Publications
Publications from the staff of the Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center
Filter Total Items: 2350
From data to interpretable models: Machine learning for soil moisture forecasting
Soil moisture is critical to agricultural business, ecosystem health, and certain hydrologically driven natural disasters. Monitoring data, though, is prone to instrumental noise, wide ranging extrema, and nonstationary response to rainfall where ground conditions change. Furthermore, existing soil moisture models generally forecast poorly for time periods greater than a few hours. To improve such
Authors
Aniruddha Basak, Kevin M. Schmidt, Ole Mengshoel
Advancing geophysical techniques to image a stratigraphic hydrothermal resource
Sedimentary-hosted geothermal energy systems are permeable structural, structural-stratigraphic, and/or stratigraphic horizons with sufficient temperature for direct use and/or electricity generation. Sedimentary-hosted (i.e., stratigraphic) geothermal reservoirs may be present in multiple locations across the central and eastern Great Basin of the USA, thereby constituting a potentially large bas
Authors
Paul Schwering, Carmen Winn, Piyoosh Jaysaval, Hunter Knox, Drew L. Siler, Christian Hardwick, Bridget Ayling, James Faulds, Elijah Mlawsky, Emma McConville, Jack Norbeck, Nicholas Hinz, Gabe Matson, John Queen
Comparing root cohesion estimates from three models at a shallow landslide in the Oregon Coast Range
Although accurate root cohesion model estimates are essential to quantify the effect of vegetation roots on shallow slope stability, few means exist to independently validate such model outputs. One validation approach for cohesion estimates is back-calculation of apparent root cohesion at a landslide site with well-documented failure conditions. The catchment named CB1, near Coos Bay, Oregon, USA
Authors
Collin Cronkite-Ratcliff, Kevin M. Schmidt, Charlotte Wirion
Microbiome assembly in thawing permafrost and its feedbacks to climate
The physical and chemical changes that accompany permafrost thaw directly influence the microbial communities that mediate the decomposition of formerly frozen organic matter, leading to uncertainty in permafrost–climate feedbacks. Although changes to microbial metabolism and community structure are documented following thaw, the generality of post-thaw assembly patterns across permafrost soils of
Authors
Jessica G. Ernakovich, Robyn A. Barbato, Virginia Rich, Christina Schädel, Rebecca E. Hewitt, Stacey Doherty, Emily Whalen, Benjamin Abbott, Jiri Barta, Christina Biasi, Chris Chabot, Jenni Hultman, Christian Knoblauch, Maggie Chui Yim Lau Vetter, Mary-Cathrine Leewis, Susanne Liebner, Rachel Mackelprang, Tullis Onstott, Andreas Richter, Ursel M. E. Schütte, Henri Siljanen, Neslihan Taş, Ina Timling, Tatiana Vishnivetskaya, Mark Waldrop, Matthias Winkel
What did they just say? Building a Rosetta stone for geoscience and machine learning
Modern advancements in science and engineering are built upon multidisciplinary projects that bring experts together from different fields. Within their respective disciplines, researchers rely on precise terminology for specific ideas, principles, methods, and theories. Hence, the potential for miscommunication is substantial, especially when common words have been adopted by one (or both) group(
Authors
Stanley Paul Mordensky, John Lipor, Erick R. Burns, Cary Ruth Lindsey
Microbial endophytes and compost improve plant growth in two contrasting types of hard rock mining waste
The re-vegetation of mining wastes with native plants is a comparatively low-cost solution for mine reclamation. However, re-vegetation fails when extreme pH values, low organic matter, or high concentrations of phytotoxic elements inhibit plant establishment and growth. Our aim was to determine whether the combined addition of municipal waste compost and diazotrophic endophytes (i.e., microorgani
Authors
Courtney Creamer, Mary-Catherine Leewis, Francesca C. Governali, John Freeman, Floyd Gray, Emily G. Wright, Andrea L. Foster
Methods for robust estimates of tree biomass from pollen accumulation rates: Quantifying paleoecological reconstruction uncertainty
Pollen accumulation rates (PAR, grains cm–2 year–1) have been shown to be a reliable but methodologically complex bioproxy for quantitative reconstruction of past tree abundance. In a prior study, we found that the PARs of major tree taxa – Pseudotsuga, Pinus, Notholithocarpus, and the pollen group TC (Taxaceae and Cupressaceae families) – were robust and precise estimators of contemporary tree bi
Authors
Clarke Alexandra Knight, John J. Battles, M. Jane Bunting, Marie Rhondelle Champagne, James A. Wanket, David Wahl
Achieving sub-nanoTesla precision in multirotor UAV aeromagnetic surveys
An uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) multirotor aeromagnetic system using a 5-m sling load for a magnetic sensor system is described and characterized. Four magnetic surveys with identical flight lines were completed, at two nominal altitudes of 25 and 40 m. The surveys were used to assess the repeatability of data collected with the described UAV aeromagnetic system, and comparison with a ground surv
Authors
Geoffrey Phelps, Robert E. Bracken, John Spritzer, David S. White
Mississippian sedimentary facies patterns in east-central California and implications for development of the Permian last chance thrust
Mississippian sedimentary facies belts in east-central California, occurring primarily in the autochthon (lower plate) of the Last Chance Thrust, are consistently oriented in a northeast–southwest direction. The boundary of one belt is marked by the depositional limit of the Osagean to Meramecian Santa Rosa Hills Limestone; a second belt farther to the northwest is bordered by the erosional trunca
Authors
Calvin H. Stevens, Paul Stone
Evolution of the last chance thrust concept
The concept of the Permian Last Chance Thrust has passed through many stages. Here we point out which critical observations have led to changes in the way this important feature has been interpreted.
Authors
Calvin H. Stevens, Paul Stone
Remote sensing application for landslide detection, monitoring along eastern Lake Michigan (Miami Park, MI)
We assessed the nature and spatial and temporal patterns of deformation over the Miami Park bluffs on the eastern margin of Lake Michigan and investigated the factors controlling its observed deformation. Our approach involved the following steps: (1) extracting bluff deformation rates (velocities along the line of sight of the satellite) using a stack of Sentinel-1A radar imagery in ascending acq
Authors
Guzalay Sataer, Mohamed Sultan, Mustafa Kemal Emil, John A. Yellich, Monica Palaseanu-Lovejoy, Richard Becker, Esayas Gebremichael, Karem Abdelmohsen
Tephrochronology of the Miocene Monterey and Modelo Formations, California
Tuff beds have been known in the Miocene Monterey and Modelo Formations since the initial descriptions; however, age control and correlation is predominantly biostratigraphy. Here we combine tephrochronology and biostratigraphy in order to provide numerical age control for eight sedimentary sequences of the Monterey and Modelo Formations from Monterey, California to Orange County, California. We c
Authors
Jeffrey R. Knott, Andrei M. Sarna-Wojcicki, John A. Barron, Elmira Wan, Nancy Heizler, Priscilla Martinez