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The Appalachian Geo-STEM Camp: Learning about geology through experiential adventure recreation

The inaugural Appalachian Geo-STEM Camp (AGC) was a partnership between West Virginia University (WVU), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey (WVGES). Designed to engage high school students in geoscience-oriented Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) activities through adventure-based outdoor recreation, the inaugural AGC took pl
Authors
Robert Burns, Mark W. Carter, John Brock, Jonas Leveque, Emily Bunse, Monica Palaseanu-Lovejoy, Gerald F. Guala, Nathan Harlan, Mitchel Blake, Jasmine Moreira, Jim Britton, Kenny Ashton, Barnes Nugent, Michael Marketti

Sedimentary evidence of prehistoric distant-source tsunamis in the Hawaiian Islands

Over the past 200 years of written records, the Hawaiian Islands have experienced tens of tsunamis generated by earthquakes in the subduction zones of the Pacific "Ring of Fire" (e.g., Alaska-Aleutian, Kuril-Kamchatka, Chile, and Japan). Mapping and dating anomalous beds of sand and silt deposited by tsunamis in low-lying areas along Pacific coasts, even those distant from subduction zones, is cr
Authors
SeanPaul La Selle, Bruce M. Richmond, Bruce E. Jaffe, Alan Nelson, Frances Griswold, Maria E.M. Arcos, Catherine Chague, James M. Bishop, Piero Bellanova, Haunani H. Kane, Brent D. Lunghino, Guy R. Gelfenbaum

Induced seismicity reduces seismic hazard?

Earthquakes caused by human activities have been observed for decades. Often these are related to industrial activities pumping fluids into deep geologic formations, like with wastewater disposal. The simplest theory connecting these processes to earthquakes is straightforward: injection leads to fluid pressure changes that either reduce the strength of preexisting faults or generate new faults. I
Authors
Andrew J. Barbour, Fred Pollitz

Formation of pedestalled, relict lakes on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica

Surface debris covers much of the western portion of the McMurdo Ice Shelf and has a strong influence on the local surface albedo and energy balance. Differential ablation between debris-covered and debris-free areas creates an unusual heterogeneous surface of topographically low, high-ablation, and topographically raised (‘pedestalled’), low-ablation areas. Analysis of Landsat and MODIS satellite
Authors
Grant J MacDonald, Alison F Banwell, Ian C Willis, David Mayer, Becky Goodsell, Douglas R MacAyeal

Exploring the barriers for people taking protective actions during the 2012 and 2015 New Zealand shakeout drills

To reduce future earthquake injuries and casualties, it is important that people understand how their behavior, during and immediately following earthquake shaking, exposes them to increased risk of injury or death. Research confirms that protective actions can reduce injuries and that prior training can help prepare people to take appropriate actions. In this paper, we examine barriers to partici
Authors
Sara McBride, Julia S. Becker, David M. Johnston

S2HM of buildings in USA

The evolution of seismic structural-health monitoring (S2HM) of buildings in the USA is described in this chapter, emphasizing real-time monitoring. Rapid and accurate assessment of post-earthquake building damage is of paramount importance to stakeholders (including owners, occupants, city officials, and rescue teams). Relying merely on rapid visual inspection could result in serious damage being
Authors
Mehmet Çelebi

An economic evaluation of adaptation pathways in coastal mega cities: An illustration for Los Angeles

Sea level rise and uncertainty in its projections pose a major challenge to flood risk management and adaptation investments in coastal mega cities. This study presents a comparative economic evaluation method for flood adaptation measures, which couples a cost–benefit analysis with the concept of adaptation pathways. Our approach accounts for uncertainty in sea level rise projections by allowing

Authors
Lars T. de Ruig, Patrick L. Barnard, W. J. Wouter Botzen, Phyllis Grifman, Juliette Finzi Hart, Hans de Moel, Nick Sadrpour, Jeroen C.J.H. Aerts

Wildfire as a catalyst for hydrologic and geomorphic change

Wildfire has been a constant presence on the Earth since at least the Silurian period, and is a landscape-scale catalyst that results in a step-change perturbation for hydrologic systems, which ripples across burned terrain, shaping the geomorphic legacy of watersheds. Specifically, wildfire alters two key landscape properties: (1) overland flow, and (2) soil erodibility. Overland flow and soil er
Authors
Francis K. Rengers

Rate of magma supply beneath Mammoth Mountain, California based on helium isotopes and CO2 emissions

Mammoth Mountain, California, has exhibited unrest over the past ~30 years, characterized by seismicity over a broad range of depths, elevated 3He/4He ratios in fumarolic gas, and large-scale diffuse CO2 emissions. This activity has been attributed to magmatic intrusion, but minimal ground deformation and the presence of a shallow crustal gas reservoir beneath Mammoth Mountain pose a challenge for
Authors
Jennifer L. Lewicki, William C. Evans, Emily Montgomery-Brown, Margaret T. Mangan, John King, Andrew Hunt

Fault slip associated with the 2 September 2017 M 5.3 Sulphur Peak, Idaho, earthquake and aftershock sequence

The 2 September 2017 M 5.3 Sulphur Peak, Idaho, earthquake is one of the largest earthquakes in southern Idaho since the 1983 M 6.9 Borah Peak earthquake. It was followed by a vigorous aftershock sequence for nearly two weeks that included five events above M 4.5. The coseismic and early postseismic deformation was measured with both Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar and Global Positioning
Authors
Fred Pollitz, Charles Wicks, William L. Yeck, James E. Evans

Role of tidal wetland stability in lateral fluxes of particulate organic matter and carbon

Tidal wetland fluxes of particulate organic matter and carbon (POM, POC) are important terms in global budgets but remain poorly constrained. Given the link between sediment fluxes and wetland stability, POM and POC fluxes should also be related to stability. We measured POM and POC fluxes in eight microtidal salt marsh channels, with net POM fluxes ranging between −121 ± 33 (export) and 102 ± 28
Authors
Neil Kamal Ganju, Zafer Defne, Tracy Elsey Quirk, Julia M. Moriarty

Shallow structure and geomorphology along the offshore northern San Andreas Fault, Tomales Point to Fort Ross, California

We mapped a poorly documented 35-km-long section of the northern San Andreas fault zone (NSAF) between Tomales Point and Fort Ross, California. Mapping is largely based on high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles (38 fault crossings), multibeam bathymetry, and onshore geology. NSAF strike in this section is nearly parallel to plate motion, characterized by a slight (~2°) northerly (transtension

Authors
Samuel Johnson, Beeson Jeffrey W.