Environmental and Engineering Geoscience

ABSTRACT Degradation of urban surface water quality has increased the importance of understanding the spatial and temporal distribution of pollutants within aquatic systems. Poor water quality damages aquatic habitats and poses a human health risk. The purpose of this study was to investigate environmental and anthropogenic factors that impact water quality in the Rock Creek Watershed in Maryland…

ABSTRACT The Southern High Plains are bounded on the west through the southern half of eastern New Mexico by the roughly linear Mescalero Ridge, an erosional, well-defined, westward-facing near vertical escarpment, up to 150 ft (45.7 m) in height, capped by the 10 to 40 ft (3 to 12.2 m) thick caprock caliche. As it approaches the Texas state line, it loses linearity and much of its topographic de…

ABSTRACT Persistent seepage from an earthfill dam and associated structures has been observed for decades at Lake Capote, a small, spring-fed, off-stream, man-made lake in southwestern Colorado. Extensive engineering measures in 2006 did not fully remediate seepage. Therefore, we employed electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), induced polarization (IP), and self-potential (SP) methods to determ…

ABSTRACT Artificial recharge is increasingly important for groundwater management in arid regions, yet its effectiveness depends on how recharge water interacts with existing aquifer salinity. In the southwestern San Fernando Valley Groundwater Basin of Los Angeles, CA, elevated sulfate and total dissolved solids (TDS) have long prevented artificial recharge west of the “bad-water line.” This stu…

ABSTRACT Miami-Dade County, FL, has complex hydrological and water management conditions, creating challenges for predicting groundwater levels. Due to the potential impacts of increasing sea level and changes in rain patterns on flooding and saltwater intrusion, it is essential to be able to accurately predict groundwater levels and to understand the drivers of groundwater levels. The method tra…

ABSTRACT The Lutak Spur (LS) is a prominent deltaic landform near Haines, Alaska, formed during the retreat of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet from the Last Glacial Maximum. This study evaluates its geologic evolution, soil development, and slope stability response to a December 2020 atmospheric river (AR) event that triggered multiple landslides. We posit that LS formed as an ice-contact kame delta at…

ABSTRACT Sites located in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta region of California typically have peaty organic soils near the ground surface. These soils are characteristically soft with shear wave velocities (VS) as low as 20 m/s and thicknesses as great as 12 m. These unusually soft site conditions produce significant site response effects that are not reliably predicted using existing ergo…

ABSTRACT Multi-organizational principal investigators formed a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Powell Center Working Group (WG), Tsunami Source Standardization for Hazards Mitigation in the United States, to develop a comprehensive series of sources capable of generating tsunamis that could impact U.S. state and territory coastal areas using probabilistic tsunami hazard analysis (PTHA). PTHA result…

ABSTRACT The Zia Fault is one of three major east-dipping normal faults on the western margin of the Rio Grande Rift in the northern Albuquerque Basin. Our trenches were located about 250 m south of the northern rim of the Llano de Albuquerque (LdA), where a 100-m-wide graben has formed east of the main, 5-m-high fault scarp. The middle trench across the steepest, highest part of the scarp reveal…

ABSTRACT Current methods for assessing risks from earthquake and many weather-related hazards are appropriate to inform decision makers and stakeholders of likely future impacts. However, methods for assessing landslide and volcanic risks are insufficient. The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index (NRI) considers 10 weather, four weather-triggered, one earthquake-triggere…

ABSTRACT In mountain basins, long-term instrumental monitoring coupled with high-resolution topographic surveys can provide important information on sediment yield. The Gadria catchment, located in the eastern Italian Alps, typically features several low-magnitude flood episodes and a few debris-flow events per year, from late spring to late summer. Beginning in 2011, sensors devoted to debris-fl…

Research Article| May 01, 2016 Geomodels in Engineering Geology—An Introduction: (Peter Fookes, Geoff Pettifer, and Tony Waltham) Richard Jackson Richard Jackson 11 Venus Crescent, Geofirma Engineering Ltd., Heidelberg, Ontario N0B 2M1, Canada Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Richard Jackson 11 Venus Crescent, Geofirma Engineering Ltd., H…

Research Article| November 01, 2014 Hillslope Hydrology and Stability Ning Lu, Jonathan W. Godt. Doug Stead Doug Stead Department of Earth Sciences, Simon Fraser University 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6 Canada Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Doug Stead Department of Earth Sciences, Simon Fraser University 8888 …

Research Article| May 01, 2014 Characterizing Sagging and Collapse Sinkholes in a Mantled Karst by Means of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) V. RODRIGUEZ; V. RODRIGUEZ 1 Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad de Zaragoza, C/. Pedro Cerbuna 12, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain 1Corresponding author email: veronicarodtrib@gmail.com Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar F. GUTI…

Research Article| February 01, 2014 First-Approximation Landslide Inventory Maps for Northern Pakistan, Using ASTER DEM Data and Geomorphic Indicators M. FAROOQ AHMED; M. FAROOQ AHMED 1 Department of Geological Science and Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO 65409 1On leave from University of Engineering and Technology Lahore, Pakistan. Correspondence should be s…

Research Article| November 01, 2012 When Landslides Are Misinterpreted as Faults: Case Studies from the Western United States MICHAEL W HART; MICHAEL W HART Consultant, P.O. Box 261227, San Diego, CA 92196 1Corresponding author email: mwhart@aol.com. Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar PHILLIP J SHALLER; PHILLIP J SHALLER Exponent, Inc., 320 Goddard, Suite 200, Irvine, CA…

Research Article| May 01, 2010 GIS-Based Virtual Geotechnical Database for the St. Louis Metro Area JAE-WON CHUNG; JAE-WON CHUNG 1Department of Geological Sciences and Engineering, 1400 North Bishop Avenue, Missouri University of Science and TechnologyRolla, MO 65409 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar J DAVID ROGERS J DAVID ROGERS 1Department of Geological Sciences and E…

Research Article| May 01, 2010 Comparison and Validation of Landslide Susceptibility Maps Using an Artificial Neural Network Model for Three Test Areas in Malaysia BISWAJEET PRADHAN; BISWAJEET PRADHAN 1Institute for Cartography, Faculty of Forestry, Geo-, and Hydro-Science, Dresden University of Technology01062 Dresden Germany 1. Corresponding author: email: biswajeet.pradhan@mailbox.tu.dresden.d…

Book Review| February 01, 2009 The Complete ISRM Suggested Methods for Rock Characterization, Testing and Monitoring; 1974–2006 Allen W. Hatheway Allen W. Hatheway 110256 Stoltz Drive, Rolla, MO 65401 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Allen W. Hatheway 110256 Stoltz Drive, Rolla, MO 65401 Publisher: Association of Environmental & Engineeri…

Practical Rock Engineering is an e-book based upon Dr. Hoek's years of experience in rock engineering and has recently been reissued as the 2007 edition. The book presents rock engineering in a practical manner and in 17 individual chapters. Each chapter stands alone with its explanations, figures, tables, conclusions, and references. Fourteen chapters present topics ranging from development, des…