Geobulletin alpha

Most Visited Stories: May 2015 

The Antarctic Volcano that Doesn’t Make SensePhys.org Real Time Lightning MapsLightningMaps.org California’s Central Valley is Sinking Faster than EverCBS San Francisco Bay Area Why Have Volcanoes in the Cascades Been So Quiet Lately ?Wired Science Glacier Peak: The Washington Volcano That Produces Extreme EruptionsKing5.com Rare Plant Only Grows in Soils Above Kimberlite PipesScienceMag.org Drought Kills

Faults from the air 

Sometimes I spend so much time out looking at geological features in the Bay area that I forget to blog about them. But this weekend I had the chance to go for a wonderful tour of the South Bay and Peninsula via Cessna, and I'm convinced that it's an awesome way to check out geology. (Of course, anyone who's seen Michael Collier's photographic work knows that already, but in case you needed convincing, take my word for it. Also, not having to brave security at the airport is

Driving Through the Most Dangerous Plate Boundary in the World: The Alien Bursts Forth in the Diablo Range! 

The strange alien terrane bursts out of the core of the Diablo Range! The next stage of our journey through the most dangerous plate boundary on the planet takes us across the Coast Ranges from the Bay Area to the Great Valley. There are freeways that make the trip easy, but they don't go through the interesting parts. Traveling Interstate 580 at 65mph, one mostly just sees grassy

Local global science 

I don’t spend all my time out among Oakland’s rocks. I also take advantage of the Bay area’s opportunities to learn about Earth science. Every year, for instance, I attend the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union, held without fail in San Francisco since 1968. I started in the mid-1980s, and it’s where I’m

Napa earthquake strong ground motion 

Remember, this is the earthquake that I caused by visiting the Bay Area for a day.  :)  It was an M6 strike-slip earthquake, which shouldn't cause any damage in California, but it did, simply because there were a lot of weak buildings still standing.  Most of the rest of the state has had all the weak stuff knocked down. It also showed that all the retrofit for historic brick buildings

Magnitude 6.0 Earthquake in Napa, California 

Early Sunday morning, a 6.0 Magnitude earthquake struck near Napa California lasting 10 to 20 seconds, sending 120 people to the hospital and damaging buildings, breaking water mains, disrupting power distribution, and breaking gas lines and causing fires. The earthquake was the largest to strike the Bay Area since the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. I will provide more info relevant to geoengineers in the coming days. If you find any interesting info, leave a comment, or email or tweet it to me [...]

Aloha 

In Hawaii. California was a blast. I caused the biggest earthquake in the bay area for 20 years. 😊 But I didn't feel a thing thanks to jet

Mag 6.0 Quake Strikes California's Bay Area 

A devastating mag 6.0 quake hit the bay area this morning, injuring as many as 87 people, and cutting power off for thousands. No deaths were reported. FIres in the area did break out, and damage control is underway. As I am currently covering the situation in Iceland, this will be a short blog. However CNN is covering the situation.Below is the shake map so you can see the intensity of the quake.Google Earth image with USGS Earthquake overlay.This is the strongest quake to hit the area since [...]

South Napa Earthquake today, M 6.0-6.1--geologic context 

Building destroyed in Napa. Photo by Justin Sullivan,Getty Images as published on www.sfgate.com hereHeadlines this morning announced that a M6.0 (or 6.1, conflicting reports) earthquake at 3:20 a.m. awoke people around the area of Napa, California, north of San Francisco.  Dozens of people are injured, four homes in a mobile park burned, and damage to buildings in downtown Napa appears extensive. The quake is the largest in the Bay Area since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.    [...]

24 August 2014 M6 Earthquake northern San Francisco Bay area (6km NW of American Canyon, California) 

An M6 strike-slip earthquake occurred in the northern San Francisco Bay area last night. It is reported as 6 km NW of American Canyon and between Napa and Vallejo. This is the biggest event in the Bay Area since the 1989 M6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake. The Did You Feel It mapping shows that shaking was very strong in the north Bay area and it was felt widely across the region. Here are a few links:Main USGS page on the

Taking in the View from the Bay Area's Devilish "Not a Volcano" 

Mount Diablo looms over the Bay Area, rising 3,849 feet above the coastal plains. The two prominent peaks are miles from any other high mountains, and thus the mountain offers an incomparable view of central California, from Mt. Lassen in the far north to Mt. Dana and other high peaks of Yosemite National Park to the south. Sitting above the Carquinez Straits and the delta of the

Checking Out Mount Diablo's Biologic Overburden 

Mt. Diablo is one of California's most spectacular state parks. Rising 3,847 feet above the Bay Area, the mountain is one of the most prominent in the state. It served as the starting point for surveying property line across Central California and Nevada. And it has marvelous geology: thrust faults, ocean crust, Franciscan chert, thick sequences of sandstone and coal, and a rich

Magnitude 6.9 Earthquake Offshore of Northern California 

A moderately large earthquake has been recorded offshore of Northern California, measuring 6.9 on the magnitude scale. It took place about fifty miles offshore of Ferndale, Eureka, and Arcata at 10:18 PM local time. It was apparently felt all over northern California, as far south as the Bay Area. There haven't been any reports of damage or injuries. The quake took place in a

20 Years Ago: The Northridge Earthquake 

It actually happened before 5 a.m. on 17 January 1994— a magnitude 6.7 thrust-fault earthquake in the Los Angeles area—but scientists are observing the 20th anniversary of the Northridge earthquake today at a Caltech symposium. Twitter users can see highlights with the #Northridge20 hashtag. I was in Northern California and didn't know anything about it until my morning commute, but once at work I logged in to The WELL to find that someone had started a new topic in the [...]

The Best Place to Live for Geology 

I'm going to repost this blog post from two years ago, because it's worth an update from those of you who missed it the first time—although anyone who commented the first time is welcome to speak up again. . . I got a note Saturday asking, "Where is the best place to live if you are an amateur geologist?" This is a question with so many answers that I can't think of them all. So you're invited to add your answers, too. Anyway, my answers are these: Anywhere is a good place to live, [...]

GIS Day events at Berkeley 11/14/2012 

Today,Wednesday, November 14th, is GIS Day! Events related to geographic information systems, software, data, and geospatial thinking are happening around the world today to celebrate geospatial technology and the impact it has on improving our lives and the planet. The Geospatial Innovation Facility (GIF), in conjunction with the Bay Area Automated Mapping Association (BAAMA) and with support from the American Northern California Region of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote [...]

Why Did the Military Get Such Nice Digs? Fort Baker on San Francisco Bay 

The reasons are partly geological. But before we mention the geology, there must be pictures of cute and interesting animals...like this young sea lion that was eying the crowd of fisherman on the wharf. We were in the Bay Area today celebrating a birthday, but everywhere we went was crowded, as if it were a holiday weekend or something. No parking on the beach at Half Moon Bay. Nothing

Friday fold: Franciscan chert in Golden Gate Park 

This week, the Friday fold comes to us courtesy of fellow AGU-hosted geoblogger Jessica Ball: That’s chert cropping out in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. Maybe you should check it out in December when you’re in the Bay area for the AGU Fall Meeting? Outcrop location: Lat/Long: 37.771517,-122.4777. Annotated version: Recall there are more chert folds from the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge featured here. Thanks for sharing,

Weekend CUP for June 19, 2012 

  Here's a collection of some interesting geoengineering content from around the web that I didn't get a chance to blog about. Enjoy. Atlas Copco to Distribute Hütte Crawler Drills in U.S. - Source: TBM: ENews Most excavation work completed on UT SR-14 - Source: thespectrum.com Bay Area's 10 biggest highway improvement projects - Source: KTVU 52nd Rankine Lecture - Performance-based design in geotechnical engineering - Source: CPD Lectures and [...]

NetQuakes 

“NetQuakes strong-motion instruments enable seismologists to collect extensive data in urban areas where installing traditional seismographs is not practical. This instrument (in blue, to the right of the upended chairs) takes up very little space in a Bay Area resident’s garage. It is the size of a auto battery, runs on a home wifi and