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Publications

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Basin and range crustal and upper mantle structure, northwest to central Nevada

We present an interpretation of the crustal and uppermost mantle structure of the Basin and Range of northwestern Nevada based on seismic refraction/wide‐angle reflection, near‐vertical reflection, and gravity data. In comparison to most previous estimates, we find that the crust is somewhat thicker (32–36 km versus 22–30 km), and the uppermost mantle velocity is somewhat higher (8.0 km/s versus 7
Authors
Rufus D. Catchings, Walter D. Mooney

Probing the Earth's strength: Can we measure small stress at high pressure?

Simulating the conditions and processes that occur in the Earth's deep interior has been a major goal of experimental geophysics since the 1920s. In particular, pioneers such as P. W. Bridgman, David Griggs, Hugh Heard, Mervyn Paterson, William Brace, and their colleagues sought to establish the basic relations between differential stresses and rock and mineral deformation under pressure-temperatu
Authors
A. Kronenberg, Stephen H. Kirby

Sonobuoy seismic studies at ODP drill sites in Prydz Bay, Antarctica

Five sonobuoy seismic-refraction records were collected along the Leg 119 geophysical transect across the Prydz Bay shelf. Velocity-depth profiles are computed from the sonobuoy data and are used to produce a depth section for the principal acoustic unit boundaries observed in the seismic-reflection data along the transect. Traveltime curves generated by ray-tracing for models constructed from dow
Authors
Guy R. Cochrane, Alan K. Cooper

Seismic stratigraphy and structure of Prydz Bay, Antarctica: Implications from Leg 119 drilling

Prydz Bay is situated on the MacRobertson Land coast of East Antarctica at the seaward end of a 700-km-long transverse rift zone, the Lambert Rift. New and reprocessed seismic reflection data are combined with drilling results from five Leg 119 sites across Prydz Bay to study the regional stratigraphy and structure of the continental shelf and upper slope. Severe seismic multiples hamper interpret
Authors
Alan K. Cooper, Howard Stagg, Eric L. Geist

Quaternary history of some southern and central Rocky Mountain basins

This chapter summarizes the current state of late Cenozoic stratigraphic knowledge in some Rocky Mountain basins (here defined as the structurally low portions of major drainage basins) that have been studied in detail since Scott’s (1965) summary on the nonglacial history of the southern and middle Rocky Mountains. The Quaternary history of few of these basins has been studied as intensively as t
Authors
Marith C. Reheis, Robert C. Palmquist, S.S. Agard, Cheryl Jaworowski, Brainerd Mears, Richard F. Madole, Alan R. Nelson, Gerald Osborn

Is the extent of glaciation limited by marine gas-hydrates?

Methane may have been released to the atmosphere during the Quaternary from Arctic shelf gas-hydrates as a result of thermal decomposition caused by climatic warming and rising sea-level; this release of methane (a greenhouse gas) may represent a positive feedback on global warming [Revelle, 1983; Kvenvolden, 1988a; Nisbet, 1990]. We consider the response to sea-level changes by the immense amount
Authors
Charles K. Paull, William Ussler, William P. Dillon

High-energy carbonate-sand accumulation, the Quicksands, southwest Florida Keys

High-resolution seismic-reflection profiles of the Quicksands, located along a broad ridge on the platform shelf west of Key West, Florida, indicate a significant deposit of non-oolitic carbonate sand occurs in a belt 47 km long by 28 km wide. The surface of the belt is ornamented by large (5 m), migrating tidal bars, oriented in a north-south direction, on which sand waves, oriented in an east-we
Authors
Eugene A. Shinn, Barbara H. Lidz, Charles W. Holmes

Imaging the midcontinent rift beneath Lake Superior using large aperture seismic data

We present a detailed velocity model across the 1.1 billion year old Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) in central Lake Superior. The model was derived primarily from onshore-offshore large-aperture seismic and gravity data. High velocities obtained within a highly reflective half-graben that was imaged on coincident seismic reflection data demonstrate the dominantly mafic composition of the graben fi
Authors
Anne M. Tréhu, Patrick Morel-a-l'Huissier, R. Meyer, Z. Hajnal, J. Karl, R.F. Mereu, John L. Sexton, J. Shay, W. K. Chan, D. Epili, T. Jefferson, X. R. Shih, S. Wendling, B. Milkereit, A. Green, Deborah R. Hutchinson

A C language implementation of the SRO (Murdock) detector/analyzer

A signal detector and analyzer algorithm was described by Murdock and Hutt in 1983. The algorithm emulates the performance of a human interpreter of seismograms. It estimates the signal onset, the direction of onset (positive or negative), the quality of these determinations, the period and amplitude of the signal, and the background noise at the time of the signal. The algorithm has been coded in
Authors
James N. Murdock, Scott E. Halbert