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Research about Santa Clara Valley

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Santa Clara Valley.

24 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
USGS1997

Coseismic deformation during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and range-front thrusting along the southwestern margin of the Santa Clara Valley, California

Damage patterns caused by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake along the southwestern margin of the Santa Clara Valley, California, form three zones that coincide with mapped and inferred traces of range-front thrust faults northeast of the San Andreas fault. Damage in these zones was largely contractional, consistent with past displacement associated with these faults. The damage zones coincide with gravity and aeromagnetic anomalies; modeling of the anomalies defines a southwest-dipping thrust fault that places the Franciscan Complex over Cenozoic sedimentary rocks to minimum depths of 2 km. Diffuse Loma Prieta earthquake aftershocks encompass the downward projection of this modeled thrust to depths of 9 km. Our results indicate that in this region the potential for concentrated damage arising from either primary deformation along the thrust faults themselves or by sympathetic motion triggered by earthquakes on the San Andreas fault may be higher than previously recognized.

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USGS1994

The attenuation of seismic shear waves in quaternary alluvium in Santa Clara Valley, California

We used shear waves, generated by an air-powered source at the ground surface and recorded in a borehole, to estimate the shear-wave quality factor at strong-motion station Gilroy no. 2. We find similar values of Q using both the decay of the spectra with depth and the slope of the spectral ratio at two depths; we find no evidence of a frequency dependence of Q . The mean value of Q over the depth range 10 to 115 m is close to 10. The use of this value over the depth of the borehole and the observed travel time of 0.358 sec gives a cumulative attenuation factor t * of 0.036 sec for the upper 180 m of the Quaternary alluvium. This is comparable to the differential decay between Gilroy no. 2 and a rock site 1.9 km away (Gilroy no. 1), as measured from the decay of the high-frequency spectra of accelerograms from large earthquakes, plotted on a log-linear scale: t * = 0.05, 0.04, and 0.03 sec for the 1979 Coyote Lake, 1984 Morgan Hill, and 1989 Loma Prieta earthquakes, respectively. The similarity between the attenuations measured from the low-strain surface source and those from the larger amplitude earthquake sources suggests that increases of damping due to nonlinear wave propagation effects are limited.

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USGS1984

Land subsidence in the Santa Clara Valley, California as of 1980

From 1916 to 1966 in the San Jose area of Santa Clara Valley, California, deficient rainfall and runoff was accompanied by a fourfold increase in groundwater withdrawals. In response the artesian head declined 180-240 ft. The land surface subsided 12.7 ft in San Jose, due to compaction of the fine-grained compressible beds. The subsidence resulted in flooding of lands, and the compaction of the sediments caused compressional failure of many well casings. From 1967 to 1975, the artesian head recovered 70 to 100 feet due to a fivefold increase in surface water imports, favorable local water supply, decreased withdrawal, and increased recharge. In 1960, the Geological Survey installed extensometers in core holes 1,000 ft deep in San Jose and Sunnyvale. Measurements of compaction of the confined aquifer system obtained from these extensometers demonstrate the marked decrease in rate of compaction in response to the major head recovery since 1967. In San Jose the rate decreased from about 1 ft/yr in 1961 to 0.1 ft/yr in 1973. The subsidence has been stopped by raising the artesian head in the aquifers until it equaled or exceeded the maximum pore pressures in the fine-grained beds. However, the subsidence will recommence if the artesian head is drawn down appreciably below the levels of 1971-73. (USGS)

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USGS1924

Ground water in Santa Clara Valley, California

Santa Clara Valley extends southeastward from San Francisco, lying between the Diablo Range on the northeast and the Santa Cruz and Gabilan ranges on the southwest. (See Pl. I.) Its north end is occupied by the southern part of San Francisco Bay. Toward the south it rises gradually and becomes increasingly rough until it ceases to be a valley. Its trend is approximately parallel to the Pacific coast and to the main structural trend of the Coast Ranges. The drainage basin of Santa Clara Valley is about 140 miles long and has a maximum width of/ about 45 miles; the area tributary to the valley south of latitude 37° 40' is about 3,100 square miles.1 The valley itself has a length of about 100 miles, of which 70 miles is south of San Francisco Bay, a maximum width of about 15 miles, and an area, exclusive of the part. occupied by the bay, of about 590 square miles, or about 380,000 acres. This report covers only that part of Santa Clara Valley lying south · of latitude 37° 40', but there is some land north of this line on the east side of San Francisco Bay that may properly be considered a part of the valley.

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