Publications
Publications from the staff of the Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center
Filter Total Items: 2350
A new data set of granitic rock strength values from Yosemite Valley, California: Applications to rock fall assessment
To explore connections between rock strength and rock falls, we undertook a comprehensive rock mechanics testing program for six granitic rock types in Yosemite Valley (California, USA) where rock falls are a common geomorphic and sometimes hazardous process. We collected samples from boulders located at the base of cliffs, with the inherent assumption that the intact boulders should provide reaso
Authors
Brian D. Collins, Federica Sandrone, Laurent Gastaldo, Greg M. Stock, Michel Jaboyedoff
Interpreting and reporting 40Ar/39Ar geochronologic data
The 40Ar/39Ar dating method is among the most versatile of geochronometers, having the potential to date a broad variety of K-bearing materials spanning from the time of Earth’s formation into the historical realm. Measurements using modern noble-gas mass spectrometers are now producing 40Ar/39Ar dates with analytical uncertainties of ∼0.1%, thereby providing precise time constraints for a wide ra
Authors
Allen J. Schaen, Brian R. Jicha, Kip V. Hodges, Pieter Vermeesch, Mark E. Stelten, Cameron M. Mercer, David Phillips, Tiffany Rivera, Fred Jourdan, Erin L. Matchan, Sidney R. Hemming, Leah E. Morgan, Simon P. Kelley, William S. Cassata, Matt T. Heizler, Paulo M. Vasconcelos, Jeff A. Benowitz, Anthony A.P. Koppers, Darren F. Mark, Elizabeth M. Niespolo, Courtney J. Sprain, William E. Hames, Klaudia F. Kuiper, Brent D. Turrin, Paul R. Renne, Jake Ross, Sebastian Nomade, Hervé Guillou, Laura E. Webb, Barbara A. Cohen, Andrew T. Calvert, Nancy Joyce, Morgan Ganderød, Jan Wijbrans, Osamu Ishizuka, Huaiyu He, Adán Ramirez, Jörg Pfänder, Margarita Lopez-Martínez, Huaning Qiu, Brad S. Singer
The Cenozoic evolution of crustal shortening and left‐lateral shear in the central East Kunlun Shan: Implications for the uplift history of the Tibetan Plateau
The timing of crustal shortening and strike‐slip faulting along the East Kunlun Shan provides insight into the history of surface uplift and may constrain the time at which the Tibetan Plateau reached high elevations. We investigate a series of extensional basins and restraining bends along the Xidatan strand of the Kunlun strike‐slip fault, which provide an ideal setting to unravel the tectonic h
Authors
Lydia M. Staisch, Nathan A Niemi, Marin K. Clark, Hong Chang
Using saline or brackish aquifers as reservoirs for thermal energy storage, with example calculations for direct-use heating in the Portland Basin, Oregon, USA
Tools to evaluate reservoir thermal energy storage (RTES; heat storage in slow-moving or stagnant geochemically evolved permeable zones in strata that underlie well-connected regional aquifers) are developed and applied to the Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG) beneath the Portland Basin, Oregon, USA. The performance of RTES for heat storage and recovery in the Portland Basin is strongly dependent
Authors
Erick Burns, John Bershaw, Colin F. Williams, Ray E Wells, Matt W Uddenberg, Darby P Scanlon, Trenton T Cladouhos, Boz Van Houten
Surface displacement distributions for the July 2019 Ridgecrest, California earthquake ruptures
Surface rupture in the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake sequence occurred along two orthogonal cross faults and includes dominantly left‐lateral and northeast‐striking rupture in the Mw 6.4 foreshock and dominantly right‐lateral and northwest‐striking rupture in the Mw 7.1 mainshock. We present >650 field‐based, surface‐displacement observations for these ruptures and synthesize our results
Authors
Christopher DuRoss, Ryan D. Gold, Timothy E. Dawson, Katherine Scharer, Katherine J. Kendrick, Sinan Akciz, Stephen J. Angster, Jeffery Bachhuber, Steven Bacon, Scott E. K. Bennett, Luke Blair, Benjamin A. Brooks, Thomas Bullard, W. Paul Burgess, Colin Chupik, Michael DeFrisco, Jaime Delano, James D. Dolan, Erik Frost, Nick Graehl, Elizabeth Haddon, Alexandra Elise Hatem, Janis Hernandez, Christopher S. Hitchcock, Kennth Hudnut, Jessica Thompson Jobe, Richard D Koehler, Ozgur Kozaci, Tyler C. Ladinsky, Christopher Madugo, Devin McPhillips, Christopher Milliner, Alexander Morelan, Brian Olson, Jason Patton, Belle E. Philibosian, Alexandra J. Pickering, Ian Pierce, Daniel J. Ponti, Gordon G. Seitz, Eleanor Spangler, Brian J. Swanson, Kate Thomas, Jerome Treiman, Francesca Valencia, Alana Williams, Robert Zinke
Response: Commentary: Variability in Shelf Sedimentation in Response to Fluvial Sediment Supply and Coastal Erosion Over the Past 1,000 Years in Monterey Bay, CA, United States
No abstract available.
Authors
Joe Carlin, Jason A. Addison, Amy Wagner, Valerie Evelyn Schwartz, Jamie Hayward, Victoria Severin
Rock strength properties of granitic rocks in Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, California
Yosemite National Park, located in the central part of California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, is a glacially carved landscape filled with iconic rock formations such as Cathedral Peak, El Capitan, and Half Dome. Igneous rocks, consisting primarily of variations of granite, granodiorite, and tonalite, make up the majority of the bedrock geology and their overall strength supports the spectacular cli
Authors
Brian D. Collins, Federica Sandrone, Laurent Gastaldo, Greg M. Stock, Michel Jaboyedoff
Using information from global climate models to inform policymaking—The role of the U.S. Geological Survey
This report provides an overview of model-based climate science in a risk management context. In addition, it summarizes how the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) will continue to follow best scientific practices and when and how the results of this research will be delivered to the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and other stakeholders to inform policymaking. Climate change is a risk management
Authors
Adam Terando, David Reidmiller, Steven W. Hostetler, Jeremy S. Littell, T. Douglas Beard, Sarah R. Weiskopf, Jayne Belnap, Geoffrey S. Plumlee
Between the supercontinents: Mesoproterozoic Deer Trail Group, an intermediate age unit between the Mesoproterozoic Belt–Purcell Supergroup and the Neoproterozoic Windermere Supergroup in northeastern Washington, USA
Mesoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic basins in western North America record the evolving position of the Laurentian craton within two supercontinents during their growth and dismemberment: Columbia (Nuna) and Rodinia. The western-most exposures of the Columbia rift-related Belt–Purcell Supergroup are preserved in northeastern Washington, structurally overlain by the Deer Trail Group and depositional
Authors
Stephen E. Box, Chad J. Pritchard, Travis S. Stephens, Paul B. O'Sullivan
Geophysical characterization of the Northwest Geysers geothermal field, California
The Clear Lake Volcanic Field in northern California is the youngest and northern-most part of a long-lived volcanic system that has produced recent (~10 ka) eruptions. Adjacent to the Clear Lake Volcanic Field is the worlds largest energy producing geothermal field, The Geysers. The hottest part of The Geysers geothermal field is in the northwest where temperatures reach ~400 C at 3 km depth. L
Authors
Jared R. Peacock, Tait E. Earney, Margret T. Mangan, William D. Schermerhorn, Jonathan M.G. Glen, Mark Walters, Craig Hartline
Correlations along a 140 km transect in the westernmost Peach Spring Tuff, and tracing changing facies through depositional environments
Tephrochronology is the correlation of tephra beds and tuffs by various means, and it is an important tool in refining stratigraphic and structural interpretations. The 18.78 Ma Peach Spring Tuff (PST) is a large-volume ignimbrite that was deposited across a ~200 km x 360 km area of southeastern California, northwestern Arizona, and southern Nevada. The PST is a valuable stratigraphic marker in
Authors
David C. Buesch
Time-dependent accumulation of Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, and Zn in mayfly and caddisfly larvae in experimental streams: Metal sensitivity, uptake pathways, and mixture toxicity
Conceptual and quantitative models were developed to assess time-dependent processes in four sequential experimental stream studies that determined abundances of natural communities of mayfly and caddisfly larvae dosed with single metals (Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, Zn) or multiple metals (Cd+Zn, Co+Cu, Cu+Ni, Cu+Zn, Ni+Zn, Cd+Cu+Zn, Co+Cu+Ni, Cu+Ni+Zn). Metal mixtures contained environmentally relevant meta
Authors
Laurie S. Balistrieri, Christopher A. Mebane, Travis S. Schmidt