The California Geological Survey (CGS) has completed a geographic information system (GIS)–based compilation of geologic maps of Quaternary age and older deposits in southern California. The compilation provides a consistent classification of surficial deposits within a 10 county area of interest to the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the governor9s Alluvial Fan Task Force (AFTF). During the past two decades, rapid population growth in southern California has resulted in increased pressure for residential development on alluvial fans. Due to unique flood hazards associated with alluvial fans, the AFTF reviewed the state of knowledge regarding alluvial fan floodplains and developed recommendations specific to floodplain management. The CGS compilation was designed as a regional-scale planning tool to assist DWR, the AFTF, and local communities in evaluating hazards and locating future development on alluvial fans. The goal of the compilation was to represent southern California9s complex geology in a consistent user-friendly format that depicts areas of most recent alluvial fan deposition on a regional scale. The Derivative GIS Database merges new mapping and existing digital geologic data into a common seamless format that differentiates alluvial fan deposits, related Quaternary deposits, and various older deposits into 40 derivative units at a scale of 1: 100,000 for the entire mapped area. Original source data compiled at various scales and detail are retained in the Source GIS Database.

Drainage from abandoned underground coal mines negatively impacts many miles of stream habitat throughout the Appalachian region. The drainage is commonly called acid mine drainage (AMD) due to its low pH; however, not all mine drainage is acidic. The quantity and quality of the water discharged from a coal mine depend upon numerous variables, such as the design of the mine, chemical composition of the coal and surrounding rocks, and local climate. Coal extracted from the now-abandoned Cherry Valley Coal Mine near Leetonia, Ohio, was reached by a slope entry such that the mine is not entirely up-dip, and a significant area is flooded. Recharge water that enters the unsaturated area of the mine mobilizes soluble iron-sulfate salts as it flows down-dip and adds pyrite oxidation products to the mine pool. The bedrock overburden is covered by calcareous glacial till that imparts alkalinity to the shallow groundwater, buffers the acidity, and keeps the pH inside the mine circumneutral. Maintaining a circumneutral pH reduces pyrite oxidation by decreasing the solubility of ferric iron, the primary oxidizing agent of pyrite at low pH, which reduces the positive feedback mechanism that drives pH down and concentration of oxidation products up. Shallow groundwater is brought to the mine via subsidence fractures, which facilitate a rapid increase in discharge from the mine (and dilution of oxidation products) in response to surface runoff events. The loadings of all dissolved ions, except iron, are controlled by the changes in discharge rather than the changes in concentration.

Research Article| August 01, 2014 Effect of Ground Covers on Soil Temperature in Urban and Rural Areas JING-HONG WU; JING-HONG WU School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar CHAO-SHENG TANG; CHAO-SHENG TANG School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar BIN SHI; BIN SHI 1 School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China 1Corresponding author email: shibin@nju.edu.cn. Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar LEI GAO; LEI GAO College of Civil Engineering and Transportation, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210093, China Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar HONG-TAO JIANG; HONG-TAO JIANG School of Geographic and Oceanographic Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar JOHN L DANIELS JOHN L DANIELS Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Environmental & Engineering Geoscience (2014) 20 (3): 225–237. https://doi.org/10.2113/gseegeosci.20.3.225 Article history first online: 02 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share MailTo Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation JING-HONG WU, CHAO-SHENG TANG, BIN SHI, LEI GAO, HONG-TAO JIANG, JOHN L DANIELS; Effect of Ground Covers on Soil Temperature in Urban and Rural Areas. Environmental & Engineering Geoscience 2014;; 20 (3): 225–237. doi: https://doi.org/10.2113/gseegeosci.20.3.225 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyEnvironmental & Engineering Geoscience Search Advanced Search Abstract Human activity has changed land surfaces by converting native ecosystems to urban land uses, which has caused increases in soil temperature. In order to understand the effect of different ground covers on soil temperature, observation stations were built under concrete, bare soil, and grass ground covers located in urban and rural areas of Nanjing City, China. By analyzing continuously recorded soil temperature data from June 2009 to June 2010, it was found that the average daily soil temperature in both urban and rural areas shows a tendency of concrete > bare soil > grass ground cover. Soil temperature under concrete ground cover in summer is significantly higher than that under bare soil and grass, consistent with the urban heat island effect. The cover thermal-physical properties and soil structures lead to differences in soil temperature between urban and rural areas. As compared to bare or grass-covered soils, concrete-covered soils exhibit lower values of evaporation rate, reflectivity, and specific heat capacity and higher values of thermal conductivity. As such, the initial heating rate of the soil under concrete ground cover is faster, and the final temperature is higher. These findings provide a basis with which to reduce the heat island effect through the provision of increasing grass-covered open space. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.

Robert S Yeats Yeats is a thoroughly respected boots-on-the-ground field geologist of the U.S. west coast school, who has matured over a 40 year career into a worldwide assessor of active faults. His first publication listed in Active Faults is dated 1973 and was on the Newport-Inglewood Fault Zone. Yeats brings forth this first-ever worldwide fundamental assessment of the essential, observable characteristics that can be used to indicate the relative threats of single regional seismogenic zones. Yeats' approach is based on first detecting the presence of the active fault (terrestrial or sub-sea) and then rationally rating its seismic threat, as based on its tectonic associations. Yeats' approach is made all the more meaningful because of the field-mapper's scale criteria and expertise that he has personally developed from his west coast fault-character discoveries of the factors that make individual faults and their tectonic association particularly dangerous threats needing to be mitigated through the …

Book Review| November 01, 2013 Rock Fractures in Geological Processes Agust Gudmundsson. David J. Scarpato David J. Scarpato Haley & Aldrich, Inc., 3 Bedford Farms Drive, Bedford, NH 03110 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Environmental and Engineering Geoscience (2013) 19 (4): 396–398. https://doi.org/10.2113/gseegeosci.19.4.396 Article history first online: 02 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation David J. Scarpato; Rock Fractures in Geological Processes. Environmental and Engineering Geoscience 2013;; 19 (4): 396–398. doi: https://doi.org/10.2113/gseegeosci.19.4.396 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentBy SocietyEnvironmental and Engineering Geoscience Search Advanced Search RockFractures in Geological Processes was published in order to serve as a reference for geoscientists and as a textbook for advanced undergraduates and graduate students. Those geoscientists who enjoy the quantitative treatment of structural geology and geomechanics will find this book very useful. Students and academicians who possess an advanced knowledge of engineering mathematics will find the quantitative treatments and exercises to be readily understandable; those of us trained as geologists may have to relearn some college mathematics. However, even the most rigorous of the analytical and quantitative descriptions and exercises are followed by helpful graphics, “real-world” pictures, and... You do not currently have access to this article.

Research Article| August 01, 2013 Use of Multi-Criteria Model to Compare Devices for the Protection of Roads against Rockfall CLAUDIA MIGNELLI; CLAUDIA MIGNELLI 1 Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure, (DIATI) Politecnico di Torino–C.so Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy 1Corresponding author email: claudia.mignelli@polito.it. Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar SILVIA POMARICO; SILVIA POMARICO Inter-Department of Science, Planning and Land Policies, (DIST) Politecnico di Torino–Viale Mattioli 39, 10125 Torino, Italy Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar DANIELE PEILA DANIELE PEILA Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure, (DIATI) Politecnico di Torino–C.so Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information CLAUDIA MIGNELLI 1 Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure, (DIATI) Politecnico di Torino–C.so Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy SILVIA POMARICO Inter-Department of Science, Planning and Land Policies, (DIST) Politecnico di Torino–Viale Mattioli 39, 10125 Torino, Italy DANIELE PEILA Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure, (DIATI) Politecnico di Torino–C.so Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy 1Corresponding author email: claudia.mignelli@polito.it. Publisher: Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1558-9161 Print ISSN: 1078-7275 © 2013 Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists Environmental & Engineering Geoscience (2013) 19 (3): 289–302. https://doi.org/10.2113/gseegeosci.19.3.289 Article history First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation CLAUDIA MIGNELLI, SILVIA POMARICO, DANIELE PEILA; Use of Multi-Criteria Model to Compare Devices for the Protection of Roads against Rockfall. Environmental & Engineering Geoscience 2013;; 19 (3): 289–302. doi: https://doi.org/10.2113/gseegeosci.19.3.289 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyEnvironmental & Engineering Geoscience Search Advanced Search Abstract Many kilometers of roads in mountainside areas have adjacent rock slopes that are prone to rockfall. The analysis of these instabilities is a complex and multidimensional process that requires engineering judgments regarding the choice of a suitable protection device because different alternatives can be used to solve the same problem, taking into account the costs and impact on the environment. Nevertheless, very few tools are available to help designers and decision makers to manage this problem by comparing the various alternatives and by quantifying the advantages or disadvantages of each. For this reason it is important to highlight that the Multi-Criteria Analysis approach, as applied in the Analytic Hierarchy Process technique, is a suitable tool since it considers the various aspects that are involved in the assessment and design of rockfall protection devices. The model presented in this article considers the five most relevant aspects (economic, environmental, design, transport, and social) considered in the process of decision making concerning the choice of a rockfall protection device. Finally, the developed model is applied to a real case of a mountain road that is prone to rockfall phenomena, and the results are presented and discussed. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.

Book Review| May 01, 2013 Fuel Cycle to Nowhere: U.S. Law & Policy on Nuclear Waste Richard Burleson Stewart; Richard Burleson Stewart Consulting Geological Engineer, 10256 Stoltz Drive, Rolla, MO 65401 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Jane Bloom Stewart Jane Bloom Stewart Consulting Geological Engineer, 10256 Stoltz Drive, Rolla, MO 65401 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Environmental & Engineering Geoscience (2013) 19 (2): 200–201. https://doi.org/10.2113/gseegeosci.19.2.200 Article history first online: 02 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Richard Burleson Stewart, Jane Bloom Stewart; Fuel Cycle to Nowhere: U.S. Law & Policy on Nuclear Waste. Environmental & Engineering Geoscience 2013;; 19 (2): 200–201. doi: https://doi.org/10.2113/gseegeosci.19.2.200 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyEnvironmental & Engineering Geoscience Search Advanced Search Allen W. Hatheway Fuel Cycle to Nowhere (Stewart and Stewart, 2011) is a technically based history of American nuclear waste management policy applied to the ultimate fate of nuclear fuel-cycle (electricity generation) wastes. This reviewer considers its content to be essential knowledge for engineering geologists, who have been called to perform the site characterization and licensing activities necessary to manage this “high-level” nuclear waste (HLW). The book is unique in its comprehensive treatment, and its contents honor the fine and competent nuclear site characterization work of our profession over the past 55 years. Generally speaking, the accumulated twentieth... You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.

Many carbonate foundations of dams are afflicted with zones of broken or fractured rock and karstification prior to construction. Rock fractures develop because of tectonic stresses but also because of the removal of overburden loads imposed upon the rock. This is the case with valley stress relief. As fractures control many of earth9s dynamic processes, including fluid transport in the crust, an understanding of valley stress relief is essential for an understanding of karstification. Because water impounded by a structure imposes an increased hydraulic gradient, and because this gradient facilitates the solubility of that carbonate foundation, fractures or bedding planes undergo accelerated transformation by the karstification process and enhance additional dynamics affecting the dissolution rate of carbonates. In a state of nature, karstification requires a time scale of 10,000 to more than 100,000 years. However, when subject to the imposed-increased hydraulic gradients associated with impoundment, the rate of karstification may accelerate a thousand-fold. Civil engineers and geologists have noted that grout curtains or concrete cut-off walls, structures typically used to deal with this problem, offer mixed success in terms of extending the design life of a water retention structure. Traditional repairs impose a new hydraulic gradient causing increased infiltration of the minute, non-groutable, clay-filled microfractures. Construction is an incremental process. The imposed hydraulic gradient increases incrementally as ungrouted microfractures become susceptible to karstification, accelerating development of new seepage channels. Eventually, seepage becomes intolerable as karstification renders the impoundment susceptible to another round of repairs. Four case histories illustrate these concepts.

Urban water balances are generally unknown, yet they are necessary for assessing water availability in an urbanizing world and for understanding the effects of urbanization on the hydrologic cycle. We assess the spatial and temporal variability of water balances of 65 watersheds in the Baltimore, MD, metropolitan area during Water Years 2001–2009. Each water balance term is quantified independently and includes both natural (precipitation, evapotranspiration, streamflow) and piped (sewer infiltration and inflow [II for some urban watersheds this excess is greater than gauged annual streamflow. I&I also outweighs piped inputs from lawn irrigation and water supply pipe leakage in the Baltimore area analysis. The net effect of piped flows on the urban water balance is a watershed export ranging between 300 and 465 mm/yr, underscoring the importance of interactions between engineered water and wastewater infrastructure and natural water balance components.