic, agricultural, and municipal water supplies in the southwestern Mojave Desert, California, since the early 1900s. The population of the Mojave River and Morongo groundwater basins has grown rapidly during the last several decades, increasing from an estimated population of almost 273,000 in 1990 (...
Pesticide Studies in the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay Estuary
The objectives of this specific study are to characterize the mixtures of current-use pesticides and pesticide degradates entering the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta from its two main river sources over a period of 12 consecutive months.
Delta sediment measurements to support numerical modeling of turbidity
The purpose of the proposed work is to collect data that will support the development, calibration, and validation of numerical models of sediment transport and turbidity in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Geomorphic Assessment and Restoration Alternatives Development for the Merced River in East Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park
The National Park Service (NPS) and USGS jointly will investigate impacts to the Merced River due to infrastructure and historic channel widening in east Yosemite Valley with a goal of constructing river management alternatives. Past management actions, such as gravel mining, channel riprap, and the construction of bridges that do not accommodate flood flows, have had long-lasting impacts to...
Assessing the Feasibility of Artificial Recharge and Storage and the Effectiveness and Sustainability of Insitu Arsenic Removal in the Antelope Valley, California
Project Update - 8/2/2011: Water having an arsenic concentration of 30 micrograms per liter was infiltrated from a test pond beginning in December, 2010. After water moved downward through the unsaturated zone, arsenic concentrations in ...
Additional characterization of the impact of suction dredging, South Yuba River – Humbug Creek
The potential impacts of suction dredging on water quality remain largely undetermined, especially with regard to trace metals including Hg. Several State of California regulatory agencies have expressed concerns that suction dredging may cause deleterious impacts with regard to turbidity and Hg contamination in downstream areas.
Determination of Mercury Loads for Cache Creek Settling Basin Inflow and Outflows and Related Investigations
Mercury (Hg), a legacy pollutant from mining of mercury deposits in the Coast Ranges as well as gold deposits in the Sierra Nevada, has contaminated surface waters throughout northern . Methylmercury (MeHg) is an organic form of Hg that bioaccumulates in food webs to elevated concentrations that threaten ecological health and human health through consumption of sport fish.
Statistical Evaluation of Factors Affecting Occurrence of Organic Constituents from Fuels in Public-Supply Wells in Southern California
Biofuels, including ethanol, are expected to provide a greater contribution to the fuel supply in the United States. Research in the past decade has shown that ethanol in gasoline can cause plumes of benzene in groundwater to be larger than they would otherwise be.
Water-resources study of Fort Irwin National Training Center
The U.S. Army at Fort Irwin National Training Center (NTC) obtains all of its potable water supply from Irwin, Langford, and Bicycle Basins within the base boundaries. Groundwater pumping, since as early as 1941, has resulted in water-level declines in all of these basins and the disposal of treated wastewater in the Irwin Basin has resulted in elevated nitrate concentrations in some wells in...
San Joaquin-Sacramento Basin Rain Flood Duration Skew Study
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is conducting a hydrologic analysis of floodplain areas protected by the federal-state levee system within the San Joaquin-Sacramento drainage basins.
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
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 NAD83
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 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
High concentrations of uranium were detected in samples from wells used for domestic drinking water supplies in the San Joaquin Valley. Of 163 domestic wells sampled by the California Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment Program Priority Basin Project (GAMA-PBP) and the National Water Quality Program (NWQP) in 2008-2015, 26 percent had uranium concentrations greater than the U.
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
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
The U.S. Geological Survey Pacific Coastal and 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
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
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
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
Long‐term time‐dependent probabilities for the third Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF3)
The 2014 Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities (WGCEP 2014) presents time-dependent earthquake probabilities for the third Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF3). Building on the UCERF3 time-independent model, published previously, renewal models are utilized to represent elastic-rebound-implied probabilities. A new...
Field, Edward H.; Biasi, Glenn P.; Bird, Peter; Dawson, Timothy E.; Felzer, Karen R.; Jackson, David A.; Johnson, Kaj M.; Jordan, Thomas H.; Madden, Christopher; Michael, Andrew J.; Milner, Kevin; Page, Morgan T.; Parsons, Thomas E.; Powers, Peter; Shaw, Bruce E.; Thatcher, Wayne R.; Weldon, Ray J.; Zeng, Yuehua Predicting locations of post-fire debris-flow erosionin the San Gabriel Mountains of southern California
Timely hazard assessments are needed to assess post-fire debris flows that may impact communities located within and adjacent to recently burned areas. Implementing existing models for debris-flow probability and magnitude can be time-consuming because the geographic extent for applying the models is manually defined. In this study, a model is...
Gartner, Joseph E.; Santi, P.M; Cannon, Susan H.
Geologic map of the Bodie Hills, California and Nevada
The Bodie Hills covers about 1,200 km2 straddling the California-Nevada state boundary just north of Mono Lake in the western part of the Basin and Range Province, about 20 km east of the central Sierra Nevada. The area is mostly underlain by the partly overlapping, middle to late Miocene Bodie Hills volcanic field and Pliocene to late...
John, David A.; du Bray, Edward A.; Box, Stephen E.; Vikre, Peter G.; Rytuba, James J.; Fleck, Robert J.; Moring, Barry C. “All Models Are Wrong, but Some Are Useful”
Building a new model, especially one used for policy purposes, takes considerable time, effort, and resources. In justifying such expenditures, one inevitably spends a lot of time denigrating previous models. For example, in pitching the third Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF3) (http://www.WGCEP.org/UCERF3), criticisms of the...
Field, Edward H. Paleoseismologic evidence for large-magnitude (Mw 7.5-8.0) earthquakes on the Ventura blind thrust fault: Implications for multifault ruptures in the Transverse Ranges of southern California
Detailed analysis of continuously cored boreholes and cone penetrometer tests (CPTs), high-resolution seismic-reflection data, and luminescence and 14C dates from Holocene strata folded above the tip of the Ventura blind thrust fault constrain the ages and displacements of the two (or more) most recent earthquakes. These two earthquakes, which are...
McAuliffe, Lee J.; Dolan, James F.; Rhodes, Edward J.; Hubbard, Judith; Shaw, John H.; Pratt, Thomas L. Empirical models for predicting volumes of sediment deposited by debris flows and sediment-laden floods in the transverse ranges of southern California
Debris flows and sediment-laden floods in the Transverse Ranges of southern California pose severe hazards to nearby communities and infrastructure. Frequent wildfires denude hillslopes and increase the likelihood of these hazardous events. Debris-retention basins protect communities and infrastructure from the impacts of debris flows and sediment...
Gartner, Joseph E.; Cannon, Susan H.; Santi, Paul M Geodetic constraints on the 2014 M 6.0 South Napa earthquake
On 24 August 2014, the M 6.0 South Napa earthquake shook much of the San Francisco Bay area, leading to significant damage in the Napa Valley. The earthquake occurred in the vicinity of the West Napa fault (122.313° W, 38.22° N, 11.3 km), a mapped structure located between the Rodger’s Creek and Green Valley...
Barnhart, William D.; Murray, Jessica R.; Yun, S H; Svarc, Jerry L.; Samsonov, SV; Fielding, EJ; Brooks, Benjamin A.; Milillo, Pietro A VS30 map for California with geologic and topographic constraints
For many earthquake engineering applications, site response is estimated through empirical correlations with the time‐averaged shear‐wave velocity to 30 m depth (VS30). These applications therefore depend on the availability of either site‐specific VS30 measurements or VS30 maps at local, regional, and global scales....
Thompson, Eric; Wald, David J.; Worden, Charles
Quantitative rock-fall hazard and risk assessment for Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, California
Rock falls are common in Yosemite Valley, California, posing substantial hazard and risk to the approximately four million annual visitors to Yosemite National Park. Rock falls in Yosemite Valley over the past few decades have damaged structures and caused injuries within developed regions located on or adjacent to talus slopes highlighting the...
Stock, Greg M.; Luco, Nicolas; Collins, Brian D.; Harp, Edwin L.; Reichenbach, Paola; Frankel, Kurt L. Sediment concentrations, flow conditions, and downstream evolution of two turbidity currents, Monterey Canyon, USA
The capacity of turbidity currents to carry sand and coarser sediment from shallow to deep regions in the submarine environment has attracted the attention of researchers from different disciplines. Yet not only are field measurements of oceanic turbidity currents a rare achievement, but also the data that have been collected consist mostly of...
Xu, Jingping; Octavio E. Sequeiros; Noble, Marlene A. Characterizing the primary material sources and dominant erosional processes for post-fire debris-flow initiation in a headwater basin using multi-temporal terrestrial laser scanning data
Wildfire dramatically alters the hydrologic response of a watershed such that even modest rainstorms can produce hazardous debris flows. Relative to shallow landslides, the primary sources of material and dominant erosional processes that contribute to post-fire debris-flow initiation are poorly constrained. Improving our understanding of how and...
Staley, Dennis M.; Waslewicz, Thad A.; Kean, Jason W.
Logs and data from trenches across the Berryessa Fault at the Jerd Creek site, northeastern Napa County, California, 2011-2012
The primary purpose of this report is to provide drafted field logs of exploratory trenches excavated across the Berryessa Fault section of the northern Green Valley Fault (Lienkaemper, 2012; Lienkaemper and others, 2013) in 2011 and 2012 that show evidence for at least one surface-rupturing earthquake in the past few centuries. The site location...
Lienkaemper, James J.; Rosa, Carla M.; Cappelle, Ian J.; Wolf, Evan M.; Knepprath, Nichole E.; Piety, Lucille A.; Derouin, Sarah A.; Reidy, Liam M.; Redwine, Joanna L.; Sickler, Robert R.
Measuring Earthquake Damage on California Hwy. 178
Measurement of fault offset being done by USGS scientist Ken Hudnut, using the offset of a painted road stripe. This measurement was conducted following the Magnitude 6.4 earthquake that struck Searles Valley on July 4, 2019.
Measuring Earthquake Damage on California Hwy. 178
Measurement of fault offset being done by USGS scientist Ken Hudnut, using the offset of a painted road stripe on California State Route 178. This measurement was conducted following the Magnitude 6.4 earthquake that struck Searles Valley on July 4, 2019.
Measuring Earthquake Damage on California Hwy. 178
Measuring a fault offset on California State Route 178. This measurement was conducted following the Magnitude 6.4 earthquake that struck Searles Valley on July 4, 2019.
Earthquake Damage on California Hwy. 178
A fault offset on California State Route 178 with a pen for scale. This measurement was conducted following the Magnitude 6.4 earthquake that struck Searles Valley on July 4, 2019.
Earthquake Damage on California Hwy. 178
California State Route 178, showing cracks due to fault offsets following the Magnitude 6.4 earthquake that struck Searles Valley on July 4, 2019.
Surface Rupture from Fault
On July 4, 2019, a Magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck Searles Valley, CA. This photo provides likely evidence that the fault that hosted the earthquake ruptured to the ground surface.
Mt. Diablo as seen from Twitchell Island
Mt. Diablo as seen from Twitchell Island
Close-up of a wetland, showing multiple sources of DOM
Close-up of a wetland, showing multiple sources of DOM
Vegetation Growth at a Once-Flooded Santa Ynez River
Vegetation grows abundantly on a once-flooded region of the Santa Ynez River. Located 5 ft adjacent from this picture is the actual flowing region of the stream. It is impressive to see the abrupt change in vegetation near stream environments. Golden grasses, brick red brush, blue sky, and rocks coated white from sun-dried/sun-bleached algae where water used to sustain
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PubTalk 06/2019 — USGS Fire Science
Title: USGS Fire Science: Understanding why wildlands burn and what can be done about it
- Wildfires are expensive, dangerous, and have massive impacts on people and ecosystems, yet ecosystems evolved with wildland fire.
- USGS fire scientists help understand what factors affect wildland fire occurrence, intensity, spread, and effects.
- What can
California Aqueduct, San Joaquin Valley
The California Aqueduct flowing near Huron, CA in the San Joaquin Valley. This spot is near one of several USGS land subsidence monitoring stations in the San Joaquin Valley. Land subsidence has reduced the conveyance capacity of the Aqueduct and other water
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Measuring Stream Discharge with Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler
The USGS maintains and monitors hundreds of streamgages across California, as well as across the Nation. Nearly all data collected by the USGS is made public and most in near real-time. Cities can use the data for flood mitigation and water supply. Understanding the amount of water flowing in the watersheds all across America is essential to everything we do, as water is
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Editor: In the public interest and in accordance with FAA regulations, the USGS is announcing this low-level airborne project. Your assistance in informing the local communities is appreciated.
A growing number of wildfire-burned areas throughout the western United States are expected to increase soil erosion rates within watersheds, causing more sediment to be present in downstream rivers and reservoirs, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey.
An examination of long-term data for lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management finds that land treatments in the southwestern United States are increasingly large, expensive and related to fire and invasive species control.
A carbonatite here, a glacial moraine there, a zig-zagging fault or two, even a behemoth of a batholith. The geology of the 50 States is an enormous patchwork of varied forms, beautiful in their variance but challenging to present as a single map.
The U.S. Geological Survey awarded approximately $4.9 million this week to six universities and a university-governed non-profit, to support transitioning the west coast “ShakeAlert” earthquake early warning system into a production system.
A new U.S. Geological Survey-led study suggests that earthquake-related deformation just below the Earth's surface can be quite different from how it is expressed at the surface.
Scientists from the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center mapped the offshore extent of the Mud Creek landslide on California’s Big Sur coast on July 11, 2017.
The Mud Creek landslide on California’s Big Sur coast keeps eroding.
USGS analysis of air photos collected June 13 shows that new land created by a May 20 landslide on California’s Big Sur coast is eroding.
USGS scientists analyzing before-and-after air photos have calculated the size of the May 20 landslide on California’s Big Sur coast, about 140 miles south of San Francisco.
USGS is collecting and analyzing air photos to help monitor a huge landslide that occurred May 20 on California’s Big Sur coast.
An extremely rare Mojave River western pond turtle was recently observed by U.S. Geological Survey scientists and staff from The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in the Mojave Desert. Turtles of this population have rarely been seen since the late 1990s.
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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