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Results for “Earthquakes & Volcanoes (USGS)”

Search indexed USGS publications on groundwater, aquifers, geologic maps, mineral resources and earthquakes. Explore source records by subject and place.

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At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources
USGS1986

Volcano monitoring at the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

The island of Hawaii has one of the youngest landscapes on Earth, formed by frequent addition of new lava to its surface. Because Hawaiian are generally nonexplosive and easily accessible, the island has long attracted geologists interested in studying the extraordinary power of volcanic eruptions. The U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO), now nearing its 75th anniversary. has been in the forefront of volcanology since the 1900's. This issue of Earthquakes and volcanoes is devoted to the work of the Observatory and its role in studying the most recent eruptions of Hawaii's two currently active volcanoes, Kilauea and Mauna Loa.

Hawaii↗
USGS2008

Digital data for volcano hazards in the Crater Lake Region, Oregon

Crater Lake lies in a basin, or caldera, formed by collapse of the Cascade volcano known as Mount Mazama during a violent, climactic eruption about 7,700 years ago. This event dramatically changed the character of the volcano so that many potential types of future events have no precedent there. This potentially active volcanic center is contained within Crater Lake National Park, visited by 500,000 people per year, and is adjacent to the main transportation corridor east of the Cascade Range. Because a lake is now present within the most likely site of future volcanic activity, many of the hazards at Crater Lake are different from those at most other Cascade volcanoes. Also significant are many faults near Crater Lake that clearly have been active in the recent past. These faults, and historic seismicity, indicate that damaging earthquakes can occur there in the future. The USGS Open-File Report 97-487 (Bacon and others, 1997) describes the various types of volcano and earthquake hazards in the Crater Lake area, estimates of the likelihood of future events, recommendations for mitigation, and a map of hazard zones. The geographic information system (GIS) volcano hazard data layers used to produce the Crater Lake earthquake and volcano hazard map in USGS Open-File Report 97-487 are included in this data set. USGS scientists created one GIS data layer, c_faults, that delineates these faults and one layer, cballs, that depicts the downthrown side of the faults. Additional GIS layers chazline, chaz, and chazpoly were created to show 1) the extent of pumiceous pyroclastic-flow deposits of the caldera forming Mount Mazama eruption, 2) silicic and mafic vents in the Crater Lake region, and 3)the proximal hazard zone around the caldera rim, respectively.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2023

Comparison of earthquake early warning systems and the national volcano early warning system at the U.S. Geological Survey

Introduction Every year in the United States, natural hazards threaten lives and livelihoods, resulting in thousands of casualties and billions of dollars in damage. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Natural Hazards Mission Area works with many partners to monitor, assess, and research a wide range of natural hazards, including earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. These efforts aim to enhance community preparedness, response, and resilience. The USGS Earthquake Hazards Program (EHP) provides earthquake monitoring and notifications, assesses seismic hazards, and conducts targeted research to reduce the risk of earthquake hazards nationwide. The USGS Volcano Hazards Program (VHP) delivers forecasts, warnings, and information about volcanic hazards based on proactive monitoring of the nation’s active volcanoes and scientific understanding of volcanic processes. The VHP also conducts targeted research on volcanic processes and creates hazards assessments that inform the level of monitoring required at each of the nation’s active volcanoes. Earthquake and volcano early warning systems are essential to disaster risk reduction: they can save lives and reduce property damage by quickly distributing messages and warnings to communities in harm’s way.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS1990

Twenty years (actually 16) in retrospect

I have been editor of Earthquakes and Volcanoes for the last 16 years. Since I will soon be handing over the reins to a consortium of editors who will produce the magazine at the USGS National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colorado, I thought I would offer a tetrospective view of editing a magazine designed for a diversified audience.

Earthquakes & Volcanoes (USGS)↗
USGS1982

Tilt networks of Mount Shasta and Lassen Peak, California

In response to recent eruptions at Mount St. Helens and with support from the USGS Volcanic Hazards Program, the Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO) has initiated a program to monitor all potentially-active volcanoes of the Cascade Range. As part of that effort, we installed tilt networks and obtained baseline measurements at Mount Shasta and Lassen Peak, California during July 1981. At the same time, baseline electronic distance measurements (EDM) were made and fumarole surveys were conducted by other crews from CVO. Annual surveys are planned initially, with subsequent visits as conditions warrant. These geodetic and geochemical measurements supplement a program of continuous seismic monitoring of Cascade volcanoes by the USGS Office of Earthquake Studies in cooperation with local universities. Other tilt networks were established at Mount Baker in 1975 and at Mount St. Helens in 1981. EDM networks were established at Mount Baker in 1975, Mount St. Helens in 1980, and Crater Lake in 1981. Additional tilt and/or EDM networks are planned for Mount Rainier, Mount Hood, Glacier Peak, Three Sisters, and Crater Lake as funds permit.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2001

Geology and natural history of the San Francisco Bay area: A field-trip guidebook

A National Association of Geoscience Teachers Far Western Section (NAGT-FWS) field conference is an ideal forum for learning about the geology and natural history of the San Francisco Bay area. We visit classic field sites, renew old friendships, and make new ones. This collection of papers includes field guides and road logs for all of the Bay-area trips held during the NAGT-FWS 2001 Fall Field Conference and supplemental chapters on other aspects of the area’s natural and human history. The trips touch on many aspects of the geology and natural hazards of the Bay area, especially urban problems associated with living on an active tectonic plate margin: earthquake faults, coastal erosion, landslides, and the utilization of land and natural resources. We hope this conference not only provides a two-day learning opportunity for conference participants but that students and educators will use this field guidebook for future teaching and research. Many thanks are due to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and San José State University (SJSU) for cohosting the conference. We are grateful to each of the field trip leaders for preparing the trips and writing the accompanying guides. We especially appreciate the many hours put in by the guidebook reviewers, Robert I. Tilling (USGS) and Paula Messina (SJSU), and to the USGS Western Publications Group for editing, layout, and web posting. Additional guidebook contributions include articles by John Galloway, Scott Starratt, Page Mosier, and Susan Toussaint. During the conference guest speakers include Robert I. Tilling (USGS Volcano Hazards Team) and Ross Stein (USGS Earthquake Hazards Team). Workshops prepared for the conference include GIS in the classroom, using USGS data by John Vogel (USGS) and Paula Messina (SJSU), and The Best of BAESI (Bay Area Earth Science Institute), a teacher training organization under the direction of Ellen Metzger (SJSU) and Richard Sedlock (SJSU). The conference provides an opportunity to showcase USGS scientific and education resources with self-guided tours of the USGS Library, the Earth Science Information Center (ESIC), the Visitor Center, and various laboratories on the USGS campus and includes a half-day participatory tour of the USGS research vessel the R/V Polaris and the USGS Marine Facility at the Port of Redwood City under the direction of Cynthia L. Brown, Francis Parchaso, and Tara Schraga. Beyond the names mentioned above, a host of USGS and SJSU staff, SJSU students, and NAGT-FWS members contributed to the preparation and orchestration of the conference. We couldn’t have done it alone. Leslie C. Gordon (USGS), Philip W. Stoffer (USGS), and Deborah Harden (SJSU) NAGT-FWS 2001 Fall Field Conference Organizers.

California↗
USGS2024

Introduction to recommended capabilities and instrumentation for volcano monitoring in the United States

Introduction The National Volcano Early Warning System (NVEWS) was authorized and partially funded by the U.S. Government in 2019. In response, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Volcano Hazards Program asked its scientists to reflect on and summarize their views of best practices for volcano monitoring. The goal was to review and update the recommendations of a previous report (Moran and others, 2008) and to provide a more detailed analysis of capabilities and instrumentation for monitoring networks for U.S. volcanoes. This Scientific Investigations Report and its chapters reflect those USGS scientists’ views and summaries and will serve as a guide for future network upgrades funded through NVEWS. Given the well-documented hazards posed by volcanoes to population centers and aviation (for example, Blong, 1984; Scott, 1989; Neal and others, 1997, 2019; Guffanti and others, 2010; Shroder and Papale, 2014; Prata and Rose, 2015; Palmer, 2020), volcano monitoring is critical for ensuring public safety and for mitigating the impacts of volcanic activity. Accurate and timely forecasts are facilitated by well-designed monitoring networks that are in place long enough to allow for background behavior to be recognized and understood. Because precursory signals may be limited and unrest may progress rapidly to an eruption, our goal is to deploy monitoring systems that enable detection of the reactivation of dormant volcanoes as early as possible, allowing for public safety and risk mitigation. NVEWS planning is also informed by the results of Ewert and others (2005, 2018), whereby 161 U.S. volcanoes are currently categorized and ranked commensurate with their relative threat. In each chapter, author(s) considered the need for some redundancy of instrumentation and telemetry, given the likelihood of occasional equipment failure, particularly in extreme and remote environments. Establishing digital telemetry networks requires advanced planning, sighting, radio-shot testing, and, inevitably, troubleshooting in the field. This is harder to achieve rapidly during a crisis; thus, an important goal for monitoring U.S. volcanoes is to establish digital telemetry backbones with redundancy and extra capacity to absorb additional instruments should a volcano begin to exhibit signs of unrest (fig. A1). The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) imposed new regulations in the United States, eliminating the use of older analog radios for many purposes, which had been one previous means for redundant data delivery. However, the resulting conversion from analog to digital systems usefully enables stations to accommodate new and multivariate real-time data streams (for example, Global Navigation Satellite System [GNSS] receivers, infrasound arrays, gas spectrometers, visible and infrared cameras, and broadband seismometers). We note that other USGS and broader national and international hazard programs can leverage NVEWS instrumentation plans. Examples of this include the following: Improved seismic coverage of volcanoes will increase the capability of the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program to detect and locate earthquakes, estimate ground shaking, and provide timely early warnings through the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System (Given and others, 2018). The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Tsunami Program will benefit from additional seismic stations, particularly within the sparsely instrumented Aleutian Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa. Infrasound stations can detect signals from landslides, debris flows and lahars, floods, and weather events, providing benefits to the National Weather Service and the USGS Landslide Hazards Program.

Scientific Investigations Report↗