Publications
Filter Total Items: 2585
Effects of local geology on ground motion near San Francisco Bay
Measurements of ground motion generated by nuclear explosions in Nevada were made for 37 locations near San Francisco Bay, California. The results were compared with the San Francisco 1906 earthquake intensities and the strong-motion recordings of the San Francisco earthquake of March 22, 1957. The recordings show marked amplitude variations which are related consistently to the geologic setting o
Authors
Roger D. Borcherdt
The Alaska earthquake, March 27, 1964: Lessons and conclusions
One of the greatest earthquakes of all time struck south-central Alaska on March 27, 1964. Strong motion lasted longer than for most recorded earthquakes, and more land surface was dislocated, vertically and horizontally, than by any known previous temblor. Never before were so many effects on earth processes and on the works of man available for study by scientists and engineers over so great an
Authors
Edwin B. Eckel
Effects of the earthquake of March 27, 1964, on the Alaska Railroad
In the 1964 Alaska earthquake, the federally owned Alaska Railroad sustained damage of more than $35 million: 54 percent of the cost for port facilities; 25 percent, roadbed and track; 9 percent, buildings and utilities; 7 percent, bridges and culverts; and 5 percent, landslide removal. Principal causes of damage were: (1) landslides, landslide-generated waves, and seismic sea waves that destroyed
Authors
David S. McCulloch, Manuel G. Bonilla
A computer program to trace seismic ray distribution in complex two-dimensional geological models
A computer program has been developed to trace seismic rays and their amplitudes and energies through complex two-dimensional geological models, for which boundaries between elastic units are defined by a series of digitized X-, Y-coordinate values. Input data for the program includes problem identification, control parameters, model coordinates and elastic parameter for the elastic units. The pro
Authors
Nazieh K. Yacoub, James H. Scott
Micromineralogy of silver-bearing sphalerite from Flat River, Missouri
Detailed mineralogical and chemical study of sphalerite-rich lead ores from Flat River, Mo., confirms the presence of anomalous amounts of silver in the sphalerite. Although silver is closely associated with chlorine and no silver sulfide minerals were identified, geochemical considerations indicate the silver may be in the form of discrete submicron-size grains of sulfide rather than chloride. Ho
Authors
Charles M. Taylor, Arthur S. Radtke
Geologic structure between the Murray fracture zone and the Transverse Ranges
The Murray fracture has been thought to extend ashore into the Transverse Ranges of California, but a geophysical study shows no evidence of structural continuity between these features. Instead, basement morphology typical of the Murray fracture zone ends where its known magnetic and bathymetric expression dies out. Similarly, east-west Transverse Range structures change direction so that they ar
Authors
Roland E. von Huene
The Alaska earthquake, March 27, 1964: Effects on communities
This is the second in a series of six reports that the U.S. Geological Survey published on the results of a comprehensive geologic study that began, as a reconnaissance survey, within 24 hours after the March 27, 1964, Magnitude 9.2 Great Alaska Earthquake and extended, as detailed investigations, through several field seasons. The 1964 Great Alaska earthquake was the largest earthquake in the U.S
Authors
Wallace R. Hansen, Reuben Kachadoorian, Henry W. Coulter, Ralph R. Migliaccio, Roger M. Waller, Kirk W. Stanley, Richard W. Lemke, George Plafker, Edwin B. Eckel, Lawrence R. Mayo
Effects of the earthquake of March 27, 1964, on various communities
The 1964 earthquake caused wide-spread damage to inhabited places throughout more than 60,000 square miles of south-central Alaska. This report describes damage to all communities in the area except Anchorage, Whittier, Homer, Valdez, Seward, the communities of the Kodiak group of islands, and communities in the Copper River Basin; these were discussed in previous chapters of the Geological Survey
Authors
George Plafker, Reuben Kachadoorian, Edwin B. Eckel, Lawrence R. Mayo
Tectonics of the March 27, 1964, Alaska earthquake
The March 27, 1964, earthquake was accomp anied by crustal deformation-including warping, horizontal distortion, and faulting-over probably more than 110,000 square miles of land and sea bottom in south-central Alaska. Regional uplift and subsidence occurred mainly in two nearly parallel elongate zones, together about 600 miles long and as much as 250 miles wide, that lie along the continental mar
Authors
George Plafker
Erosion and deposition on a beach raised by the 1964 earthquake Montague Island, Alaska
During the 1964 Alaska earthquake, tectonic deformation uplifted the southern end of Montague Island as much as 33 feet or more. The uplifted shoreline is rapidly being modified by subaerial and marine processes. The new raised beach is formed in bedrock, sand, gravel, and deltaic bay-head deposits, and the effect of each erosional process was measured in each material. Fieldwork was concentrated
Authors
M. J. Kirkby, Anne V. Kirkby
A method for estimating the uncertainty of seismic velocities measured by refraction techniques
Time residuals from 75-km segments of 18 crustal seismic-refraction profiles in the Basin and Range province are used to investigate the validity of the linear-regression model and to make large sample estimates of the variance in the travel time distributions.A formula for unbiased estimates of velocity uncertainty is derived, assuming a linear trend with distance for the variances of the travel-
Authors
Roger D. Borcherdt, J. H. Healy
Seismic seiches from the March 1964 Alaska earthquake
Seismic seiches caused by the Alaska earthquake of March 27, 1964, were recorded at more than 850 surface-water gaging stations in North America and at 4 in Australia. In the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, 763 of 6,435 gages registered seiches. Nearly all the seismic seiches were recorded at teleseismic distance. This is the first time such far-distant effects have been reported from
Authors
Arthur McGarr, Robert C. Vorhis