Links: Field tripping in Nevada, mostly along I-80 and Highway 50

A River Runs through It [link to download], ESW 2016, E-59 NBMG: Truckee River Reno to Pyramid Lake

1915 Pleasant Valley earthquake centennial field trip guidebook: A public field trip to visit the largest earthquake in Nevada's history [link to download] E-58 NBMG: 50 miles south of Winnemucca

Fire and Ice—Geology of the Mount Rose quadrangle, Lake Tahoe, and the Carson Range [link to download pdf], ESW 2015, E-57 NBMG: Galena Creek Visitor Center to Incline Village

Carson Rocks! A Sesquicentennial Celebration of some of our Capital City's Geological High Points [link to download pdf], ESW 2014, E-56 NBMG: around Carson City

Geo- and Eco-Mapping around DRI (The Great Altered Rock Walking Tour) [link download pdf], 2014, E-55, NBMG: around DRI.

Mapping the Geology around the Desert Research Institute and Truckee Meadows Community College [pdf], ESW 2013, E-53, NBMG: around DRI.

"Tuff All Over": Exploring Faulted Volcanic Terrain in the Painted Hills, Virginia Mountains, West of Pyramid Lake [pdf], ESW 2012, E-52, NBMG: near Pyramid Lake.

"Life's a Beach": In Search of Ancient Shorelines and Volcanoes in the Grimes Point and Lahontan Mountains Area [pdf], ESW 2011, E-51, NBMG: near Fallon.

Geo-tripping in Nevada [pdf], NBMG map guide to many or most of the NBMG field trip guides in Nevada through E-50.

In search of Tufa, Tuff, and Tough Rocks [link to download pdf], ESW 2010, E-50, NBMG: stops are east of Pyramid Lake; trip guide includes Reno to Pyramid Lake, Pyramid Lake to Wadsworth, Pyramid Lake to Brady's Hot Springs, Brady's Hot Springs to Reno.

Digging Deeper into the Comstock [link to download pdf], ESW 2009, E-48, NBMG: Reno to Gold Hill.

No Child Left Inside: A field trip for Families and Rockhounds [link to download pdf], ESW 2008, E-47, NBMG: stops are near Fallon, east of Fallon, north of Fallon, and in the Truckee River Canyon along I-80; road guide runs from Reno to east of Fallon, Fallon to Trinity (junction of I-80 and 95), and Trinity to Reno.

Taking the Pulse of the Earth [link to download pdf], ESW 2007, E-46, NBMG: south of Reno (Slide Mountain, Steamboat, and Virginia Foothills; the latter two not available to public).

Rockin' Along the River [link to download pdf], ESW 2006, E-45 NMBG: Truckee River Verdi to Wadsworth

The great Highway 50 rock tour [link to download], ESW 2005, E-44 NBMG: Fallon to Middlegate

The Frenchman lake frolic [link to download], ESW 2004, E-43 NBMG: Frenchman Lake area, California, west of NV-CA border.

Get out, stay out, and stay alive [link to download], ESW 2003, E-42 NBMG: north of Reno towards Pyramid Lake.

In search of "the right tuff" but you can just "take it for granite" [link to download], ESW 2002, E-41 NBMG: north of Reno and to the west toward northern end of Red Rock Road.

Fossils and Ancient Lakes [link to download pdf], ESW 2001 field trip #2, E-40, NBMG: fossils near Nightingale.

Peavine Peak: Geology, plants, and mining history [link to download], ESW 2001 field trip #1, E-39, NBMG: Peavine.

Exploring east of the summit: A field trip guide to Steamboat Springs, Lake Tahoe, and the Comstock area [link to download pdf], ESW 2000, E-38 NBMG: Steamboat Springs, Lake Tahoe, Comstock.

Geology along America's loneliest highway [link to download pdf], ESW 2000 E-37 NBMG: Carson to Sand Mountain.

What's shakin' in the neighborhood? -- Road log [link to download pdf], ESW 1999 field trip #2, E-34 NBMG:  Reno, Mt. Rose fan/pediment, to Genoa fault scarp.

Turbulent times in the Truckee Meadows [link to download pdf], ESW 1999 field trip #1, E-33 NBMG: UNR to Verdi to Crystal Peak Mine.

Ancient lakes and volcanoes near Fallon: Field trip for families and rockhounds [link to download pdf], ESW 1998, E-28 NBMG: Fallon, Grimes Point, Soda Lake.

Link to NBMG's entire Educational series; most (all?) are available to download.

INQUA 2003 - Elko to Reno, Wadsworth Amp, Lone Mtn hwy 50, Reheis - no viewing online at Google books

Geothermal energy helps power Nevada | Elko Daily Free Press - Brady's Hot Spring, Beowawe, and "Hot Hole" in Elko

The Stories Behind I-80s Exit Sign Names - Part 1 | Backyard Traveler by Rich Moreno - various info about signs and areas, e.g., Nightingale and Brady's Hot Springs

Touring California and Nevada hot springs | Matt C. Bischoff - Brady's Hot Springs reaches 209*F (and other tidbits)

Post Postponed because of Earthquake

I had planned on posting something else today, but will postpone in favor of listing geoblogospheric links on the M8.9 earthquake in Japan (which has apparently been upgraded to an M9.0 or M9.1 according to the USGS).

UPDATE: 12Mar11 6:26 pm: I haven't made it clear through this simple list that there are many organizations helping those affected by the earthquake and tsunamis in Japan. Some are mentioned at the beginnings or ends of posts by Evelyn at Georneys, The Geochristian, Matthew at Hydro-Logic, Jessica at Magma Cum Laude, and Erik at Eruptions. Please consider giving what you can.

UPDATE: 14Mar11 8:01 pm: The Sendai or Tohoku earthquake has now been officially updated to a Magnitude 9.0 by the U.S. Geological Survey: Magnitude 9.0 - NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN (links to the main USGS page about the earthquake).

UPDATE: 19Mar11 5:20 am: Because of work and other time considerations, earthquake and tsunami links here go through March 16th, the first six days. For continuing news and other geology see Chris Rowan's AllGeo Feed, Ron Schott's GeoPicks, and GeoBulletin: News from the Geoblogosphere.

Please note that most recent posts are at the bottom.

---

March 11, 2011:
Japan M8.9 earthquake March 11, 2011 (Arrowsmith blog)

8.9 Earthquake in Japan (Geotripper)

First reports of the M = 8.9 earthquake in Japan (The Landslide Blog)

Japan Earthquake 11/03/2011 Recorded at Keele (Hypo-theses)

Mw8.9 earthquake hits Japan, causes Tsunami (updated) (Paleoseismicity)

Super Quake Spawns Massive Tsunami in Japan (Dan's Wild Wild Science Journal)

Classic Subduction Quake Hits Japan (Ontario Geofish)

Shakemap for Japan (Ontario Geofish)

Honshu earthquake and tsunami in Japan, 8.9 Mw (Structural Geology)

Japan M8.9 quake + tsunami (Mountain Beltway)

Massive 8.9 mag earthquake... (The Bu Element)

Magnitude 8.9 earthquake hits off coast of Tokyo, Sendai, Japan; tsunami warnings out (Geology in Motion)

News of the Day - 8.9 Earthquake!!! (The Geology P.A.G.E.)

Japan Rocked by Earthquake, Tsunami (The Rocks Know)

Great quake rocks Japan, generating dangerous Pacific tsunami (Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog)

Earthquakes (Research at a snail's pace)

Japanese earthquake (Hudson Valley Geologist)

Special report: A Magnitude Mw8.9 earthquake struck Japan (Iceland Volcano and Earthquake Blog)

Why are there Earthquakes and Volcanoes in Japan? In Response to: Magnitude 8.9 Earthquake & Tsunami in Japan (Georneys)

On earthquakes, eruptions and the Moon (Eruptions)

Erdbeben in Japan lässt KIT-Messgeräte ausschlagen (Amphibol)

Links about today’s Japan earthquake I’m using for class today (Life in Plane Light)

Nuclear Emergency with Japan Earthquake (Ontario Geofish)

No, the “supermoon” didn’t cause the Japanese earthquake (Bad Astronomy)

Lunatic behavior (Research at a snail's pace)

Tsunami in Japan- Lots to Ponder for Washington State (Reading the Washington Landscape)

Hawaii offshore quakes continue (Research at a snail's pace)

Historic earthquakes in Japan (History of Geology)

Visualization of Groundmotion of the 11 Mar 2011 Japan Earthquake with USArray (Anisotropic Reflections)

Tsunami/Quake Videos (Greg Laden's Blog)

Earthquake and Tsunamis in Japan (Outside the Interzone)

Notas acerca del Terremoto del Japon y Tsunamis (nota corta) (Geocosas)

Japan Earthquake Fun Facts (Ontario Geofish)

Japan Hit by M 8.9 Quake (Andrew Alden's About.com Geology)

Japan Earthquake “felt” by AISN seismometers (Groundswell)

Japan Earthquake - Reactor to vent radioactive steam (Ontario Geofish)

Tsumani Footage & How You Can Help Japan (Georneys)

Seismic waves from Japan roll across Arizona (Arizona Geology)

Special report: Pre-earthquakes to the Mw8.9 earthquake in Japan (Iceland Volcano and Earthquake blog)

Art imitates art (Mountain Beltway)

Japan’s 8.9 quake and the Pacific tsunami (The Trembling Earth)

¿Por qué si hubo un tsunami en Japón, se ordenaron evacuaciones en lugares como Ecuador y Chile? (Locos por la Geologia)

Earthquake turns TV networks into print (Doc Searls Weblog)

An Introduction to Tsunami (GeoMika)

Tsunami Wave Height Map from NOAA (Dan's Wild Wild Science Journal)

First Thoughts On Honshu Tsunami (Deep Sea News)

Von Karman vortices in tsunami flows at Sendai airport. (Riparian Rap)

La Mariposa del Tsunami (Geological Musings in the Taconic Mountains)

Media alert... (The Bu Element)

Are there more earthquakes in our days? Is the end of the world here? (Structural Geology)

Magnitude 8.9 (or 9.0, or 9.1!) Earthquake off the coast of Japan (Chris Rowan at Highly Allochthonous)

The View of Japan's 8.9 Earthquake from Modesto, California (Geotripper)

Putting magnitude in perspective (Arizona Geology)

From the edge of not knowing (FOPNews, Friends of the Pleistocen.com)

Flea powder may be saving lives in Japan (I, Cringley)

Earthquakes, Tsunami, and Freshwater Supplies (Hydro-Logic)

---

March 12, 2011:
SuperMoon (Hudson Valley Geologist)

Massive Explosion Rocks Japan Nuclear Plant- Radiation Facts (Dan's Wild Wild Science Journal)

Japan tsunami propagation video and graphic (The GeoChristian)

The morning after (Mountain Beltway)

A Conversation with My Dad, a Nuclear Engineer, about the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Disaster in Japan (Georneys)

More videos of the tsunami and situation in Japan (Geology in Motion)

Japan earthquake / tsunami – one day later (Life in Plane Light)

Look at what liquefaction can do (Geographile)

How much power in the Japanese tsunami of 2011? How much energy? Equivalent to how many nuclear bombs? (Geology in Motion)

Earthquake and Tsunamis in Japan, Part II (Outside the Interzone)

Preliminary Rupture Modelling of the March 11, 2011 Tohoku-Chiho Taiheiyo-Oki Earthquake using the USArray Transportable Array (Harvard Seismology)

Japan quake felt over >2500km radius (The Trembling Earth)

From the Edge of Not Knowing: Day 2 (FOPNews, Friends of the Pleistocene.com)

Japan quake wiki online [wiki by ESIP, not Wikipedia] (Arizona Geology)

How to Do Post-Earthquake Press (Andrew Alden's About.com Geology)

Animation of Japan quake traversing the U.S. (The Trembling Earth)

Secondary effects (Mountain Beltway)

Why earthquakes and eruptions are rarely linked (Magma Cum Laude)

Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Update - Stunning videos and images (Eruptions)

More unique perspectives of the 8.9 quake (The Trembling Earth)

The Tsunami’s Ripple Effect (Clastic Detritus)

Full Transcript Now Available for Interview with my Dad, a Nuclear Engineer, about the Japan Nuclear Disaster (Georneys)

---

March 13, 2011:
Wooster Geologist safe in Japan (Wooster Geologists)

Japan (En Tequila Es Verdad)

NASA Terra Satellite Shows Tsunami Flooding in Japan (Dan's Wild Wild Science Journal)

Low-lying Areas of Japan (Ontario Geofish)

Japanese earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear safety: ‘NDR’ revisited (Geodoctor)

Follow-Up Interview with my Dad, a Nuclear Engineer, about the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Disaster in Japan (Georneys)

The first modern principles of anti-seismic building (History of Geology)

No Meltdown - Japan Earthquake (Ontario Geofish)

Japan EQ & Tsunami: Environmental Effects (Paleoseismicity)

Tsunami on the West Coast (GeoMika)

8.9 Earthquake and tsunami (Mountain Cat Geology)

Maps relevant to the Japanese earthquake of 2011 (Geology in Motion)

Why Geology is Important; Why Education is Important...The Sendai Earthquake in perspective (Geotripper)

Yes, Another Explosion at Fukushima, but read this before you get too concerned. (Dan's Wild Wild Science Journal)

---

March 14, 2011:
Tsunami and earthquake devastate Japan (Underfoot)

Japan disaster (Lounge of the Lab Lemming)

The most recorded tsunami... (The Bu Element)

Radiation from Japan not likely to harm North America (Jeff Masters' WunderBlog)

Summary of the problems at three reactors at Fukushima Dalichi (Geology in Motion)

a few more EQ / tsunami links for Monday (Life in Plane Light)

Second explosion at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (Greg Laden's Blog)

Japan's Kirishima erupts after the Sendai Earthquake (Eruptions)

Japan earthquake: The explainer (Chris Rowan on the Scientific American Guest Blog)

Waves as Fast as a Jet Plane (Seismo Blog)

Second Follow-Up Interview with my Dad, a Nuclear Engineer, about the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Disaster in Japan (Georneys)

Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan - Early Thoughts (Reading the Washington Landscape)

The curse of living on a geologically active planet (The Planetary Society Blog)

Japan Earthquake Things (Ontario Geofish)

Crisis in Japan: Earth Institute Reactions (State of the Planet)

Gods, stars, the moon and other dangerous pseudoscience (History of Geology)

Japan 8.9 quake - the source (Shaking Earth)

Special report: Part of Japan moved 4 meters due to the Mw9.0 earthquake (Iceland Volcano and Earthquake blog)

Sendai earthquake and tsunami disaster (Institute of Hazard, Risk, and Resilience Blog)

Especial sismo M8.9 en Japón (GeoCastAway)

Liquefaction Clip from Chia City, Japan (Reading the Washington Landscape)

Erdbeben sind nicht vorhersagbar (Amphibol)

Tsunami in Bays (GeoMika)

Japan’s nuclear reactor overreaction (Bad Astronomy)

Japan earthquake - seismograms (Shaking Earth)

Footage of the March 11 tsunami around the Pacific (The Trembling Earth)

Does Sendai Stress Tokai? (Andrew Alden's About.com Geology)

To my Readers in Japan (Ursula K. Le Guin at Book View Cafe Blog, not a geoblog)

Survivors... (The Bu Element)

Aftershocks of the Sendai earthquake (Highly Allochthonous)

The Sendai Earthquake (4.5 Billion Years of Wonder)

---

March 15, 2011:
False Radiation Rumors Run Rampant (Dan's Wild Wild Science Journal)

Japan Earthquake - Space-Time Plot (Ontario Geofish)

Earthquake / tsunami links for Tuesday (Life in Plane Light)

Third Follow-Up Interview with my Dad, a Nuclear Engineer, about the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Disaster in Japan (Georneys)

From a geological perspective, what is surprising about the Sendai Earthquake? (The Landslide Blog)

Announcement: Daily Updates from My Dad, a Nuclear Engineer (Georneys)

Largest earthquakes in history (Shaking Earth)

I Didn't Feel Like Teaching Today... (Geotripper)

New GPS vectors (Mountain Beltway)

Japan has moved (Structural Geology) - with correction.

A vueltas con el terremoto de Japón (GeoCastAway)

Nuclear Reactors in Japan - Periodic Table of Videos (Amphibol)

The View of Japan's 9.0 Earthquake from Modesto, California, Part 2 (Geotripper)

---

March 16, 2011:

Earthquake & Tsunami links for Wednesday (Life in Plane Light)

March 11 Japan tsunami in Onagawa (Riparian Rap)

Japan Earthquake - Detailed Strong Ground Motion (Ontario Geofish)

5th Interview with my Dad, a Nuclear Engineer, about the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Disaster in Japan (Georneys)

Japan quake was magnitude 8.9, is now 9.0 (Shaking Earth)

Updated Radiation Trajectory for Fukushima (Dan's Wild Wild Science Journal)

Animation of Japan foreshocks-main shock-aftershocks (Shaking Earth)

Policy Considerations for Washington State Post Japan Quake and Tsunami (Reading the Washington Landscape)

Video de apertura de grietas y licuación de suelos durante el terremoto de Japón (En Morrenas)

Orders of magnitude... (The Bu Element)

Nick Schneider: Notes on an earthquake (The Planetary Society Blog)

A Quick Note: Please Take My Dad's Interview Transcripts & Audio (Georneys)

Note: Interviews with my Dad, a Nuclear Engineer, continue daily (at least through March 18th) at Georneys.

Daily earthquake and tsunami links continue at Life in Plane Light, at least through March 18th.

---

Note: although there is a certain overlap in content amongst many of the posts, these various geoblog reports vary in their various angles and aspects. Posts have been listed roughly very crudely in chronological order; additional links will be added, though perhaps not indefinitely.

Last updated 19Mar2011 at 5:48 a.m. PDT

Friday Fault Photos #7

As long as you happen to be at Ophir Creek in Big Smoky Valley, you should make sure to notice the nice triangular facets along the eastern range front of the Toiyabe Range. The above photo, looking south from the road going up the Ophir Creek alluvial fan, shows the overall faceted nature of the range front near the canyons cut by North Twin River and South Twin River.

Photo from the road to Ophir Creek, looking southwest, the canyons in view having been cut by South Twin River (the southernmost canyon barely in the far left of the photo), North Twin River (the next large canyon to the north), with the canyons of Hercules Creek and Last Chance Creek just barely seen north of North Twin River.

Triangular facets - a geomorphologic feature or landform - sometimes result from erosion along an active to fairly active fault. Triangular facets can result from other processes, but here in the Basin and Range country of central Nevada, they are almost always indicative of the approximate location of the range-front fault. By fairly active, I mean that ranges and valleys in the Basin and Range are moving with respect to each other, and that fault motion has historically produced earthquakes and fault scarps on some of these range-front faults - for example at Fairview Peak and Dixie Valley. Most range-front faults have not had historic earthquake activity, but many have been active sometime during the last 1.6 million years (Quaternary). On the Google Earth image below, the Toiyabe Range fault zone - the range-front fault on the east side of the Toiyabe Range - is shown as being Late Quaternary, or younger than 130,000 years old.

UPDATE 28May2010: These geomorphic features are also commonly known as faceted spurs.
Nice triangular facets on the range front south of Ophir Creek and north of Hercules Creek.
As the road goes farther up the alluvial fan and gets closer to the mouth of Ophir Canyon, our view of the range front is more southward, and the triangular facets are seen at a more oblique angle.
Above, an enlargement of the previous photo.
Another enlargement.
Above, the Google Earth image mentioned earlier, with reference cited below, and color scheme for faults listed, as given here.

Reference:

U.S. Geological Survey and Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, 2006, Quaternary fault and fold database for the United States, accessed 10-27-2008, from this USGS web site: http//earthquakes.usgs.gov/regional/qfaults/.

Historic are the most recent, known movement less than about 150 years (in red).

Holocene_LatestPleistocene are younger than 15,000 years (in orange).

LateQuaternary are younger than 130,000 years (in yellow).

MidToLateQuaternary are younger than 750,000 years (in green).

Quaternary are younger than 1,600,000 years (in blue).

We Make the Turn: AK2008 Day 2

So, where were we, anyway? Oh yeah, there we were on the Seward Highway, crossing Twentymile River, looking across the arm to Ingram Creek (above).

We made the turn of Turnagain Arm - that is, we drove by the turnoff to Portage Glacier without stopping because we were so intent on getting to our next destination, turning from going southeasterly to going northwesterly - we didn't have to go back like Captain Cook, who had to turn back once again while looking for the northwest passage in 1778 (a bit of history here and here).

While driving northwest on the southern side of Turnagain Arm, we passed by more trees dead from subsidence during the 1964 earthquake. The marshes these trees are now standing in, especially the ones on the south side of the highway, are good places to look for moose and swans. Alas! We didn't see any this time! Trees on the north side of the highway are pictured above, looking back towards the glacial valley of the Twentymile River; trees and marshes on the south side of the highway are pictured in the photo below.

After passing the marshes, the road makes a sharp southward turn and starts climbing the the hill toward Turnagain Pass, which can be seen on this MSRMaps image. As you drive up the hill, a good exposure of sub-vertically-foliated slaty meta-graywacke shortly comes into view. To examine this rock, which is cut by narrow quartz veins, pull over on the right side of the road, into a nice, wide pullout.

Make sure to gather enough slaty graywacke to fill the back of whatever vehicle you are driving, enough for your garden, or even some nice pieces to ship Outside, in case you happen to be a real rockhound, like me, and want to take some with you when (or if) you leave. Btw, the term "Outside" is properly capitalized, as in, "I'm going Outside next week." [Translation: I'm going somewhere outside Alaska, not always refering to the lower 48 states, next week.]

Then proceed to Turnagain Pass, which is at Milepost 68, where you can pullover on the northwest side of the highway for a pitstop and to enjoy the view.

Turnagain Pass is in a U-shaped glacial valley at the head of Ingram Creek, which flows northward into Turnagain Arm, and the head of Granite Creek, which flows southward and then eventually back northward into Turnagain Arm via Sixmile Creek. Glacial ice in the area once filled the valley at Turnagain Pass to a depth of about 2000 feet, leaving behind spectacular striations and grooves in the bedrock, along with peculiar lumpy terrain (irregular morraines?) and ridges. Grooves and striations can be seen by walking west to the base of the small hill seen in the photo above, and also along various trails through the funny, lumpy ground. You can find some good exposures within a couple hundred feet of the parking lot, although locals tell me that the deciduous bushes and small trees have been growing a lot recently because of increased carbon dioxide, so you might have to scour the ground to find the best glacial grooves (ha!).

Above, a view of the pass area looking west, toward the high mountains (about 3300 feet above sea level, which was right back behind us to the north in Turnagain Arm). This is an area where avalanches are common in winter, and where hikers, snowmobilers, and skiers should be extra careful. Fireweed, one of my favorite flowers - with all but the topmost blooms gone - can be seen in the foreground. (So, is it summer, or fall?)

After stopping at Turnagain Pass, we hightail it for our next stop, Summit Lake Lodge.

Turnagain Arm: AK2008 Day 2

As soon as we could, after getting there, we packed our bags (again) and left a typical Alaskan house in a not-so-typical Alaskan mini-van (it isn't rusty or dented, and it's not a pickup truck)...

...and we immediately took one of the three small segments of freeway in Alaska, all located in the Anchorage area, and headed southeast out of town as fast as possible, on Alaska State Route 1. Alaska has exactly 12 numbered highways, 1 through 11 and 98, which can be viewed here. Several of them don't connect with any other roads except by air or sea.

We didn't make it very far, not even to Beluga Point (about seven to eight miles outside Anchorage, our usual first stop) at Mile 110 (see this article for a list of places by mile number) when we stopped to view the mudflats - to see whether the tide was going in or out - and to view our general destination across Turnagain Arm: the Kenai Penninsula. While looking across the arm, we got a through-the-clouds view of Mt. Redoubt, which last erupted in 1990.

Our next stop was the Famous Alaska Turbidite Locality, which is a bit east of Milepost 105, about 23 miles outside of Anchorage. This turbidite roadcut, seen below from the east looking west, is between Windy Point and Indian Valley. The entire roadcut, top to bottom, is turbidites - more about them later. (Can you wait?)

A bit down the road, we made our usual coffee and hot chocolate stop at Girdwood - Mile 90 - which has a gas station along side the road, a gift shop or two, and at least one espresso place. This is the turnoff to the Alyeska ski resort.

While at Girdwood, you can't help but notice the dead trees all around, especially between the highway and the arm (Turnagain Arm), which resulted from the sinking of the land there during the Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964, and the consequent exposure of the tree roots to more water than they are normally used to, with that water also being a bit salty. A huge area was affected by subsidence, including most of the Kenai Penninsula. An earlier seismic event about 800 years ago resulted in similar subsidence, as recorded by a forest of tree stumps buried beneath these present-day dead trees.

And farther up (or down?) the road, approaching Portage but still on the north side of the arm, a nice U-shaped valley, carved by glaciers, comes into view, below. This is the valley of Seattle Creek, a small valley on the south side of Turnagain Arm.

Finally, we cross the bridge at Twentymile River, still on the north side of the arm, still with the tide partly out. A larger U-shaped valley can be seen across this upper, eastern end of Turnagain Arm: Ingram Creek. This green valley is the glacially carved valley that the highway goes through, after we make the turn of Turnagain Arm, at Portage, and head west for a short distance. A topo map, via MSRMaps, can be seen here.

And, hey, that's as far as we'll get tonight!

Is Water Lubricating a Mogul, NV Fault?

This is what I'm wondering. Yesterday, a geologist living in Mogul suggested to me that the recent earthquakes there remind him of the 1970's earthquakes in Denver, which turned out to have been caused by water injection in the area - with the water lubricating the faults and causing the earthquakes. Read up on the Denver earthquakes here with additional references here and here [the latter two are abstracts only]. The amounts of injected water they are talking about for Denver sounds rather large, and the injection (and earthquakes) took place over a considerable period of time.

As Andrew has noted, the Mogul-Somersett earthquake swarm is unusual: it didn't start with a large earthquake and dwindle into aftershocks, and it hasn't reached any kind of climactic peak. Also, the earthquakes have all been shallow. At least one geologist living in Mogul has expressed concern that, with the large Somersett development or subdivision located relatively high on a ridge above the valley Mogul lies in (Mogul is adjacent to and somewhat elevated from the nearby Truckee River and its floodplain), water from landscape watering and from the golf course might be lubricating a possible northwest-trending fault - the Nevada Seismological Laboratory (NSL) has more information about the quakes and a couple maps.

It may be that there isn't enough water seeping into the ground from the hillsides above Mogul to cause these earthquakes, and Ken Smith and Glenn Biasi at the NSL have been busy trying to diminish local rumors about the quakes, including the definitely false one that the local mountain, Peavine, is a volcano (it's not, never has been). From the Reno Gazette-Journal [I suspect some quotation marks are missing, or the paragraphs are parsed strangely].

What about golf courses?

Another question is whether golf courses in th area changed the way the water table impacts the geologic structure.

Earthquakes can follow when the water table is changed, Biasi said. A well-known example is Hoover Dam.

As the rocks have less pressure, they will slip, causing earthquakes.

"Did the golf course perhaps raise the water table and contribute to this?" Biasi said. "We don't think so because you have a river at the bottom [of the valley]."

"It set the water table very high already, so the golf course could not have raised it very far."

Landscape watering would contribute to the problem, he noted. They can't rule it out because they don't know how high the water table was before the [Somersett] development occurred, Biasi said.

"It's a real long shot, but one we don't have any date to comment on," Biasi said.

In other words, it sounds like a possibility, one that has not at all been confirmed. In the meantime, my former colleague (and a couple other geologists?) are trying to contact Mike Alger, the geologist and meteorologist for KTVN Channel 2 and the Reno Gazette-Journal in order to have this issue looked into.

Fairview Peak, Nevada

The winner of Where in The West - March is Geotripper, with the correct answer: Fairview Peak, Nevada, which is located on Highway 50, about 40 miles SSE of Fallon by road. Nevada, being in the Basin and Range, has a history of earthquakes, some more recent than others.

Fairview Peak was the site of the well-known Nevada earthquakes of 1954, which caused ground ruptures along the east side of Fairview Peak and northward into Dixie Valley. The images from Google Earth show a few good viewing places, although the scarps have deteriorated with time. I haven’t been to location #1 to the left in the upper image, which must be the easiest one to get to, but can recommend site #2 to the right in the upper image, although walking or very good 4WD is required. The #3 site in the middle image can be a little hard to identify in some lighting, and you can feel a bit like you are wandering around in the badlands, especially if it’s summer (because you are).

The location of Frenchman, formerly known as Frenchman’s Station, is shown on these images, and is especially visible in the lower image. There hasn’t been anything at Frenchman since the Navy took over the area, burned or dismantled Frenchman (a store – gas station – motel that was open in the 1980’s and earlier) and also took over Dixie Valley in general. The location of Frenchman, as shown, is from Google Earth and may not be precise.

A story about the area, related to the earthquakes and possibly apocryphal, goes as follows. A resident of Austin, Nevada had driven into Fallon, presumably to stock up on food, but maybe just to attend a different watering hole than the usual Austin offerings. The day was December 16, 1954. He’d stayed in the bar late, and it was dark as he drove Highway 50 from Fallon toward Austin. As he came over Drumm Summit, a small hill between Dixie Valley and Labou Flat, and was about to drop down into Stingaree Valley, he was shocked out of his semi-drunken state when he drove off the newly formed fault scarp, which had cut the pavement of Highway 50 and dropped it down to the east by several feet.

---

A few references:

Bunny Corkill, Water Holes, In Focus, Vol. 17, 2003-2004 (includes an old photo of Frenchman's Station).

William Least Heat-Moon, Blue Highways, 1982 (includes a photo of Frenchman's Station from 1978).

Where in the West - March

This mountain--seen here from both sides, the east and the west--can be viewed easily from a major road, and is well known for a particular geologic feature. There's a kind of fractal quality to the western "foothills" and alluvial fans, which I find interesting, and which show up well with a low sun angle.

Update from The Lake

MOH and I are back in the field at our little house after a three-day interlude away from the Nevada outback, which included a visit to the lake and a two-night stopover in Reno. Our update from the lake is that there is significantly more snow there than at our little house in the Nevada outback - significantly more snow than we've seen at the lake in a number of years. Supposedly we are in the midst of a La Nina, although the winter overall reminds me of the 1982-83 winter, during which one of the largest snowfalls in the Sierra Nevada was caused by an El Nino. It was a very good year to learn how to downhill ski, and so I did. [I mean, it just reminds me of that winter; doesn't mean I'm saying we're not in the middle of a La Nina!]

On the way back, we drove through miles of high snow berms showing the depositional history of the snow and a few disconformities. Correlation between "outcrops" seemed good, except where local slumping and man-made disturbances had occurred.

While gone, we missed the exciting event of a large earthquake nears Wells, NV, which has been thoroughly discussed here and here and here. We were in Reno at the time - asleep, probably - and didn't feel a thing. Possibly the earthquake waves propogated north and south, parallel to the grain of the Basin and Range more easily than they propogated east and west, against the grain. That's only a theory, mind you, with me trying to explain why there are reports of the earthquake being felt as far south as southern California, and not so many reports from Reno and Sparks, NV.