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Discharge rates of fluid and heat by thermal springs of the Cascade Range, Washington, Oregon, and northern California

Fluid and heat discharge rates of thermal springs of the Cascade Range have been determined using the chloride inventory method. Discharge rates of thermal spring groups range from 1 to 120 L s −1 . Most of the fluid (50%) and heat (61%) are discharged from two hot spring groups in northern Oregon. Total discharge from thermal springs in the Cascade Range of California, Oregon, and Washington is about 340 Ls −1 , which corresponds to about 8.2×10 4 kJ s −1 of heat. This does not include hot springs developed on the flanks of Mount St. Helens after the 1980 eruption. The Cascade Range consists of geologically and technically distinct segments; rates of convective heat discharge by the thermal springs in these segments correlate with volcanic rock extrusion rates for the last 2 m. y. In Oregon and Washington, many streams without known thermal or mineral springs in their drainage basins also were sampled for chloride and sodium to detect chemical anomalies that might be associated with previously unknown thermal or mineral waters. Only three chloride anomalies not associated with known thermal or mineral springs were identified in the streams of the Cascade Range.

Journal of Geophysical Research↗

Geophysical constraints on Washington convergent margin structure

Gravity and magnetic maps of western Washington reveal the lateral structure and fabric of the Washington Coast Range, Puget Basin, and southern Washington Cascade Range. The magnetic and gravity maps show large amplitude positive anomalies associated with the shallow but largely buried section of Washington Coast Range mafic rocks which are separated by negative anomalies over deep sedimentary basins. The positive anomalies indicate that the Coast Range mafic basement extends farther east than previously thought, at least as far east as the longitude of Seattle. Linear and steep gravity and magnetic gradients indicate many unmapped, often buried faults in the Washington Coast Range Province. Magnetic highs are also associated with mapped batholiths in the Cascade arc. Several magnetic highs observed east of the Coast Range rocks and west of these batholiths may be associated with buried Tertiary plutons or ophiolites. Two-dimensional gravity and magnetic modeling constrained with geological and other geophysical data indicate that the Coast Range Province rocks are about 1 km thick at the coast, thickening to as much as 30 km near their postulated eastern edge. A maximum boundary on the average density of the upper 15–20 km of the rocks that compose the Coast Range Province of 2920 kg/m 3 was established by the modeling, suggesting a composition largely of basalt and gabbro with little interbedded sediments. Under these rocks may be mantle or a subduction complex composed of dense mafic, ultramafic, and sedimentary rocks like that proposed to underlie Vancouver Island. Previous gravity models of the Washington margin include lower densities for the proposed subduction complex than for Vancouver Island, suggesting a lower component of mafic and ultramafic rocks than the rocks underlying Vancouver Island. However, my Washington model requires that the proposed subduction complex be more dense than the trench sediments and, therefore, that material denser than sediments be incorporated within it. The absence of continental mantle and the modeled wedge shape of the Coast Range Province upper crust suggest that erosion of the bottom of the overriding plate by subduction processes may have occurred.

Washington↗

Stratigraphic, lithologic, and major element geochemical constraints on magmatic evolution at Lassen volcanic center, California

The Lassen volcanic center is the most recent of several long-lived volcanic centers in the southernmost Cascade Range. These centers have erupted products ranging from basaltic andesite to rhyolite and are superimposed on a background of regional basaltic to andesitic volcanism. The evolution of the Lassen volcanic center is described in three stages. Stages I and II comprise the Brokeoff volcano, and 80 km 3 andesitic stratocone, active from 600 to 400 ka. Brokeoff volcano is compositionally equivalent to the regional basaltic andesite to andesite volcanism in the Lassen region and is the result of structurally controlled focusing of the diffuse regional mafic magmatism. Stage III comprises a silicic dome field and adjacent area of hybrid andesites and has a total volume of about 100 km 3 . Volcanism during stage III was episodic and is subdivided into four sequences of lithologically and temporally distinct lavas. Stage III began at 400 ka with a rhyolitic, caldera-forming pyroclastic eruption and chemically related lavas. Additional sequences of dacite erupted between 250–200 ka and 100–0 ka. Hybrid andesites erupted adjacent to the silicic dome field between 300 and 0 ka. Porphyritic andesite and dacite with high Al 2 O 3 , low TiO 2 , medium K 2 O and FeO/MgO ratios of 1.5–2.0 are the most abundant rock types in the Lassen volcanic center. However, the single most voluminous unit is sparsely phyric rhyolite pumice. In general, the lavas of Lassen volcanic center form a single coherent trend on major element variation diagrams and in pseudo-quaternary phase space, consistant with an origin either by fractional crystallization or magma mixing. In detail, however, the lack of systematic temporal change in silica and subtly crossing trends indicate a complex origin. A variety of statistically successful fractional crystallization models can be constructed that derive Brokeoff andesites from regional magmas. An important conclusion of the modeling is that if fractional crystallization is the process responsible for generation of Brokeoff andesite, then the parent magma must be low to medium K in geochemical affinity in order to explain the variation in K 2 O. However, although major element variation can be modeled by fractional crystallization, petrographic and stratigraphic evidence indicates that magma mixing is an important but subtle process in Brokeoff lavas and suggests that lavas evolved in small independent batches. Lavas erupted during stage III, while predominantly silicic, range from 53 to 75% SiO 2 . Disequilibrium mineral assemblages in the stage III lavas indicate that they are not directly derived from Brokeoff andesite by fractional crystallization. Mixing of silicic magma with regional mafic magma and disaggregation of andesitic quenched magmatic inclusions play dominant roles in the compositional diversity of stage III lavas.

Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth↗

Post-11,000-year volcanism at Medicine Lake Volcano, Cascade Range, northern California

Eruptive activity during the past 11,000 years at Medicine Lake volcano has been episodic. Eight eruptions produced about 5.3 km 3 of basaltic lava during an interval of a few hundred years about 10,500 years B.P. After a hiatus of about 6000 years, eruptive activity resumed with a small andesite eruption at about 4300 years B.P. Approximately 2.5 km 3 of lava with compositions ranging from basalt to rhyolite vented in nine eruptions during an interval of about 3400 years in late Holocene time. The most recent eruption occurred about 900 years B.P. A compositional gap in SiO 2 values of erupted lavas occurs between 58 and 63%. The gap is spanned by chilled magmatic inclusions in late Holocene silicic lavas. Late Holocene andesitic to rhyolitic lavas were probably derived by fractionation, assimilation, and mixing from high-alumina basalt parental magma, possibly from basalt intruded into the volcano during the early mafic episode. Many basaltic to andesitic lavas contain iron-rich crystals and have high FeO*/MgO (characteristics caused by mixing of high-alumina basalt with ferrobasalt liquid produced by fractionation of parental high-alumina basalt). When ferrobasalt and high-alumina basalt are contaminated with a granitic crustal component, a calc-alkaline trend is produced. Some eruptions have produced both tholeiitic and calc-alkaline compositions. The eruptive activity is probably driven by intrusions of basalt that occur during east-west stretching of the crust in an extensional tectonic environment. Vents are typically aligned parallel or subparallel to major structural features, most commonly within 30° of north. Intruded magma should provide adequate heat for commercial geothermal development if sufficient fluids can be found. The nature and timing of future volcanic activity cannot be predicted from the observed pattern, but eruptions high on the edifice could produce high-silica products that might be accompanied by explosive activity, whereas eruptions lower on the flanks are likely to vent more fluid mafic lavas.

Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth↗

Structural evidence for northeastward movement on the Chocolate Mountains Thrust, southeasternmost California

The Late Cretaceous Chocolate Mountains thrust of southeastern California and southwestern Arizona places a block of Proterozoic and Mesozoic continental crust over the late Mesozoic continental margin oceanic sedimentary and volcanic rocks of the regionally distinctive Orocopia Schist. The Chocolate Mountains thrust is interpreted as a thrust (burial, subduction) fault rather than a low-angle normal (exhumation, unroofing, uplift) fault. An important parameter required to understand the tectonic significance of the Chocolate Mountains and related thrusts is their sense of movement. The Chocolate Mountains thrust zone contains sparse to locally abundant mesoscopic asymmetric folds. Fabric relations, supported by regional geologic evidence, indicate that these folds are an integral part of and coeval with the thrust zone. On a lower hemisphere equal-area plot representing the orientation and sense of asymmetry of 80 thrust zone folds from 36 localities, spread over an area 60 by 10 km, Z folds plot northwest of and S folds plot southeast of a northeast-southwest striking vertical plane of overall monoclinic symmetry. The only sense of movement consistent with the collective asymmetry of the thrust zone folds is top to the northeast. Asymmetric microstructures studied at several localities also indicate top to the northeast movement. Paleomagnetic data suggest that the original sense of thrusting, prior to Neogene vertical axis tectonic rotation related to the San Andreas fault system, was northward. The essential point is that movement of the upper plate of the Chocolate Mountains thrust evidently was continentward. Continentward thrusting suggests a tectonic scenario in which an insular or peninsular microcontinental fragment collided with mainland southern California. The suture predicted by this model is elusive; but the Chocolate Mountains thrust and underlying Orocopia Schist themselves may represent the suture, at the present level of exposure. Alternative tectonic models involving subduction of the Orocopia Schist eastward beneath continental southern California circumvent the suture problem but are presently not supported by any direct structural evidence.

Journal of Geophysical Research↗

The 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology of the eastern Mojave Desert, California, and adjacent western Arizona with implications for the evolution of metamorphic core complexes

Mesozoic thickening and Cenozoic extension resulted in the juxtaposition of upper and middle crustal rocks in the eastern Mojave Desert, southeastern California and western Arizona. The application of 40 Ar/ 39 Ar thermochronology to rocks in this region provides information about the timing and nature of thrusting, plutonism, metamorphism, denudation, and detachment faulting. The 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages of 175 to 125 Ma from the Clipper, Piute, Turtle, Mohave, Bill Williams, and Hualapai Mountains are interpreted to be the result of a middle Mesozoic thermal event(s) caused by crustal thickening. The 40 Ar/ 39 Ar data from the Clipper and Piute Mountains suggest that this thermal event was followed by a period of cooling at rates of 1°–5°C/m.y. Orogenesis culminated during the Late Cretaceous when rocks exposed in the Old Woman‐Piute, Chemehuevi, and Sacramento Mountains attained temperatures >500°C which reset the K–Ar systems of minerals from Proterozoic rocks. High‐grade metamorphism in the Old Woman Mountains area was caused by the intrusion of the Old Woman‐Piute batholith at 73±1 Ma. Cooling rates following batholith emplacement in the Old Woman Mountains were ∼100°C/m.y. between 73 and 70 Ma and 5°–10°C/m.y. from 70 to ∼30 Ma. Between 65 and 25 Ma the entire eastern Mojave Desert underwent a period of cooling at a rate of 2°–10°C/m.y. By 30 Ma, rocks exposed in the Old Woman‐Piute, Marble, Ship, Clipper, and Turtle Mountains were below ∼100°C. The 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages from the Sacramento Mountains suggest that mylonitization caused by the onset of regional extension occurred at 23±1 Ma. When extension started in the Chemehuevi Mountains, rocks exposed in the southwestern and northeastern portions of footwall to the Chemehuevi detachment fault were at ∼180°C and ∼350°C, respectively. This suggests that the exposed part of the Chemehuevi detachment fault initiated at a dip of 5°–30° or as a series of higher‐angle faults that cut to a depth of 10–12 km and were later rotated to their present dip. Unroofing of the footwalls to detachment faults in the Sacramento and Chemehuevi Mountains resulted in average cooling rates of 10°–50°C/m.y. between 22 and 15 Ma.

California↗

Chronologic and isotopic framework for early Proterozoic crustal evolution in the eastern Mojave Desert region, SE California

The Early Proterozoic geologic evolution of the eastern Mojave Desert region, as defined by characteristics of its supracrustal rocks, granitoids, metamorphism, structural history, and Pb and Nd isotopic signature, contrasts sharply with other Proterozoic provinces of the southwestern United States. The oldest supracrustal rocks of the Mojave Desert region contain zircons over 2.0 Ga, corroborating Nd isotopic evidence for a much older crust here than elsewhere in the southwestern United States. Granitoids widely emplaced within these supracrustal rocks range from 1.76 to 1.64 Ga. The earlier plutons and surrounding supracrustal rocks were metamorphosed to granulite and high amphibolite facies throughout the province at about 1705 Ma in a migmatite-producing event that we term (informally) the Ivanpah orogeny. Subsequent granitoids, emplaced from 1.69 to 1.67 Ga, were voluminous along a north trending belt in the middle of the Mojave province. Younger plutons were emplaced at about 1.66 Ga in several places and at about 1.64 Ga along the extreme southern part of the province. Commonalities between the Proterozoic evolutions of the Mojave and Arizona crustal provinces do not conclusively establish the time that the provinces were juxtaposed; the data only suggest that the juxtaposition occurred between about 1.76 and 1.64 Ga.

Journal of Geophysical Research↗

Rhyolitic calderas of the Yukon-Tanana Terrane, east central Alaska: volcanic remnants of a mid-Cretaceous magmatic arc

Four large but poorly exposed rhyolitic calderas are present in the Yukon-Tanana terrane (YTT) in east central Alaska. At least two are mid-Cretaceous in age (~93 Ma). Similar volcanic rocks, the South Fork Volcanics, occur northeast of the Tintina fault in Yukon Territory. Evidence for the calderas consists of thick deposits of devitrified crystal- and lithic-rich densely welded tuff, interpreted as caldera fill, associated with lava domes or shallow intrusive rocks. Coeval outflow sheets have been largely stripped by erosion. The calderas are preserved within a northeast trending depression extending across the axis of the elongate mid-Cretaceous plutonic province. Trace element abundances in andesites and rhyolites associated with the caldera structures are similar to those of volcanic and plutonic rocks of subduction-related magmatic arcs developed on continental crust and thus are suggestive of formation in such an environment. Late Cretaceous and early Tertiary igneous rocks in the YTT near the calderas are interpreted to have been emplaced in a more extensional setting when the subduction-related magmatic front was farther oceanward.

Alaska↗

Comparison of ground motion from tremors and explosions in deep gold mines

Seismic body waves, from tamped chemical explosions, two with yields of 50 and one of 150 kg, were compared with corresponding data from three mining-induced tremors with a view to testing methods of discriminating between the two types of events. Detonated at depths of about 2 km, all three explosions generated P waves for which the low-frequency spectral asymptotes agree well with corresponding results scaled down from nuclear shots at the Nevada Test Site. For the two smaller explosions, recorded underground at hypocentral distances ranging from 234 to 871 m, the P wave corner frequencies, defined by the intersections of the low- and high-frequency asymptotes, are also in fine agreement with scaled-down results from the Nevada Test Site; for the 150-kg explosion, which was recorded only at the surface, it appears that 2.39 km of upward propagation caused the corner frequency to be at least a factor of 4 lower than anticipated due to attenuation. All three explosions generated S waves that appear to be a consequence of deviatoric stress release in the immediate environs of the explosions. The three tremors analyzed here generated P and S waves whose spectra and source parameters agree well with standard earthquake source models. With regard to discrimination based on P wave spectra, we conclude that for events of fixed low-frequency spectral asymptotes, the explosions typically have higher corner frequencies than tremors or earthquakes, although counterexamples certainly exist. Interestingly, the 150-kg explosion was identified as such on the basis of P and S wave polarities that are incompatible with the normally expected double-couple source model; instead, these initial motions are consistent with an explosion in conjunction with normal faulting. The body wave spectra of this explosion and those of a nearby tremor, however, were indistinguishable.

Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth↗

Crustal structure of the northwestern Basin and Range Province from the 1986 Program for Array Seismic Studies of the Continental Lithosphere Seismic Experiment

A portion of northwestern Nevada was imaged to determine the crustal structure and to assess reported differences between refraction versus reflection determinations of Moho depth and how the crustal composition and structure has been influenced by volcanic and extension mechanisms. Interpretation of the refraction/wide-angle reflection data suggests that the crust is fairly uniform in thickness and varies by less than 5 km over the 280 km east-west profile and 3 km over its 220 km north-south length. The velocity structure is characterized by five layers: 1) an uppermost crust, composed of sedimentary rocks and basement that has an average velocity of 5.7 km s-1; 2) a middle crust that extends to a depth of 18-22 with an average velocity of 6.1 km s-1; 3) a 10-12 km thick lower crust with an average velocity of 6.6 km s-1; 4) a 2-5 km thick transitional crust-mantle boundary defined by a 7.6 km s-1 velocity; and 5) an upper mantle with an average Pn velocity of 7.9-8.0 km s-1. A uniform upper mantle composition across the Basin and Range is suggested and the homogeneity of the velocity structure beneath the western Basin and Range argues for a youthful Moho and crust that has been reworked by province-wide late Cenozoic extension, episodic magmatism, and underplating. -from Authors

Journal of Geophysical Research↗

An instrument system for long-term sediment transport studies on the continental shelf

A bottom-mounted instrument system has been designed and built to monitor processes of bottom sediment movement on the continental shelf. The system measures bottom current speed and direction, pressure, temperature, and light transmission and photographs the bottom. The system can be deployed for periods of 2–6 months to monitor intermitent processes of sediment movement such as storms and to assess seasonal variability. Deployments of the system on the U.S. east coast continental shelf show sediment resuspension and changes in bottom microtopography due to surface waves, tidal currents, and storms.

Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans↗

Measurements of storm-generated bottom stresses on the continental shelf

Large values of bottom friction velocity, u *, and roughness length, z 0 , determined from burst-averaged speed data taken on the continental shelf in outer Norton Sound, Alaska, with the GEOPROBE tripod during a storm in September 1977 are correlated with extremely large values of near-bottom concentration of total suspended particulate matter (TSM). Combined wind-driven and tidal currents exceeding 30 cm/s at 1 m above the bottom and intense oscillatory bottom currents with maxima above 45 cm/s were associated with the largest measured values of TSM at 2 m above the sea floor. The values of u * and z 0 obtained from the ‘law of the wall’ velocity-depth relationship are diminished substantially throughout the storm period (average reduction of 44%) when the turbulence reducing effects of the vertical concentration gradient of TSM are considered. The form of the latter correction was adapted from Smith and McLean (1977 a ). Values of the mean u * computed from the theory of Grant and Madsen (1979), which predicts an enhanced shear stress due to nonlinear wave-current interactions, compare favorably with the u * values determined from the measured velocity profiles. The measured values of z 0 , however, are considerably larger than any of the estimates based on (1) the actual scales of the physical roughness elements; (2) the apparent roughness of Grant and Madsen (1979); or (3) the thickness of the bed-load layer as formulated by Smith and McLean (1977 a ).

Journal of Geophysical Research - Oceans↗

Seasat synthetic aperture radar ( SAR) response to lowland vegetation types in eastern Maryland and Virginia

Examination of SEASAT SAR images of eastern Maryland and Virginia reveals botanical distinctions between vegetated lowland areas and adjacent upland areas. Radar returns from the lowland areas can be either brighter or darker than returns from the upland forests. Scattering models and scatterometer measurements predict an increase of 6 dB in backscatter from vegetation over standing water. This agrees with the SCWigital number (DN) increase observed in the digital SEASAT data. The brightest areas in the Chickahominy, Virginia, drainage, containing P. virginica about 0.4 m high, contrast with the brightest areas in the Blackwater, Maryland, marshes, which contain mature loblolly pine in standing water. The darkest vegetated area in the Chickahominy drainage contains a forest of Nyssa aquatica (water tupelo) about 18 m high, while the darkest vegetated area in the Blackwater marshes contains the marsh plant Spartina alterniflora, 0.3 m high. The density, morphology, and relative geometry of the lowland vegetation with respect to standing water can all affect the strength of the return L band signal.

Journal of Geophysical Research - Oceans↗

Sea ice melting in the marginal ice zone

The heat and salt flux boundary conditions together with the freezing curve relationship are a necessary component of any ice-sea water thermodynamic model. A neutral two-layer oceanic planetary boundary layer model that incorporates these boundary conditions gives the following results: The interfacial salinity is within 10% of the far-field salinity for conditions commonly encountered in the MIZ and depends only on the turbulent Lewis number and the far-field temperature and salinity. The predicted melt rates agree with the limited field observations, of the order of 1 m day −1 . The Obukov lengths, determined from the predicted interface conditions and melt rates, are generally much greater than the Ekman layer thicknesses; hence, the surface buoyancy flux has little effect on the turbulence in the planetary boundary layer.

Journal of Geophysical Research - Oceans↗

Gas exchange rates across the sediment-water and air-water interfaces in south San Francisco Bay

Radon 222 concentrations in the water and sedimentary columns and radon exchange rates across the sediment-water and air-water interfaces have been measured in a section of south San Francisco Bay. Two independent methods have been used to determine sediment-water exchange rates, and the annual averages of these methods agree within the uncertainty of the determinations, about 20%. The annual average of benthic fluxes from shoal areas is nearly a factor of 2 greater than fluxes from the channel areas. Fluxes from the shoal and channel areas exceed those expected from simple molecular diffusion by factors of 4 and 2, respectively, apparently due to macrofaunal irrigation. Values of the gas transfer coefficient for radon exchange across the air-water interface were determined by constructing a radon mass balance for the water column and by direct measurement using floating chambers. The chamber method appears to yield results which are too high. Transfer coefficients computed using the mass balance method range from 0.4 m/day to 1.8 m/day, with a 6-year average of 1.0 m/day. Gas exchange is linearly dependent upon wind speed over a wind speed range of 3.2–6.4 m/s, but shows no dependence upon current velocity. Gas transfer coefficients predicted from an empirical relationship between gas exchange rates and wind speed observed in lakes and the oceans are within 30% of the coefficients determined from the radon mass balance and are considerably more accurate than coefficients predicted from theoretical gas exchange models.

California↗

Wave energy saturation on a natural beach of variable slope

Time series of flow were measured across the inner surf zone during a storm. These data were used to quantify the dependence of wave height (transformed from measured flow) and velocity on local slope and depth. Similar to previous studies, as incident waves broke and propagated into the surf zone, wave energy became saturated, and wave height was strongly dependent on depth. However, the ratio of rms wave height to local depth (γ rms ) was found not to be constant but to vary between 0.29 and 0.55; γ rms increased with local slope and was independent of deepwater wave steepness. Thus the surf zone similarity parameter (the ratio of slope to the square root of steepness) did not adequately parameterize γ rms .

Journal of Geophysical Research - Oceans↗

Storm‐dominated bottom boundary layer dynamics on the Northern California Continental Shelf: Measurements and predictions

Measurements of near‐bottom velocity profiles in 85 m water depth during a storm on the continental shelf off northern California using the GEOPROBE tripod in December 1979 provided estimates of shear velocities, , and roughness lengths, , when the near‐bottom velocity profiles were logarithmic. These estimates agree within 90% confidence intervals with values computed from a simple near‐bottom combined wave‐current model that includes movable bed effects. The reasonably good comparison between model and profile estimates of suggests that such models can be used to predict bed shear stresses (or shear velocities) under combined flows of waves and currents typical of stormy conditions on continental shelves if stratification corrections to the velocity profile resulting from suspended sediment are small. The repeated occurrences of storms of similar intensities and wind velocities during the winter months off northern California suggest that the resultant high bottom stresses due to the combined effects of waves and currents are major factors in controlling the distribution of surficial sediment on the central portion of the northern California shelf.

California↗

Infragravity waves over a natural barred profile

Measurements of cross-shore flow were made across the surf zone during a storm as a nearshore bar became better developed and migrated offshore. Measured infragravity band spectra were compared to synthetic spectra calculated numerically over the natural barred profile assuming a white run-up spectrum of leaky mode or high-mode edge waves. As in earlier studies, the spectra compared closely; however, for some frequencies the energy of the measured spectrum exceeded the energy of the synthetic spectrum, suggesting that the run-up spectrum was not white but had dominating frequencies. Utilizing cross-shore flow data and synthetic spectra from a number of cross-shore locations, an equivalent run-up spectrum was calculated for each day. On the first day of the storm, the equivalent run-up spectrum indicated a dominant wave that had a node in velocity reasonably close to the bar crest. Later during the storm, when the bar had migrated farther offshore, there was no evidence for a dominant motion having a velocity node at the bar crest. The structure of the equivalent run-up spectrum compared well with spectra of direct measurements of run-up obtained several hundred meters away. We have no clear evidence in support of the theory that infragravity waves might form or force the offshore migration of a bar. To confirm this finding, longer records obtained synoptically over a developing bar are required. The dominant wave observed early in the storm was consistent with Symond and Bowen's (1984) theoretical prediction of resonant amplification of discrete frequencies over a barred profile.

Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth↗