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At least 811 records · Page 45Linked to original sources
USGS2022

Upper-plate structure and tsunamigenic faults near the Kodiak Islands, Alaska, USA

The Kodiak Islands lie near the southern terminus of the 1964 Great Alaska earthquake rupture area and within the Kodiak subduction zone segment. Both local and trans-Pacific tsunamis were generated during this devastating megathrust event, but the local tsunami source region and the causative faults are poorly understood. We provide an updated view of the tsunami and earthquake hazard for the Kodiak Islands region through tsunami modeling and geophysical data analysis. Using seismic and bathymetric data, we characterize a regionally extensive seafloor lineament related to the Kodiak shelf fault zone, with focused uplift along a 50-km-long portion of the newly named Ugak fault as the most likely source of the local Kodiak Islands tsunami in 1964. We present evidence of Holocene motion along the Albatross Banks fault zone, but we suggest that this fault did not produce a tsunami in 1964. We relate major structural boundaries to active forearc splay faults, where tectonic uplift is collocated with gravity lineations. Differences in interseismic locking, seismicity rates, and potential field signatures argue for different stress conditions at depth near presumed segment boundaries. We find that the Kodiak segment boundaries have a clear geophysical expression and are linked to upper-plate structure and splay faulting. The tsunamigenic fault hazard is higher for the Kodiak shelf fault zone when compared to the nearby Albatross Banks fault zone, suggesting short wave travel paths and little tsunami warning time for nearby communities.

Alaska↗
USGS2023

Neogene faulting, basin development, and relief generation in the southern Klamath Mountains (USA)

Development and evaluation of models for tectonic evolution in the Cascadia forearc require understanding of along-strike heterogeneity of strain distribution, uplift, and upper-plate characteristics. Here, we investigated the Neogene geologic record of the Klamath Mountains province in southernmost Cascadia and obtained apatite (U-Th)/He (AHe) thermochronology of Mesozoic plutons, Neogene graben sediment thickness, detrital zircon records from Neogene grabens, gravity and magnetic data, and kinematic analysis of faults. We documented three aspects of Neogene tectonics: early Miocene and younger rock exhumation, development of topographic relief sufficient to isolate Neogene graben-filling sediments from sources outside of the Klamath Mountains, and initiation of mid-Miocene or younger right-lateral and reverse faulting. Key findings are: (1) 10 new apatite AHe mean cooling ages from the Canyon Creek and Granite Peak plutons in the Trinity Alps range from 24.7 ± 2.1 Ma to 15.7 ± 2.1 Ma. Inverse thermal modeling of these data and published apatite fission-track ages indicate the most rapid rock cooling between ca. 25 and 15 Ma. One new AHe mean cooling age (26.7 ± 3.2 Ma) from the Ironside Mountain batholith 40 km west of the Trinity Alps, combined with previously published AHe ages, suggests geographically widespread latest Oligocene to Miocene cooling in the southern Klamath Mountains province. (2) AHe ages of 39.4 ± 5.1 Ma on the downthrown side and 22.7 ± 3.0 Ma on the upthrown side of the Browns Meadow fault suggest early Miocene to younger fault activity. (3) U-Pb detrital zircon ages ( n = 862) and Lu-Hf isotope geochemistry from Miocene Weaverville Formation sediments in the Weaverville, Lowden Ranch, Hayfork, and Hyampom grabens south and southwest of the Trinity Alps can be traced to entirely Klamath Mountains sources; they suggest the south-central Klamath Mountains had, by the middle Miocene, sufficient relief to isolate these grabens from more distal sediment sources. (4) Two Miocene detrital zircon U-Pb ages of 10.6 ± 0.4 Ma and 16.7 ± 0.2 Ma from the Lowden Ranch graben show that the maximum depositional age of the upper Weaverville Formation here is younger than previously recognized. (5) A prominent steep-sided negative gravity anomaly associated with the Hayfork graben shows that both the north and south margins are fault-controlled, and inversion of gravity data suggests basin fill is between 1 km and 1.9 km thick. Abrupt elevation changes of basin fill-to-bedrock contacts reported in well logs record E-side-up and right-lateral faulting at the eastern end of the Hayfork graben. A NE-striking gravity gradient separates the main graben on the west from a narrower, thinner basin to the east, supporting this interpretation. (6) Of fset of both the base of the Weaverville Formation and the cataclasite-capped La Grange fault surface by a fault on the southwest margin of the Weaverville basin documents 200 m of reverse and 1500 m of right-lateral strike-slip motion on this structure, here named the Democrat Gulch fault; folded and steeply dipping strata adjacent to the fault confirm that faulting postdated deposition of the Weaverville Formation.

California, Oregon↗
USGS1941

Geology of the Moreno Valley, New Mexico

The Moreno Valley, located along the complex eastern boundary between the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the Great Plains, is structurally a broad, northwardplunging syncline, disrupted by smaller folds and faults. This major synclinal structure is the result of the Laramide disturbance. Deformation, however, has continued possibly into the Quaternary. Intrusions, probably contemporaneous with those of the Spanish Peaks, have deformed the strata in the northern portion of the Moreno Valley. Scully Mountain is a northwestward-plunging anticline produced by a porphyry intrusion. A Mid-Tertiary surface of low relief is now represented by broad mountain flats at elevations near 10,000 feet. The Moreno Valley was initiated as a topographic feature about the close of the Mid-Tertiary. Its subsequent history is in many respects similar to that of the Rio Grande Depression. During the Quaternary a broad valley stage and three lower pediments have been developed. The lowest pediments are cut on deformed valley fill, believed to be Pliocene and here named the Eagle Nest formation. The early drainage of the valley was south and east into the Canadian River. Stream piracy by the Cimarron River diverted drainage to the east through the present Cimarron Canyon into the Canadian River. Drainage south of the point of capture has been reversed for about 14 miles, the present stream draining the southern portion of the Moreno Valley flowing northward to the Cimarron River. © 1941 Geological Society of America.

New Mexico↗
USGS1970

Aquilapollenites (Rouse) Funkhouser — Selected Rocky Mountain taxa and their stratigraphic ranges

The genus Aquilapollenites and its type species, A. quadrilobus, are redescribed, and the latter is illustrated. This report summarizes our present information on stratigraphic ranges of selected Rocky Mountain species and varieties of Aquilapollenites. Of the 17 taxa included in this report, 10 are previously named species, 4 are new species, and 3 are new varieties. One species is transferred from the genus Mancicorpus and another from the genus Parviprojectus. The stratigraphic data concerning Aquilapollenites incorporate available information from U.S. Geological Survey pollen collections.

Alaska, Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dak↗
USGS1989

Tectonostratigraphic terranes and their Paleozoic boundaries in the central and southern Appalachians

Parts of the central and southern Appalachian orogen appear to have evolved away from Proterozoic North America (Laurentia) and to have been accreted to it during the Paleozoic orogenies that collectively formed the orogen. Identifying each tectonostratigraphic terrane is a necessary step in understanding the evolution of the orogen. The terranes in the central and southern Appalachians are delineated, interpreted, and classified with varying degrees of confidence as: (1) Laurentian native terranes , (2) internal continental terranes of the Appalachian orogen, (3) disrupted terranes , (4) possible oceanic crustal remnants, (5) volcanic-arc terranes , (6) a continental terrane of Gondwanaland affinity, and (7) metamorphic complexes of undetermined affinity. The Laurentian native terranes consist of external massifs of Laurentian basement (Grenvillian and older), their rift- and shelf-facies cover rocks, and slope-rise prism deposits. External massifs are present in the Blue Ridge tectonic province, Reading Prong, and Honey Brook Upland. Rocks of the Talladega block are stratigraphically tied to Laurentia and, with the possible exception of the Hillabee greenstone, are also considered native. Offshore, deep-water, post-rift deposits of the Hamburg and Westminster terranes have no direct stratigraphic ties to Laurentia and are considered discrete native (not suspect) terranes . The internal continental terranes of the Appalachian orogen are isolated massifs of Middle Proterozoic (Grenvillian) continental basement and their cover sequences that occur within the metamorphic core of the orogen. These terranes , the Baltimore, Sauratown, and Pine Mountain terranes , could be either structurally isolated outliers of Laurentia or microcontinental fragments of Laurentian crust displaced by rifting or transcurrent faulting and later reassembled. Disrupted terranes in the central and southern Appalachians contain mélange complexes as well as more coherent terrane fragments (volcanic, ophiolitic, or continental) intermingled with the mélange complexes. Those identified include the Jefferson, Potomac, Smith River, Inner Piedmont, Falls Lake, Juliette, and Sussex terranes . The Bel Air-Rising Sun terrane (Baltimore Complex) in Maryland and Pennsylvania is the only terrane named separately as a possible oceanic crustal remnant. Similar mafic and ultramafic complexes are present in all of the disrupted terranes , but are too small to consider as separate terranes . Volcanic-arc terranes include the Chopawamsic, Carolina, Spring Hope, Roanoke Rapids, and Charleston terranes . The only terrane recognized as a continental terrane of Gondwanaland affinity is the Suwannee terrane , which contains rocks believed to correlate with those now exposed in west Africa. Metamorphic complexes of undetermined affinity are terranes that could not be clearly classified on the basis of available data. These include the Milton, Gaffney, Uchee, Crabtree, Goochland, Wilmington, and Hatteras terranes . The Penobscottian, Taconian, Acadian, and Alleghanian Paleozoic compressional events collectively assembled the various terranes into what is now the Appalachian orogen. Only the central and southern parts of the U.S. Appalachians are considered here. The Penobscottian orogeny, about 550 to 490 Ma, amalgamated the Potomac, the Chopawamsic, probably the Bel Air-Rising Sun, and possibly other exotic terranes at some unknown distance from Laurentia. This was followed by the Taconian orogeny, about 470 to 440 Ma, which accreted the previously amalgamated terranes and probably other terranes such as the Carolina terrane to Laurentia. The younger age limit for the Taconian event is partly constrained by Middle and Late Ordovician faunal assemblages in successor basin deposits of the Arvonia Slate and Quantico Formation. The significance of the Acadian orogeny, dated about 400 to 380 Ma in New England, is unclear in the central and southern Appalachians . In the Talladega block of Alabama and Georgia, an Early to Middle Devonian dynamothermal event is firmly bracketed between Early Devonian fossils and K-Ar ages that indicate a thermal peak no later than Middle Devonian time. A regional tectonothermal event and faulting of approximately this age are also suggested by isotopic studies in terranes to the east. The late Paleozoic (Alleghanian) continental collision between Laurentia and Gondwanaland, which formed the supercontinent Pangea, marks the final stage of accretionary history in the Appalachian -Caledonide orogen. Effects evident in the central and southern Appalachian region include: (1) the accretion of the Suwannee terrane and perhaps the Charleston terrane to what is now North America, (2) slicing and shifting of terranes along dextral strike-slip faults, particularly in the eastern Piedmont, (3) westward transport of native and previously accreted terranes in the western Piedmont and Blue Ridge as part of a composite crystalline thrust sheet, (4) deposition of clastic wedges in the Appalachian foreland, and (5) imbricate thrusting and folding of the resultant strata in the Valley and Ridge Province.

Appalachians↗
USGS1967

Scapolite in the Belt Series in the St. Joe-Clearwater Region, Idaho

S capolite is a common rock-forming mineral in parts of the Belt Series of Precambrian age in southern Shoshone County and adjoining parts of Clearwater County, Idaho. It is most abundant in moderately metamorphosed calcareous shaly layers of the Wallace Formation but occurs also in their highly metamorphosed equivalents and in the lowest part of the Prichard Formation. The mode of occurrence varies with distance from the Idaho batholith, with bulk composition, and with grade of metamorphism. In the northern part of the area where rocks were metamorphosed to the epidote-amphibolite facies, the highest concentration of scapolite is in layers rich in calcite, biotite, or hornblende and diopside. In biotite-rich layers interbedded with quartzite, scapolite is in round holoblasts; in carbonate granofels, crystals are euhedral to subhedral; and in hornblende- and diopside-bearing layers, small anhedral grains are common. In rocks metamorphosed to the amphibolite facies, such as diopside gneiss and calcium-magnesium-aluminum silicate rocks (here named “camalsite”), scapolite occurs in small anhedral grains. In diopside gneiss, scapolite is in thin layers that extend long distances parallel to the bedding. In camalsite, small masses exceptionally rich in scapolite are common. The mode of occurrence and the distribution parallel to the bedding suggest that scapolite crystallized from a sedimentary rock that contained saline minerals. The scapolite contains much Cl but only a little SO 3 , suggesting that halite was the chief source mineral. The local high concentrations of scapolite occur in a zone where elements have been redistributed, either because of metamorphism of dispersed or layered saline minerals with accompanying migration of chlorine or because of metamorphism of primary local masses of such minerals.

Idaho↗
USGS2001

Ramet spacing of Elymus lanceolatus (thickspike wheatgrass) in response to neighbour density

Many plants exploit patchy resources through clonal foraging. Plants established in field plots were used to determine if Elymus lanceolatus ssp. lanceolatus (Scribner et J.G. Smith) Gould (thickspike wheatgrass) showed a clonal foraging response to neighbour densities, as it had previously shown to patchy soil nutrients. Neighbours consisted of the rhizomatous E. lanceolatus ssp. lanceolatus and the bunchgrass Elymus lanceolatus ssp. wawawaiensis (Scribner et Gould) J.R. Carlson et D.R. Dewey (proposed name), which are both native to the semiarid western U.S.A., and their ratios as well as total densities varied. Rather than an increase in spacing of exploratory ramets at high densities, as expected with clonal foraging, there was a decrease in spacing in both years of the experiment. Fewer target plants produced exploratory ramets at higher densities only in the second year. These reductions in exploratory clonal growth at higher neighbour densities, which were opposite to E . lanceolatus ssp. lanceolatus ' response to low-resource patches, occurred perhaps because soil resource levels were too low overall to support rhizome production, and this condition was more pronounced in the second year. Physical resistance from neighbour roots perhaps also reduced rhizome production. However, rhizome growth may not be beneficial in such cases, and plants may be adapted to produce exploratory rhizomes only when some high-resource patches are encountered by the clone.

Canadian Journal of Botany↗
USGS2018

Evidence of sound production by spawning lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) in lakes Huron and Champlain

Two sounds associated with spawning lake trout ( Salvelinus namaycush ) in lakes Huron and Champlain were characterized by comparing sound recordings to behavioral data collected using acoustic telemetry and video. These sounds were named growls and snaps, and were heard on lake trout spawning reefs, but not on a non-spawning reef, and were more common at night than during the day. Growls also occurred more often during the spawning period than the pre-spawning period, while the trend for snaps was reversed. In a laboratory flume, sounds occurred when male lake trout were displaying spawning behaviors; growls when males were quivering and parallel swimming, and snaps when males moved their jaw. Combining our results with the observation of possible sound production by spawning splake ( Salvelinus fontinalis × Salvelinus namaycush hybrid), provides rare evidence for spawning-related sound production by a salmonid, or any other fish in the superorder Protacanthopterygii. Further characterization of these sounds could be useful for lake trout assessment, restoration, and control.

Michigan↗
USGS1985

A heat-flow reconnaissance of southeastern Alaska

Heat flow was measured at nine sites in crystalline and sedimentary rocks of southeastern Alaska. Seven of the sites, located between 115 and 155 km landward of the Queen Charlotte – Fairweather transform fault, have an average heat flow of 59 ± 6 mW m −2 . This value is significantly higher than the mean of 42 mW m −2 in the coastal provinces between Cape Mendocino and the Queen Charlotte Islands, to the south, and is lower than the mean of 72 ± 2 mW m −2 for 81 values within 100 km of the San Andreas transform fault, even farther south. This intermediate value suggests the absence of significant heat sinks associated with Cenozoic subduction and of heat sources related to either late Cenozoic tectono-magmatic events or significant shear-strain heating. At Warm Springs Bay, 75 km from the plate boundary, an anomalously high heat flow of 150 mW m −2 can most plausibly be ascribed to the thermal spring activity from which its name is derived. At Quartz Hill, 240 km landward of the plate boundary, a value of 115 mW m −2 might indicate a transition to a province of high heat flow resulting from late Tertiary and Quaternary extension and volcanism.

Alaska↗
USGS1985

Glugea pimephales Fantham, Porter, and Richardson, 1941, n comb (Microporidia: Glugeidae) in the fathead minnow, Pimephales promelas

A microsporidan parasite, fitting the description of Nosema pimephales Fantham, Porter and Richardson, 1941, was found in fry of the fathead minnow, Pimephales promelas Rafinesque, from the Wray Fish Hatchery near Fort Morgan, Colorado. More detailed studies proved it to be a typical species of Glugea Thélohan, 1891, to which genus it was transferred. Presence of a delicate sporophorous vesicle, like that recently demonstrated in the type species, was observed. A sequence of three distinct kinds of divisions within that membrane, beginning with the plasmodium and ending with sporoblasts, was recognized. These were plasmotomy, multiple fission, and binary fission. The first two kinds, under the one name or the other, have been treated as one process in previous studies on species of Glugea . Results of this, a well as of recent studies, compel us to reconsider our concepts of "sporont" and "sporogony."

Canadian Journal of Zoology↗
USGS2022

Flood lavas on Earth, Io and Mars

Flood lavas are major geological features on all the major rocky planetary bodies. They provide important insight into the dynamics and chemistry of the interior of these bodies. On the Earth, they appear to be associated with major and mass extinction events. It is therefore not surprising that there has been significant research on flood lavas in recent years. Initial models suggested eruption durations of days and volumetric fluxes of order 10 7 m 3 s −1 with flows moving as turbulent floods. However, our understanding of how lava flows can be emplaced under an insulating crust was revolutionized by the observations of actively inflating pahoehoe flows in Hawaii. These new ideas led to the hypothesis that flood lavas were emplaced over many years with eruption rates of the order of 10 4 m 3 s −1 . The field evidence indicates that flood lava flows in the Columbia River Basalts, Deccan Traps, Etendeka lavas, and the Kerguelen Plateau were emplaced as inflated pahoehoe sheet flows. This was reinforced by the observation of active lava flows of ≥100 km length on Io being formed as tube-fed flows fed by moderate eruption rates (10 2 –10 3 m 3 s −1 ). More recently it has been found that some flood lavas are also emplaced in a more rapid manner. New high-resolution images from Mars revealed ‘platy–ridged’ flood lava flows, named after the large rafted plates and ridges formed by compression of the flow top. A search for appropriate terrestrial analogues found an excellent example in Iceland: the 1783–1784 Laki Flow Field. The brecciated Laki flow top consists of pieces of pahoehoe, not aa clinker, leading us to call this ‘rubbly pahoehoe’. Similar flows have been found in the Columbia River Basalts and the Kerguelen Plateau. We hypothesize that these flows form with a thick, insulating, but mobile crust, which is disrupted when surges in the erupted flux are too large to maintain the normal pahoehoe mode of emplacement. Flood lavas emplaced in this manner could have (intermittently) reached effusion rates of the order of 10 6 m 3 s −1 .

Journal of the Geological Society↗
USGS1984

Models for the deposition of Mesozoic-Cenozoic fine-grained organic-carbon-rich sediment in the deep sea

The widespread occurrence of organic-carbon-rich strata (‘black shales’) in certain portions of Jurassic, Cretaceous and Cenozoic sequences has been well-documented from Deep Sea Drilling Project sites in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and from sequences, now exposed on land, originally deposited in the Tethyan ocean. These ancient black shales usually have been explained by analogy with examples of modern deep-sea sediments in which organic matter locally is preserved by (1) increasing the supply of organic matter, (2) increasing the rate of sedimentation, and/or (3) decreasing the oxygen content of the bottom water. However, detailed examination of many black shales reveals characteristics that cannot be explained by simple local models, including: their approximate coincidence in time globally; their occurrence in a variety of different environments, including open oxygenated oceans, restricted basins, deep and shallow water; their interbedding with organic-carbonpoor strata which often dominate a so-called black shale sequence; their deposition by pelagic, hemipelagic, turbiditic and other processes; and the variations in type and amount of organic matter that occur even within the same sequence. A more complex model for the origin of black shales therefore appears most appropriate, in which the cyclic preservation of organic matter depends on the interplay of the three main variables, namely supply of organic matter, sedimentation rate, and deep-water oxygenation, each of which varies independently to some extent. The variation and relative importance of these parameters in individual basins and widespread black shale deposition in general are linked globally and temporally by changes in global sea-level, climate and related changes in oceanic circulation. An important and often overlooked factor for the supply of organic matter to deep-basin sediments is the frequency and magnitude of redepositional processes. The interplay of these variables is discussed in relation to the middle Cretaceous and Cenozoic organic-carbon-rich strata, in particular, which show marked differences in the relative importance of the different variables.

Geological Society of London Special Publications↗
USGS1997

The genus Krithe (Ostracoda) from the Campanian and Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) of the northern US Gulf Coastal Plain

The ostracode genus Krithe is one of the most common genera in the Upper Cretaceous (late Santonian to Maastrichtian) deposits of the northern Gulf Coastal Plain of North America. Although it is never abundant, the genus occurs in sediments that were deposited under a wide range of palaeoenvironments, including nearshore sandy marls to offshore, nearly pure, chalk. The taxonomy of this taxon has been problematical, and what is herein considered to be a single species, K. cushmani, has been referred to in the literature under five different names. Two morphotypes were observed: relatively large individuals with 'mushroom'-shaped vestibules collected from chalk, and smaller individuals with pocket-shaped vestibules collected from nearshore deposits. Species of Krithe have been hypothesized to be useful in estimating dissolved oxygen concentration in ancient ocean floors, based on details of their morphology. Whereas the relationship between size and environment corroborates with previous predictions (larger individuals live in deeper water), the morphology of the vestibules contradicts predictions (the larger vestibules occur in the nearshore deposits and the smaller, more constricted vestibules occur in the chalk). A causal relationship between environment and morphology is discussed.

Journal of Micropalaeontology↗
USGS2002

Paulanoblella , nomen novum (Radiolaria) replaces Noblella Kozur, Mostler & Repetski, 1996, a homonym of Noblella Barbour, 1930 (Amphibia)

Kozur et al . ( 1996 ) reported and described some well-preserved Lower Ordovician (Tremadocian) Radiolaria from central Nevada and established several new taxa, among them a new genus Noblella , assigned to the Family Protoentactiniidae Kozur , Mostler & Repetski , 1996 . Dr J . K. Page kindly informed us that the genus Noblella already was established for an amphibian genus, Family Brachycephalidae, type species N. peruviana (Noble), byBarbour ( 1930 ; p . 81). Therefore, the genus name Noblella Kozur , Mostler & Repetski , 1996 non! Noblella Barbour , 1930 , is invalid because of homonymy. We here replace this junior homonym with Paulanoblella Kozur & Repetski , nomen novum .

Journal of Micropalaeontology↗
USGS2013

Nyamulagira’s magma plumbing system inferred from 15 years of InSAR

Nyamulagira, located in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo on the western branch of the East African rift, is Africa’s most active volcano, with an average of one eruption every 3 years since 1938. Owing to the socio-economical context of that region, the volcano lacks ground-based geodetic measurements but has been monitored by interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) since 1996. A combination of 3D Mixed Boundary Element Method and inverse modelling, taking into account topography and source interactions, is used to interpret InSAR ground displacements associated with eruptive activity in 1996, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2010. These eruptions can be fitted by models incorporating dyke intrusions, and some (namely the 2006 and 2010 eruptions) require a magma reservoir beneath the summit caldera. We investigate inter-eruptive deformation with a multi-temporal InSAR approach. We propose the following magma plumbing system at Nyamulagira by integrating numerical deformation models with other available data: a deep reservoir (c. 25 km depth) feeds a shallower reservoir (c. 4 km depth); proximal eruptions are fed from the shallow reservoir through dykes while distal eruptions can be fed directly from the deep reservoir. A dyke-like conduit is also present beneath the upper southeastern flank of Nyamulagira.

Book chapter↗
USGS2015

Operational thermal remote sensing and lava flow monitoring at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

Hawaiian volcanoes are highly accessible and well monitored by ground instruments. Nevertheless, observational gaps remain and thermal satellite imagery has proven useful in Hawai‘i for providing synoptic views of activity during intervals between field visits. Here we describe the beginning of a thermal remote sensing programme at the US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO). Whereas expensive receiving stations have been traditionally required to achieve rapid downloading of satellite data, we exploit free, low-latency data sources on the internet for timely access to GOES, MODIS, ASTER and EO-1 ALI imagery. Automated scripts at the observatory download these data and provide a basic display of the images. Satellite data have been extremely useful for monitoring the ongoing lava flow activity on Kīlauea's East Rift Zone at Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō over the past few years. A recent lava flow, named Kahauale‘a 2, was upslope from residential subdivisions for over a year. Satellite data helped track the slow advance of the flow and contributed to hazard assessments. Ongoing improvement to thermal remote sensing at HVO incorporates automated hotspot detection, effusion rate estimation and lava flow forecasting, as has been done in Italy. These improvements should be useful for monitoring future activity on Mauna Loa.

Hawaii↗
USGS2016

TopoLens: Building a cyberGIS community data service for enhancing the usability of high-resolution National Topographic datasets

Geospatial data, often embedded with geographic references, are important to many application and science domains, and represent a major type of big data. The increased volume and diversity of geospatial data have caused serious usability issues for researchers in various scientific domains, which call for innovative cyberGIS solutions. To address these issues, this paper describes a cyberGIS community data service framework to facilitate geospatial big data access, processing, and sharing based on a hybrid supercomputer architecture. Through the collaboration between the CyberGIS Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), a community data service for accessing, customizing, and sharing digital elevation model (DEM) and its derived datasets from the 10-meter national elevation dataset, namely TopoLens, is created to demonstrate the workflow integration of geospatial big data sources, computation, analysis needed for customizing the original dataset for end user needs, and a friendly online user environment. TopoLens provides online access to precomputed and on-demand computed high-resolution elevation data by exploiting the ROGER supercomputer. The usability of this prototype service has been acknowledged in community evaluation.

Conference Paper↗