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At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
USGS1982

Reconnaissance geology of the Manjamah Quadrangle, sheet 18/41 A, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The Manjamah quadrangle (sheet 18/41 A) lies between lat 18?30' and 19?00' N. and long 41?00' and 41?30' E. and encompasses an area of 2,932 km2, of which about half is land and the remainder covered by the Red Sea. The geologic formations exposed in the quadrangle comprise Precambrian layered and intrusive rocks,. Tertiary layered rocks and gabbro dikes, and. Quaternary basaltic lavas, pyroclastic rocks, and surficial deposits. The Precambrian rocks are layered metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks that have been assigned to the Baish and Bahah groups. These rocks are cut by Precambrian biotite quartz monzonite and by Miocene gabbro dikes that were intruded during the initial stages of the opening of the Red Sea rift. Tuffaceous siltstone of the Baid formation was also deposited during the Miocene, followed in the Pliocene by the polymict conglomerate of the Bathan formation. The Quaternary rocks include basalt that was extruded during a continuation of the opening of the Red Sea rift, after uplift of the escarpment parallel with the Red Sea but before the Holocene erosional cycle. The greater part of the land area of the quadrangle is covered by Quaternary coastal, pediment, and alluvial deposits of various kinds associated with the deltaic mouths of Wadi Hall and Wadi Yiba and their tributaries and with the development of fringing reefs and islands. The area also contains extensive Quaternary eolian deposits. The economic potential of the quadrangle lies essentially in the agricultural value .of its flood-plain deposits, which are frequently refreshed during flooding with the products of weathering and erosion of the Precambrian rocks in the valleys of Wadi Hal i and Wadi Yiba; coral reefs could possibly provide raw material for use in a cement industry, if any such industry were ever required in this area.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2006

Maps of quaternary deposits and liquefaction susceptibility in the Central San Francisco Bay Region, California

This report presents a map and database of Quaternary deposits and liquefaction susceptibility for the urban core of the San Francisco Bay region. It supercedes the equivalent area of U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 00-444 (Knudsen and others, 2000), which covers the larger 9-county San Francisco Bay region. The report consists of (1) a spatial database, (2) two small-scale colored maps (Quaternary deposits and liquefaction susceptibility), (3) a text describing the Quaternary map and liquefaction interpretation (part 3), and (4) a text introducing the report and describing the database (part 1). All parts of the report are digital; part 1 describes the database and digital files and how to obtain them by downloading across the internet. The nine counties surrounding San Francisco Bay straddle the San Andreas fault system, which exposes the region to serious earthquake hazard (Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities, 1999). Much of the land adjacent to the Bay and the major rivers and streams is underlain by unconsolidated deposits that are particularly vulnerable to earthquake shaking and liquefaction of water-saturated granular sediment. This new map provides a consistent detailed treatment of the central part of the 9-county region in which much of the mapping of Open-File Report 00-444 was either at smaller (less detailed) scale or represented only preliminary revision of earlier work. Like Open-File Report 00-444, the current mapping uses geomorphic expression, pedogenic soils, inferred depositional environments, and geologic age to define and distinguish the map units. Further scrutiny of the factors controlling liquefaction susceptibility has led to some changes relative to Open-File Report 00-444: particularly the reclassification of San Francisco Bay mud (Qhbm) to have only MODERATE susceptibility and the rating of artificial fills according to the Quaternary map units inferred to underlie them (other than dams - adf). The two colored maps provide a regional summary of the new mapping at a scale of 1:200,000, a scale that is sufficient to show the general distribution and relationships of the map units but not to distinguish the more detailed elements that are present in the database. The report is the product of cooperative work by the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) and National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program of the U.S. Geological Survey, William Lettis and & Associates, Inc. (WLA), and the California Geological Survey. An earlier version was submitted to the U.S. Geological Survey by WLA as a final report for a NEHRP grant (Witter and others, 2005). The mapping has been carried out by WLA geologists under contract to the NEHRP Earthquake Program (Grant 99-HQ-GR-0095) and by the California Geological Survey.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2001

Sea-level and environmental changes since the last interglacial in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia: an overview

The Gulf of Carpentaria is an epicontinental sea (maximum depth 70 m) between Australia and New Guinea, bordered to the east by Torres Strait (currently 12 m deep) and to the west by the Arafura Sill (53 m below present sea level). Throughout the Quaternary, during times of low sea-level, the Gulf was separated from the open waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, forming Lake Carpentaria, an isolation basin, perched above contemporaneous sea-level with outlet channels to the Arafura Sea. A preliminary interpretation is presented of the palaeoenvironments recorded in six sediment cores collected by the IMAGES program in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The longest core (approx. 15 m) spans the past 130 ka and includes a record of sea-level/lake-level changes, with particular complexity between 80 and 40 ka when sea-level repeatedly breached and withdrew from Gulf/Lake Carpentaria. Evidence from biotic remains (foraminifers, ostracods, pollen), sedimentology and geochemistry clearly identifies a final marine transgression at about 9.7 ka (radiocarbon years). Before this transgression, Lake Carpentaria was surrounded by grassland, was near full, and may have had a surface area approaching 600 km×300 km and a depth of about 15 m. The earlier rise in sea-level which accompanied the Marine Isotopic Stage 6/5 transgression at about 130 ka is constrained by sedimentological and biotic evidence and dated by optical- and thermoluminescence and amino acid racemisation methods.

Gulf Of Carpentaria↗
USGS1981

Altitude and configuration of the water table in the High Plains aquifer in Kansas, 1980

The High Plains aquifer in Kansas is part of a regional system that extends into Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. The aquifer in Kansas underlies an area of 31,000 square miles in the western and south-central part of the State. This aquifer is a hydraulically connected assemblage of unconsolidated water-bearing deposits. In western Kansas, the High Plains aquifer consists principally of the Ogallala Formation of late Tertiary age and the overlying deposits of Quaternary age. In south-central Kansas, the aquifer consists of unconsolidated deposits principally of the Quaternary age. Valley alluvium of Quaternary age also is included in the deposits in both areas. The High Plains aquifer is delimited on the east by outcrops of Permian or Cretaceous rocks and by unsaturated deposits of Quaternary age.

Kansas↗
USGS2007

Map and data for Quaternary faults and fault systems on the Island of Hawai'i

Introduction This report and digitally prepared, GIS-based map is one of a series of similar products covering individual states or regions of United States that show the locations, ages, and activity rates of major earthquake-related features such as faults and fault-related folds. It is part of a continuing the effort to compile a comprehensive Quaternary fault and fold map and database for the United States, which is supported by the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Earthquake Hazards Program. Guidelines for the compilation of the Quaternary fault and fold maps for the United States were published by Haller and others (1993) at the onset of this project. This compilation of Quaternary surface faulting and folding in Hawai`i is one of several similar state and regional compilations that were planned for the United States. Reports published to date include West Texas (Collins and others, 1996), New Mexico (Machette and others, 1998), Arizona (Pearthree, 1998), Colorado (Widmann and others, 1998), Montana (Stickney and others, 2000), Idaho (Haller and others, 2005), and Washington (Lidke and others, 2003). Reports for other states such as California and Alaska are still in preparation. The primary intention of this compilation is to aid in seismic-hazard evaluations. The report contains detailed information on the location and style of faulting, the time of most recent movement, and assigns each feature to a slip-rate category (as a proxy for fault activity). It also contains the name and affiliation of the compiler, date of compilation, geographic and other paleoseismologic parameters, as well as an extensive set of references for each feature. The map (plate 1) shows faults, volcanic rift zones, and lineaments that show evidence of Quaternary surface movement related to faulting, including data on the time of most recent movement, sense of movement, slip rate, and continuity of surface expression. This compilation is presented as a digitally prepared map product and catalog of data, both in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. The senior authors (Eric C. Cannon and Roland Burgmann) compiled the fault data as part of ongoing studies of active faulting on the Island of Hawai`i. The USGS is responsible for organizing and integrating the State or regional products under their National Seismic Hazard Mapping project, including the coordination and oversight of contributions from individuals and groups (Michael N. Machette and Anthony J. Crone), database design and management (Kathleen M. Haller), and digitization and analysis of map data (Richard L. Dart). After being released an Open-File Report, the data in this report will be available online at http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/qfaults/, the USGS Quaternary Fault and Fold Database of the United States.

Hawaii↗
USGS2006

Preliminary Surficial Geologic Map of the Mesquite Lake 30' X 60' Quadrangle, California and Nevada

The Quaternary surficial geologic map of the Mesquite Lake, California-Nevada 30'X60' quadrangle depicts deposit age and geomorphic processes of erosion and deposition, as identified by a composite of remote sensing investigations, laboratory analyses, and field work, in the arid to semi-arid Mojave Desert area, straddling the California-Nevada border. Mapping was motivated by the need to address pressing scientific and social issues such as understanding and predicting the effects of climate and associated hydrologic changes, human impacts on landscapes, ecosystem function, and natural hazards at a regional scale. As the map area lies just to the south of Las Vegas, Nevada, a rapidly expanding urban center, land use pressures and the need for additional construction materials are forecasted for the region. The map contains information on the temporal and spatial patterns of surface processes and hazards that can be used to model specific landscape applications. Key features of the geologic map include: (1) spatially extensive Holocene alluvial deposits that compose the bulk of Quaternary units (~25%), (2) remote sensing and field studies that identified fault scarps or queried faults in the Kingston Wash area, Shadow Mountains, southern Pahrump Valley, Bird Spring Range, Lucy Gray Mountains and Piute Valley, (3) a lineament indicative of potential fault offset is located in Mesquite Valley, (4) active eolian dunes and sand ramps located on the east side of Mesquite, Ivanpah, and Hidden Valleys adjacent to playas, (4) groundwater discharge deposits in southern Pahrump Valley, Spring Mountains, and Lucy Gray Mountains and (5) debris-flow deposits spanning almost the entire Quaternary period in age.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1962

Quaternary geology of the Bellevue area in Blaine and Camas Counties, Idaho

The Bellevue area covers about 350 square miles of a foothill belt between the Rocky Mountains to the north and the Snake River plains to the south. Complexly deformed impure quartzites and limestones of the Mississippian Milligen and Pennsylvanian-Permian Wood River formations were intruded by large bodies of quartz diorite and granodiorite along regional structures trending northwesterly; the intrusions are part of the Cretaceous Idaho batholith. Erosional remnants of the Challis volcanics, dominantly latitic to andesitic in composition and early(?) to middle Tertiary in age, rest unconformably on the older rocks. A sequence of Pliocene Rhyolitic ash flows and basaltic lava flows unconformably overlies the Challis and older rocks and is in turn unconformably overlain by olivine basalt of late Pliocene or early Quaternary age. The main valleys of the area, partly Erosional and partly structural in origin, are underlaind by late Quaternary olivine basalt flows (Snake River basalt) and intercalated lacustrine, fluvial, proglacial sediments. The Big Wood River, the master stream of the area, flows southward through a narrow steep-sided valley in the mountainous country north of the Bellevue area and debouches into a broad alluvial valley, the Wood River Valley, in the foothill belt. The valley has the shape of an isosceles triangle with a ten mile long, east-west base consisting of a ridge of Pliocene volcanics which separates the valley from the Snake River Plains to the south. The river now flows through a narrow gap in the southwest corner of the triangle. A similar, but wider, gap around the east end of the ridge was formerly occupied by the river. The river has been shifted back and forth between these two gaps at least four times during an interval in which six late Quaternary basalt flows erupted in the Bellevue area. Two of the flows caused direct diversion of the river and another was influential in bringing about a diversion on an aggradational fan upstream from the lava dam. Just prior to the Bull Lake stage the river, flowing out the east gap, was blocked but not diverted by the youngest basalt flow in the Bellevue area. During the proglacial aggradation, the river shifted widely on its fan and spilled alternatively out both the east and west gaps. After the Bull Lake stage, the west gap had an advantageous base level relative to the lava-blocked east gap, and the river cut down in the west gap. After the second, Pinedale, proglacial aggradation in the Wood River Valley, the west gap still maintained an advantageous base level, and the river again cut down in the west outlet valley where it remains today. Periglacial deposits completely dominate the sidestream valleys of the Bellevue area. They formed under a rigorous climate during the Pinedale stage, when slope erosion accelerated by frost activated processes caused aggradation of valley floors by local detritus. Even at present the larger sidestreams are so choked with detritus that the streams have not regained control of their valley floors. Recent basalt, comparable in age to the younger flows of the Craters of the Moon National Monument, spread from a rugged, cratered vent several miles south of the Bellevue area. Using degree of weathering, erosion, and soil development as a basis of comparison, this flow provides and end point for estimating the relative ages of the six late Quaternary flows in the Bellevue area.

Idaho↗
USGS1963

Hydrogeology of Middle Canyon, Oquirrh Mountains, Tooele County, Utah

Geology and climate are the principal influences affecting the hydrology of Middle Canyon, Tooele County, Utah. Reconnaissance in the canyon indicated that the geologic influences on the hydrology may be localized; water may be leaking through fault and fracture zones or joints in sandstone and through solution openings in limestone of the Oquirrh formation of Pennsylvanian and Permian age. Surficial deposits of Quaternary age serve as the main storage material for ground water in the canyon and transmit water from the upper canyon to springs and drains at the canyon mouth. The upper canyon is a more important storage area than the lower canyon because the surficial deposits are thicker, and any zones of leakage in the underlying bedrock of the upper canyon probably would result in greater leakage than would similar outlets in the lower canyon. The total annual discharge from Middle Canyon, per unit of precipitation, decreased between 1910 and 1939. Similar decreases occurred in Parleys Canyon in the nearby Wasatch Range and in other drainage basins in Utah, and it is likely that most of the decrease in discharge from Middle Canyon and other canyons in Utah is due to a change in climate. Chemical analyses of water showed that the high content of sulfate and other constituents in the water from the Utah Metals tunnel, which drains into Middle Canyon, does not have a significant effect on water quality at the canyon mouth. This suggests that much of the tunnel water is lost from the channel by leakage, probably in the upper canyon, during the dry part of the year. Comparison of the 150 acre-feet of water per square mile of drainage area discharged by Middle Canyon in 1947 with the 623 and 543 acre-feet per square mile discharged in 1948 by City Creek and Mill Creek Canyons, two comparable drainage basins in the nearby Wasatch Range, also suggests that there is leakage in Middle Canyon. A hydrologic budget of the drainage basin results in an estimate that about 3,000 acre-feet of water was unaccounted for in the 1947 water year. This may represent a reasonable estimate of annual leakage from Middle Canyon. The future development of Middle Canyon water can best be planned after additional information is obtained on movement of water through the channel fill. Much of this information could be supplied by test drilling in the channel fill.

Utah↗
USGS2000

Preliminary simulation of a M6.5 earthquake on the Seattle Fault using 3D finite-difference modeling

A three-dimensional finite-difference simulation of a moderate-sized (M 6.5) thrust-faulting earthquake on the Seattle fault demonstrates the effects of the Seattle Basin on strong ground motion in the Puget lowland. The model area includes the cities of Seattle, Bremerton and Bellevue. We use a recently developed detailed 3D-velocity model of the Seattle Basin in these simulations. The model extended to 20-km depth and assumed rupture on a finite fault with random slip distribution. Preliminary results from simulations of frequencies 0.5 Hz and lower suggest amplification can occur at the surface of the Seattle Basin by the trapping of energy in the Quaternary sediments. Surface waves generated within the basin appear to contribute to amplification throughout the modeled region. Several factors apparently contribute to large ground motions in downtown Seattle: (1) radiation pattern and directivity from the rupture; (2) amplification and energy trapping within the Quaternary sediments; and (3) basin geometry and variation in depth of both Quaternary and Tertiary sediments

Open-File Report↗