What can we learn from the Wells, NV earthquake sequence about seismic hazard in the intermountain west?
M.D. Petersen, K.L. Pankow, G. P. Biasi, M. Meremonte
2008, Conference Paper
The February 21, 2008 Wells, NV earthquake (M 6) was felt throughout eastern Nevada, southern Idaho, and western Utah. The town of Wells sustained significant damage to unreinforced masonry buildings. The earthquake occurred in a region of low seismic hazard with little seismicity, low geodetic strain rates, and few mapped...
Cascades Volcano Observatory
Dina Y. Venezky, Carolyn Driedger, John Pallister
2008, General Information Product 75
Washington's Mount St. Helens volcano reawakens explosively on October 1, 2004, after 18 years of quiescence. Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey's Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO) study and observe Mount St. Helens and other volcanoes of the Cascade Range in Washington, Oregon, and northern California that hold potential for future...
Volcano Hazards Program
Dina Y. Venezky, Bobbie Myers, Carolyn Driedger
2008, General Information Product 74
Diagram of common volcano hazards. The U.S. Geological Survey Volcano Hazards Program (VHP) monitors unrest and eruptions at U.S. volcanoes, assesses potential hazards, responds to volcanic crises, and conducts research on how volcanoes work. When conditions change at a monitored volcano, the VHP issues public advisories and warnings to alert...
Hydrogeologic Framework in Three Drainage Basins in the New Jersey Pinelands, 2004-06
Richard L. Walker, Pamela A. Reilly, Kara M. Watson
2008, Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5061
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New Jersey Pinelands Commission, began a multi-phase hydrologic investigation in 2004 to characterize the hydrologic system supporting the aquatic and wetland communities of the New Jersey Pinelands area (Pinelands). The Pinelands is an ecologically diverse area in the southern New Jersey Coastal...
A Protocol for Aging Anurans Using Skeletochronology
Brome McCreary, Christopher A. Pearl, M. J. Adams
2008, Open-File Report 2008-1209
Age distribution information can be an important part of understanding the biology of any population. Age estimates collected from the annual growth rings found in tooth and bone cross sections, often referred to as Lines of Arrested Growth (LAGs), have been used in the study of various animals. In this...
Survival and migration behavior of juvenile coho salmon in the Klamath River relative to discharge at Iron Gate Dam, Northern California, 2007
John W. Beeman, Greg Stutzer, Steve Juhnke, Nicholas Hetrick
2008, Open-File Report 2008-1332
This report describes a study of survival and migration behavior of juvenile coho salmon in the Klamath River relative to discharge at Iron Gate Dam in 2006. This was the second year of a multi-year study with the goal of determining the effects of discharge at Iron Gate Dam on...
Simulation of Ground-Water Flow and Optimization of Withdrawals from Aquifers at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River, St. Mary's County, Maryland
Cheryl A. Dieter, William B. Fleck
2008, Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5144
Potentiometric surfaces in the Piney Point-Nanjemoy, Aquia, and Upper Patapsco aquifers have declined from 1950 through 2000 throughout southern Maryland. In the vicinity of Lexington Park, Maryland, the potentiometric surface in the Aquia aquifer in 2000 was as much as 170 feet below sea level, approximately 150 feet lower than...
Opening the Landsat Archive
Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey
2008, Fact Sheet 2008-3091
The USGS Landsat archive holds an unequaled 36-year record of the Earth's surface that is invaluable to climate change studies, forest and resource management activities, and emergency response operations. An aggressive effort is taking place to provide all Landsat imagery [scenes currently held in the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science...
Alaska Volcano Observatory
Dina Y. Venezky, Tom Murray, Cyrus Read
2008, General Information Product 79
Steam plume from the 2006 eruption of Augustine volcano in Cook Inlet, Alaska. Explosive ash-producing eruptions from Alaska's 40+ historically active volcanoes pose hazards to aviation, including commercial aircraft flying the busy North Pacific routes between North America and Asia. The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) monitors these volcanoes to provide...
Long Valley Observatory
Dina Y. Venezky, David Hill
2008, General Information Product 78
The ~300-year-old lava on Paoha Island in Mono Lake was produced by the most recent eruption in the Long Valley Caldera area in east-central California. The Long Valley Caldera was formed by a massive volcanic eruption 760,000 years ago. The region is monitored by the Long Valley Observatory (LVO), one...
Yellowstone Volcano Observatory
Dina Y. Venezky, Jacob Lowenstern
2008, General Information Product 77
Eruption of Yellowstone's Old Faithful Geyser. Yellowstone hosts the world's largest and most diverse collection of natural thermal features, which are the surface expression of magmatic heat at shallow depths in the crust. The Yellowstone system is monitored by the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO), a partnership among the U.S. Geological...
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
Dina Y. Venezky, Tim R. Orr
2008, General Information Product 76
Lava from Kilauea volcano flowing through a forest in the Royal Gardens subdivision, Hawai'i, in February 2008. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) monitors the volcanoes of Hawai'i and is located within Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park. HVO is one of five USGS Volcano Hazards Program observatories that monitor U.S. volcanoes for...
Glaciers of North America - Glaciers of Alaska
Bruce F. Molnia, Robert M. Krimmel, Dennis C. Trabant, Rod S. March, W.F. Manley
Richard S. Williams Jr., Jane G. Ferrigno, editor(s)
2008, Professional Paper 1386-K
Glaciers cover about 75,000 km2 of Alaska, about 5 percent of the State. The glaciers are situated on 11 mountain ranges, 1 large island, an island chain, and 1 archipelago and range in elevation from more than 6,000 m to below sea level. Alaska's glaciers extend geographically from the far...
Status and needs for seismic instrumentation of structures along the Hayward fault
Erol Kalkan, Mehmet Çelebi
2008, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the Third Conference on Earthquake Hazards in the Eastern San Francisco Bay Area: Science, hazard, engineering and risk
The inventory of structures in heavily urbanized communities within the greater San Francisco (SF) Bay area that will experience strong ground motions from the rupture of the Hayward Fault includes a variety of types of recent and older structures built with a variety of materials and to different code standards....
Seismic hazard mapping of California incorporating spatial variability of site conditions
Erol Kalkan, Chris J. Wills, David M. Branum
2008, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the Third Conference on Earthquake Hazards in the Eastern San Francisco Bay Area: Science, hazard, engineering and risk
The U.S. Geological Survey has recently released a 2008 version of the probabilistic National Seismic Hazard Maps. These maps plot the peak ground acceleration (PGA) and spectral acceleration (SA) ordinates at 0.2 and 1.0 sec with 2% and 10% probabilities of being exceeded in 50 years, corresponding to earthquake return...
The Virtual Data Center Tagged-Format Tool: Introduction and executive summary
John R. Evans, Melinda Squibb, Christopher D. Stephens, W.U. Savage, Hamid Haddadi, Charles A. Kircher, Mahmoud M. Hachem
2008, Open-File Report 2008-1327
This Report introduces and summarizes the new Virtual Data Center (VDC) Tagged Format (VTF) Tool, which was developed by a diverse group of seismologists, earthquake engineers, and information technology professionals for internal use by the COSMOS VDC and other interested parties for the exchange, archiving, and analysis of earthquake strong-ground-motion...
Preliminary Stratigraphic Cross Sections of Oil Shale in the Eocene Green River Formation, Uinta Basin, Utah
John R. Dyni
2008, Open-File Report 2008-1220
Oil shale units in the Eocene Green River Formation are shown on two east-west stratigraphic sections across the Uinta Basin in northeastern Utah. Several units have potential value for recovery of shale oil, especially the Mahogany oil shale zone, which is a high grade oil shale that can be traced...
Understanding contaminants associated with mineral deposits
Philip L. Verplanck
2008, Circular 1328
Interdisciplinary studies by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have resulted in substantial progress in understanding the processes that controlthe release of metals and acidic water from inactive mines and mineralized areas,the transport of metals and acidic water to streams, andthe fate and effect of metals and acidity on downstream ecosystems.The...
Geochemical trends and natural attenuation of RDX, nitrate, and perchlorate in the hazardous test area Fractured-Granite aquifer, White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, 1996-2006
Jeff B. Langman, Andrew J. Robertson, Jamar Bynum, Fredrick E. Gebhardt
2008, Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5157
A fractured-granite aquifer at White Sands Missile Range is contaminated with the explosive compound RDX, nitrate, and perchlorate (oxidizer associated with rocket propellant) from the previous use of the Open Burn/Open Detonation site at the Hazardous Test Area. RDX, nitrate, and perchlorate ground-water concentrations were analyzed to examine source characteristics, spatial...
The Significance of Accounting Order for Evapotranspiration and Recharge in Monthly and Daily Threshold-Type Water Budgets
Delwyn S. Oki
2008, Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5163
Most threshold-type water-budget models account for the loss of water by evapotranspiration before accounting for recharge. Recharge estimates can differ substantially, depending on whether recharge is counted before or after evapotranspiration in the water budget. This disparity is the source of uncertainty and is most pronounced for areas where soil-moisture...
Coastal circulation and sediment dynamics in Hanalei Bay, Kaua'i. Part IV: Measurements of waves, currents, temperature, salinity, and turbidity: June-September 2006
Curt D. Storlazzi, M. Katherine Presto, Joshua B. Logan, Michael E. Field
2008, Open-File Report 2008-1295
High-resolution measurements of waves, currents, water levels, temperature, salinity and turbidity were made in Hanalei Bay, northern Kaua'i, Hawai'i, during the summer of 2006 to better understand coastal circulation, sediment dynamics, and the potential impact of a river flood in a coral reef-lined embayment during quiescent summer conditions. A series...
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Seismic Data, January to December 2007
Jennifer S. Nakata, Paul G. Okubo
2008, Open-File Report 2008-1261
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) summary presents seismic data gathered during the year. The seismic summary is offered without interpretation as a source of preliminary data and is complete in that most data for events of M=1.5 are included. All latitude and longitude references in this...
Pliocene Invertebrates From the Travertine Point Outcrop of the Imperial Formation, Imperial County, California
Charles L. Powell II
2008, Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5155
Forty-four invertebrate taxa, including one coral, 40 mollusks (30 bivalves and 10 gastropods), and three echinoids are recognized from a thin marine interval of the Imperial Formation near Travertine Point, Imperial County, California. The Travertine Point outcrop lies about midway between exposures of the Imperial Formation around Palm Springs, Riverside...
Geologic assessment of undiscovered gas resources of the Eastern Oregon and Washington Province
2008, Data Series 69-O
The purpose of the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Oil and Gas Assessment is to develop geology-based hypotheses regarding the potential for additions to oil and gas reserves in priority areas of the United States, focusing on the distribution, quantity, and availability of oil and natural gas resources. The USGS...
Nutrient Loading and Algal Response in West Thompson Lake, Thompson, Connecticut, 2003-2005
Jonathan Morrison, Michael J. Colombo
2008, Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5072
Water quality and nutrient loads were characterized for parts of the Quinebaug River and West Thompson Lake in northeastern Connecticut during 2003 to 2005. The West Thompson Lake watershed is a mainly forested watershed that receives treated municipal wastewater from several point sources in Massachusetts. The lake is a flood-control...
