Publications
Publications from the staff of the Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center
Filter Total Items: 2358
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
Assessing reproducibility in sedimentary macroscopic charcoal count data
Current understanding of global late Quaternary fire history is largely drawn from sedimentary charcoal data. Since publication, CharAnalysis increasingly has been relied upon as a robust method for analyzing these data. However, several underlying assumptions of the algorithm have not been tested. This study uses replicated charcoal count data to examine the assumption of Poisson distribution and
Authors
Lysanna Anderson, Liubov S. Presnetsova, David Wahl, Geoffrey Phelps, Alan Gous
A novel origin for PGE reefs: A case study of the J-M Reef
The origin of meter scale stratiform layers of disseminated sulfides in enriched platinum group element (PGE) tenors and grades, called reef-type deposits, are the world’s most significant source of PGEs. Their origin in layered mafic intrusions remains debated, but in general, most researchers favor an orthomagmatic origin for reef-type deposits and agree that their formation requires the equilib
Authors
Michael Jenkins, James E. Mungall, Michael L. Zientek, Gelu Costin, Zhuo-sen Yao
Structural properties of the Southern San Andreas fault zone in northern Coachella Valley from magnetotelluric imaging
The Southern San Andreas fault (SSAF) poses one of the largest seismic risks in California. Yet, there is much ambiguity regarding its deeper structural properties around Coachella Valley, in large part due to the relative paucity of everyday seismicity. Here, we image a multistranded section of the SSAF using a non-seismic method, namely magnetotelluric (MT) soundings, to help inform depth-depend
Authors
Pieter-Ewald Share-MacParland, Jared R. Peacock, Steve C. Constable, Frank L. Vernon, Shunguo Wang
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