Geology topics

Daniel S. Scheirer

Publications and source records attributed to Daniel S. Scheirer.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2025

Did the Aleutian Basin form by plate capture or backarc basin opening?

The origin of the Aleutian Basin is unresolved because its crust is deeply buried beneath sediments. It has been interpreted as forming in the Eocene when the Beringian convergent margin jumped seaward to south of the Aleutian arc, thereby capturing a large sector of Cretaceous Pacific crust. Alternatively, it may have formed by backarc spreading. We present new magnetic and seismic reflection data compilations and review other pertinent data to evaluate these two possibilities. Arguments for entrapment are: 1) Palaeomagnetic and geologic data document that the Aleutian arc formed approximately in place and as a seaward, on-strike continuation of the Alaska Peninsula; 2) basin-central spreading anomalies trend N-S, normal to the Aleutian arc and exhibit amplitudes and lengths typically formed at mid-ocean ridges; 3) seismic reflection profiles document that cross-basin depositional sequences are like those expected of filling a fixed-width basin. Arguments for a backarc spreading origin include: 1) The perpendicular orientation of magnetic anomalies in the Aleutian Basin and the northern Pacific Plate suggest different origins; 2) the sub-parallel orientation of Aleutian Basin spreading magnetic fabric and Palaeogene rift basins on the Bering Shelf suggest a common extensional regime; 3) thinner continental crust beneath outer-shelf basins is consistent with extension; 4) lineated magnetic fabrics on the margins of the basin are similar to early rifting magnetic fabrics found in other backarc basins; 5) basin heat flow is consistent with Palaeogene seafloor spreading; 6) its marginal basin setting is analogous to marginal basins elsewhere that formed by extension and seafloor spreading, not entrapment; and 7) entrapment requires formation of the Aleutian subduction zone by transference, a mode of subduction initiation that has not yet been documented. We present evidence for both interpretations and underscore the need for continued data collection (e.g. scientific drilling) to test competing hypotheses. Similar approaches may be useful for understanding thickly sedimented marginal basins elsewhere.

Alaska↗

USGS2025

The Mammoth magnetic anomaly, Pinal County, Arizona

A high-resolution Earth Mapping Resources Initiative airborne geophysical survey was flown in the southwest North American porphyry copper province to improve bedrock geologic maps and to identify areas that have unrecognized critical mineral resource potential. During the review of the aeromagnetic data, a distinctly monopolar-shaped, negative magnetic anomaly was observed at a flight elevation of 200 m above the ground with a maximum amplitude of –9500 nT. We have named this the Mammoth magnetic anomaly (MMA) because it is centered 12 km northeast of the town of Mammoth, Arizona, USA. The total field anomaly (TFA) contour of –500 nT enclosing the MMA defines an elongate shape measuring 2.5 km long by 1 km wide that trends northwest–southeast. Given the striking nature of this negative, monopolar-shaped magnetic anomaly, we conducted a ground campaign in May 2025 to determine its authenticity and potential relationship to critical mineral endowment. The MMA was confirmed on the ground with a TFA approaching –46,000 nT. Total magnetic intensity (TMI) observations routinely fell below the 18,000 nT operating floor of an industry-standard cesium-vapor total field magnetometer, and extremely low TMI measurements were corroborated along coincident traverse lines using two high dynamic range, but lower sensitivity, smartphone vector magnetometers. The lowest TMI values recorded by both smartphone magnetometers were 1000 nT and confirmed with multiple adjacent and crossing lines. Field observations suggest that this magnetic feature is caused by strong remanent magnetization within fine-grained magnetite hosted within locally altered Pinal Schist.

Arizona↗

USGS2022

Continental shelves as detrital mixers: U-Pb and Lu-Hf detrital zircon provenance of the Pleistocene–Holocene Bering Sea and its margins

Continental shelves serve as critical transfer zones in sediment-routing systems, linking the terrestrial erosional and deep-water depositional domains. The degree to which clastic sediment is mixed and homogenized during transfer across broad shelves has important implications for understanding deep-sea detrital records. Wide continental shelves are thought to act as capacitors characterized by transient sediment storage during sea level rise and sediment remobilization during sea level fall. This study attempts to test the hypothesis that sea level lowstand yields more efficient and direct sediment transfer from fluvial sources to deep-sea sinks compared to highstand when sediment is sequestered and mixed on the shelf. We test this by evaluating U-Pb and Lu-Hf detrital zircon provenance trends along the vast Bering Sea shelf and deep-marine Beringian continental margin. We present 5884 U-Pb ages and 402 Lu-Hf analyses from 30 samples to characterize the provenance of modern to Pleistocene sediment across the Bering Sea region. We used both forward and inverse numerical mixture modeling to estimate the abundance of distinct fluvial sources in shelfal and deep-water deposits. These results demonstrate that sediment in the Bering Sea is derived from a mixture of regional fluvial sources, but that the Yukon River is the primary detrital source for sediment throughout the region. Although Yukon River signatures are abundant in all basin samples, the relative proportions of Yukon vs other sources vary spatially across the shelf. A comparison of Holocene and surficial sediment with Pleistocene deposits shows that sediment across the shelf and in the deep-sea remains well-mixed between climate states. Thus, detrital provenance signatures in deep-marine deposits outward of broad transfer zones are likely to represent mixtures of fluvial sources regardless of sea level.

Bering Sea↗

USGS2019

Three-dimensional basin and fault structure from a detailed seismic velocity model of Coachella Valley, Southern California

The Coachella Valley in the northern Salton Trough is known to produce destructive earthquakes, making it a high seismic hazard area. Knowledge of the seismic velocity structure and geometry of the sedimentary basins and fault zones is required to improve earthquake hazard estimates in this region. We simultaneously inverted first P wave travel times from the Southern California Seismic Network (39,998 local earthquakes) and explosions (251 land/sea shots) from the 2011 Salton Seismic Imaging Project to obtain a 3-D seismic velocity model. Earthquakes with focal depths ≤10 km were selected to focus on the upper crustal structure. Strong lateral velocity contrasts in the top ~3 km correlate well with the surface geology, including the low-velocity (<5 km/s) sedimentary basin and the high-velocity crystalline basement rocks outside the valley. Sediment thickness is ~4 km in the southeastern valley near the Salton Sea and decreases to <2 km at the northwestern end of the valley. Eastward thickening of sediments toward the San Andreas fault within the valley defines Coachella Valley basin asymmetry. In the Peninsular Ranges, zones of relatively high seismic velocities (~6.4 km/s) between 2 to 4 km depth may be related to Late Cretaceous mylonite rocks or older inherited basement structures. Other high-velocity domains exist in the model down to 9 km depth and help define crustal heterogeneity. We identify a potential fault zone in Lost Horse Valley unassociated with mapped faults in Southern California from the combined interpretation of surface geology, seismicity, and lateral velocity changes in the model.

California↗

USGS2019

Gravity surveys using a mobile atom interferometer

Mobile gravimetry is important in metrology, navigation, geodesy, and geophysics. Atomic gravimeters could be among the most accurate mobile gravimeters, but are currently constrained by being complex and fragile. Here, we demonstrate a mobile atomic gravimeter, measuring tidal gravity variations in the laboratory as well as surveying gravity in the field. The tidal gravity measurements achieve a sensitivity of 37 μGal/√Hz (1 μGal=10 nm/s2) and a long-term stability of better than 2 μGal, revealing ocean tidal loading effects and recording several distant earthquakes. We survey gravity in the Berkeley Hills with an uncertainty of around 0.04 mGal and determine the density of the subsurface rocks from the vertical gravity gradient. With simplicity and sensitivity, our instrument paves the way for bringing atomic gravimeters to field applications.

Science Advances↗

USGS2018

Reexamination of the subsurface fault structure in the vicinity of the 1989 moment-magnitude-6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake, central California, using steep-reflection, earthquake, and magnetic data

We reexamine the geometry of the causative fault structure of the 1989 moment-magnitude-6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake in central California, using seismic-reflection, earthquake-hypocenter, and magnetic data. Our study is prompted by recent interpretations of a two-part dip of the San Andreas Fault (SAF) accompanied by a flower-like structure in the Coachella Valley, in southern California. Initially, the prevailing interpretation of fault geometry in the vicinity of the Loma Prieta earthquake was that the mainshock did not rupture the SAF, but rather a secondary fault within the SAF system, because network locations of aftershocks defined neither a vertical plane nor a fault plane that projected to the surface trace of the SAF. Subsequent waveform cross-correlation and double-difference relocations of Loma Prieta aftershocks appear to have clarified the fault geometry somewhat, with steeply dipping faults in the upper crust possibly connecting to the more moderately southwest-dipping mainshock rupture in the middle crust. Examination of steep-reflection data, extracted from a 1991 seismic-refraction profile through the Loma Prieta area, reveals three robust fault-like features that agree approximately in geometry with the clusters of upper-crustal relocated aftershocks. The subsurface geometry of the San Andreas, Sargent, and Berrocal Faults can be mapped using these features and the aftershock clusters. The San Andreas and Sargent Faults appear to dip northeastward in the uppermost crust and change dip continuously toward the southwest with depth. Previous models of gravity and magnetic data on profiles through the aftershock region also define a steeply dipping SAF, with an initial northeastward dip in the uppermost crust that changes with depth. At a depth 6 to 9 km, upper-crustal faults appear to project into the moderately southwest-dipping, planar mainshock rupture. The change to a planar dipping rupture at 6–9 km is similar to fault geometry seen in the Coachella Valley.

California↗

USGS2017

Subsurface geometry of the San Andreas fault in southern California: Results from the Salton Seismic Imaging Project (SSIP) and strong ground motion expectations

The San Andreas fault (SAF) is one of the most studied strike‐slip faults in the world; yet its subsurface geometry is still uncertain in most locations. The Salton Seismic Imaging Project (SSIP) was undertaken to image the structure surrounding the SAF and also its subsurface geometry. We present SSIP studies at two locations in the Coachella Valley of the northern Salton trough. On our line 4, a fault‐crossing profile just north of the Salton Sea, sedimentary basin depth reaches 4 km southwest of the SAF. On our line 6, a fault‐crossing profile at the north end of the Coachella Valley, sedimentary basin depth is ∼ 2 – 3    km "> ∼ 2 – 3 km and centered on the central, most active trace of the SAF. Subsurface geometry of the SAF and nearby faults along these two lines is determined using a new method of seismic‐reflection imaging, combined with potential‐field studies and earthquakes. Below a 6–9 km depth range, the SAF dips ∼ 50 ° – 60 ° "> ∼ 50 ° – 60 ° NE, and above this depth range it dips more steeply. Nearby faults are also imaged in the upper 10 km, many of which dip steeply and project to mapped surface fault traces. These secondary faults may join the SAF at depths below about 10 km to form a flower‐like structure. In Appendix D , we show that rupture on a northeast‐dipping SAF, using a single plane that approximates the two dips seen in our study, produces shaking that differs from shaking calculated for the Great California ShakeOut, for which the southern SAF was modeled as vertical in most places: shorter‐period ( T < 1    s "> T < 1 s ) shaking is increased locally by up to a factor of 2 on the hanging wall and is decreased locally by up to a factor of 2 on the footwall, compared to shaking calculated for a vertical fault.

California↗

USGS2014

Correlated patterns in hydrothermal plume distribution and apparent magmatic budget along 2500 km of the Southeast Indian Ridge

Multiple geological processes affect the distribution of hydrothermal venting along a mid-ocean ridge. Deciphering the role of a specific process is often frustrated by simultaneous changes in other influences. Here we take advantage of the almost constant spreading rate (65–71 mm/yr) along 2500 km of the Southeast Indian Ridge (SEIR) between 77°E and 99°E to examine the spatial density of hydrothermal venting relative to regional and segment-scale changes in the apparent magmatic budget. We use 227 vertical profiles of light backscatter and (on 41 profiles) oxidation-reduction potential along 27 first and second-order ridge segments on and adjacent to the Amsterdam-St. Paul (ASP) Plateau to map p h , the fraction of casts detecting a plume. At the regional scale, venting on the five segments crossing the magma-thickened hot spot plateau is almost entirely suppressed ( p h  = 0.02). Conversely, the combined p h (0.34) from all other segments follows the global trend of p h versus spreading rate. Off the ASP Plateau, multisegment trends in p h track trends in the regional axial depth, high where regional depth increases and low where it decreases. At the individual segment scale, a robust correlation between p h and cross-axis inflation for first-order segments shows that different magmatic budgets among first-order segments are expressed as different levels of hydrothermal spatial density. This correlation is absent among second-order segments. Eighty-five percent of the plumes occur in eight clusters totaling &sim;350 km. We hypothesize that these clusters are a minimum estimate of the length of axial melt lenses underlying this section of the SEIR.

Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems↗

USGS2014

Width and dip of the southern San Andreas Fault at Salt Creek from modeling of geophysical data

We investigate the geometry and width of the southernmost stretch of the San Andreas Fault zone using new gravity and magnetic data along line 7 of the Salton Seismic Imaging Project. In the Salt Creek area of Durmid Hill, the San Andreas Fault coincides with a complex magnetic signature, with high-amplitude, short-wavelength magnetic anomalies superposed on a broader magnetic anomaly that is at least 5 km wide centered 2–3 km northeast of the fault. Marine magnetic data show that high-frequency magnetic anomalies extend more than 1 km west of the mapped trace of the San Andreas Fault. Modeling of magnetic data is consistent with a moderate to steep (> 50 degrees) northeast dip of the San Andreas Fault, but also suggests that the sedimentary sequence is folded west of the fault, causing the short wavelength of the anomalies west of the fault. Gravity anomalies are consistent with the previously modeled seismic velocity structure across the San Andreas Fault. Modeling of gravity data indicates a steep dip for the San Andreas Fault, but does not resolve unequivocally the direction of dip. Gravity data define a deeper basin, bounded by the Powerline and Hot Springs Faults, than imaged by the seismic experiment. This basin extends southeast of Line 7 for nearly 20 km, with linear margins parallel to the San Andreas Fault. These data suggest that the San Andreas Fault zone is wider than indicated by its mapped surface trace.

California↗

USGS2013

High-resolution seismic-reflection and marine-magnetic data from offshore central California--San Gregorio to Point Sur

The U.S. Geological Survey collected high-resolution seismic-reflection data on four surveys (S-N1-09-MB, S-15-10-NC, S-06-11-MB, and S-04-12-MB) and marine-magnetic data on one survey (S-06-11-MB) between 2009 and 2012, offshore of central California between San Gregorio and Point Sur. This work was supported in part by the California Seafloor Mapping Program. The survey areas span about 120 km of California's coast (including Monterey Bay). Most data were collected aboard the U.S. Geological Survey R/V Parke Snavely. Cumulatively, approximately 1,410 km of single-channel seismic-reflection data were acquired, mainly using a SIG 2mille minisparker. About 44 km of data were collected simultaneously using an EdgeTech Chirp 512. Subbottom acoustic penetration spanned tens to several hundreds of meters, variable by location. Marine magnetic data were collected on approximately 460 km of track lines (mainly in southern Monterey Bay) using a Geometrics G882 cesium-vapor marine magnetometer. This report includes maps and navigation files of the surveyed transects, linked to Google Earth™ software, as well as digital data files showing images of each transect in SEG-Y and JPEG formats. The images of bedrock, sediment deposits, and tectonic structure provide geologic information that is essential to hazard assessment, regional sediment management, and coastal and marine spatial planning at Federal, State and local levels, as well as to future research on the geomorphic, sedimentary, tectonic, and climatic record of central California.

California↗

USGS2013

Digital tabulation of stratigraphic data from oil and gas wells in Cuyama Valley and surrounding areas, central California

Stratigraphic information from 391 oil and gas exploration wells from Cuyama Valley, California, and surrounding areas are herein compiled in digital form from reports that were released originally in paper form. The Cuyama Basin is located within the southeasternmost part of the Coast Ranges and north of the western Transverse Ranges, west of the San Andreas fault. Knowledge of the location and elevation of stratigraphic tops of formations throughout the basin is a first step toward understanding depositional trends and the structural evolution of the basin through time, and helps in understanding the slip history and partitioning of slip on San Andreas and related faults.

California↗

USGS2013

Borehole-explosion and air-gun data acquired in the 2011 Salton Seismic Imaging Project (SSIP), southern California: description of the survey

The Imperial and Coachella Valleys are being formed by active plate-tectonic processes. From the Imperial Valley southward into the Gulf of California, plate motions are rifting the continent apart. In the Coachella Valley, the plates are sliding past one another along the San Andreas and related faults (fig. 1). These processes build the stunning landscapes of the region, but also produce damaging earthquakes. Rupture of the southern section of the San Andreas Fault (SAF), from the Coachella Valley to the Mojave Desert, is believed to be the greatest natural hazard that California will face in the near future. With an estimated magnitude between 7.2 and 8.1, such an event would result in violent shaking, loss of life, and disruption of infrastructure (freeways, aqueducts, power, petroleum, and communication lines) that might bring much of southern California to a standstill. As part of the nation’s efforts to avert a catastrophe of this magnitude, a number of projects have been undertaken to more fully understand and mitigate the effects of such an event. The Salton Seismic Imaging Project (SSIP), funded jointly by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), seeks to understand, through seismic imaging, the structure of the Earth surrounding the SAF, including the sedimentary basins on which cities are built. The principal investigators (PIs) of this collaborative project represent the USGS, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Scripps Institution of Oceanography (Scripps), University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), and Stanford University. SSIP will create images of underground structure and sediments in the Imperial and Coachella Valleys and adjacent mountain ranges to investigate the earthquake hazards posed to cities in this area. Importantly, the images will help determine the underground geometry of the SAF, how deep the sediments are, and how fast earthquake energy can travel through the sediments. All of these factors determine how hard the earth will shake during a major earthquake. If we can improve on our understanding of how and where earthquakes will occur, and how strong their resultant shaking will be, then buildings can be designed or retrofitted accordingly in order to resist damage and collapse, and emergency plans can be adequately prepared. In addition, SSIP will investigate the processes of rifting and magmatism in the Salton Trough in order to better understand this important plate-boundary region. The Salton Trough is a unique rift in that subsidence is accompanied by huge influxes of infilling sediment from the Colorado River. Volcanism that accompanies the subsidence here is muted by these influxes of sediment. The Salton Trough, in the central part of the Imperial Valley, is apparently made up of entirely new crust: young sediment in the upper crust and basaltic intrusive rocks in the mid-to-lower crust (Fuis and others, 1984). Similar to the ultrasound and computed tomography (CT) scans performed by the medical industry, seismic imaging is a collection of techniques that enable scientists to obtain a picture of what is underground. The petroleum industry routinely uses these techniques to search for oil and gas at relatively shallow depths; however, the scope of this project demanded that we image as much as 30 km into the Earth’s crust. This project generated and recorded seismic waves, similar to sound waves, which move downward into the Earth and are bent (refracted) or echoed (reflected) back to the surface. SSIP acquired data in a series of intersecting lines that cover key areas of the Salton Trough. The sources of sound waves were detonations (shots) in deep boreholes, designed to create energy equivalent to magnitude 1–2 earthquakes. The study region routinely experiences earthquakes of these magnitudes, but earthquakes are not located in such a way as to permit us to create the detailed images we need for earthquake hazard assessment. Air gun bursts, generated in the Salton Sea along extensions of our onshore seismic lines, also were utilized as sound-wave sources. Temporary deployments of portable land seismometers, as well as ocean-bottom seismometers (OBSs) on the floor of the Salton Sea, recorded the energy from the land shots and air gun bursts. SSIP is similar to the Los Angeles Regional Seismic Experiments of 1994 and 1999 (LARSE I and II, respectively; Murphy and others, 1996; Fuis and others, 2001). The LARSE surveys demonstrated that the USGS and collaborators can safely and effectively conduct seismic imaging surveys in urban and nonurban areas, on lands owned and/or managed by many different types of agencies and entities. Information was produced that could not have been obtained any other way, and this information was key to changing the leading ideas about earthquake hazards at that time in the Los Angeles region. These surveys produced no significant environmental impact or damage to structures, and they did not trigger earthquakes.

California↗

USGS2012

A new perspective on the geometry of the San Andreas Fault in southern California and its relationship to lithospheric structure

The widely held perception that the San Andreas fault (SAF) is vertical or steeply dipping in most places in southern California may not be correct. From studies of potential‐field data, active‐source imaging, and seismicity, the dip of the SAF is significantly nonvertical in many locations. The direction of dip appears to change in a systematic way through the Transverse Ranges: moderately southwest (55°–75°) in the western bend of the SAF in the Transverse Ranges (Big Bend); vertical to steep in the Mojave Desert; and moderately northeast (37°–65°) in a region extending from San Bernardino to the Salton Sea, spanning the eastern bend of the SAF in the Transverse Ranges. The shape of the modeled SAF is crudely that of a propeller. If confirmed by further studies, the geometry of the modeled SAF would have important implications for tectonics and strong ground motions from SAF earthquakes. The SAF can be traced or projected through the crust to the north side of a well documented high‐velocity body (HVB) in the upper mantle beneath the Transverse Ranges. The north side of this HVB may be an extension of the plate boundary into the mantle, and the HVB would appear to be part of the Pacific plate.

California↗

USGS2010

Multiple phases of basin formation along the Stateline fault system in the Pahrump and Mesquite Valleys, Nevada and California

Two phases of deformation are needed to describe the Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the Pahrump and Mesquite basins in the southern Great Basin and eastern Mojave Desert, United States. By interpreting seismic reflection and gravity observations along with bedrock and surficial mapping, we infer an extensional phase of basin formation followed by a transtensional phase, in this area straddling the border of southern Nevada and southeastern California. We reprocessed ∼220 line km of industry seismic reflection data from the Pahrump and Mesquite Valleys to emphasize reflections in the basin fill, and combined these results with analysis of gravity data. The seismic lines portray the complex geometry of the Stateline fault system, a major Neogene dextral strike-slip system that passes through these valleys, and provide evidence for multiple ages of faulting along structures that bound the Pahrump basin. Locally thick sequences of preextensional Tertiary sedimentary rocks are cut by large-offset, relatively high-angle normal faults that record a phase of extensional basin formation that preceded transtension. The existence of preextensional basins beneath the Pahrump and Mesquite Valleys bears on tectonic reconstruction of the region and suggests that tilted ranges blocks to the west of these valleys need not restore to positions immediately adjacent to the Spring Mountains to the east. Subsequent dextral offset on the Stateline fault system resulted in the formation of steep-sided basins, local arching and tectonic inversion, and the burial of earlier-formed normal faults with coarse clastic detritus. Gravity models that are constrained to match the basin architecture observed in the seismic lines require lateral variations in basin-fill and bedrock density, and they confirm that the Paleozoic outcrop of Black Butte, a topographic high separating the Pahrump and Mesquite Valleys, is unrooted to underlying bedrock.

California, Nevada↗

USGS2009

High-Resolution Seismic-Reflection and Marine Magnetic Data Along the Hosgri Fault Zone, Central California

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collected high-resolution shallow seismic-reflection and marine magnetic data in June 2008 in the offshore areas between the towns of Cayucos and Pismo Beach, Calif., from the nearshore (~6-m depth) to just west of the Hosgri Fault Zone (~200-m depth). These data are in support of the California State Waters Mapping Program and the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between the Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and the U.S. Geological Survey. Seismic-reflection and marine magnetic data were acquired aboard the R/V Parke Snavely, using a SIG 2Mille minisparker seismic source and a Geometrics G882 cesium-vapor marine magnetometer. More than 550 km of seismic and marine magnetic data was collected simultaneously along shore-perpendicular transects spaced 800 m apart, with an additional 220 km of marine magnetometer data collected across the Hosgri Fault Zone, resulting in spacing locally as smallas 400 m. This report includes maps of the seismic-survey sections, linked to Google Earth software, and digital data files showing images of each transect in SEG-Y, JPEG, and TIFF formats, as well as preliminary gridded marine-magnetic-anomaly and residual-magnetic-anomaly (shallow magnetic source) maps.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2008

Preliminary Gravity and Ground Magnetic Data in the Arbuckle Uplift near Sulphur, Oklahoma

Improving knowledge of the geology and geophysics of the Arbuckle Uplift in south-central Oklahoma is a goal of the Framework Geology of Mid-Continent Carbonate Aquifers project sponsored by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program (NCGMP). In May 2007, we collected ground magnetic and gravity observations in the Hunton Anticline region of the Arbuckle Uplift, near Sulphur, Oklahoma. These observations complement prior gravity data collected for a project sponsored by the National Park Service and helicopter electromagnetic (HEM) and aeromagnetic data collected in March 2007 for the NCGMP project. This report describes the instrumentation and processing that was utilized in the May 2007 geophysical fieldwork, and it presents preliminary results as gravity anomaly maps and magnetic anomaly profiles. Digital tables of gravity and magnetic observations are provided as a supplement to this report. Future work will generate interpretive models of these anomalies and will involve joint analysis of these ground geophysical measurements with airborne and other geophysical and geological observations, with the goal of understanding the geological structures influencing the hydrologic properties of the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2008

Results of Gravity Fieldwork Conducted in March 2008 in the Moapa Valley Region of Clark County, Nevada

In March 2008, we collected gravity data along 12 traverses across newly-mapped faults in the Moapa Valley region of Clark County, Nevada. In areas crossed by these faults, the traverses provide better definition of the gravity field and, thus, the density structure, than prior gravity observations. Access problems prohibited complete gravity coverage along all of the planned gravity traverses, and we added and adjusted the locations of traverses to maximize our data collection. Most of the traverses exhibit isostatic gravity anomalies that have gradients characteristic of exposed or buried faults, including several of the newly-mapped faults.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2006

Temperature variations at diffuse and focused flow hydrothermal vent sites along the northern East Pacific Rise

In the decade following documented volcanic activity on the East Pacific Rise near 9°50′N, we monitored hydrothermal vent fluid temperature variations in conjunction with approximately yearly vent fluid sampling to better understand the processes and physical conditions that govern the evolution of seafloor hydrothermal systems. The temperature of both diffuse flow (low-temperature) and focused flow (high-temperature) vent fluids decreased significantly within several years of eruptions in 1991 and 1992. After mid-1994, focused flow vents generally exhibited periods of relatively stable, slowly varying temperatures, with occasional high- and low-temperature excursions lasting days to weeks. One such positive temperature excursion was associated with a crustal cracking event. Another with both positive and negative excursions demonstrated a subsurface connection between adjacent focused flow and diffuse flow vents. Diffuse flow vents exhibit much greater temperature variability than adjacent higher-temperature vents. On timescales of a week or less, temperatures at a given position within a diffuse flow field often varied by 5°–10°C, synchronous with near-bottom currents dominated by tidal and inertial forcing. On timescales of a week and longer, diffuse flow temperatures varied slowly and incoherently among different vent fields. At diffuse flow vent sites, the conceptual model of a thermal boundary layer immediately above the seafloor explains many of the temporal and spatial temperature variations observed within a single vent field. The thermal boundary layer is a lens of warm water injected from beneath the seafloor that is mixed and distended by lateral near-bottom currents. The volume of the boundary layer is delineated by the position of mature communities of sessile (e.g., tubeworms) and relatively slow-moving organisms (e.g., mussels). Vertical flow rates of hydrothermal fluids exiting the seafloor at diffuse vents are less than lateral flow rates of near-bottom currents (5–10 cm/s). The presence of a subsurface, shallow reservoir of warm hydrothermal fluids can explain differing temperature behaviors of adjacent diffuse flow and focused flow vents at 9°50′N. Different average temperatures and daily temperature ranges are explained by variable amounts of mixing of hydrothermal fluids with ambient seawater through subsurface conduits that have varying lateral permeability.

Geochemistry, Geophysics, and Geosystems↗