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At least 613 records · Page 34Linked to original sources
USGS2007

Hydrogeologic controls imposed by mechanical stratigraphy in layered rocks of the Chateauguay River Basin, a U.S.-Canada transborder aquifer

[1] The Châteauguay River Basin delineates a transborder watershed with roughly half of its surface area located in northern New York State and half in southern Québec Province, Canada. As part of a multidisciplinary study designed to characterize the hydrogeologic properties of this basin, geophysical logs were obtained in 12 wells strategically located to penetrate the four major sedimentary rock formations that constitute the regional aquifers. The layered rocks were classified according to their elastic properties into three primary units: soft sandstone, hard sandstone, and dolostone. Downhole measurements were analyzed to identify fracture patterns associated with each unit and to evaluate their role in controlling groundwater flow. Fracture networks are composed of orthogonal sets of laterally extensive, subhorizontal bedding plane partings and bed-delimited, subvertical joints with spacings that are consistent with rock mechanics principles and stress models. The vertical distribution of transmissive zones is confined to a few select bedding plane fractures, with soft sandstone having the fewest (one per 70-m depth) and hard sandstone the most (five per 70-m depth). Bed-normal permeability is examined using a probabilistic model that considers the lengths of flow paths winding along joints and bedding plane fractures. Soft sandstone has the smallest bed-normal permeability primarily because of its wide, geomechanically undersaturated joint spacing. Results indicate that the three formations have similar values of bulk transmissivity, within roughly an order of magnitude, but that each rock unit has its own unique system of groundwater flow paths that constitute that transmissivity.

Chateauguay River Basin↗
USGS2007

Waveform inversion of volcano-seismic signals for an extended source

[1] We propose a method to investigate the dimensions and oscillation characteristics of the source of volcano-seismic signals based on waveform inversion for an extended source. An extended source is realized by a set of point sources distributed on a grid surrounding the centroid of the source in accordance with the source geometry and orientation. The source-time functions for all point sources are estimated simultaneously by waveform inversion carried out in the frequency domain. We apply a smoothing constraint to suppress short-scale noisy fluctuations of source-time functions between adjacent sources. The strength of the smoothing constraint we select is that which minimizes the Akaike Bayesian Information Criterion (ABIC). We perform a series of numerical tests to investigate the capability of our method to recover the dimensions of the source and reconstruct its oscillation characteristics. First, we use synthesized waveforms radiated by a kinematic source model that mimics the radiation from an oscillating crack. Our results demonstrate almost complete recovery of the input source dimensions and source-time function of each point source, but also point to a weaker resolution of the higher modes of crack oscillation. Second, we use synthetic waveforms generated by the acoustic resonance of a fluid-filled crack, and consider two sets of waveforms dominated by the modes with wavelengths 2 L /3 and 2 W /3, or L and 2 L /5, where W and L are the crack width and length, respectively. Results from these tests indicate that the oscillating signature of the 2 L /3 and 2 W /3 modes are successfully reconstructed. The oscillating signature of the L mode is also well recovered, in contrast to results obtained for a point source for which the moment tensor description is inadequate. However, the oscillating signature of the 2 L /5 mode is poorly recovered owing to weaker resolution of short-scale crack wall motions. The triggering excitations of the oscillating cracks are successfully reconstructed.

Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth↗
USGS2007

Postseismic relaxation and aftershocks

[1] Perfettini et al. (2005) suggested that the temporal dependence of surface displacements u ( t ) measured in the epicentral area following an earthquake is related to N ( t ), the cumulative number of aftershocks, by the equation u ( t ) = a + bt + cN ( t ) + d (1 − e − αt ), where a , b , c , d , and α are constants chosen to fit the data and t is the postearthquake time. N ( t ) appears in the expression for u ( t ) because both the aftershocks and a portion of u ( t ) are thought to be driven by the same source, postseismic fault creep at subseismogenic depths on the downdip extension of the coseismic rupture. We show that this equation with the actually observed N ( t ) fits the postseismic displacements recorded on several baselines following each of five earthquakes: 1999 M7.6 Chi-Chi (Taiwan), 1999 M7.1 Hector Mine (southern California), 2002 M7.9 Denali (central Alaska), 2003 M6.5 San Simeon (central California), and 2004 M6.0 Parkfield (central California) earthquakes. Although there are plausible physical interpretations for each of the terms in the expression for u ( t ), the large number of adjustable constants ( a , b , c , d , and α ) involved in fitting the rather simple postseismic displacements diminishes the significance of the fit. Because the observed N ( t ) is well fit by the modified Omori's law, fault creep at depth presumably exhibits the same temporal dependence. That dependence could be explained if the rheology of the fault downdip from the coseismic rupture is consistent with ordinary transient creep. Montesi (2004) demonstrated that power law creep across a shear zone at depth would also produce that temporal signal.

Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth↗
USGS2007

Structure of the California Coast Ranges and San Andreas Fault at SAFOD from seismic waveform inversion and reflection imaging

[1] A seismic reflection and refraction survey across the San Andreas Fault (SAF) near Parkfield provides a detailed characterization of crustal structure across the location of the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD). Steep-dip prestack migration and frequency domain acoustic waveform tomography were applied to obtain highly resolved images of the upper 5 km of the crust for 15 km on either side of the SAF. The resulting velocity model constrains the top of the Salinian granite with great detail. Steep-dip reflection seismic images show several strong-amplitude vertical reflectors in the uppermost crust near SAFOD that define an ∼2-km-wide zone comprising the main SAF and two or more local faults. Another prominent subvertical reflector at 2–4 km depth ∼9 km to the northeast of the SAF marks the boundary between the Franciscan terrane and the Great Valley Sequence. A deep seismic section of low resolution shows several reflectors in the Salinian crust west of the SAF. Two horizontal reflectors around 10 km depth correlate with strains of seismicity observed along-strike of the SAF. They represent midcrustal shear zones partially decoupling the ductile lower crust from the brittle upper crust. The deepest reflections from ∼25 km depth are interpreted as crust-mantle boundary.

Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth↗
USGS2007

Forecast experiment: do temporal and spatial b value variations along the Calaveras fault portend M ≥ 4.0 earthquakes?

The power law distribution of earthquake magnitudes and frequencies is a fundamental scaling relationship used for forecasting. However, can its slope (b value) be used on individual faults as a stress indicator? Some have concluded that b values drop just before large shocks. Others suggested that temporally stable low b value zones identify future large-earthquake locations. This study assesses the frequency of b value anomalies portending M ≥ 4.0 shocks versus how often they do not. I investigated M ≥ 4.0 Calaveras fault earthquakes because there have been 25 over the 37-year duration of the instrumental catalog on the most active southern half of the fault. With that relatively large sample, I conducted retrospective time and space earthquake forecasts. I calculated temporal b value changes in 5-km-radius cylindrical volumes of crust that were significant at 90% confidence, but these changes were poor forecasters of M ≥ 4.0 earthquakes. M ≥ 4.0 events were as likely to happen at times of high b values as they were at low ones. However, I could not rule out a hypothesis that spatial b value anomalies portend M ≥ 4.0 events; of 20 M ≥ 4 shocks that could be studied, 6 to 8 (depending on calculation method) occurred where b values were significantly less than the spatial mean, 1 to 2 happened above the mean, and 10 to 13 occurred within 90% confidence intervals of the mean and were thus inconclusive. Thus spatial b value variation might be a useful forecast tool, but resolution is poor, even on seismically active faults.

California↗
USGS2007

Three-dimensional P wave velocity model for the San Francisco Bay region, California

[1] A new three-dimensional P wave velocity model for the greater San Francisco Bay region has been derived using the double-difference seismic tomography method, using data from about 5,500 chemical explosions or air gun blasts and approximately 6,000 earthquakes. The model region covers 140 km NE-SW by 240 km NW-SE, extending from 20 km south of Monterey to Santa Rosa and reaching from the Pacific coast to the edge of the Great Valley. Our model provides the first regional view of a number of basement highs that are imaged in the uppermost few kilometers of the model, and images a number of velocity anomaly lows associated with known Mesozoic and Cenozoic basins in the study area. High velocity ( V p > 6.5 km/s) features at ∼15-km depth beneath part of the edge of the Great Valley and along the San Francisco peninsula are interpreted as ophiolite bodies. The relocated earthquakes provide a clear picture of the geometry of the major faults in the region, illuminating fault dips that are generally consistent with previous studies. Ninety-five percent of the earthquakes have depths between 2.3 and 15.2 km, and the corresponding seismic velocities at the hypocenters range from 4.8 km/s (presumably corresponding to Franciscan basement or Mesozoic sedimentary rocks of the Great Valley Sequence) to 6.8 km/s. The top of the seismogenic zone is thus largely controlled by basement depth, but the base of the seismogenic zone is not restricted to seismic velocities of ≤6.3 km/s in this region, as had been previously proposed.

California↗
USGS2007

Postseismic relaxation associated with transient creep rheology

[1] Perfettini and Avouac (2004) postulated that both the aftershock rate (assumed proportional to the local stressing rate) and the postseismic relaxation are driven by the loading imposed by postseismic slip on the brittle creep fault zone (BCFZ), the downdip extension of the fault zone below the coseismic rupture. I explore the consequences of that hypothesis for a long, strike-slip fault in the case where the BCFZ rheology is compatible with ordinary transient creep (creep strain proportional to log e (1 + t / τ 2 )). Because the important relaxation occurs near the bottom of the coseismic rupture, I calculate the postearthquake response with a model in which the BCFZ is represented by a viscoelastic half-space below the coseismic rupture. I find that both the predicted postseismic relaxation and the cumulative number of aftershocks can be approximated by the same temporal dependence N MO ( t ) = a MO (1−(1 + t / τ ) 1− p )/( p − 1), where t is the time after the earthquake and a MO , τ , and p are the constants chosen to fit either data set. Notice that d N MO ( t )/d t = ( a MO / τ )/(1 + t / τ ) p is the modified Omori law used to describe the rate of aftershock occurrence. Thus, the modified Omori law can be understood as a consequence of the Perfettini–Avouac hypothesis (aftershocks driven by slip on the BCFZ) and a BCFZ rheology compatible with ordinary transient creep. Moreover, the temporal dependence N MO ( t ) has been shown to fit postseismic surface deformation following at least 9 earthquakes. I also show that the conventional, one-dimensional, spring-block model of a BFCZ with a rheology compatible with ordinary transient creep leads to the same temporal dependence ( N MO ( t )).

Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth↗
USGS2007

Hydrothermal fluid flow and deformation in large calderas: Inferences from numerical simulations

[1] Inflation and deflation of large calderas is traditionally interpreted as being induced by volume change of a discrete source embedded in an elastic or viscoelastic half-space, though it has also been suggested that hydrothermal fluids may play a role. To test the latter hypothesis, we carry out numerical simulations of hydrothermal fluid flow and poroelastic deformation in calderas by coupling two numerical codes: (1) TOUGH2 [Pruess et al., 1999], which simulates flow in porous or fractured media, and (2) BIOT2 [Hsieh, 1996], which simulates fluid flow and deformation in a linearly elastic porous medium. In the simulations, high-temperature water (350°C) is injected at variable rates into a cylinder (radius 50 km, height 3–5 km). A sensitivity analysis indicates that small differences in the values of permeability and its anisotropy, the depth and rate of hydrothermal injection, and the values of the shear modulus may lead to significant variations in the magnitude, rate, and geometry of ground surface displacement, or uplift. Some of the simulated uplift rates are similar to observed uplift rates in large calderas, suggesting that the injection of aqueous fluids into the shallow crust may explain some of the deformation observed in calderas.

Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth↗
USGS2007

Putting it all together: Exhumation histories from a formal combination of heat flow and a suite of thermochronometers

A suite of new techniques in thermochronometry allow analysis of the thermal history of a sample over a broad range of temperature sensitivities. New analysis tools must be developed that fully and formally integrate these techniques, allowing a single geologic interpretation of the rate and timing of exhumation and burial events consistent with all data. We integrate a thermal model of burial and exhumation, (U-Th)/He age modeling, and fission track age and length modeling. We then use a genetic algorithm to efficiently explore possible time-exhumation histories of a vertical sample profile (such as a borehole), simultaneously solving for exhumation and burial rates as well as changes in background heat flow. We formally combine all data in a rigorous statistical fashion. By parameterizing the model in terms of exhumation rather than time-temperature paths (as traditionally done in fission track modeling), we can ensure that exhumation histories result in a sedimentary basin whose thickness is consistent with the observed basin, a physically based constraint that eliminates otherwise acceptable thermal histories. We apply the technique to heat flow and thermochronometry data from the 2.1 -km-deep San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth pilot hole near the San Andreas fault, California. We find that the site experienced <1 km of exhumation or burial since the onset of San Andreas fault activity

Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth↗
USGS2007

Three-dimensional geophysical mapping of rock alteration and water content at Mount Adams, Washington: Implications for lahar hazards

[1] Hydrothermally altered rocks, particularly if water saturated, can weaken stratovolcanoes, thereby increasing the potential for catastrophic sector collapses that can lead to far-traveled, destructive debris flows. Evaluating the hazards associated with such alteration is difficult because alteration has been mapped on few active volcanoes and the distribution and intensity of subsurface alteration are largely unknown on any active volcano. At Mount Adams, some Holocene debris flows contain abundant hydrothermal minerals derived from collapse of the altered edifice. Intense hydrothermal alteration significantly reduces the resistivity and magnetization of volcanic rock, and therefore hydrothermally altered rocks can be identified with helicopter electromagnetic and magnetic measurements. Electromagnetic and magnetic data, combined with geological mapping and rock property measurements, indicate the presence of appreciable thicknesses of hydrothermally altered rock in the central core of Mount Adams north of the summit. We identify steep cliffs at the western edge of this zone as the likely source for future large debris flows. In addition, the electromagnetic data identified water in the brecciated core of the upper 100–200 m of the volcano. Water helps alter the rocks, reduces the effective stress, thereby increasing the potential for slope failure, and acts, with entrained melting ice, as a lubricant to transform debris avalanches into lahars. Therefore knowing the distribution of water is also important for hazard assessments. Our results demonstrate that high-resolution geophysical and geological observations can yield unprecedented views of the three-dimensional distribution of altered rock and shallow pore water aiding evaluation of the debris avalanche hazard.

Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth↗
USGS2007

Integrating laboratory creep compaction data with numerical fault models: A Bayesian framework

[1] We developed a robust Bayesian inversion scheme to plan and analyze laboratory creep compaction experiments. We chose a simple creep law that features the main parameters of interest when trying to identify rate-controlling mechanisms from experimental data. By integrating the chosen creep law or an approximation thereof, one can use all the data, either simultaneously or in overlapping subsets, thus making more complete use of the experiment data and propagating statistical variations in the data through to the final rate constants. Despite the nonlinearity of the problem, with this technique one can retrieve accurate estimates of both the stress exponent and the activation energy, even when the porosity time series data are noisy. Whereas adding observation points and/or experiments reduces the uncertainty on all parameters, enlarging the range of temperature or effective stress significantly reduces the covariance between stress exponent and activation energy. We apply this methodology to hydrothermal creep compaction data on quartz to obtain a quantitative, semiempirical law for fault zone compaction in the interseismic period. Incorporating this law into a simple direct rupture model, we find marginal distributions of the time to failure that are robust with respect to errors in the initial fault zone porosity.

Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth↗
USGS2008

Constraining fault constitutive behavior with slip and stress heterogeneity

We study how enforcing self-consistency in the statistical properties of the preshear and postshear stress on a fault can be used to constrain fault constitutive behavior beyond that required to produce a desired spatial and temporal evolution of slip in a single event. We explore features of rupture dynamics that (1) lead to slip heterogeneity in earthquake ruptures and (2) maintain these conditions following rupture, so that the stress field is compatible with the generation of aftershocks and facilitates heterogeneous slip in subsequent events. Our three-dimensional fmite element simulations of magnitude 7 events on a vertical, planar strike-slip fault show that the conditions that lead to slip heterogeneity remain in place after large events when the dynamic stress drop (initial shear stress) and breakdown work (fracture energy) are spatially heterogeneous. In these models the breakdown work is on the order of MJ/m2, which is comparable to the radiated energy. These conditions producing slip heterogeneity also tend to produce narrower slip pulses independent of a slip rate dependence in the fault constitutive model. An alternative mechanism for generating these confined slip pulses appears to be fault constitutive models that have a stronger rate dependence, which also makes them difficult to implement in numerical models. We hypothesize that self-consistent ruptures could also be produced by very narrow slip pulses propagating in a self-sustaining heterogeneous stress field with breakdown work comparable to fracture energy estimates of kJ/M2. Copyright 2008 by the American Geophysical Union.

Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth↗
USGS2007

A global search inversion for earthquake kinematic rupture history: Application to the 2000 western Tottori, Japan earthquake

[1] We present a two-stage nonlinear technique to invert strong motions records and geodetic data to retrieve the rupture history of an earthquake on a finite fault. To account for the actual rupture complexity, the fault parameters are spatially variable peak slip velocity, slip direction, rupture time and risetime. The unknown parameters are given at the nodes of the subfaults, whereas the parameters within a subfault are allowed to vary through a bilinear interpolation of the nodal values. The forward modeling is performed with a discrete wave number technique, whose Green's functions include the complete response of the vertically varying Earth structure. During the first stage, an algorithm based on the heat-bath simulated annealing generates an ensemble of models that efficiently sample the good data-fitting regions of parameter space. In the second stage (appraisal), the algorithm performs a statistical analysis of the model ensemble and computes a weighted mean model and its standard deviation. This technique, rather than simply looking at the best model, extracts the most stable features of the earthquake rupture that are consistent with the data and gives an estimate of the variability of each model parameter. We present some synthetic tests to show the effectiveness of the method and its robustness to uncertainty of the adopted crustal model. Finally, we apply this inverse technique to the well recorded 2000 western Tottori, Japan, earthquake ( Mw 6.6); we confirm that the rupture process is characterized by large slip (3-4 m) at very shallow depths but, differently from previous studies, we imaged a new slip patch (2-2.5 m) located deeper, between 14 and 18 km depth.

Tottori↗
USGS2007

Measurements of storm and nonstorm circulation in the northern Adriatic: October 2002 Through April 2003

Fifteen bottom-mounted Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers were deployed from October 2002 through April 2003 in the northern Adriatic Sea. Average transport from the portion of the Western Adriatic Current (WAC) along the Italian slope was 0.1470 ?? 0.0043 Sv, punctuated by bursts of more than twice that amount during storm events. Monthly means were calculated with times of strong wind-driven circulation excluded. These suggest a 2002/2003 seasonal separation consisting of October, December through February, and March through April. An extreme Po River flood influenced November conditions making seasonal categorization difficult. October generally had more kinetic energy and more vertical structure than other months, and near-inertial waves were more frequent in April and October. The Eastern Adriatic Current (EAC)/WAC (i.e. inflow/outflow) system was clearly present in the means for all months. The cyclonic gyre north of the Po River was present October through February. Generally, in the WAC, over 50% of kinetic energy came from vertically uniform monthly mean flows. Elsewhere, eddy kinetic energy was stronger than mean kinetic energy with 10-40% contributions for vertically uniform monthly mean flows, 40-60% for vertically uniform monthly varying flows, and 10-30% for vertically varying monthly varying flows. Mean currents for bora storms indicate enhancement of the EAC/WAC and the cyclonic northern gyre, a shift toward Kvarner Bay in EAC direction, a circulation null point south of the Po, and double-gyre bifurcation of flow at Istria. Strengthening of both the EAC and WAC also occurs during sirocco storms. Copyright 2007 by the American Geophysical Union.

Journal of Geophysical Research C: Oceans↗
USGS2008

Sediment dispersal in the northwestern Adriatic Sea

Sediment dispersal in the Adriatic Sea was evaluated using coupled three-dimensional circulation and sediment transport models, representing conditions from autumn 2002 through spring 2003. The calculations accounted for fluvial sources, resuspension by waves and currents, and suspended transport. Sediment fluxes peaked during southwestward Bora wind conditions that produced energetic waves and strengthened the Western Adriatic Coastal Current. Transport along the western Adriatic continental shelf was nearly always to the south, except during brief periods when northward Sirocco winds reduced the coastal current. Much of the modeled fluvial sediment deposition was near river mouths, such as the Po subaqueous delta. Nearly all Po sediment remained in the northern Adriatic. Material from rivers that drain the Apennine Mountains traveled farther before deposition than Po sediment, because it was modeled with a lower settling velocity. Fluvial sediment delivered to areas with high average bed shear stress was more highly dispersed than material delivered to more quiescent areas. Modeled depositional patterns were similar to observed patterns that have developed over longer timescales. Specifically, modeled Po sediment accumulation was thickest near the river mouth with a very thin deposit extending to the northeast, consistent with patterns of modern sediment texture in the northern Adriatic. Sediment resuspended from the bed and delivered by Apennine Rivers was preferentially deposited on the northern side of the Gargano Peninsula, in the location of thick Holocene accumulation. Deposition here was highest during Bora winds when convergences in current velocities and off-shelf flux enhanced delivery of material to the midshelf. Copyright 2008 by the American Geophysical Union.

Journal of Geophysical Research C: Oceans↗
USGS2007

Bed forms created by simulated waves and currents in a large flume

The morphology and evolution of bed forms created by combinations of waves and currents were investigated using an oscillating plate in a 4-m-wide flume. Current speed ranged from 0 to 30 cm/s, maximum oscillatory velocity ranged from 20 to 48 cm/s, oscillation period was 8 s (except for one run with 12 s period), and the median grain size was 0.27 mm. The angle between oscillations and current was 90°, 60°, or 45°. At the end of each run the sand bed was photographed and ripple dimensions were measured. Ripple wavelength was also determined from sonar images collected throughout the runs. Increasing the ratio of current to wave (i.e., oscillatory) velocity decreased ripple height and wavelength, in part because of the increased fluid excursion during the wave period. Increasing the ratio of current to waves, or decreasing the angle between current and waves, increased the three-dimensionality of bed forms. During the runs, ripple wavelength increased by a factor of about 2. The average number of wave periods for evolution of ripple wavelength to 90% of its final value was 184 for two-dimensional ripples starting from a flat bed. Bed form orientations at the end of each run were compared to four potential controlling factors: the directions of waves, current, maximum instantaneous bed shear stress, and maximum gross bed form normal transport (MGBNT). The directions of waves and of MGBNT were equally good predictors of bed form orientations, and were significantly better than the other two factors.

Journal of Geophysical Research C: Oceans↗
USGS2007

Airborne dust transport to the eastern Pacific Ocean off southern California: Evidence from San Clemente Island

Islands are natural dust traps, and San Clemente Island, California, is a good example. Soils on marine terraces cut into Miocene andesite on this island are clay-rich Vertisols or Alfisols with vertic properties. These soils are overlain by silt-rich mantles, 5-20 cm thick, that contrast sharply with the underlying clay-rich subsoils. The silt mantles have a mineralogy that is distinct from the island bedrock. Silt mantles are rich in quartz, which is rare in the island andesite. The clay fraction of the silt mantles is dominated by mica, also absent from local andesite, and contrasts with the subsoils, dominated by smectite. Ternary plots of immobile trace elements (Sc-Th-La and Ta-Nd-Cr) show that the island andesite has a composition intermediate between average upper continental crust and average oceanic crust. In contrast, the silt and, to a lesser extent, clay fractions of the silt mantles have compositions closer to average upper continental crust. The silt mantles have particle size distributions similar to loess and Mojave Desert dust, but are coarser than long-range-transported Asian dust. We infer from these observations that the silt mantles are derived from airborne dust from the North American mainland, probably river valleys in the coastal mountains of southern California and/or the Mojave Desert. Although average winds are from the northwest in coastal California, easterly winds occur numerous times of the year when "Santa Ana" conditions prevail, caused by a high-pressure cell centered over the Great Basin. Examination of satellite imagery shows that easterly Santa Ana winds carry abundant dust to the eastern Pacific Ocean and the California Channel Islands. Airborne dust from mainland North America may be an important component of the offshore sediment budget in the easternmost Pacific Ocean, a finding of potential biogeochemical and climatic significance.

Journal of Geophysical Research D: Atmospheres↗
USGS2008

Northerly surface winds over the eastern North Pacific Ocean in spring and summer

Persistent spring and summer northerly surface winds are the defining climatological feature of the western coast of North America, especially south of the Oregon coast. Northerly surface winds are important for upwelling and a vast array of other biological, oceanic, and atmospheric processes. Intermittence in northerly coastal surface wind is characterized and wind events are quantitatively defined using coastal buoy data south of Cape Mendocino on the northern California coast. The defined wind events are then used as a basis for composites in order to explain the spatial evolution of various atmospheric and oceanic processes. Wind events involve large-scale changes in the three-dimensional atmospheric circulation including the eastern North Pacific subtropical anticyclone and southeast trade winds. Composites of QSCAT satellite scatterometer wind estimates from 1999 to 2005 based on a single coastal buoy indicate that wind events typically last 72-96 h and result in anomalies in surface wind and Ekman pumping that extend over 1000 kin from the west coast of North America. It may be useful to consider ocean circulation and dependent ecosystem dynamics and the distribution of temperature, moisture, and aerosols in the atmospheric boundary layer in the context of wind events defined herein. Copyright 2008 by the American Geophysical Union.

Journal of Geophysical Research D: Atmospheres↗