Publications

Earthquakes and Volcanoes is published bimonthly by the U.S. Geological Survey to provide current information on earthquakes and seismology, volcanoes, and related natural hazards of interest to both generalized and specialized readers. The Secretary of the Interior has determined that the publication of this periodical is necessary in the transaction of the public business required by law of this

No abstract available.

Direct evidence of site distortion of P- and S-wave microearthquake source spectra at Oroville, California, is presented. The data were gathered by placing vertical and three-component seismometers at 90 m intervals in a 500 m borehole through the Cleveland Hill normal fault, on which the 1975, ML = 5.7 Oroville earthquake took place. High-pressure, hydraulic locking mechanisms were used to firmly

The frictional strength of ice seems to be well below that for all other rocks. Triaxial testing of cylinders of pure water ice containing a 45° inclined sawcut, at temperatures of 77 ≤ T ≤ 115 K and confining pressures 0.1 ≤ P ≤ 250 MPa, reveals the frictional laws τ = 0.20 σn + 8.3 MPa for P ≥ 10 MPa and τ = 0.55 σn + 1.0 MPa for P ≤ 5 MPa, where τ and σn are the shear and normal stresses on the

Instruments now permit strong‐motion signals to be recorded over broader band widths, with wider dynamic range and signal resolution and with better data accessibility via computer. These advantages are utilized by the General Earthquake Observation System (GEOS) developed by the United States Geological Survey, by which a microcomputer‐controlled system provides improved strong‐motion data sets,

During 1980 and 1981, the U.S. Geological Survey collected seismic refraction data in the western Mojave Desert (fig. 1). The seismic refraction data extends from north of the Garlock Fault, south through the Mojave Desert, and across the San Andreas Fault into the San Gabriel Mountains. This report describes and documents the recorded data, which was collected over three field sessions. In total

Crustal velocity sections based on two seismic-refraction profiles are presented for the area west of Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada. The Crater Flat profile is interpreted in terms of six velocity layers ranging from 1.5 to 6.1 km/s. Interpretation of the Beatty profile reveals an escarpment near the northeast edge of Bare Mountain, where Paleozoic rocks are probably down-faulted 2600 m into

No abstract available.

No abstract available. 

A 180-km-long seismic refraction transect from the eastern High Cascades, across Newberry Volcano, to the eastern High Lava Plains is used to investigate the subvolcanic crustal and upper mantle velocity structure there. Near-surface volcanic flows and sedimentary debris (1.6-4.7 km/s), ranging from 3 to 5 km in thickness, overlie subvolcanic Basin and Range structures. East and west of Newberry V

Slip distribution at depth on a fault may be inferred from the deformation observed on the surface. In inverting the surface deformation data to obtain the slip distribution, the Earth is generally approximated by an elastic half‐space. Slip distributions inferred from a half‐space model may contain artifacts, including zones of reversed slip, due solely to effects of layering in the real Earth. T

More seismological studies of the continental crust and sub‐crustal lithosphere of the United States have been completed in the past four years than at any other similar period, and a continued growth in activity is likely to continue for years to come. Several trends account for this phenomenon. First, the interest in seismic reflection studies generated initially by COCORP results in this countr