Evaluation of Hazardous Faults in the Intermountain West Region— Summary and Recommendations of a Workshop
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Seismicity, Seismotectonics and Preliminary Earthquake Hazard Analysis of the Teton Region, WY
FINAL TECHNICAL REPORT DEVELOPMENT OF EARTHQUAKE GROUND SHAKING HAZARD MAPS FOR THE YELLOWSTONE- JACKSON HOLE-STAR VALLEY, WYOMING Submitted to the U.S. Geological Survey Under the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Program Element II Evaluate Urban Hazard and Risk USGS Award 05HQGR0026 Prepared by Bonnie Jean Pickering White Department of Geology and Geophysics The University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT 94112 and Robert B. Smith Department of Geology and Geophysics The University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT 94112 Principal Investigator Ivan Wong Seismic Hazards Group URS Corporation 1333 Broadway, Suite 800, Oakland, CA 94612 Phone: (510) 874-3014, Fax: (510) 874-3268 E-mail: [email protected] 26 September 2006 __________________________ This research was supported by the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS), Department of the Interior, under USGS Award Number 05HQGR0026. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies, either expressed or implied of the U.S. Government. PREFACE The Yellowstone-Jackson Hole-Star Valley corridor is located within the seismically and tectonically active Intermountain Seismic Belt in westernmost Wyoming and eastern Idaho. The corridor has the highest seismic hazard in the Intermountain U.S. based on the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Hazard Maps. The region contains the heavily visited Yellowstone and Teton National Parks and the rapidly growing areas of Jackson Hole and Star Valley. Although there has only been one large earthquake in this region in historical times (1959 moment magnitude [M] 7.5 Hebgen Lake), abundant geologic evidence exists for the past occurrence of surface-faulting earthquakes of M 7 or greater. -
Systematic Variation of Late Pleistocene Fault Scarp Height in the Teton Range, Wyoming, USA: Variable Fault Slip Rates Or Variable GEOSPHERE; V
Research Paper THEMED ISSUE: Cenozoic Tectonics, Magmatism, and Stratigraphy of the Snake River Plain–Yellowstone Region and Adjacent Areas GEOSPHERE Systematic variation of Late Pleistocene fault scarp height in the Teton Range, Wyoming, USA: Variable fault slip rates or variable GEOSPHERE; v. 13, no. 2 landform ages? doi:10.1130/GES01320.1 Glenn D. Thackray and Amie E. Staley* 8 figures; 1 supplemental file Department of Geosciences, Idaho State University, 921 South 8th Avenue, Pocatello, Idaho 83209, USA CORRESPONDENCE: thacglen@ isu .edu ABSTRACT ously and repeatedly to climate shifts in multiple valleys, they create multi CITATION: Thackray, G.D., and Staley, A.E., 2017, ple isochronous markers for evaluation of spatial and temporal variation of Systematic variation of Late Pleistocene fault scarp height in the Teton Range, Wyoming, USA: Variable Fault scarps of strongly varying height cut glacial and alluvial sequences fault motion (Gillespie and Molnar, 1995; McCalpin, 1996; Howle et al., 2012; fault slip rates or variable landform ages?: Geosphere, mantling the faulted front of the Teton Range (western USA). Scarp heights Thackray et al., 2013). v. 13, no. 2, p. 287–300, doi:10.1130/GES01320.1. vary from 11.2 to 37.6 m and are systematically higher on geomorphically older In some cases, faults of known slip rate can also be used to evaluate ages landforms. Fault scarps cutting a deglacial surface, known from cosmogenic of glacial and alluvial sequences. However, this process is hampered by spatial Received 26 January 2016 Revision received 22 November 2016 radionuclide exposure dating to immediately postdate 14.7 ± 1.1 ka, average and temporal variability of offset along individual faults and fault segments Accepted 13 January 2017 12.0 m in height, and yield an average postglacial offset rate of 0.82 ± 0.13 (e.g., Z. -
Yellowstone National Park! Renowned Snowcapped Eagle Peak
YELLOWSTONE THE FIRST NATIONAL PARK THE HISTORY BEHIND YELLOWSTONE Long before herds of tourists and automobiles crisscrossed Yellowstone’s rare landscape, the unique features comprising the region lured in the West’s early inhabitants, explorers, pioneers, and entrepreneurs. Their stories helped fashion Yellowstone into what it is today and initiated the birth of America’s National Park System. Native Americans As early as 10,000 years ago, ancient inhabitants dwelled in northwest Wyoming. These small bands of nomadic hunters wandered the country- side, hunting the massive herds of bison and gath- ering seeds and berries. During their seasonal travels, these predecessors of today’s Native American tribes stumbled upon Yellowstone and its abundant wildlife. Archaeologists have discov- ered domestic utensils, stone tools, and arrow- heads indicating that these ancient peoples were the first humans to discover Yellowstone and its many wonders. As the region’s climate warmed and horses Great Fountain Geyser. NPS Photo by William S. Keller were introduced to American Indian tribes in the 1600s, Native American visits to Yellowstone became more frequent. The Absaroka (Crow) and AMERICA’S FIRST NATIONAL PARK range from as low as 5,314 feet near the north Blackfeet tribes settled in the territory surrounding entrance’s sagebrush flats to 11,358 feet at the Yellowstone and occasionally dispatched hunting Welcome to Yellowstone National Park! Renowned snowcapped Eagle Peak. Perhaps most interesting- parties into Yellowstone’s vast terrain. Possessing throughout the world for its natural wonders, ly, the park rests on a magma layer buried just one no horses and maintaining an isolated nature, the inspiring scenery, and mysterious wild nature, to three miles below the surface while the rest of Shoshone-Bannock Indians are the only Native America’s first national park is nothing less than the Earth lies more than six miles above the first American tribe to have inhabited Yellowstone extraordinary. -
Grand Teton National Park Geologic Resource Evaluation Scoping Report
Grand Teton National Park Geologic Resource Evaluation Scoping Report Sid Covington and Melanie V. Ransmeier Geologic Resources Division Denver, Colorado August 22, 2005 Table of Contents Executive Summary........................................................................................................ ii Introduction..................................................................................................................... 1 Geologic Setting.............................................................................................................. 2 Geologic History............................................................................................................. 4 Significant Geologic Resource Management Issues....................................................... 7 Earthquake Hazard Assessment and Planning............................................................ 7 Fluvial Geomorphology.............................................................................................. 8 Glacial and Peri-glacial Monitoring............................................................................ 9 Cave and Karst Resources ........................................................................................ 10 Hydrothermal Features.............................................................................................. 10 Wetlands ................................................................................................................... 11 Oil and Gas Development........................................................................................ -
Earthquakes in Wyoming
111˚ Additional information on earthquakes, earthquake preparedness, 110˚ 104˚ Introduction 109˚ 108˚ 107˚ 106˚ 105˚ 45˚ 45˚ and earthquake response can be obtained from: Yellowstone Earthquakes are common in Wyoming. National WYOMING STATE Park Historically, earthquakes have occurred in Sheridan Wyoming State Geological Survey Crook GEOLOGICAL SURVEY every county in Wyoming over the past 120 P.O. Box 3008 Park Bighorn �� ���� years, with some causing significant damage. Laramie, WY 82071-3008 �� �� Lance Cook, State Geologist �� � Campbell Phone: (307) 766-2286 � Figure 1 shows the generalized distribution of Johnson 44˚ 44˚ historical earthquakes in Wyoming. Washakie Fax: (307) 766-2605 � � � Teton Weston � ���� � Email: [email protected] � �� The first recorded earthquake in the ������ �� Hot Springs [email protected] state occurred in the area now known as Agency Web: http://wsgsweb.uwyo.edu EARTHQUAKES IN Yellowstone National Park on July 20, 1871. Earthquake Web: http://www.wrds.uwyo.edu During the early geologic investigations of WYOMING Yellowstone, Ferdinand V. Hayden of the U.S. Fremont Natrona Niobrara 43˚ Converse 43˚ Wyoming Emergency Management Agency Geological Survey reported that “on the night 5500 Bishop Blvd. of the 20th of July, we experienced several se- Sublette Cheyenne, WY 82009-3320 vere shocks of an earthquake, and these were Phone: (307) 777-4900 felt by two other parties, fifteen or twenty-five Fax: (307) 635-6017 miles distant, on different sides of the lake.” Email: [email protected] Platte Goshen Yellowstone National Park is now known as 42˚ 42˚ Agency Web: http://132.133.10.9 one of the more seismically active areas in Lincoln FEMA Web: http://www.fema.gov the United States. -
Deglaciation and Postglacial Environmental Changes in the Teton Mountain Range Recorded at Jenny Lake, Grand Teton National Park, WY
Quaternary Science Reviews 138 (2016) 62e75 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Quaternary Science Reviews journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/quascirev Deglaciation and postglacial environmental changes in the Teton Mountain Range recorded at Jenny Lake, Grand Teton National Park, WY * Darren J. Larsen , Matthew S. Finkenbinder, Mark B. Abbott, Adam R. Ofstun Department of Geology and Environmental Science, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA article info abstract Article history: Sediments contained in lake basins positioned along the eastern front of the Teton Mountain Range Received 21 September 2015 preserve a continuous and datable record of deglaciation and postglacial environmental conditions. Here, Received in revised form we develop a multiproxy glacier and paleoenvironmental record using a combination of seismic 19 February 2016 reflection data and multiple sediment cores recovered from Jenny Lake and other nearby lakes. Age Accepted 22 February 2016 control of Teton lake sediments is established primarily through radiocarbon dating and supported by Available online xxx the presence of two prominent rhyolitic tephra deposits that are geochemically correlated to the widespread Mazama (~7.6 ka) and Glacier Peak (~13.6 ka) tephra layers. Multiple glacier and climate Keywords: fl Holocene climate change indicators, including sediment accumulation rate, bulk density, clastic sediment concentration and ux, fl d13 d15 Lake sediment organic matter (concentration, ux, C, N, and C/N ratios), and biogenic silica, track changes in Western U.S. environmental conditions and landscape development. Sediment accumulation at Jenny Lake began Deglaciation centuries prior to 13.8 ka and cores from three lakes demonstrate that Teton glacier extents were greatly Grand Teton National Park reduced by this time. -
Grant Village Area Map
Yellowstone – Grant Village & West Thumb Area GRANT VILLAGE AREA MAP Page 1 of 18 Yellowstone – Grant Village & West Thumb Area Grant Village to Old Faithful Road Map Page 2 of 18 Yellowstone – Grant Village & West Thumb Area Grant Village to Lake Vicinity Road Map Page 3 of 18 Yellowstone – Grant Village & West Thumb Area Grant Village to the South Entrance Road Map Page 4 of 18 Yellowstone – Grant Village & West Thumb Area Day Hikes Near Grant Village & West Thumb Begin your hike by stopping at a ranger station or visitor center for information. Trail conditions may change suddenly and unexpectedly. Bear activity, rain or snow storms, high water, and fires may temporarily close trails. West Thumb Geyser Basin Trail Stroll through a geyser basin of colorful hot springs and dormant lakeshore geysers situated on the scenic shores of Yellowstone Lake. Trails and boardwalks are handicapped accessible with assistance. Trailhead: West Thumb Geyser Basin, 1/4 mile east of West Thumb Junction Distance: 3/8 mile (1 km) roundtrip Level of Difficulty: Easy; boardwalk trail with slight grade as trail descends to and climbs up from the lake shore Yellowstone Lake Overlook Trail Hike to a high mountain meadow for a commanding view of the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake and the Absaroka Mountains. Trailhead: Trailhead sign at entrance to West Thumb Geyser Basin parking area Distance: 2 miles (3 km) roundtrip Level of Difficulty: Moderate; mostly level terrain with a moderately strenuous 400-foot elevation gain near the overlook. Shoshone Lake Trail (via DeLacy Creek) Hike along a forest's edge and through open meadows to the shores of Yellowstone's largest backcountry lake. -
Basic Seismological Characterization for Sublette County, Wyoming By
Basic Seismological Characterization for Sublette County, Wyoming by James C. Case, Rachel N. Toner, and Robert Kirkwood Wyoming State Geological Survey September 2002 BACKGROUND Seismological characterizations of an area can range from an analysis of historic seismicity to a long-term probabilistic seismic hazard assessment. A complete characterization usually includes a summary of historic seismicity, an analysis of the Seismic Zone Map of the Uniform Building Code, deterministic analyses on active faults, “floating earthquake” analyses, and short- or long- term probabilistic seismic hazard analyses. Presented below, for Sublette County, Wyoming, are an analysis of historic seismicity, an analysis of the Uniform Building Code, deterministic analyses of nearby active faults, an analysis of the maximum credible “floating earthquake”, and current short- and long-term probabilistic seismic hazard analyses. Historic Seismicity in Sublette County The enclosed map of “Earthquake Epicenters and Suspected Active Faults with Surficial Expression in Wyoming” (Case and others, 1997) shows the historic distribution of earthquakes in Wyoming. Eighteen magnitude 2.5 or intensity III and greater earthquakes have been recorded in Sublette County. On October 24, 1936, two earthquakes occurred in western Wyoming. The U.S.G.S. National Earthquake Information Center reported these two intensity III earthquakes as occurring in Sublette County, approximately 3 miles southwest of Cora. The original reference and description of these events, however, indicates that these earthquakes originated in the Star Valley of Lincoln County (Neumann, 1936). In June of 1945, two earthquakes occurred in southwestern Sublette County. These intensity III earthquakes were recorded on June 7, 1945, approximately 4 miles northwest of Calpet, and on June 23, 1945, approximately 3 miles northeast of Calpet. -
COVER Page Data for Quaternary Faults in Western Montana
COVER Page Data for Quaternary faults in western Montana by Kathleen M. Haller, Richard L. Dart, Michael N. Machette, and Michael C. Stickney CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................................... 1 STRATEGY FOR DATA COMPILATION ............................................................................................................ 1 EXPLANATION OF PRIMARY DATA FIELDS................................................................................................... 2 HISTORICAL SEISMICITY.................................................................................................................................... 3 HEBGEN LAKE EARTHQUAKE..................................................................................................................................... 4 SYNOPSIS OF QUATERNARY FAULTING IN WESTERN MONTANA......................................................... 5 LIST OF CONTRIBUTING INDIVIDUALS .......................................................................................................... 7 DEFINITION OF DATABASE TERMS.................................................................................................................. 2 FAULT AND FOLD DATABASE ............................................................................................................................ 5 606, DEADMAN FAULT (CLASS A)............................................................................................................................ -
Yellowstone Resources & Issues 2002
YELLOWSTONE RESOURCES & ISSUES 2002 Division of Interpretation • Yellowstone National Park Produced by the Division of Interpretation, Yellowstone National Park, Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyoming. All material is in the public domain unless noted below. Cover photo: Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River Most photographs (including cover) from Yellowstone National Park collection. Individuals or organizations contributing photos: p. 33, 39, 67, 68, 137 (both), Carolyn Duckworth; 41, 133, Thomas Brock; 42 (bottom), UWSIUWM Great Lakes Water Institute; 55, 56, Jennifer Whipple; 89, 95, 99, Tom Cawley; 165, Frank Smith. Most maps and illustrations produced by the staff of Yellowstone National Park, including the Spatial Analysis Center, or are from other National Park Service sources. Exceptions: 79, adapted from map that first appeared in Yellowstone Science, Fall 2001; 36-38, courtesy of Robert Smith, from his book, Windows Into the Earth (co-authored with Lee J. Siegel; 2000; Oxford Press); 43, illustrations adapted from originals by Dr. Lisa Morgan, US Geological Survey; 53, illustration reprinted from Yellowstone in the Afterglow (Mary Ann Franke; 2000; NPS);7 75, 77 9, first appeared in Yellowstone Science Volume 7, Issue 1 (Winter 7999). Editing and design: Carolyn Duckworth Contributors. Staff of the Superintendent's Office, Divisions of Interpretation, Administration, Resource Management & Visitor Protection, and the Yellowstone Center tor Resources. •• • CONTENTS 2002 ,.• , . • • Introduction ............................................. 7 2 Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem ..... 29 The Beginning of an Idea .......... 7 Geoecosystem .................. 29 • Park Facts ...................... 9 Biological Diversity .............. 31 • Frequently Asked Questions ....... 10 Cycles & Processes .............. 31 • Winter ........................ 32 • 1 History of the Park .......................... 17 Ecosystem Management Challenges . 34 • The Earliest Human Visitors ....... 17 • Increased use . -
Hazards, and Water Implications: Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Shroder and Weihs: Mass-Movement Disturbance Regime Landscapes, Hazards, and Water I 74 MASS-MOVEMENT DISTURBANCE REGIME LANDSCAPES, HAZARDS, AND WATER IMPLICATIONS: GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK, WYOMING JOHN F. SHRODER, JR. UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA AT OMAHA, NB BRANDON J. WEIHS KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY MANHATTAN, KS ABSTRACT of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks marginal to the crystalline core produce rockslides as a result of steep The Teton Range is the result of active crustal dips and unstable shales beneath massive overlying extension (normal faulting) and is the youngest range carbonates. The presence of internal ground ice in the Rocky Mountains at approximately 2 million enables development of protalus lobes, thicker rock- years old. This makes it a particularly attractive fragment flows, and thinner boulder streams. Such landscape to study, especially in terms of landform ground ice is likely to enhance late-season water development and morphology because of its youth, delivery downstream unless climate warming and state of seismic activity, and its recent deglaciation. recurrent droughts become too extreme. These factors have combined to produce a unique fluvial landscape in that the fault-shattered metamorphic/igneous rocks of the range have been/are INTRODUCTION being eroded from their source cliffs at high rates which has covered the glacially scoured valley floors The role of rockslides-rock avalanches in with colluvium such as talus slopes, rock slide, mountain landscapes has been well documented in avalanche, and debris flow deposits. This project was Himalayan, Alpine, and some Rocky Mountain focused on the characterization of all forms of mass regions (Hewitt 2006, Shroder 1998a,b, Shroder and movement, especially rock slides, multiple talus types Bishop 1998, Shroder et al. -
Neogene-Quaternary Tectonics and Volcanism of Southern Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Southeastern Idaho
Lageson and others -- Neogene-Quaternary Tectonics and Volcanism 115 Neogene-Quaternary Tectonics and Volcanism of Southern Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Southeastern Idaho David R. Lageson Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717 David C. Adams Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717 Lisa Morgan U.S. Geological Survey, Box 25046, MS-966, Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225 Kenneth L. Pierce U.S. Geological Survey, Box 25046, MS-980, Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225 Robert B. Smith Department of Geology and Geophysics, 717 W.C. Browning Building, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112 INTRODUCTION This field trip guide focuses on the region south of the Snake volcanic rocks of the Snake River Plain Yellowstone region River Plain between Pocatello, Idaho and Jackson, Wyoming (Fig. (Adams, 1997). The second aspect involves a reinterpretation of 1). Our intent is not to rewrite the excellent geologic field guides large slide blocks found primarily within the Grand-Swan Valley that have already been published (e.g., Love and Reed, 1971; of southeast Idaho. We (Morgan and Lageson) suggest an alter- Love and Love, 1983; Love and Love, 1988; Love, 1989; Smith native hypothesis to the slow creep model of emplacement and Downs, 1989; Smith et al., 1990; Pierce and Good, 1992; (Boyer and Hossack, 1992), namely that some slide blocks may Good and Pierce, 1996), but rather to synthesize regional tec- have been emplaced catastrophically during large magnitude earth- tonic relations and present new information relative to the mag- quakes associated with large-volume silicic eruptions in the Heise matic and structural history of the region.