Conference Papers

Twelve homes were constructed in 1949 at the top of a sea cliff along Esplanade Drive in the City of Pacifica, located on the northern coast of San Mateo County, California. The rear yards of those properties were bounded by an approximately 20-meter (70-foot) high cliff that has retreated episodically at an average rate of 0.5 to 0.6 meter (1.5 to 2 feet) per year over the past 146 years. During

In many semi-arid basins during extended periods when surface snowmelt or storm runoff is absent, groundwater constitutes the primary water source for human habitation, agriculture and riparian ecosystems. Utilizing regional groundwater models in the management of these water resources requires accurate estimates of basin boundary conditions. A critical groundwater boundary condition that is close

Traditionally, nonintrusive techniques used to characterize soils have been based on P-wave refraction/reflection methods. However, near-surface unconsolidated soils are oftentimes water-saturated, and when groundwater is present at a site, the velocity of the P-waves is more related to the compressibility of the pore water than to the matrix of the unconsolidated soils. Conversely, SH-waves are d

[No abstract available]

In Western Oaxaca, Tertiary magmatic activity is represented by extensive plutons along the continental margin and volcanic sequences in the inland region. K-Ar age determinations reported previously and in the present work indicate that these rocks correspond to a relatively broad arc in this region that was active mainly during the Oligocene (~ 35 to ~ 25 Ma). In the northern sector of western O

Geotechnical properties of sediment from Ocean Drilling Program Leg 164 are presented as: (1) normalized shipboard strength ratios from the Cape Fear Diapir, the Blake Ridge Diapir, and the Blake Ridge; and (2) Atterberg limit, vane shear strength, pocket-penetrometer strength, and constant-rate-of-strain consolidation results from Hole 995A, located on the Blake Ridge. This study was conducted to

Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) has provided a new imaging geodesy technique to measure the deformation of volcanoes at tens-of-meter horizontal resolution with centimeter to subcentimeter vertical precision. The two-dimensional surface deformation data enables the construction of detailed numerical models allowing the study of magmatic and tectonic processes beneath volcanoes. Th

From November 30 to December 2, 1998, the Mid-Atlantic Integrated Assessment (MAIA) held a Working Conference in Baltimore, Maryland (USA). The Conference presented the results from several of its activities and programs to scientists, environmental managers, and the general public. The attendees provided feedback on the usefulness of the MAIA program's activities, and suggested additional needs a

Abstract not available 

Numerical methods based on unstructured grids, with irregular cells, usually require discrete shape functions to approximate the distribution of quantities across cells. For control-volume mixed finite-element methods, vector shape functions are used to approximate the distribution of velocities across cells and vector test functions are used to minimize the error associated with the numerical app

Coral reefs are threatened worldwide by stresses ranging from local to global in extent. One of the major challenges in studies of reef decline is understanding how to distinguish between changes resulting from natural, anthropogenic, local, and global environmental perturbations. As such, a conceptual risk-assessment model is developed that includes tiers for natural stresses, global/regional str

The Halekulani Sand Channel and the Makua Shelf off the south shore of Oahu contain at least 1.3 million m3 of sediment that is a possible resource for nourishing degraded sections of Waikiki Beach. A sidescan sonar survey indicates continuous sediment cover within the channel and on the shelf, and samples from the top and bottom of vibracores from the channel and shelf contain from 29% to 77% of