Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Publications

Filter Total Items: 7221

A method for producing digital probabilistic seismic landslide hazard maps: An example from the Los Angeles, California, area

The 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake is the first earthquake for which we have all of the data sets needed to conduct a rigorous regional analysis of seismic slope instability. These data sets include (1) a comprehensive inventory of triggered landslides, (2) about 200 strong-motion records of the mainshock, (3) 1:24,000-scale geologic mapping of the region, (4) extensive data on engineerin
Authors
Randall W. Jibson, Edwin L. Harp, John A. Michael

The Loma Prieta, California, earthquake of October 17, 1989 - Earth structures and engineering characterization of ground motion

This chapter contains two papers that summarize the performance of engineered earth structures, dams and stabilized excavations in soil, and two papers that characterize for engineering purposes the attenuation of ground motion with distance during the Loma Prieta earthquake. Documenting the field performance of engineered structures and confirming empirically based predictions of ground motion ar
Authors
Thomas L. Holzer

Experimental investigations regarding the use of sand as an inhibitor of air convection in deep seismic boreholes

Tilt has been the nemesis of horizontal long period seismology since its inception. Modern horizontal long period seismometers with their long natural periods are incredibly sensitive to tilt. They can sense tilts smaller than 10-11 radians. To most readers, this is just a very very small number, so we will begin with an example, which should help to illustrate just how small 10-11 radians is.Supp
Authors
L. Gary Holcomb, Leo Sandoval, Bob Hutt

Chapter D. The Loma Prieta, California, Earthquake of October 17, 1989 - Recovery, Mitigation, and Reconstruction

The papers in this chapter reflect the broad spectrum of issues that arise following a major damaging urban earthquake-the regional economic consequences, rehousing problems, reconstruction strategies and policies, and opportunities for mitigation before the next major seismic event. While some of these papers deal with structural or physical science topics, their significant social and policy imp

Scaling laws from geomagnetic time series

The notion of extended self-similarity (ESS) is applied here for the X-component time series of geomagnetic field fluctuations. Plotting nth order structure functions against the fourth order structure function we show that low-frequency geomagnetic fluctuations up to the order n = 10 follow the same scaling laws as MHD fluctuations in solar wind, however, for higher frequencies (f > 1/5[h]) a cle
Authors
Z. Voros, P. Kovacs, A. Juhasz, A. Kormendi, A.W. Green

The Chesapeake Bay bolide: Modern consequences of an ancient cataclysm

During the late Eocene, the formerly quiescent geological regime of the Virginia Coastal Plain was dramatically transformed when a bolide struck in the vicinity of the Delmarva Peninsula, and produced the following principal consequences:The bolide carved a roughly circular crater twice the size of the state of Rhode Island (~6400 km2), and nearly as deep as the Grand Canyon (1.3 km deep).The exca
Authors
C. Wylie Poag

The Loma Prieta, California, Earthquake of October 17, 1989: Performance of the built environment

Professional Paper 1552 focuses on the response of buildings, lifelines, highway systems, and earth structures to the earthquake. Losses to these systems totaled approximated $5.9 billion. The earthquake displaced many residents from their homes and severely disrupted transportation systems. Some significant findings were: * Approximately 16,000 housing units were uninhabitable after the earthq
Authors
Thomas L. Coordinated by Holzer

Soil relative dating of moraine and outwash-terrace sequences in the northern part of the upper Arkansas Valley, central Colorado, U.S.A.

Profile development indices for soils developed in moraines and outwash near Twin Lakes and in outwash near Leadville support the correlation of moraines with subdued morphology and two high outwash terraces with the Bull Lake glaciation (ca. 130-160 ka) and the correlation of hummocky moraines and two low outwash terraces with the Pinedale glaciation (ca. 14-47 ka). Elsewhere in the northern part
Authors
Alan R. Nelson, Ralph R. Shroba

Analysis of coastal change in Marie Byrd Land and Ellsworth Land, West Antarctica, using Landsat imagery

The U.S. Geological Survey is using Landsat imagery from the early 1970s and mid- to late 1980s/early 1990s to analyze glaciological features, compile a glacier inventory, measure surface velocities of outlet glaciers, ice streams and ice shelves, determine coastline change and calculate the area and volume of iceberg calving in Antarctica. Ice-surface velocities in Marie Byrd and Ellsworth Lands,
Authors
Jane G. Ferrigno, Richard S. Williams, Christine E. Rosanova, Baerbel K. Lucchitta, Charles Swithinbank

Pebble orientation on large, experimental debris-flow deposits

Replicable, pronounced orientation of discoid pebbles (≥8 mm) embedded on surfaces of large (∼10 m3) experimental debris-flow deposits reveals that strongly aligned, imbricate fabric can develop rapidly over short distances in mass flows. Pebble long axes aligned subparallel to deposit margins as well as subparallel to margins of surge waves arrested within the deposits. Pebble alignment exhibited
Authors
J. J. Major