Assessing the importance of terrain parameters on glide avalanche release
Erich H. Peitzsch, Jordy Hendrikx, Daniel B. Fagre
2014, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the International Snow Science Workshop
Glide snow avalanches are dangerous and difficult to predict. Despite recent research there is still a lack of understanding regarding the controls of glide avalanche release. Glide avalanches often occur in similar terrain or the same locations annually and observations suggest that topography may be critical. Thus, to gain an...
Sharp increase in central Oklahoma seismicity 2009-2014 induced by massive wastewater injection
Kathleen M. Keranen, Geoffrey A. Abers, Matthew Weingarten, Barbara A. Bekins, Shemin Ge
2014, Science (345) 448-451
Unconventional oil and gas production provides a rapidly growing energy source; however high-producing states in the United States, such as Oklahoma, face sharply rising numbers of earthquakes. Subsurface pressure data required to unequivocally link earthquakes to injection are rarely accessible. Here we use seismicity and hydrogeological models to show that...
Magmatism, metasomatism, tectonism, and mineralization in the Humboldt Range, Pershing County, Nevada
Peter G. Vikre
2014, Book
Introduction The Humboldt Range, Pershing County, Nevada, predominantly consists of Mesozoic igneous and sedimentary rocks that were modified several times by magmatism, metasomatism, and tectonism, and contain a variety of metallic (Ag, Au, Pb, Zn, Sb, W, Hg) and non-metallic (dumortierite, pinite, fluorite) mineral deposits (Knopf, 1924; Kerr and Jenney,...
Can managers compensate for coyote predation of white-tailed deer?
Kelly F. Robinson, Duane R. Diefenbach, Angela K. Fuller, Jeremy E. Hurst, Christopher S. Rosenberry
2014, Journal of Wildlife Management (78) 571-579
Many studies have documented that coyotes (Canis latrans) are the greatest source of natural mortality for white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) neonates (<3 months old). With the range expansion of coyotes eastward in North America, many stakeholders are concerned that coyote predation may be affecting deer populations adversely. We hypothesized that...
Using dissolved organic matter age and composition to detect permafrost thaw in boreal watersheds of interior Alaska
Jonathan A. O’Donnell, George R. Aiken, Michelle Ann Walvoord, Peter A. Raymond, Kenna D. Butler, Mark M. Dornblaser, Katherine Heckman
2014, Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences (119) 2155-2170
Recent warming at high latitudes has accelerated permafrost thaw, which can modify soil carbon dynamics and watershed hydrology. The flux and composition of dissolved organic matter (DOM) from soils to rivers are sensitive to permafrost configuration and its impact on subsurface hydrology and groundwater discharge. Here, we evaluate the utility...
Multisystem dating of modern river detritus from Tajikistan and China: Implications for crustal evolution and exhumation of the Pamir
Barbara Carappa, F.S. Mustapha, Michael A. Cosca, George E. Gehrels, L Schoenbhohm, E. Sobel, DeCelles.P., Joellen Russell, Paul Goodman
2014, Lithosphere (6) 443-455
The Pamir is the western continuation of Tibet and the site of some of the highest mountains on Earth, yet comparatively little is known about its crustal and tectonic evolution and erosional history. Both Tibet and the Pamir are characterized by similar terranes and sutures that can be correlated along...
Quaternary geology of the Boston area: Glacial events from Lake Charles to Lake Aberjona
Byron D. Stone, John W. Lane Jr.
2014, Book chapter, 2014 Guidebook for Field Trips in Southeastern New England
The multiple-glacial and glaciomarine Quaternary history of the Boston, Massachusetts area has been known generally since the earliest studies of the then newly recognized glacial deposits described by Prof. Louis Agassiz in the late1840’s and fossil marine shells in the drift in the 1850’s. Attention then turned to possible glacial...
Effects of fine sediment, hyporheic flow, and spawning site characteristics on survival and development of bull trout embryos
Tracy Bowerman, Bethany Neilson, Phaedra E. Budy
2014, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (71) 1059-1071
Successful spawning is imperative for the persistence of salmonid populations, but relatively little research has been conducted to evaluate factors affecting early life-stage survival for bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus), a threatened char. We conducted a field experiment to assess the relationship between site-specific environmental factors and bull trout embryo survival...
Chemical mixtures in potable water in the U.S.
Sarah J. Ryker
2014, Book chapter, Comprehensive water quality and purification
In recent years, regulators have devoted increasing attention to health risks from exposure to multiple chemicals. In 1996, the US Congress directed the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to study mixtures of chemicals in drinking water, with a particular focus on potential interactions affecting chemicals' joint toxicity. The task is...
The environmental and medical geochemistry of potentially hazardous materials produced by disasters
Geoffrey S. Plumlee, Suzette A. Morman, G.P. Meeker, Todd M. Hoefen, Philip L. Hageman, Ruth E. Wolf
2014, Book chapter, Treatise on Geochemistry
Many natural or human-caused disasters release potentially hazardous materials (HM) that may pose threats to the environment and health of exposed humans, wildlife, and livestock. This chapter summarizes the environmentally and toxicologically significant physical, mineralogical, and geochemical characteristics of materials produced by a wide variety of recent disasters, such as...
A multiple-tracer approach to understanding regional groundwaterflow in the Snake Valley area of the eastern Great Basin, USA
Philip M. Gardner
2014, Applied Geochemistry (45) 33-49
Groundwater in Snake Valley and surrounding basins in the eastern Great Basin province of the western United States is being targeted for large-scale groundwater extraction and export. Concern about declining groundwater levels and spring flows in western Utah as a result of the proposed groundwater withdrawals has led to efforts that have improved...
Micro-seismicity and seismic moment release within the Coso Geothermal Field, California
J. Ole Kaven, Stephen H. Hickman, Nicholas C. Davatzes
2014, Conference Paper, Proceedings, Thirty-Ninth Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Engineering
We relocate 16 years of seismicity in the Coso Geothermal Field (CGF) using differential travel times and simultaneously invert for seismic velocities to improve our knowledge of the subsurface geologic and hydrologic structure. We expand on our previous results by doubling the number of relocated events from April 1996 through...
Introduction: Hazard mapping
Rex L. Baum, Toyohiko Miyagi, Saro Lee, Oleksandr M Trofymchuk
2014, Book chapter, Landslide science for a safer geoenvironment
Twenty papers were accepted into the session on landslide hazard mapping for oral presentation. The papers presented susceptibility and hazard analysis based on approaches ranging from field-based assessments to statistically based models to assessments that combined hydromechanical and probabilistic components. Many of the studies have taken advantage of increasing availability...
Optimally managing water resources in large river basins for an uncertain future
Jr. Edwin A. Roehl, Paul Conrads
2014, Book
Managers of large river basins face conflicting needs for water resources such as wildlife habitat, water supply, wastewater assimilative capacity, flood control, hydroelectricity, and recreation. The Savannah River Basin for example, has experienced three major droughts since 2000 that resulted in record low water levels in its reservoirs, impacting local...
Seismic monitoring at the Decatur, Ill., CO2 sequestration demonstration site
J. Ole Kaven, Stephen H. Hickman, Arthur F. McGarr, Steve R. Walter, William L. Ellsworth
2014, Conference Paper, Energy Procedia
The viability of carbon capture and storage (CCS) to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases depends on the ability to safely sequester large quantities of CO2 over geologic time scales. One concern with CCS is the potential of induced seismicity. We report on ongoing seismic monitoring by the U.S. Geological Survey...
Concealed basalt-matrix diatremes with Cu-Au-Ag-(Mo)-mineralized xenoliths, Santa Cruz Porphyry Cu-(Mo) System, Pinal County, Arizona
Peter G. Vikre, Frederick Graybeal, Fleetwood R. Koutz
2014, Economic Geology (109) 1271-1289
The Santa Cruz porphyry Cu-(Mo) system near Casa Grande, Arizona, includes the Sacaton mine deposits and at least five other concealed, mineralized fault blocks with an estimated minimum resource of 1.5 Gt @ 0.6% Cu. The Late Cretaceous-Paleocene system has been dismembered and rotated by Tertiary extension, partially eroded, and...
Preslip and cascade processes initiating laboratory stick slip
Gregory C. McLaskey, David A. Lockner
2014, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (119) 6323-6336
Recent modeling studies have explored whether earthquakes begin with a large aseismic nucleation process or initiate dynamically from the rapid growth of a smaller instability in a “cascade-up” process. To explore such a case in the laboratory, we study the initiation of dynamic rupture (stick slip) of a smooth saw-cut...
A large mantle water source for the northern San Andreas Fault System: A ghost of subduction past
Stephen H. Kirby, Kelin Wang, Thomas M. Brocher
2014, Earth, Planets and Space (66-67)
Recent research indicates that the shallow mantle of the Cascadia subduction margin under near-coastal Pacific Northwest U.S. is cold and partially serpentinized, storing large quantities of water in this wedge-shaped region. Such a wedge probably formed to the south in California during an earlier period of subduction. We show by...
Volcanoes of the passive margin: The youngest magmatic event in eastern North America
Sarah E Mazza, Esteban Gazel, Elizabeth A Johnson, Michael J. Kunk, Ryan J. McAleer, James A Spotila, Michael Bizimis, Drew S Coleman
2014, Geology (42) 483-486
The rifted eastern North American margin (ENAM) provides important clues to the long-term evolution of continental margins. An Eocene volcanic swarm exposed in the Appalachian Valley and Ridge Province of Virginia and West Virginia (USA) contains the youngest known igneous rocks in the ENAM. These magmas provide the only window...
The Lepanto Cu–Au deposit, Philippines: A fossil hyperacidic volcanic lake complex
Byron R. Berger, Richard W. Henley, Heather A. Lowers, Michael J. Pribil
2014, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (271) 70-82
Hyperacidic lakes and associated solfatara in active volcanoes are the expression of magmatic gas expansion from source to surface. Here we show for the first time, that the vein system that comprises the ~ 2 Ma high-sulfidation, Lepanto copper–gold deposit in the Mankayan district (Philippines) was associated with a contemporary hyperacidic volcanic...
Reanalysis of historical U.S. Geological Survey sediment samples for geochemical data from the western part of the Wrangellia terrane, Anchorage, Gulkana, Healy, Mt. Hayes, Nabesna, and Talkeetna Mountains quadrangles, Alaska
Melanie B. Werdon, Jaime S. Azain, Matthew Granitto
2014, Report
The State of Alaska’s Strategic and Critical Minerals (SCM) Assessment project, a State-funded Capital Improvement Project (CIP), is designed to evaluate Alaska’s statewide potential for SCM resources. The SCM Assessment is being implemented by the Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS), and involves obtaining new airborne-geophysical, geological, and...
Flow and sorption controls of groundwater arsenic in individual boreholes from bedrock aquifers in central Maine, USA
Qiang Yang, Charles W. Culbertson, Martha G. Nielsen, Charles W. Schalk, Carole D. Johnson, Robert G. Marvinney, Martin Stute, Yan Zheng
2014, Science of the Total Environment (505) 1291-1307
To understand the hydrogeochemical processes regulating well water arsenic (As) evolution in fractured bedrock aquifers, three domestic wells with [As] up to 478 μg/L are investigated in central Maine. Geophysical logging reveals that fractures near the borehole bottom contribute 70-100% of flow. Borehole and fracture water samples from various depths...
Petroleum systems and assessment of undiscovered oil and gas in the Anadarko Basin Province, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas: USGS Province 58
Debra K. Higley
2014, Data Series 69-EE
This publication provides research results and related data in support of the U.S. Geological Survey assessment of the undiscovered oil and gas resource potential of the Anadarko Basin Province of western Oklahoma and Kansas, northern Texas, and southeastern Colorado. This province area includes the Las Animas arch of southeastern Colorado,...
Modeling uncertainty in coal resource assessments, with an application to a central area of the Gillette coal field, Wyoming
Ricardo A. Olea, James A. Luppens
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5196
Standards for the public disclosure of mineral resources and reserves do not require the use of any specific methodology when it comes to estimating the reliability of the resources. Unbeknownst to most intended recipients of resource appraisals, such freedom commonly results in subjective opinions or estimations based on suboptimal approaches,...
Status and understanding of groundwater quality in the Sierra Nevada Regional study unit, 2008: California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Miranda S. Fram, Kenneth Belitz
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5174
Groundwater quality in the Sierra Nevada Regional (SNR) study unit was investigated as part of the California State Water Resources Control Board’s Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment Program Priority Basin Project. The study was designed to provide statistically unbiased assessments of the quality of untreated groundwater within the primary aquifer...
