Publications
Publications from the staff of the Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center
Filter Total Items: 2354
New maps of conductive heat flow in the Great Basin, USA: Separating conductive and convective influences
Geothermal well data from Southern Methodist University and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) were used to create maps of estimated background conductive heat flow across the Great Basin region of the western United States. These heat flow maps were generated as part of the USGS hydrothermal and Enhanced Geothermal Systems resource assessment process, and the creation process seeks to remove the i
Authors
Jacob DeAngelo, Erick R. Burns, Emilie Gentry, Joseph F. Batir, Cary Ruth Lindsey, Stanley Paul Mordensky
Revising supraglacial rock avalanche magnitudes and frequencies in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska
The frequency of large supraglacial landslides (rock avalanches) occurring in glacial environments is thought to be increasing due to feedbacks with climate warming and permafrost degradation. However, it is difficult to (i) test this; (ii) establish cause–effect relationships; and (iii) determine associated lag-times, due to both temporal and spatial biases in detection rates. Here we applied the
Authors
William Smith, Stuart A. Dunning, Neil Ross, Jon Telling, Erin K. Bessette-Kirton, Dan H. Shugar, Jeffrey A. Coe, M. Geertsema
Paleomagnetically defined brief lifespans for two large shield volcanoes in the Cascades Arc
Mafic to intermediate shield volcanoes with multi-cubic-kilometer eruptive volumes are common in the Cascades Volcanic Arc, but little is known about their eruptive histories as either singular or sustained episodes, or the total time required for their construction. Paleomagnetic data were collected from the lava flows of Ash Creek Butte (17 sites) and Crater Mountain (14 sites) in northern Calif
Authors
Anthony Francis Pivarunas, Dawnika Blatter, L. J. Patrick Muffler, Michael A. Clynne, Andrew T. Calvert, Lauren N Harrison, R.L. Christiansen
Magmatic record of changing Cordilleran plate-boundary conditions—Insights from Lu-Hf isotopes in the Mojave Desert
Belts of Cordilleran arc plutons in the eastern part of the Mojave crustal province, inboard from the southwestern North American plate boundary, record major magmatic pulses at ca. 180–160 and 75 Ma and smaller pulses at ca. 100 and 20 Ma. This cyclic magmatism likely reflects evolving plate-margin processes. Zircon Lu-Hf isotopic characteristics and inherited zircons for different-age plutons ma
Authors
Keith A. Howard, S.E. Shaw, Charlotte M. Allen
Signatures of high-latitude waves in observations of geomagnetic acceleration
Models for the second time-derivative of the geomagnetic field reveal prominent activity at high latitudes. Alternating patches of positive and negative geomagnetic acceleration propagate to the west at speeds that exceed nominal fluid velocities in the core. We show that waves are a viable interpretation of these observations. Magnetic Rossby waves produce a high-latitude response with suitable p
Authors
Rodrigo Chi-Duran, Margaret Susan Avery, Bruce Buffett
The curious case of the old dog in the sand
The discovery of a large fossil canid jawbone in Idaho gives clues to the region’s diverse, verdant past.
Authors
Kari A. Prassack, Laura Walkup
Effects of structure and volcanic stratigraphy on groundwater and surface water flow: Hat Creek basin, California, USA
Hydrogeologic systems in the southern Cascade Range in California (USA) develop in volcanic rocks where morphology, stratigraphy, extensional structures, and attendant basin geometry play a central role in groundwater flow paths, groundwater/surface-water interactions, and spring discharge locations. High-volume springs (greater than 3 m3/s) flow from basin-filling (<800 ka) volcanic rocks in the
Authors
Marina Francesca Marcelli, Erick R. Burns, L. J. Patrick Muffler, Andrew J Meigs, Jennifer A. Curtis, Christian E. Torgersen
Geochemistry and fluxes of gases from hydrothermal features at Newberry Volcano, Oregon, USA
We present the chemical and isotopic compositions of gases and fluxes of CO2 from the hydrothermal features of Newberry Volcano, a large composite volcano located in Oregon's Cascade Range with a summit caldera that hosts two lakes, Paulina and East Lakes. Gas samples were collected from 1982 to 2021 from Paulina Hot Springs (PHS) on the shore of Paulina Lake, East Lake Hot Springs (ELHS) on the s
Authors
Jennifer L. Lewicki, William C. Evans, Steven E. Ingebritsen, Laura E. Clor, Peter J. Kelly, Sara Peek, Robert A. Jensen, Andrew Hunt
Inversions of landslide strength as a proxy for subsurface weathering
Distributions of landslide size are hypothesized to reflect hillslope strength, and consequently weathering patterns. However, the association of weathering and critical zone architecture with mechanical strength properties of parent rock and soil are poorly-constrained. Here we use three-dimensional stability to analyze 7330 landslides in western Oregon to infer combinations of strength - frictio
Authors
Stefano Alberti, Ben Leshchinksy, Joshua J. Roering, Jonathan P. Perkins, Michael Olsen
Last Glacial Maximum and early deglaciation in the Stura Valley, southwestern European Alps
We combined data from geomorphologic surveys, glacial modelling, and 10Be exposure ages of boulders on moraines, to investigate the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the early retreat glacial phases in the Stura Valley of the Maritime Alps. We used the exposure ages to reconstruct the timing of standstills or readvances which interrupted the post-LGM withdrawal, initiated ∼24 ka. We mapped and dated
Authors
Adriano Ribolini, Matteo Spagnolo, Andrew J. Cyr, Paolo Roberto Federici
Limits to coseismic landslides triggered by Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquakes
Landslides are a significant hazard and dominant feature throughout the landscape of the Pacific Northwest. However, the hazard and risk posed by coseismic landslides triggered by great Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) earthquakes is highly uncertain due to a lack of local and global data. Despite a wealth of other geologic evidence for past earthquakes on the Cascadia Subduction Zone, no landslides
Authors
Alex R. R. Grant, William Struble, Sean Richard LaHusen
Measuring and attributing sedimentary and geomorphic responses to modern climate change: Challenges and opportunities
Today, climate change is affecting virtually all terrestrial and nearshore settings. This commentary discusses the challenges of measuring climate-driven physical landscape responses to modern global warming: short and incomplete data records, land use and seismicity masking climatic effects, biases in data availability and resolution, and signal attenuation in sedimentary systems. We identify opp
Authors
Amy E. East, Jonathan Warrick, Dongfeng Li, Joel B. Sankey, Margaret H. Redsteer, Ann E. Gibbs, Jeffrey A. Coe, Patrick L. Barnard