Publications
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Sources, timing, and fate of sediment and contaminants in the nearshore: insights from geochemistry
Rivers in Cascade watersheds carry sediment with a volcanic composition that is distinct from the plutonic composition of the Puget lowlands. Compositional properties (signatures) allow discrimination of river-sourced Cascade from lowland sediment, and inferences about transport pathways. Surface sediment on land contains atmospheric radionuclides whose known decay rates define monthly (7Be) and d
Authors
Renee K. Takesue, Kathleen E. Conn, Margaret Dutch
Factors controlling landslide frequency-area distributions
A power‐law relation for the frequency–area distribution (FAD) of medium and large landslides (e.g. tens to millions of square meters) has been observed by numerous authors. But the FAD of small landslides diverges from the power‐law distribution, with a rollover point below which frequencies decrease for smaller landslides. Some studies conclude that this divergence is an artifact of unmapped sma
Authors
Hakan Tanyaş, Cees J. van Westen, Kate E. Allstadt, Randall W. Jibson
Assessing patterns of annual change to permafrost bluffs along the North Slope coast of Alaska using high-resolution imagery and elevation models
Coastal permafrost bluffs at Barter Island, on the North Slope, Beaufort Sea Coast of Alaska are among the most rapidly eroding along Alaska’s coast, having retreated up to 132 m between 1955 and 2015. Here we quantify rates and patterns of change over a single year using very-high resolution orthophotomosaics and co-registered surface elevation models derived from a survey-grade form of structure
Authors
Ann E. Gibbs, Matt Nolan, Bruce M. Richmond, Alexander G. Snyder, Li Erikson
HyCReWW: A hybrid coral reef wave and water level metamodel
Wave-induced flooding is a major coastal hazard on tropical islands fronted by coral reefs. The variability of shape, size, and physical characteristics of the reefs across the globe make it difficult to obtain a parameterization of wave run-up, which is needed for risk assessments. Therefore, we developed the HyCReWW metamodel to predict wave run-up under a wide range of reef morphometric and off
Authors
Ana C. Rueda, Laura Cagigal, Stuart Pearson, Jose Antolínez, Curt D. Storlazzi, Ap van Dongeren, Paula Camus, Fernando J. Mendez
Sea level rise in the Samoan Islands escalated by viscoelastic relaxation after the 2009 Samoa‐Tonga earthquake
The Samoan islands are an archipelago hosting a quarter million people mostly residing in three major islands, Savai'i and Upolu (Samoa), and Tutuila (American Samoa). The islands have experienced sea level rise by 2–3 mm/year during the last half century. The rate, however, has dramatically increased following the Mw 8.1 Samoa‐Tonga earthquake doublet (megathrust + normal faulting) in September 2
Authors
Shin-Chan Han, Jeanne Sauber, Fred Pollitz, Richard Ray
Slow-growing and extended-duration seismicity swarms: Reactivating joints or foliations in the Cahuilla Valley Pluton, Central Peninsular Ranges, Southern California
Three prolific earthquake swarms and numerous smaller ones have occurred since 1980 in the Mesozoic igneous plutonic rocks of the Perris block of the Peninsular Ranges, Southern California. The major swarms occurred in 1980–1981, 1983–1984, and 2016–2018, with the latest swarm still ongoing. These swarms have no clear mainshock, with the largest events of ML 3.6, ML 3.7, and Mw 4.4. Each successiv
Authors
E. Hauksson, Z. Ross, Elizabeth S. Cochran
Persistence of intense, climate-driven runoff late in Mars history
Mars is dry today, but numerous precipitation-fed paleo-rivers are found across the planet’s surface. These rivers’ existence is a challenge to models of planetary climate evolution. We report results indicating that, for a given catchment area, rivers on Mars were wider than rivers on Earth today. We use the scale (width and wavelength) of Mars paleo-rivers as a proxy for past runoff production.
Authors
Edwin S. Kite, David Mayer, Sharon A. Wilson, Joel M. Davis, Antoine S. Lucas, Gaia Stucky de Quay
Tsunamigenic splay faults imply a long-term asperity in southern Prince William Sound, Alaska
Coseismic slip partitioning and uplift over multiple earthquake cycles is critical to understanding upper‐plate fault development. Bathymetric and seismic reflection data from the 1964 Mw9.2 Great Alaska earthquake rupture area reveal sea floor scarps along the tsunamigenic Patton Bay/Cape Cleare/Middleton Island fault system. The faults splay from a megathrust where duplexing and underplating pro
Authors
Lee Liberty, Daniel S. Brothers, Peter J. Haeussler
Quantitative coseismic and precipitation-induced landslide risk mapping for the country of Lebanon
Quantitative landslide risk assessment is a key step in creating appropriate land use policies. The forced migration of those displaced by recent events in Syria has highlighted the need for studies to guide humanitarian aid and resettlement policies. In 2011, armed conflict in the region precipitated the largest refugee crisis in a generation. Over 1.5 million displaced Syrians now reside in Leba
Authors
William Pollock, Joseph Wartman, Grace Abou-Jaoude, Alex R. R. Grant
Better approaches to managing drought in the American Southwest
The second in a series of USGS Southwest Region (SWR) “Science Exchange” annual workshops, focused on USGS drought science. The participants considered how extreme drought conditions are evolving in much of the American southwest, with an emphasis on integrated drought science planning at the USGS bureau and program levels. The increased need for interdisciplinary science to support resource-manag
Authors
Patrick Lambert, Timothy N. Titus, Andrea Ostroff
Discovery of an extensive deep-sea fossil serpulid reef associated with a cold seep, Santa Monica Basin, California
Multi-beam mapping of the Santa Monica Basin in the eastern Pacific has revealed the existence of a number of elevated bathymetric features, or mounds, harboring cold seep communities. During 2013-2014, mounds at ~600 m water depth were observed for the first time and sampled by Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute’s ROV Doc Ricketts. Active cold seeps were found, but surprisingly one of these
Authors
Magdalena N Georgieva, Charles K. Paull, Crispin TS Little, Mary McGann, Diana Sahy, Daniel Condon, Lonny Lundsten, Jack Pewsey, David W Caress, Robert C Vrijenhoek
Characteristics and spatial variability of wind noise on near-surface broadband seismometers
By coupling with the ground, wind causes ground motion that appears on seismic records as noise across a wide bandwidth. This wind-generated noise can drown out important features such as small earthquakes and prevent observation of normal modes from large earthquakes. Because the wind field is heterogeneous at local scales due to structures, diurnal heating, and topography, wind-induced seismic n
Authors
S. N. Dybing, Adam T. Ringler, David C. Wilson, Robert E. Anthony