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Publications

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Six years of change in Lake Nyos, Cameroon, yield clues to the past and cautions for the future

The catastrophic release of gas from Lake Nyos, Cameroon, in 1986 caused substantial but incomplete mixing of the stratified water column. The post-release evolution of water-column structure has been monitored through April 1992. Changes began immediately after the event as rainfall and inflow brought dilute fluid into the surface layer. Inflow and surface mixing have gradually deepened the chemo
Authors
William C. Evans, L. D. White, M. L. Tuttle, G.W. Kling, G. Tanyileke, R. L. Michel

Volcanic mixed avalanches: A distinct eruption-triggered mass-flow process at snow-clad volcanoes

A generally unrecognized type of pyroclastic deposit was produced by rapid avalanches of intimately mixed snow and hot pyroclastic debris during eruptions at Mount St. Helens, Nevado del Ruiz, and Redoubt Volcano between 1982 and 1989. These "mixed avalanches" traveled as far as 14 km at velocities up to ∼27 m/s, involved as much as 107 m3 of rock and ice, and left unmelted deposits of single flow
Authors
T. C. Pierson, R. J. Janda

Chaotic deposition by a giant wave, Molokai, Hawaii

A coral-basalt breccia-conglomerate is exposed >60m above present sea level and nearly 2km inland from the present shoreline on the southwest side of East Molokai Volcano. This deposits was apparently laid down by a giant wave that broke over an outer reef, similar to the present fringing reef, and advanced as a turbulent bore over the back-reef flat, picking up a slurry of carbonate-rich debris a
Authors
J. G. Moore, W.B. Bryan, K. R. Ludwig

Correlation of gold in siliceous sinters with 3He 4He in hot spring waters of Yellowstone National Park

Opaline sinter samples collected at Yellowstone National Park (YNP) were analyzed for gold by neutron activation and for other trace elements by the inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) method. No correlation was found between Au and As, Sb, or total Fe in the sinters, although the sample containing the highest Au also contains the highest Sb. There also was no correl
Authors
R.O. Fournier, B. M. Kennedy, M. Aoki, J. M. Thompson

Dissolved volatile concentrations in an ore-forming magma

Infrared spectroscopic measurements of glass inclusions within quartz phenocrysts from the Plinian fallout of the 22 Ma tuff of Pine Grove show that the trapped silicate melt contained high concentrations of H2O and CO2. Intrusive porphyries from the Pine Grove system are nearly identical in age, composition, and mineralogy to the tephra, and some contain high-grade Mo mineralization. Assuming tha
Authors
J. B. Lowenstern

Uranium-Series Ages of Travertines and Timing of the Last Glaciation in the Northern Yellowstone Area, Wyoming-Montana

Uranium-series age determinations by mass spectrometric methods were done for travertines and associated carbonate veins related to clastic deposits of the last glaciation (Pinedale) in the northern Yellowstone area. Dramatic variations in the hydrologic head are inferred from variations in the elevation of travertine deposition with time and are consistent with the expected hydrologic effects of
Authors
N.C. Sturchio, K. L. Pierce, M.T. Murrell, M. L. Sorey

Landslides triggered by the Northridge earthquake

No abstract available.
Authors
R. W. Jibson, E. L. Harp, D. K. Keefer, R. C. Wilson

Historical shoreline mapping (I): improving techniques and reducing positioning errors

A critical need exists among coastal researchers and policy-makers for a precise method to obtain shoreline positions from historical maps and aerial photographs. A number of methods that vary widely in approach and accuracy have been developed to meet this need. None of the existing methods, however, address the entire range of cartographic and photogrammetric techniques required for accurate coa
Authors
E. Robert Thieler, William W. Danforth

New recording package for VACM provides sensor flexibility

For the past three decades, the VACM has been a standard for ocean current measurements. A VACM is a true vector-averaging instrument that computes north and east current vectors and averages temperature continuously over a specified interval. It keeps a running total of rotor counts, and records one-shot samples of compass, vane position and time. Adding peripheral sensors to the data stream was
Authors
William J. Strahle, S. E. Worrilow, S. E. Fucile, Marinna A. Martini

Antifouling leaching technique for optical lenses

The effectiveness of optical lenses deployed in water less than 100 m deep is significantly reduced by biofouling caused by the settlement of macrofauna, such as barnacles, hydroids, and tunicates. However, machineable porous plastic rings can be used to dispense antifoulant into the water in front of the lens to retard macrofaunal growth without obstructing the light path. Unlike coatings which c
Authors
William J. Strahle, C. L. Perez, Marinna A. Martini

Historical shoreline mapping (II): Application of the Digital Shoreline Mapping and Analysis Systems (DSMS/DSAS) to shoreline change mapping in Puerto Rico

A new, state-of-the-art method for mapping historical shorelines from maps and aerial photographs, the Digital Shoreline Mapping System (DSMS), has been developed. The DSMS is a freely available, public domain software package that meets the cartographic and photogrammetric requirements of precise coastal mapping, and provides a means to quantify and analyze different sources of error in the mappi
Authors
E. Robert Thieler, William W. Danforth

Submarine canyon initiation by downslope-eroding sediment flows: Evidence in late Cenozoic strata on the New Jersey continental slope

Multibeam bathymetry and seismic reflection profiles of the New Jersey continental slope reveal a series of abandoned and now-buried submarine canyons that have apparently influenced the development of modern canyons. The buried canyons are infilled along nine slope-wide unconformities separating upper-middle Miocene to Pleistocene sediments that thin downslope. Canyons infilled during the Miocene
Authors
Lincoln F. Pratson, William B. F. Ryan, Gregory S. Mountain, David C. Twichell