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Publications

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Effects of local geology on ground motion in the San Francisco Bay region, California: A continued study

Measurements of ground motion generated by nuclear explosions in Nevada have been completed for 99 locations in the San Francisco Bay region, California. The seismograms, Fourier amplitude spectra, spectral amplification curves for the signal, and the Fourier amplitude spectra of the seismic noise are presented for 60 locations. Analog amplifications, based on the maximum signal amplitude, are com
Authors
James F. Gibbs, Roger D. Borcherdt

Geology and mineral deposits of Churchill County, Nevada

Churchill County, in west-central Nevada, is an area of varied topography and geology that has had a rather small total mineral production. The western part of the county is dominated by the broad low valley of the Carson Sink, which is underlain by deposits of Lake Lahontan. The bordering mountain ranges to the west and south are of low relief and underlain largely by Tertiary volcanic and sedime
Authors
Ronald Willden, Robert C. Speed

Energy and plane waves in linear viscoelastic media

The mathematical framework for describing plane waves in elastic and linear anelastic media is presented. Theoretical results suggest that the nature of plane waves in anelastic materials is distinctly different from the nature of plane waves in elastic materials. In elastic media the only type of inhomogeneous plane wave (P or S) that can propagate is one for which planes of constant phase are pe
Authors
Roger D. Borcherdt

Structure of the crust in the conterminous United States

On the basis of the newest interpretations of all sufficiently long seismic profiles, a contour map of the Mohorovičić discontinuity for the conterminous United States is compiled. Differences from earlier interpretations are discussed.
Authors
David H. Warren, J. H. Healy

Earthquakes in the oil field at Rangely, Colorado

Seven years of seismic data recorded at the Uinta Basin Observatory were searched for earthquakes originating near an oil field at Rangely, Colorado, located 65 km ESE of the observatory. Changes in the number of earthquakes recorded per year appear to correlate with changes in the quantity of fluid injected per year. Between November 1962 and January 1970, 976 earthquakes were detected near the o
Authors
James F. Gibbs, John H. Healy, C. Barry Raleigh, John M. Coakley

Man-made earthquakes and earthquake prediction

Convincing evidence that man can trigger earthquakes has been developed since the 1963–1967 report. The fact that man can start earthquakes has increased our understanding of earthquake mechanisms and reinforced our judgment that we are approaching the possibility of earthquake prediction.Traditionally, seismologists have avoided the subject of earthquake prediction because of its distasteful asso
Authors
J. H. Healy, L. C. Pakiser

Satellite relay telemetry of seismic data in earthquake prediction and control

The Satellite Telemetry Earthquake Monitoring Program was started in FY 1968 to evaluate the applicability of satellite relay telemetry in the collection of seismic data from a large number of dense seismograph clusters laid out along the major fault systems of western North America. Prototype clusters utilizing phone-line telemetry were then being installed by the National Center for Earthquake R
Authors
Wayne H. Jackson, Jerry P. Eaton

Mechanism of the Chilean Earthquakes of May 21 and 22, 1960

The Chilean earthquake sequence of May 21–22, 1960, was accompanied by linear zones of tectonic warping, including both uplift and subsidence relative to sea level. The region involved is more than 200 km wide and about 1000 km long, and lies along the continental margin between latitude 37° and 48° S. Significant horizontal strains accompanied the vertical movements in parts of the subsided zone
Authors
George Plafker, James C. Savage

Measurement of ultrasonic velocities in solids under hydrostatic pressure

An ultrasonic method for determining velocity has been developed that is independent of phase‐change errors due to reflection of specimen waves from coupling films. The method also eliminates the possibility of error due to conditions of nonhydrostatic stress at a specimen‐transducer or specimen‐delay line interface. Preliminary data are given for Alcoa 2024‐T4 aluminum and are compared with resul
Authors
L. Peselnick

Seismic refraction study of crustal structure in the western United States

A network of 64 seismic-refraction profiles recorded by the U.S. Geological Survey in California and Nevada and adjacent areas of Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, and Arizona from 1961 to 1963 was re-interpreted. From record sections compiled for all profiles, a basic travel-time diagram can be derived. In addition to the first arrivals on profiles in the Snake River Plain, the northern Basin and Range provi
Authors
Claus Prodehl

Effects of local geology on ground motion near San Francisco Bay

Measurements of ground motion generated by nuclear explosions in Nevada were made for 37 locations near San Francisco Bay, California. The results were compared with the San Francisco 1906 earthquake intensities and the strong-motion recordings of the San Francisco earthquake of March 22, 1957. The recordings show marked amplitude variations which are related consistently to the geologic setting o
Authors
Roger D. Borcherdt