Search USGS⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search USGS

Results for “Journal of Geology”

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

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 469 records · Page 26Linked to original sources
USGS2022

Rift flank segmentation, basin initiation and propagation: a neotectonic example from Lake Baikal

New surficial data (field, Landsat TM and topography) define morpho-tectonic domains and rift flank segmentation in the Ol'khon region of the Central Baikal rift. Deformation, drainage and depositional patterns indicate a change in the locus of active extension that may relate to a recent (<l Ma) change in the kinematics of the Siberian plate boundary. The westwards migration of the border fault location has broadened the rift with concomitant shifts in depocentres. Within the hanging wall of the new western border fault, distinct segments control the location of drainage paths and syn-rift deposits. Morphology, sediment thicknesses and fault scarp amplitude indicate that a segmented rift flank graben has propagated southwards along the rift flank and is still actively fragmenting. These surficial data are used to constrain a model for the time-dependent topographic variations during progressive subsidence along a rift flank, involving the transfer of footwall units to hanging-wall domains. Rapid changes in border fault footwall relief in this model are associated with change in the active border fault location with widespread mass-wasting. The model shows that time-dependent histories need to be integrated with flexural uplift models for active normal faults. The active, syn-rift depositional systems of the Ol'khon region provide a valuable analogue for the early evolution of continental margins and the structural controls on syn-rift hydrocarbon sources and reservoirs.

Siberia↗
USGS2022

The tectonic significance of pre-Scandian 40Ar/39Ar phengite cooling ages in the Caledonides of western Norway

Pre-Silurian continental-margin deposits in western Norway, non-conformably overlying allochthonous continental orthogneisses retain Ordovician 40 Ar/ 39 Ar cooling ages for phengites, implying either rapid cooling immediately after a Late Ordovician orogenic event, or less likely, a slow cooling following an Early Ordovician or older orogeny. The Dalsfjord Suite–Høyvik Group basement–cover pair are probably a lateral equivalent to Late Proterozoic sandstones (‘sparagmites’) covering the Jotun Nappe gneisses of the Middle Allochthon in central-south Norway. The Høyvik Group underwent polyphase deformation, greenschist-facies metamorphism ( T max <450°C) and exhumation prior to deposition of the unconformably overlying Wenlockian continental-margin deposits of the Herland Group. The Høyvik Group was only weakly metamorphosed during obduction of the Solund–Stavfjord Ophiolite and the Scandian continental collision between Baltica and Laurentia. Phengitic white micas from the Høyvik Group yield cooling ages of 446.1± 3.0, 449.1±2.2 and 447.5±4.0 Ma, respectively, identical within experimental error. One sample gives a plateau over 72% of the gas analysed, whereas the other samples were slightly disturbed after initial cooling, as indicated by systematically lower apparent ages at low experimental extraction temperatures. Minor 40 Ar loss probably occurred during subsequent Scandian deformation and late to post-orogenic extension.The Høyvik Group rocks were unroofed before the Wenlock time (423–428 Ma) and cooled through the temperature for argon retention in phengite at c . 447±4 Ma, indicating a maximum cooling rate between 14 and 22C/Ma- 1 through Ashgill and Llandovery times before being subjected to low-grade metamorphism during the Scandian orogeny. Rapid pre-Scandian cooling, combined with peak metamorphic conditions of 450C or less, may indicate that the Dalsfjord–Høyvik basement–cover pair were aVected by an orogenic event during the Late Ordovician (Caradoc) time. The data also suggest that the Caledonian margin of Baltica may have experienced a more protracted tectonism during the Caledonian cycle than previously models focusing on Early Caledonian and Tremadoc (or older) ophiolite obduction and the Scandian continental collision between Baltica and Laurentia.

Journal of the Geological Society↗
USGS2022

Debris flows originating from soil slips during rainstorms in Southern California

Debris flows generated during rainstorms present a greater risk of death and injury to southern California residents than all other kinds of slope failure combined. During the years 1962-1971, twenty-three people in the greater Los Angeles area died from being buried or struck by debris flows, all of which probably originated as soil slips. Soil slips and debris flows are recurring major natural geomorphological processes in the region. Soil slips are reconstituted into debris flows when the initial movement (sliding failure) of slabs of soil and wedges of ravine fill causes remoulding of the saturated moving mass into viscous, debris-laden mud, which then flows down available drainage courses. This change of state results in a marked reduction in resistance to shear, permitting masses to accelerate down the same slopes on which, only moments earlier, the slabs of soil mantle had barely overcome the resistance to sliding. Many flows reach avalanche speeds and do not begin to deposit significant amounts of detritus until they reach lower gradients far from their sources. The deposits form steep ‘alluvial’ fans at the mouths of short, steep drainage basins tributary to broad valleys, and form debris trains in and along narrow trunk canyons below the mouths of short, steep tributaries. The exceptional storm period of January 18th to 26th, 1969, was accompanied by thousands of soil slips and provided an unusual opportunity to determine the times of occurrence of numerous debris flows, establish their origin from soil slips, and compare the times of those events with rainfall records from an extensive network of continuously recording rain gauges and a sequential set of radar weather maps. An empirical association between soil slips and rainfall suggests that a 10 inch antecedent rainfall is required to bring most of the colluvial soil of the area to field capacity, and 0.25 inch-per-hour is the minimum rate at which surface infiltration exceeds subsoil drainage for most of the colluvial soils of the area so that pore pressures are raised in a zone above the less permeable parent materials. Soil moisture of this level also appears to be sufficient so that most of the colluvial soils of the area will become at least partly liquid when disturbed. GeoRef Subject

California↗
USGS2022

Spring mudflows at Wrightwood, Southern California

The Wrightwood area in the San Gabriel Mountains of southern California is known as a site of recurring mudflow activity. The community of Wrightwood is built on the coalesced fans of Sheep, Acorn and Heath Creeks, and the fan deposits are probably chiefly of mudflow origin. Historically, mudflows there have been observed in association with three climatic conditions: (1) short period of high-intensity rainfall during the summer dry season (thunderstorms); (2) periods of heavy rainfall during the October-March winter season, when most of the year's rain and snow fall; and (3) thaw of the winter snow pack. The mudflow activity associated with heavy rainfall has generally been of only a few hours or at most a few days duration. Mudflow activity associated with spring thaw has been of longer duration, as much as several weeks. At various times in the past, mudflows generated by all three conditions have inundated homes and highways in the Wrightwood area, which is now defended by a flood control levee system. During May and June, 1969 the rapid melting of a heavy snow pack resulted in a 40-day period of mudflow activity in Heath Creek. All flows originated in the steep upper reaches of Heath Creek, where steep ravines are incised in the toe of a large active landslide. Direct observation by the authors showed that flows formed when small masses of debris fell or slid from the surface of the landslide mass into the steep channel. Some of the masses were fluid enough to continue downstream without interruption; others stopped in the channel until remobilized by added melt water or the passage of a mudflow from a higher altitude. Both processes resulted in discrete ‘slugs’ which continued down the steep ravine, through an allu-viated canyon, to a fan where most of the debris was deposited. The activity may be described as a spring mudflow cycle, within which three stages were observed in a gradational sequence. A waxing stage began with sporadic short-duration mudflows, during which the lower alluviated canyon floor of Heath Creek was aggraded. A climactic stage of larger mudflows at more frequent intervals and of longer duration was characterized by the incision of a single, narrow, U-shaped channel in the alluviated canyon floor, and transportation of debris as much as 2 miles (3.2 km) from the source. A waning stage followed as meltwater supply decreased; short-duration flows backfilled the U-shaped channel and spilled over the banks, again aggrading the alluviated canyon floor.

California↗
USGS2022

Formation and distribution of coal balls in the Herrin Coal (Pennsylvanian), Franklin County, Illinois Basin, USA

Large areas of concentrated coal balls (permineralized peat) up to 4 m thick obstructed longwall mining in the Herrin Coal at the Old Ben No. 24 mine. The largest coal‐ball area mapped contained >1500 m 3 ; several areas contained >400 m 3 of coal balls. In‐mine mapping established that there were two types of roof (freshwater and marine), and that the coal balls were spatially correlated with the marine roof units. Regional studies and local data revealed that the younger, freshwater Energy Shale (mud) originally covered all of the peat deposited at the mine, but the mud was locally removed during a period of erosion. The great majority of coal balls are found within the coal seam, where they were permineralized in situ by carbonates. Some coal balls are found exposed on the eroded coal surface and others are within the channel fill associated with the erosion, which predates any marine sedimentation. Thus, the mineralization of the coal balls was synchronous with the erosion of the Energy Shale mud. Data from C‐and O‐isotope, geochemical, and mineralogical analyses of coal balls and associated materials were used to refine a depositional model of coal‐ball formation. The concentrated coal‐ball areas were created by the triggered degassing of CO 2 from partially decomposed peat in the presence of cations from fresh waters; 13 C/ 12 C ratios in these coal balls average −23.9‰. 13 C/ 12 C ratios as low as −34‰ occurring in the most concentrated coal balls are consistent with CO 2 produced by anaerobic oxidation of methane. Top‐of‐seam coal balls were formed later and show slight to strong marine influence; their 13 C/ 12 C ratios average −10.8‰.

Illinois↗
USGS2022

Silurian K-bentonites of the Dnestr Basin, Podolia, Ukraine

The Dnestr Basin of Podolia, Ukraine, is an epicratonic basin consisting of neritic carbonate and calcareous mudstone facies including a nearly complete Silurian sequence ranging from late Llandovery to late Pridoli in age. The Silurian section has served as a standard for regional and interregional studies as a consequence of its well-documented macro- and microfaunal assemblages. Approximately 24 mid- to Late Silurian K-bentonites are present in this succession, and their lateral persistence has aided in establishing regional correlations. The K-bentonites range from 1 to 40 cm in thickness and occur in the Bagovitsa (late Wenlock), Malinovtsy (Ludlow) and Skala (Pridoli) Formations. Discrimination diagrams based on immobile trace elements together with rare earth element data suggest the K-bentonites had a volcanic origin in a collision margin setting related to subduction. Thickness and stratigraphic distribution considerations are consistent with a source area in the Rheic Ocean.

Dnestr Basin, Podolia↗
USGS2022

Evidence for the recovery of terrestrial ecosystems ahead of marine primary production following a biotic crisis at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary

The fossil record demonstrates that mass extinction across the Cretaceous–Tertiary (K–T) boundary is more severe in the marine than the terrestrial realm. We hypothesize that terrestrial ecosystems were able to recover faster than their marine counterparts. To test this hypothesis, we measured sedimentary δ 13 C as a tracer for global carbon cycle changes and compared it with palaeovegetational changes reconstructed from palynomorphs and cuticles across the K–T boundary at Sugarite, New Mexico, USA. Different patterns of perturbation and timescales of recovery of isotopic and palaeobotanical records indicate that the δ 13 C excursion reflects the longer recovery time of marine versus terrestrial ecosystems.

New Mexico↗
USGS2014

Revised Wonoka isotopic anomaly in South Australia and Late Ediacaran mass extinction

The global Late Ediacaran Shuram–Wonoka carbon isotope anomaly has been regarded as the largest and longest known isotopic anomaly in the ocean, assuming that all Ediacaran carbonate is marine. Disregarding carbonate in South Australia shown here to be palaeosol or palaeokarst, the synchronous marine organic–carbonate excursion is only −8‰ for δ 13 C organic and −6‰ for δ 13 C carbonate, and lasted less than a million years. This revised magnitude and duration is comparable with perturbations across the Permian–Triassic boundary, and correlative with a global Late Ediacaran acritarch mass extinction. Like Permian–Triassic isotopic excursions, the revised organic–carbonate Wonoka excursion may also have been a greenhouse palaeoclimatic warm spike, which terminated valley incision and glacioeustatic drawdown during the mid-Ediacaran Fauquier Glaciation, and preceded chill of the Late Ediacaran Billy Springs Glaciation.

Flinders Ranges↗
USGS2021

Capturing the transient hydrological response in sandy soils during a rare cloudburst associated with shallow slope failures; A case study in the Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, USA

A cloudburst on 7 August 2018 in the coastal bluffs of the Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, induced flooding, erosion and multiple shallow slope failures that adversely affected the surrounding hillside residential area. Historically, short-duration deluges are rare in the New York Bay region, with only eight cloudbursts of greater magnitude documented since 1948. The coastal bluffs consist of a variably thick, sandy surficial material overlying flat-lying, mostly non-indurated Cretaceous and Tertiary sediments, including some low-permeability glauconitic units. The bluffs have been affected by both historical deep-seated and shallow landslide movement, the latter typically related to heavy, relatively long-duration rainfall associated with tropical cyclones and nor'easters. The shallow hydrological response during the rare cloudburst was captured at two hydrological monitoring sites and yielded insights into rapidly changing moisture conditions resulting in slope failure. Additional information is provided on historical cloudbursts that have affected the region, antecedent moisture conditions, and documented landslide types and processes.

New Jersey↗
USGS2022

Assigning causality to events in the Holocene record of coral reefs

The uncemented reef-frameworks of Pacific Panamá, which have been dominated throughout the Holocene by branching corals of the genus Pocillopora , experienced a hiatus in vertical accretion lasting c. 2300 years, beginning c. 4100 years ago. The hiatus has been attributed to an increase in variability of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). We tested the alternative hypothesis that the hiatus was solely the result of bioerosion, assuming an acute disturbance halted coral growth 1800 years ago (the time at which reef accretion resumed after the hiatus) and that the entire framework remained in the taphonomically active zone at that time. We calculate that it would have taken 167–511 years for bioerosion to fully remove 2300 years-worth of framework growth under those circumstances. In fact, most of the reef-framework in Panamá is stabilized in sediment that prevents the activity of bioeroders; only the upper c. 1 m of open framework – several decades-worth of growth at most – would have been vulnerable to erosion, greatly increasing the time required to bioerode 2300 years of accumulation. We conclude that the hiatus was not solely an artefact of bioerosion; rather, a long-term increase in ENSO variability suppressed coral growth and vertical reef accretion.

Journal of the Geological Society of London↗
USGS1986

Geologic studies in Alaska by the U.S. Geological Survey during 1985

This circular contains short reports about many of the geologic studies carried out in Alaska by the U.S. Geological Survey and cooperating agencies in 1985. The topics cover a wide range in scientific and economic interest. Separate bibliographic listings of published reports are included. These listings are: (1) data releases and folio components derived from the Alaska Mineral Resource Assessment Program, (2) reports on Alaska released in U.S. Geological Survey publications in 1985, and (3) reports about Alaska by U.S. Geological Survey authors in various scientific journals in 1985.

Alaska↗
USGS2011

Hydrologic conditions and terrestrial laser scanning of post-firedebris flows in the San Gabriel Mountains, CA, U.S.A

To investigate rainfall-runoff conditions that generate post-wildfire debris flows, we instrumented and surveyed steep, small watersheds along the tectonically active front of the San Gabriel Mountains, California. Fortuitously, we recorded runoff-generated debris-flows triggered by one spatially restricted convective event with 28 mm of rainfall falling over 62 minutes. Our rain gages, nested hillslope overland-flow sensors and soil-moisture probes, as well as a time series of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) revealed the effects of the storm. Hillslope overland-flow response, along two ~10-m long flow lines perpendicular to and originating from a drainage divide, displayed only a 10 to 20 minute delay from the onset of rainfall with accumulated totals of merely 5-10 mm. Depth-stratified soil-moisture probes displayed a greater time delay, roughly 20- 30 minutes, indicating that initial overland flow was Hortonian. Furthermore, a downstream channel-monitoring array recorded a pronounced discharge peak generated by the passage of a debris flow after 18 minutes of rainfall. At this time, only four of the eleven hillslope overland flow sensors confirmed the presence of surface-water flow. Repeat TLS and detailed field mapping using GPS document how patterns of rainsplash, overland-flow scour, and rilling contributed to the generation of metter-scale debris flows. In response to a single small storm, the debris flows deposited irregular levees and lobate terminal snouts on hillslopes and caused wide- spread erosion of the valley axis with ground surface lowering exceeding 1.5 m.

California↗
USGS2011

Observations of debris flows at Chalk Cliffs, Colorado, USA: Part 1, in-situ measurements of flow dynamics, tracer particle movement and video imagery from the summer of 2009

Debris flows initiated by surface-water runoff during short duration, moderate- to high-intensity rainfall are common in steep, rocky, and sparsely vegetated terrain. Yet large uncertainties remain about the potential for a flow to grow through entrainment of loose debris, which make formulation of accurate mechanical models of debris-flow routing difficult. Using a combination of in situ measurements of debris flow dynamics, video imagery, tracer rocks implanted with passive integrated transponders (PIT) and pre- and post-flow 2-cm resolution digital terrain models (terrain data presented in a companion paper by STALEY et alii, 2011), we investigated the entrainment and transport response of debris flows at Chalk Cliffs, CO, USA. Four monitored events during the summer of 2009 all initiated from surface-water runoff, generally less than an hour after the first measurable rain. Despite reach-scale morphology that remained relatively constant, the four flow events displayed a range of responses, from long-runout flows that entrained significant amounts of channel sediment and dammed the main-stem river, to smaller, short-runout flows that were primarily depositional in the upper basin. Tracer-rock travel-distance distributions for these events were bimodal; particles either remained immobile or they travelled the entire length of the catchment. The long-runout, large-entrainment flow differed from the other smaller flows by the following controlling factors: peak 10-minute rain intensity; duration of significant flow in the channel; and to a lesser extent, peak surge depth and velocity. Our growing database of natural debris-flow events can be used to develop linkages between observed debris-flow transport and entrainment responses and the controlling rainstorm characteristics and flow properties.

Colorado↗
USGS2011

Observations of debris flows at Chalk Cliffs, Colorado, USA: Part 2, changes in surface morphometry from terrestrial laser scanning in the summer of 2009

High resolution topographic data that quantify changes in channel form caused by sequential debris flows in natural channels are rare at the reach scale. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) techniques are utilized to capture morphological changes brought about by a high-frequency of debris-flow events at Chalk Cliffs, Colorado. The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the topographic response of a natural channel to the documented debris-flow events. TLS survey data allowed for the generation of high-resolution (2-cm) digital terrain models (DTM) of the channel. A robust network of twelve permanent control points permitted repeat scanning sessions that provided multiple DTM to evaluate fine-scale topographic change associated with three debris-flow events. Difference surfaces from the DTM permit the interpretations of spatial variations in channel morphometry and net volume of material deposited and eroded within and between a series of channel reaches. Each channel reach experienced erosion, deposition, and both net volumetric gains and losses were measured. Analysis of potential relationships between erosion and deposition magnitudes yielded no strong correlations with measures of channel-reach morphometry, suggesting that channel reach-specific predictions of potential erosion or deposition locations or rates cannot be adequately derived from statistical analyses of pre-event channel-reach morphometry.

Colorado↗
USGS2011

An empirical method to forecast the effect of storm intensity on shallow landslide abundance

We hypothesize that the number of shallow landslides a storm triggers in a landscape increases with rainfall intensity, duration and the number of unstable model cells for a given shallow landslide susceptibility model of that landscape. For selected areas in California, USA, we use digital maps of historic shallow landslides with adjacent rainfall records to construct a relation between rainfall intensity and the fraction of unstable model cells that actually failed in historic storms. We find that this fraction increases as a power law with the 6-hour rainfall intensity for sites in southern California. We use this relation to forecast shallow landslide abundance for a dynamic numerical simulation storm for California, representing the most extreme historic storms known to have impacted the state.

California↗
USGS2012

Paleoseismic and geomorphologic evidence of recent tectonic activity of the Pozohondo Fault (Betic Cordillera, SE Spain)

Instrumental and historical seismicity in the Albacete province (External Prebetic Zone) has been scarcely recorded. However, major strike-slip faults showing NW-SE trending provide geomorphologic and paleoseismic evidence of recent tectonic activity (Late Pleistocene to Present). Moreover, these faults are consistently well oriented under the present stress tensor and therefore, they can trigger earthquakes of magnitude greater than M6, according to the lengths of surface ruptures and active segments recognized in fieldwork. Present landscape nearby the village of Hellin (SE of Albacete) is determined by the recent activity of the Pozohondo Fault (FPH), a NW-SE right-lateral fault with 90 km in length. In this study, we have calculated the Late Quaternary tectonic sliprate of the FPH from geomorphological, sedimentological, archaeoseimological, and paleoseismological approaches. All of these data suggest that the FPH runs with a minimum slip-rate of 0.1 mm/yr during the last 100 kyrs (Upper Pleistocene-Holocene). In addition, we have recognized the last two major paleoearthquakes associated to this fault. Magnitudes of these paleoearthquakes were gretarer than M6 and their recurrence intervals ranged from 6600 to 8600 yrs for the seismic cycle of FPH. The last earthquake was dated between the 1st and 6th centuries, though two earthquakes could be interpreted in this wide time interval, one at the FPH and other from a far field source. Results obtained here, suggest an increasing of the tectonic activity of the Pozohondo Fault during the last 10,000 yrs.

Pozohondo Fault↗
USGS1987

Pure shear and simple shear calcite textures. Comparison of experimental, theoretical and natural data

The pattern of lattice preferred orientation (texture) in deformed rocks is an expression of the strain path and the acting deformation mechanisms. A first indication about the strain path is given by the symmetry of pole figures: coaxial deformation produces orthorhombic pole figures, while non-coaxial deformation yields monoclinic or triclinic pole figures. More quantitative information about the strain history can be obtained by comparing natural textures with experimental ones and with theoretical models. For this comparison, a representation in the sensitive three-dimensional orientation distribution space is extremely important and efforts are made to explain this concept. We have been investigating differences between pure shear and simple shear deformation incarbonate rocks and have found considerable agreement between textures produced in plane strain experiments and predictions based on the Taylor model. We were able to simulate the observed changes with strain history (coaxial vs non-coaxial) and the profound texture transition which occurs with increasing temperature. Two natural calcite textures were then selected which we interpreted by comparing them with the experimental and theoretical results. A marble from the Santa Rosa mylonite zone in southern California displays orthorhombic pole figures with patterns consistent with low temperature deformation in pure shear. A limestone from the Tanque Verde detachment fault in Arizona has a monoclinic fabric from which we can interpret that 60% of the deformation occurred by simple shear.

Journal of Structural Geology↗
USGS2003

Structural framework of a major intracontinental orogenic termination zone: The easternmost Tien Shan, China

The Barkol Tagh and Karlik Tagh ranges of the easternmost Tien Shan are a natural laboratory for studying the fault architecture of an active termination zone of a major intracontinental mountain range. Barkol and Karlik Tagh and lesser ranges to the north are bounded by active thrust faults that locally deform Quaternary sediments. Major thrusts in Karlik Tagh connect along strike to the east with the left-lateral Gobi-Tien Shan Fault System in SW Mongolia. From a Mongolian perspective. Karlik Tagh represents a large restraining bend for this regional strike-slip fault system, and the entire system of thrusts and strike-slip faults in the Karlik Tagh region defines a horsetail splay fault geometry. Regionally, there appears to be a kinematic transition from thrust-dominated deformation in the central Tien Shan to left-lateral transpressional deformation in the easternmost Tien Shan. This transition correlates with a general eastward decrease in mountain belt width and average elevation and a change in the angular relationship between the NNE-directed maximum horizontal stress in the region and the pre-existing basement structural grain, which is northwesterly in the central Tien Shan (orthogonal to SHmax) but more east-west in the eastern Tien Shan (acute angular relationship with SHmax . Ar-Ar ages indicate that major range-bounding thrusts in Barkol and Karlik Tagh are latest Permian-Triassic ductile thrust zones that underwent brittle reactivation in the Late Cenozoic. It is estimated that the modern mountain ranges of the extreme easternmost Tien Shan could have been constructed by only 10-15 km of Late Cenozoic horizontal shortening.

Journal of the Geological Society↗