Update (I'm still here!)

I'm still here, but as with everyone, life happened and I've been away too long. I haven't forgotten the second installment the Earthquake Preparedness posts, but it will have to wait until the other parts of my life have settled down.

This post is to help me sort out my thoughts on revising my first first author paper to submit to my PhD advisor at the end of this month and eventually, when it's ready, to submit to academic journals for publication. You might ask: why am I doing this now, when I'm pursuing other interests besides a traditional academic career? What's in it for me?

Well, there's several reasons:

1. I may be outside of higher education and science research right now, but I haven't completely ruled out returning to that arena is some non-traditional way (i.e., not as a traditional professor at a research institution). So working on this paper and having a publication or publications from my PhD research can only help this endeavor.
2. I would like more "science cred" for the non-higher education academic ventures I am pursuing at this time: private school science and math teacher, school science lab manager, and independent science educator.
3. I would like more people (including non-academics) to have access to my research, because I believe the work I did is very relevant to current climate and environmental issues.
4. In some ways it's closure on the PhD chapter of my life. My experience in graduate school may not have been typical, but it had a very profound effect on my self confidence and forced me to reexamine my dreams and ambitions. I
5. I want something of mine in the scientific literature

That's about it. I'll be back for updates on the paper. If you've been wondering what I've done recently, please check out author Juliette Wade's YouTube channel "Dive into Worldbuilding." I was a guest recently talking geology. You can watch all her videos here: Dive Into Worldbuilding

Stay tuned for more!

Earthquake Preparedness Part 1: Earthquake Emergency Kits

Because of the recent M4.4 earthquake in Berkeley, CA and the anxious questions I’ve received from students, friends, and family alike, I decided to do a post on preparing for an earthquake. In this post, I document my efforts to create earthquake preparedness kits for my family so you can do the same for yours. Some of the preparedness information and links are specific for California, but there are links at the end of the post relating to earthquake preparedness in general.

So, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS, usgs.gov), the earthquake occurred 2 kilometers southeast of Berkeley, CA, on the Hayward Fault and measured M4.4 (Mw). Mw is moment magnitude, a measure of earthquake size based on seismic moment, and, unlike Richter magnitude, is applicable to all sizes of earthquakes, including the largest ones. Seismic moment incorporates the area of fault rupture, the distance the fault moved, and the force required. More explanation can be found here: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/glossary/?term=seismic%20moment

Image from https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc72948801#executive

I will be posting about earthquakes in general and the San Francisco Bay Area earthquakes specifically in a later post, but an excellent explanation of the recent Berkeley, CA earthquake can be found on Dr. Jason R. Patton’s blog here: http://earthjay.com/?p=6815

Earthquake Preparedness

Before I discuss what you can personally do to prepare for earthquakes, I need to point out that California, and the San Francisco Bay Area in particular has some of the strictest building codes in the world. That said, however, earthquake damage has complex causes, financial barriers, and earthquake frequencies and magnitudes are not predictable. I will likely cover this topic in another post. For further information, visit the California Building Standards Commission web site: http://www.bsc.ca.gov  and this recent article in the Los Angeles Times: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-earthquake-database-los-angeles-20170920-htmlstory.html

Things You Can Do To Prepare

There are some things you can do as an individual beyond preparing earthquake kits to help prevent damage within your home from earthquake shaking and secure your family’s safety. Briefly, these include securing bookshelves, cabinets, and having an emergency plan. I’ll likely also cover this in another post (when I get around to securing mine and my mom’s house) More information can be found here: https://www.earthquakecountry.org/step1/ and here: https://www.earthquakecountry.org/step2/

Earthquake Preparedness Kits

Many organizations and web sites provide lists of items to include in earthquake preparedness kit. For the kit I put together, I used the lists on the American Red Cross web site: http://www.redcross.org/get-help/prepare-for-emergencies/be-red-cross-ready/get-a-kit and this pdf list from The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA, www.fema.gov): https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/1390846764394-dc08e309debe561d866b05ac84daf1ee/checklist_2014.pdf

Another option is to purchase a basic emergency kit (like this one from the Red Cross: https://www.redcrossstore.org/item/321406) and add to it using the lists and your personal needs.

The FEMA list is much more manageable, especially if you have never made an earthquake preparedness kit before, so I recommend using it as a guide. I used the list on the Red Cross web site to add to this basic kit.

Both lists include a first aid kit or set of items to create a first aid kit. A good, general purpose first aid kit is important to have, anyway: at least one in your home and one in your car. Because I decided to create a number of earthquake kits for myself, my mom, my sister and her husband, I purchased a first aid kit from a discount grocery store, around $9, but they usually cost anywhere between $9 and $15 and above. I am using this kit as a basis to create all the other first aid kits. But you can purchase the first aid kits and incorporate it into your earthquake preparedness kits. Anything you need personally can always be added to the kits. The Red Cross also sells excellent first aid kits at their online store: https://www.redcrossstore.org/category/id/2

I gathered everything except the water and food and any personal supplies because that will vary. Also, I still need to get a battery/hand crank radio. What I have right now is a good start and pictured below. Importantly, you should check, use, and replace perishable items like water, food, medications and batteries on a yearly basis.

I hope some of you found this helpful. Emergency kits can be kept in your home and your car. They can be adapted to suit the hazards and potential emergencies in your area using the information on the FEMA (if you live in the United States) and Red Cross web sites as well as your national/regional/local government department of emergency services. If you live in California, the California Office of Emergency Services has a helpful web site: http://www.caloes.ca.gov

My next adventure in emergency preparedness will be to attempt to secure objects and furniture inside my mom’s house using the suggestions found here: https://www.earthquakecountry.org/step1/ and other sites. 

Please stay tuned! And stay safe!

Welcome!

I'm an Earth scientist with a broad background in sedimentology, geomorphology, paleoclimate, climate change, climate models, and science education. I recently finished my PhD in Earth Science, focusing on land use change effects on regional climate and global projected heat effects on human populations. I currently teach math and science at an alternative private high school.

This blog is a place where I can go into detail about particular aspects of Earth science, mainly geology, usually focused on a particular location.

This blog starts with a series of explorations into the geology of Smith Valley, Nevada, the field area for my Master's degree.

Thanks for joining me on this journey!

Smith Valley Overview

Smith Valley is a small valley located in west-central Nevada about 35 km southeast of the Carson Valleyin a region of the western United States commonly known as the Basin and Range. Like many valleys in the Basin and Range, Smith Valley exists because of the normal faulting in the region.

Normal faults are oriented so that the fault plane is nearly vertical and the sense of motion on these faults is shown in the diagram below. The Basin and Range gets its name from the parallel mountain ranges and valleys created mainly by motion on these normal faults.

These valleys can also form closed basins, meaning that while there is some inflow of water into the valley, there is no outflow. During the late Pleistocene, about 13,000 years ago, the climate of this region was such that the precipitation exceeded evaporation and large lakes known as pluvial lakes filled these valleys. 

Smith Valley was once one such closed basin, but my Master’s research showed that sometime between approximately 80,000 and 13,000 years ago, the West Walker River developed through flowing drainage in the valley, creating an outlet for the water (Fig 5), so that the lake existing in the valley at ~80,000 years had mostly drained out by 13,000 years ago. 

While my research focused on the Pleistocene lake sediments and shorelines in Smith Valley, there are many interesting things about the geologic history of the valley and surrounding area. 

In this series of blog posts, I will focus on various geologic aspects of Smith Valley. I’m starting with the faults in the valley, and specifically the Smith Valley Fault Zone, which located at the base of the Pine Nut Mountains, on the western edge of the valley.

Some references:

Stauffer, Heidi L., 2003, Timing of the last highstand of pluvial Lake Wellington, Smith Valley, Nevada. Unpublished Master’s thesis. http://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/etd_theses/2517/

Reheis, M.C., 1999a, Extent of Pleistocene Lakes in the western Great Basin: USGS Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-2323, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO. https://pubs.usgs.gov/mf/1999/mf-2323/