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Location:  Carson Hill Trench, Carson City, Nevada

Speaker:  Allen Ramelli, Paleoseismologist

A paleoseismologist studies past earthquakes to predict future displacement.  Aerial photographs were used to identify the fault scarps and to decide where to dig a trench.  Aerial photographs taken in the morning or at night cast shadows along the fault scarps making them easier to locate.  This fault is a branch of the larger and more active Genoa Fault.  A trench is useful for locating the fault and displacement caused by the earthquake.  Displacement is measured by correlating similar layers in the stratigraphy.  The trench is approximately 50 feet long with a maximum depth of 15 feet.  Flags were used to mark the boundaries of the soil layers. 

Location:  South of Carson City on US Hwy 385, left on Stephanie Way to Johnson Lane Park. 

The community and local government are looking to clarify the risk associated with the alluvial fan area to help developers and home owners make decisions for residential development.  The alluvial fan flood hazards pose a serious threat to the community.  A flood would bring large quantities of sediment into the resisdential area causing a large amount of damage.  Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) will be used to identify paleochannels within the alluvial fan system instead of digging trenches which are expensive and time consuming.  Identifying paleochannels would help prove the fans are unstable and still developing.  Global Positioning System (GPS) was used to map out the locations of the GPR lines. 

The results of the GPR study will aid in clarifying the flood risk so they can make decisions on which alternative solution to use.  A moderate to severe risk would necessitate a channel diversion further upstream, which would be a costly endeavor.   Concrete ditches for channelizing the flow would minimize channel incision and erosion.  They also plan to implement the "Cows in the Pinenuts" Project.   This project calls for a transition from brush to grass on the alluvial fan.   Cattle grazing would be used to reduce the shrub population while also trampling grass seed into the ground promoting grass growth.  Grasses have a more extensive root system which reduces runoff aiding in the fan stability.   

Location:   Buckbrush Alluvial Fan, Stephanie Way

On November 3rd the first GPR transect (Buckbrush) was completed. Then two other transects were done to the east on Fuller Road and Wade Street.   Laser leveling, as seen to the right,  was done along all three of these transects in order to compensate for changes in the topography. The profile that ran along Wade Street had two attenuations(distortions in the signal) that were caused by a powerlines that passed overhead and at the very end of the profile a near a wire fence.

Location:  Johnson Lane Wash, south of Johnson Lane Park

GPR work was also completed at the Johnson Lane Wash, a channel that was cut by flood waters in the early 1990's.  The flow of this channel has been altered by humans in an attempt to divert flood waters away from development.  The GPR transect ran alongside the incised channel to locate older distributary channels.