Publications
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Extreme precipitation across adjacent burned and unburned watersheds reveals impacts of low severity wildfire on debris-flow processes
In steep landscapes, wildfire-induced changes to soil and vegetation can lead to extreme and hazardous geomorphic responses, including debris flows. The wildfire-induced mechanisms that lead to heightened geomorphic responses, however, depend on many site-specific factors including regional climate, vegetation, soil texture, and soil burn severity. As climate and land use change drive changes in f
Authors
Luke A. McGuire, Ann M. Youberg, Francis K. Rengers, Nathan S. Abramson, Indujaa Ganesh, Alex N. Gorr, Olivia Hoch, Justin C. Johnson, Patt Lamom, Alexander B. Prescott, Jessica Zanetell, Brendan Fenerty
Rapid-response unsaturated zone hydrology: Small-scale data, small-scale theory, big problems
The unsaturated zone (UZ) extends across the Earth’s terrestrial surface and is central to many problems related to land and water resource management. Flow of water through the UZ is typically thought to be slow and diffusive, such that it could attenuate fluxes and dampen variability between atmospheric inputs and underlying aquifer systems. This would reduce water resource vulnerability to cont
Authors
John R. Nimmo, Kimberlie Perkins, Michelle R. Plampin, Michelle A. Walvoord, Brian A. Ebel, Benjamin B. Mirus
High-resolution soil-moisture maps over landslide regions in northern California grassland derived From SAR backscattering coefficients
Slow-moving landslides are destabilized by accumulated precipitation and consequent soil moisture. Yet, the continuous high-resolution soil-moisture measurements needed to aid the understanding of landslide processes are generally absent in steep terrain. Here, we produce soil-moisture time-series maps for a seasonally active grassland landslide in the northern California coast ranges, USA, using
Authors
Tien-Hao Liao, Seung-bum Kim, Alexander L. Handwerger, Eric J. Fielding, Michael H. Cosh, William Schulz
Geological constraints on the mechanisms of slow earthquakes
The recognition of slow earthquakes in geodetic and seismological data has transformed the understanding of how plate motions are accommodated at major plate boundaries. Slow earthquakes, which slip more slowly than regular earthquakes but faster than plate motion velocities, occur in a range of tectonic and metamorphic settings. They exhibit spatiotemporal associations with large seismic events t
Authors
James D. Kirkpatrick, Åke Fagereng, David R. Shelly
The 2018 update of the US National Seismic Hazard Model: Ground motion models in the central and eastern US
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM) is the scientific foundation of seismic design regulations in the United States and is regularly updated to consider the best available science and data. The 2018 update of the conterminous US NSHM includes major changes to the underlying ground motion models (GMMs). Most of the changes are motivated by the new multi-p
Authors
Sanaz Rezaeian, Peter M. Powers, Allison Shumway, Mark D. Petersen, Nicolas Luco, Arthur Frankel, Morgan P. Moschetti, Eric M. Thompson, Daniel McNamara
Temporal seismic velocity variations: Recovery following from the 2019 Mw 7.1 Ridgecrest, California earthquake
We investigated seismic velocity changes (dv/v) associated with the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence with high‐frequency autocorrelations of ambient seismic noise data. Daily autocorrelation functions were computed for the entirety of 2019 and the first quarter of 2020 for broadband stations within the region, including the temporary broadband stations installed during the aftershock deployment
Authors
Joshua Dakota Boschelli, Morgan P. Moschetti, C Sens-Schonfelder
Extreme-event magnetic storm probabilities derived from rank statistics of historical Dst intensities for solar cycles 14-24
A compilation is made of the largest and second-largest magnetic-storm-maximum intensities, −Dst1 and −Dst2, for solar cycles 14–24 (1902–2016) by sampling Oulu Dcx for cycles 19–24, using published −Dstm values for 4 intense storms in cycles 14, 15, and 18 (1903, 1909, 1921, 1946), and calculating 15 new storm-maximum −Dstm values (reported here) for cycles 14–18. Three different models are fitte
Authors
Jeffrey J. Love
Numerical analysis of the effect of subgrid variability in a physically based hydrological model on runoff, soil moisture, and slope stability
In coarse resolution hydrological modeling we face the problem of subgrid variability, the effects of which are difficult to express and are often hidden in the parameterization and calibration. We present a numerical experiment with the physically based hydrological model ParFlow‐CLM with which we quantify the effect of subgrid heterogeneities in headwater catchments within the cell size typicall
Authors
E. Leonarduzzi, R. M. Maxwell, Benjamin B. Mirus, P. Molnar
Slip distribution and rupture history of the August 11, 2012, double earthquakes in Ahar – Varzaghan, Iran, using joint inversion of teleseismic broadband and local strong motion data
We use combined teleseismic and strong motion data sets to investigate finite-fault slip models for a double of earthquakes that occurred on August 11, 2012, in northwestern Iran near the cities of Ahar and Varzaghan. The data include teleseismic P-waveforms retrieved from broadband seismic stations located between 30°–94° from the earthquakes and local strong motion data recorded by the Iran Stro
Authors
Atefeh Saltanatpouri, Stephen H. Hartzell, Habib Rahimi, Rahmatollah Rouhollahi, Rouholla Amiri Fard
Incorporating the effects of complex soil layering and thickness local variability into distributed landslide susceptibility assessments
Incorporating the influence of soil layering and local variability into the parameterizations of physics-based numerical models for distributed landslide susceptibility assessments remains a challenge. Typical applications employ substantial simplifications including homogeneous soil units and soil-hydraulic properties assigned based only on average textural classifications; the potential impact o
Authors
F. Fusco, Benjamin B. Mirus, Rex L. Baum, D. Calcaterra, P. De Vita
Geomagnetic monitoring in the mid-Atlantic United States
Near historic battlegrounds of the American Civil War, southeast of Fredericksburg, Virginia, on a secluded grassy glade surrounded by forest, a specially designed observatory records the Earth’s changing magnetic field. This facility, the Fredericksburg Magnetic Observatory, is 1 of 14 observatories the U.S. Geological Survey Geomagnetism Program operates at various locations across the United St
Authors
Jeffrey J. Love, Kristen A. Lewis
Preface to the Focus Section on the 2020 Intermountain West earthquakes
The Intermountain West region of the United States extends from the eastern margin of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountains in the west to the Rocky Mountains in the east. The region is characterized by dextral shear along the eastern margin of the Sierra Nevada and nearly east-west extension in the Basin and Range. This region experienced four significant earthquake sequences in the first half
Authors
Ryan D. Gold, Jayne Bormann, Keith D. Koper