Three-Dimensional Geologic Map of the Hayward Fault Zone, San Francisco Bay Region, California
G. A. Phelps, R. W. Graymer, R.C. Jachens, D. A. Ponce, R.W. Simpson, C. M. Wentworth
2008, Scientific Investigations Map 3045
A three-dimensional (3D) geologic map of the Hayward Fault zone was created by integrating the results from geologic mapping, potential field geophysics, and seismology investigations. The map volume is 100 km long, 20 km wide, and extends to a depth of 12 km below sea level. The map volume is...
StreamStats: A water resources web application
Kernell G. Ries III, John D. Guthrie, Alan H. Rea, Peter A. Steeves, David W. Stewart
2008, Fact Sheet 2008-3067
Streamflow statistics, such as the 1-percent flood, the mean flow, and the 7-day 10-year low flow, are used by engineers, land managers, biologists, and many others to help guide decisions in their everyday work. For example, estimates of the 1-percent flood (the flow that is exceeded, on average, once in...
Debris flows and floods in southeastern Arizona from extreme precipitation in July 2006 — Magnitude, frequency, and sediment delivery
Robert H. Webb, Christopher S. Magirl, Peter G. Griffiths, Diane E. Boyer
2008, Open-File Report 2008-1274
From July 31 to August 1, 2006, an unusual set of atmospheric conditions aligned to produce record floods and an unprecedented number of slope failures and debris flows in southeastern Arizona. During the week leading up to the event, an upper-level low-pressure system centered over New Mexico generated widespread and...
Assessment of Moderate- and High-Temperature Geothermal Resources of the United States
Colin F. Williams, Marshall J. Reed, Robert H. Mariner, Jacob DeAngelo, S. Peter Galanis
2008, Fact Sheet 2008-3082
Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently completed an assessment of our Nation's geothermal resources. Geothermal power plants are currently operating in six states: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, and Utah. The assessment indicates that the electric power generation potential from identified geothermal systems is 9,057 Megawatts-electric (MWe), distributed...
Description of Existing Data for Integrated Landscape Monitoring in the Puget Sound Basin, Washington
Danielle P. Aiello, Alicia A. Torregrosa, Allyson L. Jason, Tracy L. Fuentes, Edward G. Josberger
2008, Open-File Report 2008-1308
This report summarizes existing geospatial data and monitoring programs for the Puget Sound Basin in northwestern Washington. This information was assembled as a preliminary data-development task for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Puget Sound Integrated Landscape Monitoring (PSILM) pilot project. The PSILM project seeks to support natural resource decision-making by...
The Role of Eolian Sediment in the Preservation of Archeologic Sites Along the Colorado River Corridor in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
Amy E. Draut, David M. Rubin
2008, Professional Paper 1756
Since the closure of Glen Canyon Dam in 1963, the natural hydrologic and sedimentary systems along the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon reach have changed substantially (see, for example, Andrews, 1986; Johnson and Carothers, 1987; Webb and others, 1999b; Rubin and others, 2002; Topping and others, 2003; Wright and...
Audiomagnetotelluric data and preliminary two-dimensional models from Spring, Dry Lake, and Delamar Valleys, Nevada
Darcy McPhee, Bruce A. Chuchel, Louise Pellerin
2008, Open-File Report 2008-1301
This report presents audiomagnetotelluric (AMT) data along fourteen profiles in Spring, Delamar, and Dry Lake Valleys, and the corresponding preliminary two-dimensional (2-D) inverse models. The AMT method is a valuable tool for estimating the electrical resistivity of the Earth over depth ranges from a few meters to less than one...
A Bernoulli Formulation of the Land-Use Portfolio Model
Richard A. Champion
2008, Open-File Report 2008-1310
Decision making for natural-hazards mitigation can be sketched as knowledge available in advance (a priori), knowledge available later (a posteriori), and how consequences of the mitigation decision might be viewed once future outcomes are known. Two outcomes - mitigating for a hazard event that will occur, and not mitigating for...
Applying the land use portfolio model to estimate natural-hazard loss and risk — A hypothetical demonstration for Ventura County, California
Laura B. Dinitz
2008, Open-File Report 2008-1309
With costs of natural disasters skyrocketing and populations increasingly settling in areas vulnerable to natural hazards, society is challenged to better allocate its limited risk-reduction resources. In 2000, Congress passed the Disaster Mitigation Act, amending the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief...
Hydrologic and Water-Quality Responses in Shallow Ground Water Receiving Stormwater Runoff and Potential Transport of Contaminants to Lake Tahoe, California and Nevada, 2005-07
Jena M. Green, Carl E. Thodal, Toby L. Welborn
2008, Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5162
Clarity of Lake Tahoe, California and Nevada has been decreasing due to inflows of sediment and nutrients associated with stormwater runoff. Detention basins are considered effective best management practices for mitigation of suspended sediment and nutrients associated with runoff, but effects of infiltrated stormwater on shallow ground water are not...
Collection and analysis of samples for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in dust and other solids related to sealed and unsealed pavement from 10 cities across the United States, 2005-07
Peter C. Van Metre, Barbara Mahler, Jennifer T. Wilson, Teresa L. Burbank
2008, Data Series 361
Parking lots and driveways are dominant features of the modern urban landscape, and in the United States, sealcoat is widely used on these surfaces. One of the most widely used types of sealcoat contains refined coal tar; coal-tar-based sealcoat products have a mean polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentration of about...
Mapping "old" versus "young" piñon-juniper stands with a predictive topo-climatic model in north-central New Mexico, USA
B. F. Jacobs, W.H. Romme, Craig D. Allen
2008, Ecological Applications (18) 1627-1641
Piñon pine and juniper woodlands in the southwestern United States are often represented as an expanding and even invasive vegetation type, a legacy of historic grazing, and culpable in the degradation of western rangelands. A long-standing emphasis on forage production, in combination with recent hazard fuel concerns, has prompted a...
Rapid exposure and loss estimates for the May 12, 2008 Mw 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake provided by the U.S. Geological Survey's PAGER system
P.S. Earle, D.J. Wald, T.I. Allen, K. S. Jaiswal, K.A. Porter, M.G. Hearne
2008, Book, The 14th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering
One half-hour after the May 12th Mw 7.9 Wenchuan, China earthquake, the U.S. Geological Survey’s Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) system distributed an automatically generated alert stating that 1.2 million people were exposed to severe-to-extreme shaking (Modified Mercalli Intensity VIII or greater). It was immediately clear that...
An integrated geophysical approach for groundwater and seismic hazard management in Joshua Tree National Park, southern California
Darcy McPhee, Victoria E. Langenheim, Bruce A. Chuchel, Louise Pellerin
2008, Conference Paper, Symposium on the application of geophysics to engineering and environmental problems 2008
Two‐dimensional inversion of audiomagnetotelluric (AMT) sounding data define buried resistivity distributions that reflect subsurface geology and structure within the upper kilometer beneath Pleasant Valley, a 1–2 km‐deep pull‐apart basin in Joshua Tree National Park, southern California. The Park lies within the Eastern California Shear Zone just east of the San...
Controls on alluvial fan long-profiles
J. D. Stock, K. M. Schmidt, D. M. Miller
2008, Geological Society of America Bulletin (120) 619-640
Water and debris flows exiting confined valleys have a tendency to deposit sediment on steep fans. On alluvial fans where water transport of gravel predominates, channel slopes tend to decrease downfan from ~0.10–0.04 to ~0.01 across wide ranges of climate and tectonism. Some have argued that this pattern reflects grain-size...
USGS Polar Temperature Logging System, Description and Measurement Uncertainties
Gary D. Clow
2008, Techniques and Methods 2-E3
This paper provides an updated technical description of the USGS Polar Temperature Logging System (PTLS) and a complete assessment of the measurement uncertainties. This measurement system is used to acquire subsurface temperature data for climate-change detection in the polar regions and for reconstructing past climate changes using the 'borehole paleothermometry'...
Protocol for monitoring metals in Ozark National Scenic Riverways, Missouri: Version 1.0
Christopher J. Schmitt, William G. Brumbaugh, John M. Besser, Jo Ellen Hinck, David E. Bowles, Lloyd W. Morrison, Michael H. Williams
2008, Open-File Report 2008-1269
The National Park Service is developing a monitoring plan for the Ozark National Scenic Riverways in southeastern Missouri. Because of concerns about the release of lead, zinc, and other metals from lead-zinc mining to streams, the monitoring plan will include mining-related metals. After considering a variety of alternatives, the plan...
Laboratory-Measured and Property-Transfer Modeled Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity of Snake River Plain Aquifer Sediments at the Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho
Kim S. Perkins
2008, Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5169
Sediments are believed to comprise as much as 50 percent of the Snake River Plain aquifer thickness in some locations within the Idaho National Laboratory. However, the hydraulic properties of these deep sediments have not been well characterized and they are not represented explicitly in the current conceptual model of...
Coeur d'Alene Lake, Idaho: Insights gained From limnological studies of 1991-92 and 2004-06
Molly S. Wood, Michael A. Beckwith
2008, Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5168
More than 100 years of mining and processing of metal-rich ores in northern Idaho’s Coeur d’Alene River basin have resulted in widespread metal contamination of the basin’s soil, sediment, water, and biota, including Coeur d’Alene Lake. Previous studies reported that about 85 percent of the bottom of Coeur d’Alene...
Simulation of streamflow and selected water-quality constituents through a model of the Onondaga Lake Basin, Onondaga County, New York — A guide to model application
William F. Coon
2008, Open-File Report 2008-1188
A computer model of hydrologic and water-quality processes of the Onondaga Lake basin in Onondaga County, N.Y., was developed during 2003-07 to assist water-resources managers in making basin-wide management decisions that could affect peak flows and the water quality of tributaries to Onondaga Lake. The model was developed with the...
Recovery of Ground-Water Levels from 1988 to 2003 and Analysis of Effects of 2003 and Full-Allocation Withdrawals in Critical Area 2, Southern New Jersey
Frederick J. Spitz, Vincent T. dePaul
2008, Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5142
Water levels in the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer system within Water Supply Critical Area 2 in the southern New Jersey Coastal Plain have recovered as a result of reductions in ground-water withdrawals initiated in the early 1990s. The Critical Area consists of the depleted zone and the threatened margin. The Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer...
Hydrogeology, Water Chemistry, and Factors Affecting the Transport of Contaminants in the Zone of Contribution of a Public-Supply Well in Modesto, Eastern San Joaquin Valley, California
Bryant C. Jurgens, Karen R. Burow, Barbara A. Dalgish, Jennifer L. Shelton
2008, Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5156
Ground-water chemistry in the zone of contribution of a public-supply well in Modesto, California, was studied by the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program's topical team for Transport of Anthropogenic and Natural Contaminants (TANC) to supply wells. Twenty-three monitoring wells were installed in Modesto to record baseline...
Geographic Names of Iceland's Glaciers: Historic and Modern
Oddur Sigurdsson, Richard S. Williams Jr.
2008, Professional Paper 1746
Climatic changes and resulting glacier fluctuations alter landscapes. In the past, such changes were noted by local residents who often documented them in historic annals; eventually, glacier variations were recorded on maps and scientific reports. In Iceland, 10 glacier place-names are to be found in Icelandic sagas, and one of...
Source, Distribution, and Management of Arsenic in Water from Wells, Eastern San Joaquin Ground-Water Subbasin, California
John A. Izbicki, Christina L. Stamos, Loren F. Metzger, Keith J. Halford, Thomas R. Kulp, George L. V Bennett V
2008, Open-File Report 2008-1272
Between 1974 and 2001 water from as many as one-third of wells in the Eastern San Joaquin Ground Water Subbasin, about 80 miles east of San Francisco, had arsenic concentrations greater than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for arsenic of 10 micrograms per liter (ug/L). Water...
Statistical Stationarity of Sediment Interbed Thicknesses in a Basalt Aquifer, Idaho National Laboratory, Eastern Snake River Plain, Idaho
Caleb N. Stroup, John A. Welhan, Linda C. Davis
2008, Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5167
The statistical stationarity of distributions of sedimentary interbed thicknesses within the southwestern part of the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) was evaluated within the stratigraphic framework of Quaternary sediments and basalts at the INL site, eastern Snake River Plain, Idaho. The thicknesses of 122 sedimentary interbeds observed in 11 coreholes were...
