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At least 613 records · Page 34Linked to original sources
USGS2007

Solar forcing and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) influences on productivity cycles interpreted from a late-Holocene high-resolution marine sediment record, Adélie Drift, East Antarctic Margin

Core JPC17B was collected from the Adélie-Drift, a nearly 300-m thick drift deposit at 140ºE along the Indian Ocean sector of the Antarctic continental shelf. Sediments consist of nearly continuously laminated diatom mud and diatom ooze, with accumulation rates on the order of 20-21 m kyr -1 based on 10 AMS radiocarbon dates. Spectral analysis was performed on time series of opal content, d 13 C org , Ti content, and Ba content. Strong decadal to century- scale variability is present in all proxies. Opal and Ti-time series show strong variance at periods of 11, 22 and 110- years, which are suggestive of solar forcing. Ba-time series exhibits strong variance at a period of 3-3.6-yr, consistent with possible El Niño-Southern-Oscillation (ENSO) forcing.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2008

Volcan Baru: Eruptive History and Volcano-Hazards Assessment

Volcan Baru is a potentially active volcano in western Panama, about 35 km east of the Costa Rican border. The volcano has had four eruptive episodes during the past 1,600 years, including its most recent eruption about 400?500 years ago. Several other eruptions occurred in the prior 10,000 years. Several seismic swarms in the 20th century and a recent swarm in 2006 serve as reminders of a restless tectonic terrane. Given this history, Volcan Baru likely will erupt again in the near or distant future, following some premonitory period of seismic activity and subtle ground deformation that may last for days or months. Future eruptions will likely be similar to past eruptions?explosive and dangerous to those living on the volcano?s flanks. Outlying towns and cities could endure several years of disruption in the wake of renewed volcanic activity. Described in this open-file report are reconnaissance mapping and stratigraphic studies, radiocarbon dating, lahar-inundation modeling, and hazard-analysis maps. Existing data have been compiled and included to make this report as comprehensive as possible. The report is prepared in coooperation with National Secretariat for Science, Technology and Innovation (SENACYT) of the Republic of Panama and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Open-File Report↗
USGS2008

Paleoseismic Investigations of the Walnut Site on the San Jacinto Fault

The Walnut paleoseismic site is located along the northern San Jacinto fault about 3 km southeast of the San Bernardino, California city center (Figures 1, 2). More than 340 meters of trenches were excavated across the fault zone at this site as part of an Alquist-Priolo fault study (Figure 3). We photographed and logged the SE wall and most of the NE wall of trench 1, both walls of trenches 2 and 7, the NW walls of trenches 3 and 4 and the SE wall of trench 6. After carefully cleaning the trench walls we put up a 1m by 0.5m string and nail grid. For trenches 1, 2, 6, and 7, we photographed each 1m by 0.5m panel individually and photologged on these unrectified photos. These large-scale photos were later rectified to remove the distortion due to irregularities in the trench walls and slight distortion introduced by the camera lens. Field linework was then transferred to the rectified photomosaics. We also took a set of overview photographs for each trench taken from the top of the trench towards the opposite wall. We spliced together these overview photos to make photomosaics of all of the trenches. Because the photos were taken at a downward angle, there is significant distortion. Some of this distortion has been corrected: an attempt was made to keep horizontal grid lines horizontal and there has been some horizontal scaling to align vertical lines between benches. Although the string and nail grid spacing is 1 meter by 0.5 meter, because of the distortion in the photos and subsequent adjustments, the scale is variable along the benches, from bench to bench and from trench to trench for these overview mosaics. This report serves principally as a repository for the overview photomosaics. Sheet 1 shows the overview mosaics for both walls of trenches 1 and 2 along with some linework including most of the fault traces, a prominent unconformity within the fluvial deposits and the larger bodies of liquefied sand. Sheet 2 shows the overview mosaics for the SE wall of trench 3 and the NW wall of trench 4 along with photomosaics of both walls of trench 7 and the SE wall of trench 6 that were complied from the rectified, large scale photos. No linework has been portrayed on these photomosaics. Sheet 3 shows the overview mosaics of both walls of trench 1 with the locations of detrital charcoal samples that were collected. A later version of this report will contain photomosaics for trenches 1 and 2 compiled from the individual, fully rectified photos covering each 1m by 0.5m area with detailed linework superimposed. The trenches exposed a main, Holocene-active, fault zone about 5-12 m wide which juxtaposes Late Pleistocene (?) fluvial sand and gravel southwest of the fault against organic-rich, Holocene fine sand, silt and clay apparently deposited in a marsh. Most of the faults in the main zone appear to rupture to the ground surface making it impossible to resolve individual prehistoric earthquakes along this zone. However, the main fault zone is associated with a slight upwarp and growth strata associated with this folding has recorded evidence for at least 6 late-Holocene earthquakes. Deformation due to liquefaction is further evidence of large earthquakes at these horizons. The fine-grained Holocene deposits contain abundant detrital charcoal. We have so far dated 36 samples from 20 stratigraphic layers. We used 27 of these dates in an Oxcal chronological model in order to constrain the ages of the six earthquakes. Too few samples have so far been dated from the uppermost horizons so the ages of the two youngest earthquakes recorded at the site are poorly constrained. However, it appears that the youngest sediment at the site was deposited about 2000 years ago and the thick surface soil indicate that the two youngest earthquake recorded at the site may be about this old. The radiocarbon dates provide good constraints on the ages of the four older earthquakes (Table 1). The ages of these four earthquakes suggest an aver

Open-File Report↗
USGS2009

Photomosaics and logs of trenches on the San Andreas Fault near Coachella, California

The Coachella paleoseismic site is located on the San Andreas Fault along the northeast edge of the Coachella Valley in southern California east of Dillon Road and south of Avenue 44. Three benched trenches, a total of more than 950 m, were excavated across the fault zone as part of an Alquist-Priolo fault investigation study. These trenches exposed a thick section of latest Holocene lacustrine, fluvial, and shoreline deposits. Only the central and eastern trenches exposed faulting so we confined our investigations to those two trenches. In the central trench, we photographed and logged in detail both walls of about 70 m of the trench where it spanned several zones of complex faulting which form a 15-m-wide depression. After carefully cleaning the trench walls, we put up a 1- by 0.5-m string- and nail-grid. We photographed each 1- by 0.5-m panel individually and then photologged features directly on these unrectified photos. The photos were digitally rectified later to remove distortion caused by irregularities in the trench walls and to correct the slight distortion introduced by the camera lens. The rectified photos were spliced together to make photomosaics of the trench walls. Most of the field linework and descriptions were then transferred to the rectified photomosaics. For the eastern trench, we took a set of overview photographs of the full length (about 200 m) of each wall. These photographs were taken from the top of the trench towards the opposite wall. Because the photographs were taken at a downward angle, there is significant distortion. We logged directly on these photos in the field, recording significant contacts, primarily between lacustrine and subaerial deposits, along with descriptions. For this report, we spliced together these unrectified overview photos and transfered field linework and some descriptions. For both trenches, contacts and lithologhic descriptions of stratigraphic units, faults and carbon sample locations are indicated on the photomosaics. Lacustrine deposits are tinted to better show deformation across the fault zones. Evidence for six paleoearthquakes rated as “probable” is indicated with red stars that contain the sequential event number (1 is most recent event). Evidence for two additional “possible” paleoearthquakes is indicated with blue stars. The sedimentary deposits contain abundant dateable material which includes detrital charcoal, lenses of organic material formed in-situ, and shells. Two organic fractions, humic acids and acid-alkali-acid-pretreated (AAA), were dated for 13 of 15 samples taken from organic layers and both dates are shown for these samples on the photomosaics and tables 1 and 2. All radiocarbon dates are in 14 C years B.P. (considered to be A.D. 1950). Horizontal distance is measured along the trenches from the southwest ends of the logged exposures (marked as 0 m), and depth is measured from the highest points on the ground surface within the logged exposures. Bench locations are indicated by white lines and gaps in the photomosaics. Note that faults and contacts that are somewhat oblique to the trench walls occasionally appear disconnected owing to the approximately 1 m width of the benches.

California↗
USGS2009

Recent subsidence and erosion at diverse wetland sites in the southeastern Mississippi Delta Plain

A prior study (U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2005-1216) examined historical land- and water-area changes and estimated magnitudes of land subsidence and erosion at five wetland sites in the Terrebonne hydrologic basin of the Mississippi delta plain. The present study extends that work by analyzing interior wetland loss and relative magnitudes of subsidence and erosion at five additional wetland sites in the adjacent Barataria hydrologic basin. The Barataria basin sites were selected for their diverse physical settings and their recent (post-1978) conversion from marsh to open water. Historical aerial photography, datum-corrected marsh elevations and water depths, sediment cores, and radiocarbon dates were integrated to evaluate land-water changes in the Mississippi delta plain on both historical and geological time scales. The thickness of the organic-rich sediments (peat) and the elevation of the stratigraphic contact between peat and underlying mud were compared at marsh and open-water sites across areas of formerly continuous marsh to estimate magnitudes of recent delta-plain elevation loss caused by vertical erosion and subsidence of the wetlands. Results of these analyses indicate that erosion exceeded subsidence at most of the study areas, although both processes have contributed to historical wetland loss. Comparison of these results with prior studies indicates that subsidence largely caused rapid interior wetland loss in the Terrebonne basin before 1978, whereas erosional processes primarily caused more gradual interior wetland loss in the Barataria basin after 1978. Decadal variations in rates of relative sea-level rise at a National Ocean Service tide gage, elevation changes between repeat benchmark-leveling surveys, and GPS height monitoring at three National Geodetic Survey Continuously Operating Reference Stations indicate that subsidence rates since the early 1990s are substantially lower than those previously reported and are similar in magnitude to time-averaged subsidence rates at geological time scales. The historical decrease in land-loss rates across the Mississippi delta plain generally is consistent with the recent decrease in subsidence rates within the same region.

Louisiana↗
USGS2009

Holocene record of major and trace components in the sediments of an urban impoundment on the Mississippi River: Lake Pepin, Minnesota and Wisconsin

Lake Pepin is a natural impoundment formed by damming of the Mississippi River about 9,180 radiocarbon years ago (19,600 calendar years) by an alluvial fan deposited by the Chippewa River, a tributary of the Mississippi in Wisconsin. Unique among 26 Mississippi River impoundments, Lake Pepin has stratigraphically preserved Holocene materials, including pollutants, that have been transported down the Mississippi. This natural Holocene record can then be compared to changes that have occurred since European settlement (ca. AD 1830), and since enactment of clean air and water legislation. The most immediate response to settlement in the sediments of Lake Pepin was an increase in bulk-sediment accumulation rate. This was accompanied by gradual increases in concentrations of phosphorus (P), and organic carbon (OC), followed by dramatic increases in these elements beginning about 1940. The increase in P was far greater than any of the minor fluctuations in P that occurred throughout the Holocene, but the increase in OC was comparable to an increase in OC that occurred in the mid-Holocene. The concentrations of several metals (for example, cadmium [Cd], and lead [Pb]) also are elevated in recent sediments. Increased Cd concentrations lasted only about two decades during the industrial era between World War II and the enactment of clean water standards in the 1970s. Increased Pb emissions, on the other hand, occurred over more than 100 years, first from burning of coal and smelting of lead ores, and then, beginning in the 1930s, burning of leaded gasoline. Concentrations of Pb in the sediments of Lake Pepin decreased to about two times preindustrial levels within a decade of enactment of unleaded gasoline restrictions.

Minnesota, Wisconsin↗
USGS2012

Paleontology and geochronology of the Long Beach core sites and monitoring wells, Long Beach, California

The U.S. Geological Survey's Focus on Quaternary Stratigraphy in Los Angeles (FOQUS-LA) project was a cooperative coring program between Federal, State, and local agencies. It was designed to provide a better understanding of earthquake potentials and to develop a stratigraphic model of the western Los Angeles Basin in California. The biostratigraphic, geochronologic, and paleoecologic analyses of eight wells drilled during the FOQUS-LA project are presented. These analyses are based on microfossils (benthic and planktic foraminifers), macrofossils, paleomagnetic stratigraphy, optically stimulated luminescence, thermoluminescence, radiocarbon dating, and tephrochronology. A geochronologic framework (incorporating paleomagnetism, luminescence, and tephrochronology) was used to calibrate the sequence stratigraphic units in the FOQUS-LA wells and also was used to calibrate the ages of the microfossil stage and zonal boundaries. The results of this study show that (1) the offshore California margin zones can be used in a nearshore setting, and (2) the California margin zonal scheme refines the chronostratigraphic resolution of the benthic foraminiferal biostratigraphic framework for the Pacific Coast. Benthic foraminiferal stages are modified by the recognition of an early Hallian substage, which is a faunal change recognized throughout the Los Angeles Basin. Although no detailed macrofossil zonations exist for the Quaternary of southern California, several species, whose distribution is regulated by the climatic conditions, are useful as secondary marker species in the shallower water deposits of the Los Angeles Basin.

California↗
USGS2012

Logs and data from trenches across and near the Green Valley Fault at the Mason Road site, Fairfield, Solano County, California, 2006-2009

The primary purpose of this report is to provide drafted field logs of exploratory trenches excavated across the Green Valley Fault in 2007 and 2009 that show evidence for four surface rupturing earthquakes in the past one thousand years. The site location and site detail are shown on sheet 1. The trench logs are shown on sheets 1, 2, and 3. We also provide radiocarbon laboratory dates used for chronological modeling of the earthquake history. Sheets 4 and 5 show additional data obtained in 2006–2009 to document data obtained in our studies of the long-term geologic slip rate on the Green Valley Fault. However, that effort ultimately did not prove feasible and no slip rate estimate resulted.

California↗
USGS2012

Deep-Sea Turbidites as Guides to Holocene Earthquake History at the Cascadia Subduction Zone—Alternative Views for a Seismic-Hazard Workshop

This report reviews the geological basis for some recent estimates of earthquake hazards in the Cascadia region between southern British Columbia and northern California. The largest earthquakes to which the region is prone are in the range of magnitude 8-9. The source of these great earthquakes is the fault down which the oceanic Juan de Fuca Plate is being subducted or thrust beneath the North American Plate. Geologic evidence for their occurrence includes sedimentary deposits that have been observed in cores from deep-sea channels and fans. Earthquakes can initiate subaqueous slumps or slides that generate turbidity currents and which produce the sedimentary deposits known as turbidites. The hazard estimates reviewed in this report are derived mainly from deep-sea turbidites that have been interpreted as proxy records of great Cascadia earthquakes. The estimates were first published in 2008. Most of the evidence for them is contained in a monograph now in press. We have reviewed a small part of this evidence, chiefly from Cascadia Channel and its tributaries, all of which head offshore the Pacific coast of Washington State. According to the recent estimates, the Cascadia plate boundary ruptured along its full length in 19 or 20 earthquakes of magnitude 9 in the past 10,000 years; its northern third broke during these giant earthquakes only, and southern segments produced at least 20 additional, lesser earthquakes of Holocene age. The turbidite case for full-length ruptures depends on stratigraphic evidence for simultaneous shaking at the heads of multiple submarine canyons. The simultaneity has been inferred primarily from turbidite counts above a stratigraphic datum, sandy beds likened to strong-motion records, and radiocarbon ages adjusted for turbidity-current erosion. In alternatives proposed here, this turbidite evidence for simultaneous shaking is less sensitive to earthquake size and frequency than previously thought. Turbidites far below a channel confluence, instead of representing the merged flows from two tributaries, monitor the dominant tributary only. Sandy beds low in the turbidites, instead of matching from channel to channel, permit divergent stratigraphic correlations; and rather than approximating strong-motion seismograms, the sandy beds more likely record processes internal to the generation and transformation of subaqueous mass movements. The age adjustments, instead of supporting other evidence that all the northern ruptures were long, are uncertain enough to accord with variation in rupture mode, and this variation improves agreement with onshore paleoseismology. Many of the turbidites counted as evidence for frequent earthquakes on the southern Cascadia plate boundary may instead reflect nearness to steep slopes. This report is meant to aid in the updating of national maps of seismic hazards in Canada and the United States. It offers three main conclusions for consideration at a U.S. hazard-map workshop slated for March 21-22, 2012: If giant earthquakes are the norm for the plate boundary offshore southern Washington, the strongest paleoseismic evidence for this rupture mode is the average earthquake-recurrence interval of about 500 years that is evidenced both offshore in lower Cascadia Channel and onshore at estuaries of southern Washington and northernmost Oregon. The plate boundary offshore southern British Columbia and northern Washington may be capable of producing great earthquakes at an average interval as short as 300 years that is evidenced mainly onshore. Review of more of the turbidite evidence now in press may clarify implications for the hazard maps. Further work on the deep-sea turbidites could target sedimentary processes and chronological uncertainties that may affect the turbidites' sensitivity to fault-rupture lengths and recurrence rates.

Washington;Oregon;California↗
USGS2014

The search for geologic evidence of distant-source tsunamis using new field data in California

A statewide assessment for geological evidence of tsunamis, primarily from distant-source events, found tsunami deposits at several locations, though evidence was absent at most locations evaluated. Several historical distant-source tsunamis, including the 1946 Aleutian, 1960 Chile, and 1964 Alaska events, caused inundation along portions of the northern and central California coast. Recent numerical tsunami modeling results identify the eastern Aleutian Islands subduction zone as the “worstcase” distant-source region, with the potential for causing tsunami runups of 7–10 m in northern and central California and 3–4 m in southern California. These model results, along with a review of historical topographic maps and past geotechnical evaluations, guided site selection for tsunami deposit surveys. A reconnaissance of 20 coastal marshlands was performed through site visits and coring of shallow surface sediments to determine if evidence for past tsunamis existed. Although conclusive evidence of tsunami deposits was not found at most of the sites evaluated, geologic evidence consistent with tsunami inundation was found at two locations: Three marshes in the Crescent City area and Pillar Point marsh near Half Moon Bay. Potential tsunami deposits were also evaluated at the Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve in Santa Barbara County. In Crescent City, deposits were ascribed to tsunamis on the basis of stratigraphic architecture, particle size, and microfossil content, and they were further assigned to the 1964 Alaska and 1700 Cascadia tsunamis on the basis of dating by cesium-137 and radiocarbon methods, respectively. The 1946 tsunami sand deposit was clearly identified throughout Pillar Point marsh, and one to two other similar but highly discontinuous sand layers were present within 0.5 m of the surface. A tsunami-origin interpretation for sand layers at Carpinteria is merely consistent with graded bedding and unsupported by diatom or foraminiferal assemblages. Additional studies, including age dating, grain-size, and microfossil analyses are underway for the deposits at Crescent City, Pillar Point marsh, and Carpinteria, which may help further identify if other tsunami deposits exist at those sites. The absence of evidence for tsunamis at other sites examined should not preclude further work beyond the reconnaissance-level investigations at those locations.

California↗
USGS2014

Logs and data from trenches across the Berryessa Fault at the Jerd Creek site, northeastern Napa County, California, 2011-2012

The primary purpose of this report is to provide drafted field logs of exploratory trenches excavated across the Berryessa Fault section of the northern Green Valley Fault (Lienkaemper, 2012; Lienkaemper and others, 2013) in 2011 and 2012 that show evidence for at least one surface-rupturing earthquake in the past few centuries. The site location and site detail are shown on sheet 1. The trench logs are shown on sheets 1, 2, 3 and 4. We also provide radiocarbon ages used for chronological modeling of the earthquake history and a field description of a soil profile in one trench. A formal report based on these logs and data is in preparation.

California↗
USGS2014

Core data from offshore Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands

I n 2008, as a collaborative effort between Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the U.S. Geological Survey, 20 giant gravity cores were collected from areas surrounding Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The regions sampled have had many large earthquake and landslide events, some of which are believed to have triggered tsunamis. The objective of this coring cruise, carried out aboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research vessel Seward Johnson , was to determine the age of several substantial slope failures and seismite layers near Puerto Rico in an effort to map their temporal distribution. Data gathered from the cores collected in 2008 and 11 archive cores from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory are included in this report. These data include lithologic logs, core summary sheets, x-ray fluorescence, wet-bulk density, magnetic susceptibility, grain-size analyses, radiographs, and radiocarbon age dates.

Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands↗
USGS2016

Paleoseismology of the Denali fault system at the Schist Creek site, central Alaska

Two hand-dug trenches at the Schist Creek site on the Denali fault system in central Alaska exposed evidence of four surface-rupturing earthquakes on the basis of upward terminations of fault strands and at least one buried, scarp-derived colluvial wedge. Limited radiocarbon ages provide some constraints on times of the ruptures. The youngest rupture (PE1) likely occurred about 200–400 years ago, the penultimate rupture (PE2) is younger than 1,200 years old, the third event back (PE3) occurred between 1,200 and 2,700 years ago, and the oldest rupture (PE4) occurred more than 2,700 and less than 17,000 years ago. Evidence for a possible additional rupture (PE4?) is equivocal and probably is related to earthquake PE4. On the basis of a nearby measured slip rate of 9.4 ± 1.6 millimeters per year and the long interevent times between our documented ruptures, we believe that our paleoseismic record at this site is incomplete. We suspect one undocumented earthquake between PE1 and PE2 and one or perhaps two more earthquakes between PE2 and PE3. We found stratigraphic evidence in the trenches for only four or possibly five (PE4?) earthquakes, but the addition of two or three inferred earthquakes yields a record of eight possible surface ruptures at the Schist Creek site. Our interpretation of the paleoseismic history at the site is consistent with recurrence intervals of several hundred years on this section of the Denali fault system.

Alaska↗
USGS2021

Synthesis of geochronologic research on Late Pliocene to Holocene emergent shorelines in the lower Savannah River area of southeastern Georgia, USA

Emergent late Pliocene and Pleistocene shoreline deposits, morphologically identifiable Pleistocene shoreline units, and seaward-facing scarps characterize the easternmost Atlantic Coastal Plain (ACP) of the United States of America. In some areas of the ACP, these deposits, units, and scarps have been studied in detail. Within these areas, temporal and spatial data are sufficient for time-depositional frameworks for shoreline-evolution to have been developed and published. For other areas, such as the southeastern Atlantic Coastal Plain (SEACP), available data are conflicting and (or) insufficient to develop such a framework, or to make shoreline correlations. Differential epeirogenic uplift and shoreline deformation, resulting from mantle-flow and climate-induced isostatic adjustments, complicate regional shoreline correlations. In the SEACP, the topographically prominent Orangeburg Scarp (hereafter, the Scarp) rises tens of meters in elevation from southeastern Georgia to southeastern North Carolina. The degree to which the Scarp and shoreline units seaward of the Scarp are deformed continues to be debated, but there is general agreement that the lower Savannah River area (LSRA) of Georgia and South Carolina is the least deformed area of the SEACP. This paper synthesizes published and previously unpublished numerical age and stratigraphic data for emergent Pliocene and younger shoreline deposits in the LSRA in Georgia. Age data are applied to these shoreline deposits as they are delineated (map units) on the 1976 geologic map of Georgia by Lawton and others. Age assignments are based on stratigraphic position, fossil content, soil and weathering diagnostic properties, and numerical ages as determined by meteoric Beryllium‑10 paleosol residence time ( 10 BePRT), optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), uranium disequilibrium series (U-series), amino acid racemization (AAR), and radiocarbon ( 14 C) analyses. These data provide a preliminary Pliocene-Pleistocene geochronology for the Orangeburg Scarp and shoreline deposits seaward of the Scarp in the LSRA of Georgia. Minimum ages and age ranges indicate the following: the Orangeburg Scarp formed sometime in the late Pliocene and early Pleistocene, between 3 Ma and 1 Ma; three, and possibly four, shoreline complexes were deposited in the middle Pleistocene; two shoreline complexes were deposited in the late middle and the late Pleistocene; deposition of the youngest shoreline complex began in the late Pleistocene and continues to the present; each shoreline complex was modified by multiple sea level highstands over time periods that lasted tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of years; and Pleistocene shoreline chronology differs in part from modeled global sea level highstands.

Georgia, South Carolina↗
USGS2022

Photomosaics and logs associated with study of West Napa Fault at Ehlers Lane, north of Saint Helena, California

The West Napa Fault has previously been mapped as extending ~45 kilometers (km) from northern Vallejo to southern Saint Helena, California, dominantly running along the western edge of Napa Valley. A zone of fault strands (some previously unmapped) along a ~15-km section of the fault ruptured during the 2014 magnitude 6.0 South Napa earthquake, illustrating the need for further investigation of this little-studied structure. Based on light detection and ranging (lidar) topography and field examination, the fault zone likely extends an additional 10 km or more northward past Saint Helena. In this vicinity, geomorphology suggests two fault strands, one along the range front and another associated with a line of rounded hills that rise 5–10 meters above the middle of the valley. In 2017, we excavated two trenches across an apparent fault scarp on the east side of one elongate hill near Ehlers Lane north of Saint Helena. Examination of the walls revealed three main sedimentary packages. The oldest package, weakly lithified alluvial fan gravels with local sand and silt layers, is tilted 25°–35° to the west. Overlying these tilted strata are two younger sets of strata. On the west side, underlying the crest of the scarp, are alluvial fan gravels with local sand and silt lenses, potentially tilted a few degrees to the west. On the east side, deposited against the scarp, are much finer grained (dominantly fine sand to silt) subhorizontal fluvial strata, likely overbank deposits from the Napa River. We obtained age control on the two younger units through a combination of radiocarbon, infrared-stimulated luminescence, and obsidian hydration dating, establishing that they are latest Pleistocene to modern in age. Although there are no prominent unconformities within the alluvial fan sediments, sample dating indicates there are two generations, one in the 10–20 thousand year (ka) age range and one in the <3 ka age range. Owing to a general lack of well-defined laterally continuous alluvial fan units, it is difficult to distinguish contacts between the two generations except in the immediate proximity of dated samples. The river sediments approximately span the Holocene. No faults were apparent in either trench, indicating that any fault related to the observed surface deformation has not ruptured to the surface at this site during the Holocene and is likely blind.

California↗
USGS1976

Sampling procedures and catalogue of samples for eight boreholes at Clear Lake, Lake County, California

Clear Lake, California, is situated in an area which has been subject to crustal movement, earthquake-generated ground shaking, volcanic eruptions, and climatic fluctuations during late Quaternary time. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Lake County, has undertaken a study of the seismic, volcanic, and environmental history recorded in the late Quaternary sediments beneath the floor of the lake (Sims, 1974). This study is based on continuous core samples measuring 12 cm or 15 cm in diameter that were obtained in August-November, 1973, from 8 boreholes measuring 14-113 m in length (Figure 1). Preliminary description of many of these samples and interpretation of ancient seismic events can be found in Sims and Rymer (1975). Over 2,000 multiple samples have been taken from these cores in order to study the environmental record preserved in the lacustrine sediments. Samples were taken for pollen, diatoms, cladocera, bulk mineralogy, fine size analysis, macrofossils, and water-content/organic carbon-content at designated depths. In addition, volcanic ash and radiocarbon samples were removed for correlation studies and age determinations. This report provides a description of the standard sampling procedures designed for sapropelic muds and peat-rich clays, a description of modified sampling procedures developed for sampling sands and coarser sediments, and a catalogue of samples from the Clear Lake cores. Table 2 outlines the steps followed for the standard sampling procedures.

California↗
USGS1978

Sediment sources and Holocene sedimentation history in Tillamook Bay, Oregon; data and preliminary interpretations

Surface and core sediments from Tillamook Bay, Oregon, have been analyzed to determine modern and Holocene sediment sources and sedimentation history. Heavy mineral analyses established three sediment sources: (1) the five major rivers draining the volcanic and associated sedimentary rocks of the Coast Range, (2) small streams draining the sedimentary uplands that form the shoreline adjacent to Tillamook Bay and erosion of the shoreline by waves and currents, and (3) marine sediments carried to Tillamook Bay by longshore drift from drainage basins north or south of the bay. Stratigraphic and radiocarbon analyses show that the Holocene fill in Tillamook Bay began to accumulate sometime before about 9,000 years ago in deep parts of prefill river valleys. The rate of accumulation generally coincided with the rate of world-wide sea-level rise--faster (greater than about 3 meters per 1,000 years) up to about 7,000 years ago and slower (less than about 2 meters per 1,000 years) since that time. The vertical rate of accumulation at one core site seems to have been about the same from 3,300 years B.P. (before present) to the present, as it was from about 5,200 years B.P. to 3,300.

Oregon↗
USGS1978

Depositional history and fault-related studies, Bolinas Lagoon, California

Studies of core sediments and seismic reflection profiles elucidate the structure and depositional history of Bolinas Lagoon, Calif., which covers 4.4 km 2 and lies in the San Andreas fault zone at the southeast corner of the Point Reyes Peninsula 20 km northwest of San Francisco. The 1906 trace of the San Andreas fault crosses the west side of the lagoon and was determined from (1) tectonically caused salt-marsh destruction indicated by comparison of 1854 and 1929 U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (U.S.C. & G.S.) topographic surveys, (2) formation of a tidal channel along the border of destroyed salt marshes, and (3) azimuths of the trend of the fault measured in 1907. Subsidence in the lagoon of 30 cm occurred east of the San Andreas fault in 1906. Near the east shore, seismic-reflection profiling indicates the existence of a graben fault that may connect to a graben fault on the Golden Gate Platform. Comparison of radiocarbon dates on shells and plant debris from boreholes drilled on Stinson Beach spit with a relative sea-level curve constructed for southern San Francisco Bay indicates 5.8 to more than 17.9 m of tectonic subsidence of sediments now located 33 m below mean sea level. Cored sediments indicate a marine transgression dated at 7770?65 yrs B.P. overlying freshwater organic-rich lake deposits. Fossil pollen including 2 to 8 percent Picea (spruce) indicate a late Pleistocene (?)-Early Holocene climate, cooler, wetter, and foggier than at present. Above the transgression are discontinuous and interfingering sequences of transgressive-regressive marine, estuarine, and barrier sediments that reflect rapid lateral and vertical shifts of successive depositional environments. Fossil megafauna indicate (1) accumulation in a protected, shallow-water estuary or bay, and (2) that the lagoon was probably continuously shallow and never a deep-water embayment. Analysis of grain-size parameters, pollen frequencies, and organic remains from a core near the north end of the lagoon indicates (1) that mid-nineteenth-century redwood logging correlates with rates of sediment accumulation of l.3 to 1.9 cm/yr that are three to 6 times higher than post-1906 rates of 0.3 to 0.4 cm/yr, (2) accumulation of up to 115 cm of sediment since 1849, and (3) an anomalously coarse-grained sediment that may correlate with the 1906 earthquake.

Open-File Report↗