AEG News December 2015

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Vol. 58, No. 4 – December 2015

Landslides, Flooding, & Erosion

Experience the magic!

AEG 59th Annual Meeting – September 18–24, 2016

Kona – Island of Hawaii Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa – Group Rate Only $185 Located beachfront along the sun-splashed Kohala Coast, the luxurious Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort welcomes guests with gracious style and Hawaiian service. With the bounty of land and sea captured in stunning views, this Big Island Hawaii hotel and resort is the perfect place for a memorable meeting with colleagues. Experience an authentic Polynesian show at the Sunset Luau as our Special Event. Set upon 15 acres of oceanfront splendor, the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa offers a truly magical setting.

Planned Symposia Rock Engineering-Rock Mechanics Symposium Engineering Geology for Tunnels and Underground Construction Reaching the Last Mile: Our responsibility to effectively communicate to those in harms way what geohazards they face and implement disaster mitigation strategies Environmental Impacts and Cleanup for Military Bases Application of Geophysics to Geotechnical Investigations Coastal and Harbor Projects Archeology and Engineering Geology Dam Safety Projects

Additional Possible Symposia for 2016: Volcanic Hazards in Hawaii and Elsewhere, convener from HVO possible tie-in with a field trip.

Shoreline Processes and Climate Change Impacts A Landslide Symposium

Join us on one or more of these great field trips and guest tours.

FIELD TRIPS The Big Island: Volcanoes, Geohazards & Active Structural Geology The Hāmākua Coast Kīlauea Volcano and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Evening Stargazing at Ozinuka Center for International Astronomy – Mauna Kea Volcano Ka Lea (South Point) and Papakōlea Green Sand Beach

Guest Tours Volcanoes National Park & S. Island Tour Traditional Hawaiian Culture & Gourd Art Macadamia Nut Co & Parker Ranch Downtown Kona Historic Walking Tour

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Vol. 58, No. 4 – December 2015

AEG News (ISSN 0899-5788; USPS 954-380) is published six times a year by the Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists (AEG), with the quarterly issues Nos. 1–4, published in March, June, September and December, respectively. The Annual Report and Directory issue is published in January. The Annual Meeting Program with Abstracts issue is published in September. Print copies are distributed at the meeting. Subscriptions for Association members, which includes all six issues of the AEG News, is $30 in addition to annual membership dues. Nonmember annual subscription is $40.00, and includes only the four regular issues (#1–4) of the News.

The Annual Report and Directory issue and the Annual Meeting Program with Abstracts issue are priced separately. Back issues of the AEG News are $10 each. Inquiries should be sent to AEG Headquarters: Marrijane Jones, Association Manager, 1100 Brandywine Blvd. Suite H, Zanesville, Ohio 43701 844-331-7867.

Periodical Postage paid at Zanesville, OH, and additional mailing offices: POSTMASTER: Send address changes to AEG News, 1100 Brandywine Blvd. Suite H Zanesville, Ohio 43701, USA. AEG News is printed by Allen Press, Lawrence, KS, 66044, USA. © 2015 Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists—All Rights Reserved Views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those officially representing the Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists except where expressly stated.

AEG News Editor Anna Saindon Geotechnology, Inc. 11816 Lackland Road, Suite 150 St. Louis, MO 63146 314-581-6286 news@aegweb.org

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Submission Information

News of the Association 4 The President’s Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Treasurer’s Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 AEG Foundation Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Governance Restructure Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 AEG 2015 Annual Meeting Recap 9 In Memory of John C. Crowell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 In Memory of Robert E. Harpster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 News of the Profession 16 Congressional Visit Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Field Trips 17 Welcome to Flash Flood Alley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Wine Terroir and Tasting Tour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Professional Contributions 20 Natural Nourishment to Prevent Shoreline Erosion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Rock-Paper-Scissors; Terrain-Fire-Rain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Tales from the Field 30 The Calf in the Test Pit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 The HomeFront

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Index to Advertisers

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On the Cover Texas Section members view the aftermath of torrential rains that caused flooding on the Blanco River in Texas. See story on page 17.

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PHOTO BY MARIE GARSJO

The association 2014–15 Officers President: PAUL M. SANTI Colorado School of Mines, 303-273-3108, psanti629@gmail.com Vice President/President Elect: DALE C. ANDREWS Carmeuse Lime & Stone, 412-777-0728, dale.andrews@carmeusena.com Treasurer: KATHY G. TROOST University of Washington, 206-909-9757, ktroostaeg@gmail.com Secretary: KEVIN S. RICHARDS U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 206-909-9757, 303-241-8380, kevin.richards@comcast.net Past President: KENNETH C. FERGASON Amec Foster Wheeler, 602-329-9714, fergasonaeg@gmail.com

Advertising in the News

Association Contacts

Contact AEG Headquarters at advertising@aegweb.org.

Headquarters—Association Manager Marrijane Jones 1100 Brandywine Blvd. Suite H Zanesville, Ohio 43701 Phone: 844-331-7867, Fax: 740-452-2552 contact@aegweb.org

Next Submission Deadline January 31, 2016, for the March Issue

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Canada Agreement number: PM40063731; Return Undeliverable Canadian Addresses to: Station A, PO Box 54; Windsor, ON N9A 6J5; Email: returnsil@imex.pb.com

December 2015

Table of Contents

Communications Director: MATT BRUNENGO, 503-534-0414, mbrunengo@aol.com

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NEWS OF THE ASSOCIATION – THE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

An Exciting Year on the Horizon

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Paul Santi, AEG 2015–16 President

t is really exciting to be a part of AEG right now! We just wrapped up an excellent Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh.

Our Technical Working Groups and Operational Committees are providing great services to our members. Our publications continue to gain stronger appeal within the technical community. We are actively working to provide additional opportunities for future technical conferences that will be of value to you. Our Section Chairs are an inspired and diligent group whose efforts are guiding AEG through its governance restructure, which will ultimately give the Chairs more control over how they want to spend their service time. As I travel to various Sections over the next year, I want to spend some time discussing the latter item. The intent is to make these changes almost invisible to the regular member. The key points are that there will be virtually no impact on the activities and management at the local level, and activities at the Association level are also not impacted—the restructure only effects how AEG governs at the Association level.

As AEG’s newest President, I have already had the honor of representing our Association on a few occasions. First, I travelled to one of our newest student chapters, at James Madison University, to spend a day with the students and faculty and to give a department seminar. It was rousing to see such an active and excited new group, so congratulations to the Chapter President Brandon Euker and Advisor Yonathan Admassu for successfully launching the chapter. The photo captures my visit, where I show the life-sized James Madison how it’s gonna be: AEG Presidents dominate!

Next, I attended our Congressional Visit Days, along with John Williams and Steve Evans as AEG’s representatives. We joined different delegations and mine was able to meet with two representatives and four senators to talk about the upcoming America Competes legislation that funds science research. The House version unfairly cuts geoscience funding and we were able to send a strong message to reverse this in the Senate version.

Clearly, a major goal for the next year is to keep the many things we do running smoothly, mainly by leaning on our excellent staff, officers, Chairs, and other volunteers. There are also a few other things I want to focus on as well. The first is to shepherd the revision of our bylaws and policies to better adhere to California law (where AEG is incorporated) and to align AEG’s governing documents with the goals of the member-needs assessment. And by “shepherd,” I mean rely heavily on the many talented people working on this!

Next, I want to focus on student engagement. Many of us started our AEG involvement as students and we know the amazing benefits that this organization can provide. Our number of student chapters has been increasing and we need to look for ways to engage these students. They are quick to size up perceived benefits, so we need to be quick to offer them. We can do this by making it easy for them to get to 4

Section meetings, welcoming them once they are there, and providing them with resume reviews and mock interviews during the social hour before the meeting. Providing AEG’s future membership with these added benefits is achievable with very little extra effort!

Finally, in addition to maintaining support to the Sections, we will be exploring new means to offer improved delivery of services and benefits to all our members while improving our financial security. Some of these may include offering an annual technical meeting each spring as well as in-person and webinar courses for both experienced and new professionals.

While our Association tagline is “Connecting Professionals, Practice and the Public,” my mantra for the year is “Make AEG an organization you can’t afford not to be a member of.” Sometimes you have to sacrifice grammar to get the point across and I believe this point is an important one. I’ll close by saying it’s an honor to serve AEG as President, and I’m grateful to have your trust. And if I ask for your help to do something, please say yes so I don’t have to treat you like I did James Madison.

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December 2015

NEWS OF THE ASSOCIATION – TREASURER’S REPORT

Financial Turnaround in 2015!

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Kathy Troost, 2015–16 AEG Treasurer

am happy to report that AEG is beginning a financial turnaround thanks to three key items/events. At the end of 2014, we were projecting a negative cash flow for 2015 and having to take money from our Treasurer’s Reserve (TR) account to pay bills. However, we are now looking forward to a surplus and contributing to our TR account. Furthermore, we continue to explore cost-saving measures and have implemented many while trying to preserve or grow our member benefits. The highlights include:

Financial Makeover Our previous treasurer, Dale Andrews, and staff at Offinger Management (OMC) completed an in-depth financial makeover in the first half of 2015 bringing us in full compliance with generally accepted accounting practices.

Although not fully reconciled, the Professional Forum and AM are anticipated to net over $80,000 in what was unbudgeted revenue. Projecting revenue and expenses to the end of the year, AEG will end the year strongly in the black.

Moving forward we still need to work hard to increase our membership and volunteerism. We are working diligently and sensibly to reduce costs. We will continue to work to improve our financial status and evaluate increased member benefits.

It is an honor to serve as your AEG Treasurer, and I thank you again for your trust and efforts on behalf of AEG. Please don’t hesitate to contact me at ktroostaeg@gmail.com.

Two Profitable Meetings In 2015, AEG held two very successful and profitable meetings: the Professional Forum on Landslides held in February in Seattle, WA, and in September the Annual Meeting (AM) in Pittsburgh, PA. The finance committee chairs for both meetings had extensive experience with AEG finances and had the foresight to budget well. Once the budgets were developed, meeting chairs and committees worked hard to make both events successful. We have all of our volunteers to thank for these two major accomplishments. The Executive Committee would like to continue the trend of holding a Professional Forum each year in the spring, giving us two meetings per year.

Paradigm Shift for Budgeting At the September Board of Directors’ meeting, a major shift was approved by the Directors for how we determine our budget each year. For decades, AEG has been able to rely on membership dues to cover the costs of running the association. Like most other professional associations, we can’t survive on dues alone and therefore revenue from successful meetings is needed to balance our yearly budget. And although we have long known that our meetings help cover the expenses of the association, AEG has been cautious and maintained the conservative approach of not budgeting for any AM financial success due to its uncertainty. This year, however, with a healthy TR in place and refined polices to further ensure meeting profits, AEG will include a portion of the projected AM surplus in the annual budget. For future meetings, AEG’s Treasurer will be more involved in the development of budgets to help improve our chances of having financially successful meetings.

We expect to end 2015 on a strong financial basis. Our current assets, as of the end of the third quarter include $247,250 in the Treasurer’s Reserve; $86,870 in the Operations Account; $123,240 in the Annual Meetings Account; and $56,565 in the Licensure Fund. Our liabilities total $24,190.

December 2015

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Advertisers and their agencies are solely responsible for the content of all advertisements printed and also assume responsibility for any claims arising therefrom against the publisher. AEG and AEG News reserve the right to reject any advertising copy.

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NEWS OF THE ASSOCIATION – FOUNDATION REPORT

Scholarship Applications Deadline February 1, 2016 Briget Doyle, AEG Foundation

Attention students!

Lemke Fund

The AEG Foundation 2016 Scholarship Application closing date is fast approaching. All applications must be fully completed and submitted online by February 1, 2016. There are eight scholarship programs for students, including programs that support field camp and field research, and programs that recognize superior academic scholarship and profesional development at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

To apply for an AEG Foundation Scholarship, you must be a Student Member of AEG, but student membership in AEG is free! Go to www.aegweb.org to become a Student Member, then go to www.aegfoundation.org/applications to complete an application.

Applications are only accepted online at www.aegfoundation.org/applications. First-time users will need to set up an account, which allows for one to apply for multiple scholarships. Each scholarship has specific requirements. Therefore, please read the criteria for each scholarship to determine if you are eligible; do not apply for scholarships for which you are not eligible.

This scholarship was established in 2007 in memory of June and Richard Lemke and provides supporting funds to AEG Student Members presenting at professional meetings at which AEG plays a substantial role.

A Special Word to Faculty Members‌ In support of students in Environmental and Engineering Geology, we hope that you will encourage students to apply for one or more of the many AEG Foundation Scholarships.

In addition, we hope that you will assist the students by completing recommendations for applications when or if you are requested.

Funds for Students See http://www.aegfoundation.org/funds/ for fund charters and more information on these funds.

Beardsley-Kuper Fund This scholarship was established in 2009 by Cathryne Beardsley with her daughter, Dorian Kuper, and son-in-law, Tom Kuper. The fund provides financial support for field camp tuition and expenses.

Carolinas Scholarship Fund This scholarship fund was established in 2015 by the AEG Foundation to support direct costs associated with the Carolinas Scholarships.

Marliave Fund The Marliave Fund was established by AEG in 1968 and is in memory of Burton, Chester, and Elmer Marliave. This fund supports graduate and undergraduate Scholarships in Engineering Geology and Geological Engineering.

Mathewson Fund This scholarship was established in by the AEG Texas Section in 2007 and provides supporting funds to AEG Student Members studying in Texas.

Tilford Fund Established in 1998 in memory of Norman Tilford, a Past President and Executive Director of AEG, and professor at Texas A&M. This fund is distributed as grants awarded to graduate and undergraduate students in support of field studies.

Stout Fund Established in 1994 by the Southern California Section in honor of Professor Martin Stout. This fund supports graduate and undergraduate students in environmental and engineering geology.

West-Gray Scholarship Fund Established in 2014 with initial funding provided by a gift from Terry R. West and Richard E. Gray, Past Presidents of the Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists. This fund supports undergraduate and graduate geology students in the eastern half of the United State through scholarship grants.

Help fund the future of our profession!

Tax-deductible donations can be made at http://www.aegfoundation.org/.

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December 2015

NEWS OF THE ASSOCIATION – FOUNDATION REPORT

Beardsley-Kuper Scholar News The University of Mississippi Geological Engineering Design Field Camp 2 – SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO Ann Sutton Teichmiller, Student Member As a student studying geological engineering at the University of Mississippi, the completion of two field camps held during the summer terms is a requirement for degree completion.

Last summer, I attended Field Camp 1 in Aida, OK. This year, I was awarded the AEG Beardsley-Kuper Scholarship, which provided me financial assistance to attend Field Camp 2 in Santa Fe, NM. The purpose of Geological Engineering Design Field Camp 2 is for students to learn advanced applications of geological engineering field techniques including how to prepare professional reports, maps, and figures. Students learn to adequately operate field instruments and properly apply field techniques.

Field Camp 2 is designed to enhance students’ geologic observation and interpretation skills, and provide them the opportunity to gain experience working on geologic engineering mapping exercises. In Santa Fe, the mapping projects focused on topics including hydrology, environmental applications, and hazards engineering. These objectives were satisfied through four assignments during the two-week course. The sites included the Jemez Mountains, the Sandia Mountains, the Buckman Mesa, the Albuquerque Basin, the Espanola Basin, and the Naciamento Fault and Uplift.

On the first day of field camp, the professors took us on a tour of Santa Fe and gave us an overview of the areas and different sites where we would be working. The first was the Jemez Mountains. From our location, slightly north of a volcanic field, we were able to see mesas dissected by streams resulting in developing canyons that make up the Pajarito Plateau. In addition to the mesas, the Pajarito Fault and Cerros del Rio Basalt Field were visible from this location. Next, we stopped at White Rock Overlook, which is a 300m-deep gorge that was cut by the Rio Grande River. Here we could see various distinct features within the Espanola Basin. Following the White Rock Overlook, we stopped at the Valle Grande Overlook which provided us with a view of the Sandia Mountains. Lastly, we stopped at an area of the Naciamento Fault where geologic units were visible that pertained to the mapping exercises to be assigned later in the week.

Day two of field camp was to map and describe sedimentary features in a vertical outcrop of the Puye Formation exposed along New Mexico Highway 4. The distinguishable sedimentary features within the outcrop assisted in the differentiation of the units. Ultimately, a vertical face map of the Puye Formation outcrop was produced.

The following four days were spent in White Rock Canyon gathering field data and identifying the geologic hazards in the Buckman Mesa area. In order to generate a stratigraphic section of the area, individual units were identified and December 2015

The Jemez Mountains—one of six sites visited during Geological Engineering Design Field Camp 2 by 2015 Beardsley-Kuper scholar Ann Sutton Teichmiller

described, thicknesses of each were determined, and the weathering profiles were sketched. Upon mapping out the entire site area on foot, noting the relative elevations of units and the unit contacts, a geologic map of the Buckman Mesa area was created. Lastly, a hazards assessment was conducted of the Buckman Mesa area and a geologic hazards map was produced from the findings.

The San Isidro Quadrangle within the White Mesa was the site for our third and largest project of field camp. The purpose of this project was to map the geology and quantify the amount of minable gypsum within the San Isidro Quadrangle.

The complex structural geology of the area demanded intensive field assessment of the site in order to map the area.

The extensive faulting within the San Isidro Quadrangle presented difficulties concerning interpretation of the area’s geology. This provided us with the opportunity to enhance and refine our observation and interpretation skills. A geologic map, two geologic cross-sections, was produced. Accompanying these maps was a memorandum defining the extent of minable gypsum in the area as determined by the mineral assessment completed in the field and associated hazards with mining at this site.

The final project was a scan line survey of discontinuities at a small road cut near St. John’s College in Santa Fe. Two stereonet projections were generated, one containing my individual data and one containing the entire class data. A discussion of the findings, result comparisons, and what they revealed about the discontinuities in the area were required in addition to the projections.

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NEWS OF THE ASSOCIATION – FOUNDATION REPORT preparing me for my future endeavors as a geological engineer.

Financially, field camp can be a burden on students due to the many costly variables such as tuition, room and board, and travel. Because of the financial support the Beardsley-Kuper Scholarship provided, I was able to focus my time, energy, and efforts into preparing for Field Camp 2. While in Santa Fe, I was able to totally submerge myself in the field camp experience. I eagerly embraced each project determined to complete it with excellence while improving and refining my skills. The Beardsley-Kuper scholarship lifted the financial burden I had felt the previous summer when attending Field Camp 1 in Oklahoma.

With the elimination of the financial stress, my focused efforts assisted me in earning the top grade at field camp. I would like to thank the scholarship committee for selecting me as the recipient of this year’s Beardsley-Kuper Scholarship. Upon graduating in May 2016, I look forward to entering the international marketplace of geological engineering.

My time at field camp truly was one of the most beneficial experiences I have had thus far in my educational career. As a result, I grew substantially in all areas of the geological engineering discipline. There is little that can compare to the handson experience I had in Santa Fe, and it certainly aided in

It’s FREE to Become a Student Member!

Take advantage of everything AEG has to offer: scholarships, mentors, field trips, technical speakers, networking opportunities, and more. Visit www.aegweb.org and join today!

NEWS OF THE ASSOCIATION – COMMITTEE REPORTS

Governance Restructure Committee

Change Is upon Us Ken Neal, Communications Subcommittee Chair There has been a significant effort to develop a smooth transition from our current to future organization. A draft Transition Plan has been prepared by the Governance Restructure Committee (GRC) Transition Team to implement this process. By the time this article is published, you should have completed at least a cursory review of and cast your vote on AEG’s Restated Bylaws. Policies to replace the bylaws sections that were not made part of the Restated Bylaws have been drafted and made available on AEG’s website for your comments. The draft policies will be edited and submitted for discussion and approval at the Midyear Board Meeting in April.

The planned next step in the process will be electing Regional Directors (RDs). As outlined in the Restated Bylaws, there should be an equal geographic distribution of one-year, two-year, and three-year transition terms so that no single area of the U.S. has all their RD terms expiring at the same time. A transition survey has been prepared to identify current Section Chairs who are interested in serving as RDs. The completed surveys will be included as part of the 30-day documents for the 2016 Midyear Board Meeting. The Executive Council, AEG Headquarters, and the GRC Transition Team will review the returned surveys and use them to develop the final transition plan.

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Following the Midyear Board Meeting, AEG Headquarters will solicit nominations for the transitional RDs. Nominees can include available current Section Chairs, as well as other full AEG Members residing within their respective region. Nomination forms will be sent via mail and e-mail, and posted on AEG’s website following the 2016 Midyear Board Meeting. The form instructions will include a map showing regional boundaries, RD’s duties, length of transition term, and an explanation of eligibility for reelection. Each candidate will be asked to submit a brief biography. A specified time frame for submittal to AEG Headquarters will be included with the form. Following receipt of nominations, and verification of availability, commitment, and qualifications, AEG Headquarters will prepare and submit ballots for each region. Timing will coincide with submittal of ballots for election of Executive Council members, planned for June 2016.

The reason future elections will be earlier than in the past is to provide newly-elected RDs time to plan travel, and to have time to become familiar with the issues outlined in the 30-day notice for the Annual Board Meeting in Kona.

Members are encouraged to check their mail, e-mail, The Insider, and AEG’s website for news on various aspects of the process, including timing of various events and any changes in schedules.

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December 2015

ANNUAL MEETING RECAP

AEG Celebrates a Successful 58th Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, PA Dale Andrews, 2015 Annual Meeting Co-Chair

Meeting Co-Chairs Dale Andrews and Paul Hale

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he Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists welcomed over 450 attendees this past September 21–26 to Pittsburgh, PA, for its 58th Annual Meeting: Conference at the Confluence. The pre-meeting kicked off on Monday with two field trips. One took attendees to the Bolivar Dam and the second offered great exposures of landslides throughout the local area.

Tuesday offered two additional field trips. A boat tour showcased the many great geological, geotechnical, and environmental projects that are viewable from the Pittsburgh Rivers.

The second field trip provided access to several significant constructed rockcuts slopes. Tuesday also provided an opportunity for in-depth learning from the three short courses that were offered covering topics on ethics, deep foundations, and rockfall characterization. Tuesday evening concluded with the traditional Ice Breaker where attendees were greeted by over 40 exhibitors.

Wednesday morning began the technical sessions and symposia, leading off with the Keynote speaker, Dr. John Harper, who provided an excellent overview of Pittsburgh’s geologic history. 2015 Karl Terzaghi Lecturer Dr. Donald Bruce followed with a talk on the evolution of geotechnical constructions techniques. However, this was just the tip of the iceberg.

With approximately 200 abstracts and 22 posters presented December 2015

over three full days, there was no shortage of topics offered to meet everyone’s interests.

Of course our meetings are about having some fun too!

The Special Event took place on a sunset dinner cruise and the weather could not have cooperated more. The Annual Banquet was a wonderful social opportunity and a beautiful setting to award and congratulate several of our outstanding members, including our most prestigious award, Honorary Member, which was bestowed to both Dr. Abdul Shakoor and Dr. James Hamel. Four non-technical field trips also provided opportunities to partake in the city’s cultural offerings.

A few new ideas were inaugurated at this meeting, including the use of a mobile meeting application that allowed attendees to view and organize their must-see sessions throughout the meeting using their smartphone. A local university showcase was also provided via a 32-inch monitor at the registration desk that highlighted several of the local universities’ geology programs. AEG completely revamped its web site to improve the accessibility to information and simplify registration to our meetings. Please share your feedback on any of these new offerings.

It really was a great meeting! Special thanks for making it a reality must be given to its many sponsors and exhibitors for their support of the meeting as well as its amazing volunteers.

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ANNUAL MEETING RECAP

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s p i r T d l e i F

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ANNUAL MEETING RECAP

ABOVE: The AEG Foundation continues their fundraising for scholarships at the AM with a silent auction that included this quilt made by AEG member Jane Gill-Shaler (pictured at left).

The Annual Meeting offers plenty of opportunities to socialize over food, student posters and with exhibitors.

December 2015

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ANNUAL MEETING RECAP

n o i t a i c o s s The A

BELOW, L to R: AEG Past Presidents Gary Luce and Ken Fergason, current President Paul Santi, and President-Elect Dale Andrews.

AEG’s great volunteers and advocates for the profession recieve their well deserved awards: FAR LEFT: Nate Saraceno took home the Douglas R. Piteau award for Outstanding Young Member.

LEFT: Marie Garsjo was honored for her years of service to AEG with the Floyd T. Johnston award.

BOTTOM LEFT: Special Service Honoree Karen C. Smith BOTTOM CENTER & RIGHT: 2015 Honorary Members James Hamel and Abdul Shakoor

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December 2015

ANNUAL MEETING RECAP

AEG 2014–15 President Ken Fergason passes the torch to incoming 2015–16 President Paul Santi.

AEG Past Presidents gathered during the President’s Reception prior to the banquet.

ABOVE: Past Presidents Jenn Bauer, Dorian Kuper and Susan Steele-Weir LEFT: 2015–16 Treasurer Kathy Troost will be the fourth woman to hold the post when she takes the reins in 2017.

ABOVE: AEG’s Texas Section is always well-represented.

Cynthia Palomares and Chris Matthewson are long-time AEG members and seasoned Annual Meeting attendees.

CENTER RIGHT: The AEG Foundation Silent Auction brought in nearly $6,300 for the West-Gray Scholarship Fund.

ABOVE: The Annual Meeting provides a great opportunity for AEG Foundation members to meet in person and discuss ways to keep the scholarship arm of AEG strong.

December 2015

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HEADER NEWS OFHERE THE ASSOCIATION

Remembering John Chambers Crowell,CEG (1917–2015) John C. Crowell, CEG, NAS (1917–2015) was born in State College, PA, and received his BS in geology from the University of Texas in 1939. He then moved to UCLA to undertake graduate work in geology, but his studies were interrupted by the Second World War. During the war he joined the Army Air Corps and found himself forecasting wave heights for the D-Day invasion of Normandy in 1944, and later service as an Army Air Corps weather recon officer in the ChinaBurma-India Theater. When the war ended he resumed his graduate studies, enrolling in oceanographic meteorology at Scripps. His 1946 master’s thesis was titled Sea, Swell, and Surf Forecasting Methods Employed for the Allied Invasion of Normandy, June 1944.

He then completed his PhD in geology at UCLA under Prof. James Gilluly in 1947, and was invited to join the UCLA geology faculty. During his years at UCLA Crowell was active in AEG, leading field trips at their national meetings in southern CA. He was one of the first geology professors to become registered as a geologist and engineering geologist in 1968.

During his 20 year tenure (1947–67) at UCLA and 21 years (1967–87) at UC Santa Barbara, Crowell achieved international prominence for his work on the origin of submarine canyons and turbidity currents, explaining how conglomerates could be deposited in deep water mixed with mud (this had puzzled many workers for decades). During the 1950s and 1960s, Crowell also worked out the displacement history of some of the major strike-slip faults in California, and was the first geologist to convincingly document 300 km of right-lateral offset along the southern San Andreas fault.

He formulated the Ridge Basin model (The Origin of Late Cenozoic Basins in California) that showed how most of the late Quaternary depositional basins in southern California were pull-apart basins, and that tectonics was driving the sedimentation. In the late 1960s, he began investigating the record of ancient glaciations in Europe, North America, and across the Gondwanan continents of the Southern Hemisphere. His world travels gave him unique insights into the physical processes impacting faulting, sedimentation, and glaciation across the world.

He was selected for inclusion in the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in 1981, and retired from U.C. Santa Barbara in 1987. His colleague Robert Norris cited him as 14

“the consummate university faculty member.” He was also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, recipient of the Penrose Medal and a Career Contribution Award from the Geological Society of America, and an honorary doctorate from the University Louvain, Belgium.

Professor John C. Crowell, CEG recently passed away at the age of 98. The photo at left was taken last year, holding a copy of his ultrasecret work on wave forecasting for the Allied invasion of Normandy in 1944 (known by its code name, the Neptune Monograph). This work formed the core of his master’s thesis at Scripps Institute after the war, and it remains in print, almost 70 years later (see Kindle Edition, above center).

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AEG NEWS 58 (4)

December 2015

NEWS OF THEHEADER ASSOCIATION HERE

Memorial to Robert Eugene Harpster (1930–2014) Bob Harpster CEG died in Oakland, CA, on March 8, 2014, at the age of 83. He was one of the earliest members of AEG, having joined the California AEG in 1958, shortly after its formation. Bob was born in Olney, IL, on September 25, 1930. He grew up in north central Illinois and attended Beloit College, receiving his BS in geology in 1952. He took a position as a petroleum geologist with Geo Service Co. in Abilene, TX, joining AAPG in 1953. While living in Abilene, he began working on his MS at the University of Texas. In 1954, he entered the U.S. Army and taught basic soil mechanics at the Combat Engineers School at Fort Belvoir, VA for two years, while completing his master’s thesis, titled Geological Application of Soil Mechanics to Del Rio Formation in Austin, Texas, Area.

In 1956, he moved to Los Angeles to accept a position as project geologist with Bechtel. In 1957, he joined the California Department of Water Resources as an engineering geologist, working out of Sacramento. It was here that he joined the fledging CAEG. He initially worked on the Feather River Project, part of the massive California Water Project that brought water from northern to central and southern California. He became Certified Engineering Geologist #36 in 1968, when the State of

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California established their Board of Registration for Geologists and Geophysicists. He supervised dozens of engineering geologists involved with the State Water Project, the largest no-federal public works project in American history.

With the state water project work winding down, in 1973 he accepted an offer as senior engineering geologist Woodward-Clyde Consultants in San Francisco. From 1973–80 he managed numerous domestic projects, and authored papers on Selected Clays for Use in Embankment Dams, and Methods of Investigating Faults. He also supervised the development of field methods for investigating surface fault rupture hazards, and x-ray diffraction studies for relative age dating of paleosoils. He supervised the firm’s exploration work in the Paradox Basin of eastern Utah as a potential nuclear waste repository.

In 1980, he was named vice president for quality assurance and applied sciences at Woodward Clyde, and became a certified quality assurance lead auditor. From that time forward he spent most of his energies managing or auditing international projects, including studies carried out by Woodward Clyde in Costa Rica, India, Greece, Libya, and Venezuela. In 1988, he moved to the firm’s Las Vegas office to be closer to their work at Nevada Test Site and other sites in the Great Basin, where he continued to serve as the firm’s senior quality assurance specialist. He retired from Woodward Clyde in 1993, and moved back to the San Francisco Bay area, in Alameda, CA. He then served as a consultant to Mactec, CER/SAIC, and URS until 1998.

Bob had an encyclopedic-like knowledge of geology. He was a Fellow of the GSA, and a 50-year member of AAPG and AEG. He was an avid reader and traveled widely during his retirement, including a trip to Antarctica in 2000, where he plunged into the 31 degree waters for a “swim.” He was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather and was ever supportive, loving, and well meaning.

A Change in Member Benefits AEG News print copies will now be available to members at a cost of $30 for all six issues in 2016: • Quarterly issues #1–4

AEG 2016 Annual Meeting ..................................................2 AEG Corporate Sponsors ..................................................39 Geotechnology....................................................................5

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December 2015

Index of Advertisers

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AEG NEWS 58 (4)

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HEADER NEWS OFHERE THE PROFESSION

Geosciences Congressional Visit Day 2015 Stephen Evans, Washington Section I had the honor of joining AEG’s John Williams and Paul Santi, at the USGS reception in Washington DC, the evening before Geosciences Congressional Visits Days on September 29–30. Our purpose was to speak on behalf of the geosciences in support of increased grant funding from the NSF. This year’s budget cut geosciences by approximately 9 percent, and also failed to include geosciences as a “hard science” along with biology, physics, and others. John and I

were in the same group and met with aides to California Representatives Jackie Speier, Adam Schiff, and Mark Takano.

We also met with an aide to my state representative, Jim McDermott (Washington). Lastly, we met with aides of the two California Senators, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein. We were unable to speak directly with any of the legislators, as this was following the near shutdown of the government at the end of September.

L to R: AEG delegates to the 2015 Geosciences Congressional Visit Day: John Williams, Paul Santi and Stephen Evans

TheAEGE-Store isnowlive!

Imagine starting your day with a nice hot cup o' joe that you sip slowly out of your very own AEG coffee mug. This could be you! There are a wide variety of items available to purchase now on AEG's new E-Store, including a classic black ceramic coffee mug with the AEG logo, past issues of AEG News, Environmental & Engineering Geoscience journal, AEG special publications and more!

AEG has worked in conjunction with the AEG Foundation to put together some quality AEG logo items to make available for sale to members who want to show their AEG pride—just in time for the gift-giving season, of course! Shown here are some examples of the items that are now available for purchase. Half of the proceeds collected from the sale of the items that are offered under the AEGF/AEG E-Store category will go to the AEG Foundation.

You can find AEG's E-Store online at www.aegweb.org under E-Store located in the main menu on the left.

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AEG NEWS 58 (4)

December 2015

HEADER FIELD TRIPS HERE

Welcome to Flash Flood Alley Blanco River Flooding, San Marcos, Texas, Memorial Day, 2015 Marie Garsjo

The Texas Hill Country is known for its limestone, scenic beauty, and wineries. It is also known as Flash Flood Alley by the National Weather Service, which has identified it as the most flash-flood prone area in the U.S. The area holds numerous rainfall records, which are anywhere from 20 to 40 inches in 24 hours.

The Hill Country consists of 25 counties in Central and Southern Texas, stretching to the west between Austin and San Antonio. It is bounded by the Balcones Fault to the east and the Llano Uplift to the north and west.

Periods of heavy rains and the flooding occur twice a year there. In the spring, they are convective events due to orographic lift at the Balcones Fault; in the fall, the storms are usually remnants of hurricanes occurring along the coast. Flash Flood Alley’s notoriety is caused by high rainfall duration and intensity, accompanied by severe thunderstorms and occasional tornadoes, compounded by watersheds characterized by steep, narrow canyons and shallow soils. Once these soils are December 2015

saturated, any new rainfall runs directly into rivers, streams, and the lower areas prone to flash flooding.

May 2015, was the one of the rainiest on record. By Memorial Day weekend, much of the region was at least 2–4 inches (100–300 percent) above normal, and heavy rains and severe thunderstorms continued. From Saturday night to early Sunday morning May 23–24, 10–13 inches of rain fell across southern Blanco and NE Kendall counties, leading to a rapid rise in the Blanco and San Marcos Rivers.

Flood stage on the Blanco River is 13 feet. The Blanco River at the town of Wimberley rose from 5 feet at 9 p.m. to almost 41 feet by 1 a.m. The river rose 20 feet in one hour between 10:45 and 11:45 p.m. At midnight, the stage was 32.4 feet. At 5 a.m., emergency officials estimated that 350 homes were underwater. The river crested at 43 feet early Sunday morning, flowing at a rate of 223,000 cubic feet per second—2.5 times the flow of Niagara Falls. The river level fell below flood stage Monday evening.

AEG NEWS 58 (4)

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HEADER FIELD TRIPS HERE Several neighborhoods were evacuated and the Texas National Guard dispatched eight helicopters for high-water, rooftop rescues. City and county crews also used dump trucks, backhoes, and fire engines for rescues. About 1,000 people were bussed to shelters. Portions of Interstate 35 were flooded and several bridges and low-water crossings were washed out. One house, undermined by the high water, fell into the river and floated downstream carrying nine people, members of two vacationing families. It hit the Fisher Store Bridge and disintegrated. Only one of the people inside survived, a man from Corpus Christi, and his dog. In October, he had recovered from his injuries enough to speak about his experience; his story can be found at http://www.wfaa.com/story/news /local/texas-news/2015/10/23/man-who-lost-his-wife-childrenand-close-friends-in-wimberley-floods-living-his-faith/74423012/.

There were a total of 13 fatalities and countless livestock losses. Hays County officials said that 321 homes were destroyed, and another 322 suffered major damage. More than 370 homes had minor damage and 496 others were affected in some way by the floods. Several USGS stream gages were damaged, one was washed away completely. The damage estimate developed in early June stands at $33 million.

The Texas Section took a field trip to view some of the flood devastation. Read more about it in The HomeFront section of this issue, page 28.

As this story is going to press, remnants of Hurricane Patricia are causing heavy rains again in Central Texas. On Thursday, October 22, between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. Saturday, October 24, over 20 inches of rain fell in Corsicana, which is 60 miles south of Dallas and almost 190 miles north of San Marcos. Rescue crews responded to over 60 reports of stranded motorists—including two crew members on a Union Pacific freight train north of Corsicana. That train, carrying carloads of cement, was eventually washed off the tracks.

In Flash Flood Alley, torrential rains began Thursday, October 29, setting new records and leaving six more people dead. The National Weather Service, calling Friday’s flooding “historic,” issued a flood advisory Friday night through Saturday. Rainfall varied from 5–13 inches across the region. At least 213 low-water crossings across the area were impassable, and roads and interstate freeways were closed. The Houston Fire Department responded to 130 high-water rescues. In Austin, Onion Creek reached a record flood stage of 18

BOTH PHOTOS: Upstream from Wimberly at the Fischer Store Road Bridge, which had been overtopped and swept away during the flooding.

PHOTOS BY MARIE GARSJO

25.1 feet Saturday morning just before 11:30 a.m., and was still climbing. Several neighborhoods were evacuated and multiple shelters were set up to help the public. One man drove into its rising water, although he couldn’t see the underlying road, and was swept about one-half-mile downstream. He was able to grab onto a tree and climb out of his sedan, which sank shortly thereafter. He called a local news station from his perch about 20 feet up in the tree. This footage is available at: http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/story/30395762/man-getsswept-away-in-flood-calls-newsroom-from-tree. The Blanco River crested at 42.56 feet.

Relevent News Sources http://floodsafety.com/texas/texasfactoids.htm http://floodsafety.com/texas/regional_info/regional_info/austin_zone.htm http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ewx/?n=memorial_weekend_floods_2015

Field trips are fun to go on and fun to read about!

If you had a fun and educational time, share your photos and a short description with your peers. Send a brief write-up and high resolution photos to AEG News Editor Anna Saindon at news@aegweb.org.

AEG NEWS 58 (4)

December 2015

FIELD TRIPS

Wine Terroir and Tasting Tour Yadkin County, North Carolina, October 9–11 Sue Buchanan, AEG Carolinas Field Trip Chair It was a beautiful fall weekend in Yadkin Valley wine country during the Carolina Section’s field trip to Thurmond, Hamptonville, and Flint Hill, NC. Professor Stephen Harper of Eastern Carolina University, Professor Marlene McCauley of Guilford College, and Jane Gill-Shaler of Gill Editing Online hosted. These three volunteers helped a group of geo-professionals and their family and friends learn about local geology, topography, and climate and how all of these and more affect growing grapes in North Carolina, wine making and production, and how to truly understand the meaning of wine tasting.

On Friday evening Prof. Marlene McCauley gave a tutorial on the science of wine and what our senses (sight, smell, and taste) tell our brains about the wine (Do I like it? Would I buy a bottle?). Marlene, who teaches Terrior: the Science of Wine, quizzed our noses on different smells that are found in white and red wines. Some of us found out that we need to take Marlene’s class, while others did quite well; their noses didn’t fool them. Prof. Stephen Harper also introduced us to hard apple ciders produced by McRitchie Winery & Ciderworks.

On Saturday, we visited three wineries: Jones von Drehle Vineyards and Winery, Dobbins Creek Vineyards, and Shadow Springs Vineyards. Established in 2007, Jones von Drehle (JvD) started planting vines on pastureland and woodlands in 2009.

We tasted eleven wines, including their newly released 2013 Tempranillo, and had lunch. Then we took a walking tour of the winery with the JvD winemaker, Dan Tallman, to see the stainless steel wine vats, stored wine in oak barrels, and the chemistry lab where wine is tested and tasted. We finished the tour in the vineyard where Marlene and the JvD vineyard farmer taught us how soil, bedrock, regional and local climate, elevation, topography, slope, and placement of the vines with respect to the sun all affect the production and quality of the grapes.

At Dobbins Creek Vineyards, which started planting vines in 2002 on family owned tobacco and pastureland, we tasted nine wines and learned that taste of the same type of wine can change from year to year due to environmental impacts, like precipitation, on the grapes. Their 2011 Ram Cat Red (Estate Grown Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot) is named for their resident cougar that roams their property (EEISH!). We ended the day at Shadow Springs Vineyards—founded in 2005 on pastureland.

The vineyard is set up on an open lyre trellis system (“Y” shaped) which allows the vine to split into two sides controlling the vigor of the vine and gives a larger harvest on a normal year. There, we tasted nine wines, including Shortcake, a strawberry wine.

We ended the trip with a vineyard tour, wine tasting, and lunch buffet at Flint Hill Vineyards on Sunday. This historic residence and farm has been family-owned for five generations, which is evident by the many old family photographs on display.

Flint Hill Vineyards opened in 2005 and currently has eight wines available for tasting.

December 2015

Dan Tallman, wine maker at Jones von Drehle Vineyards and Winery, explained to us how the grapes are made into wine, and how the wine is stored, tested, and tasted in the winery.

Our thanks to Marlene, Steve, and Jane for sharing their expertise in the science of wine, and for all their hard work and volunteered time putting together a delightful field trip. Attendeee Andy Prusienski writes: “On behalf of myself and my wife Jeanine…this trip was well planned and well thought out; we found it to be both entertaining and educational. Thank you to all who were a major part of this wonderful trip. We would like to add that if you plan any more trips similar to this one please let us know we would love to be a part of it.”

Prof. Marlene McCauley talking to us about the grape vine trellis and vine stalk at the Flint Hill Vineyards.

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HEADER HERE CONTRIBUTIONS PROFESSIONAL

Natural Nourishment to Address Shoreline Erosion:

The Elwha River Example Ian Miller, Washington Sea Grant Figure 2. The Zandmotor under construction on the southern coast of Holland, 2011.

Introduction Beaches provide multiple services to humans and other natural communities. Besides their high recreational value, beaches are critical habitat for spawning of certain forage fish (like grunion, smelt and sand lance; Figure 1), and for hosting prey utilized by shorebirds. Physically, beaches demonstrate an extraordinary capacity to respond and adapt to variations in wave energy, water level and sediment supply by sediment transport and beach morphology. For example, during winter storm seasons, high-energy dissipative beaches may erode as sediment is moved offshore. Then the beaches will be re-built again during the summer, resulting in a net long-term stable beach position.

The slope and sediments of a beach can also change during storm events, optimizing the beach morphology to dissipate energy. As a result of the capacity for the beach to change shape (i.e. change slope, move sediment on- or offshore, or change grain size), it can persist despite being subjected to extraordinary kinetic energy. This adaptive capacity makes beaches superb barriers for human communities and habitats located at the edge of the ocean, and the capacity that beaches have to buffer the ocean’s energy can be thought of as a “community resilience” service.

However, beaches can also chronically erode when water level, wave climate, or sediment supply conditions change and are unfavorable to recovery. Shorelines of the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions of the U.S., for example, have eroded by an average of ~0.5 m over the last century (Hapke, et al.

2010). Even under chronically erosive conditions, beaches can continue to provide ecological and community resilience services. The morphology of a chronically eroding beach can adapt to high-energy storm conditions, which can dissipate some of the kinetic energy. On developed shorelines where beach

Figure 1. Grunion spawning on the intertidal beach at La Jolla Shores, California, in April of 2012.

PHOTO BY GREG MCCORMACK.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF DUTCH MINISTRY OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND ENVIRONMENT.

erosion impinges on vulnerable infrastructure, shoreline erosion is a hazard. In the U.S., shorelines are subject to increasing development pressure as the populations of coastal communities increase (Wilson and Fischetti 2010). Contributing to an emerging coastal hazard “perfect storm” is sea level rise, which is already influencing communities around the nation (Sweet, et al. 2014), and which is projected to accelerate rates of erosion and shoreline change in the coming decades.

Coastal erosion hazards are traditionally addressed using a variety of engineering approaches that seek to harden and stabilize the coastline, but these “shoreline hardening” approaches sometimes reduce or eliminate the services that beaches can provide. This leads to a question—how can beaches be stabilized without compromising their ecological and resilience services? Can beaches be maintained as beaches, rather than defaulting to conversion to hardened surfaces? Where possible, an optimal approach is to remove infrastructure from the current and future coastal hazard erosion zone or to protect undeveloped shorelines from development so that they can erode freely, without damaging infrastructure. Poor feasibility in many situations demands alternative approaches.

Beach nourishment is a common practice, using sediment supplied from offshore or upland borrow sites and placed in the intertidal zone to widen the beach. Beach nourishments can also be effective at maintaining services that beaches provide.

Conducted at large scales, nourishment projects have suffered from criticisms associated with their ecological impacts, longevity, cost efficiency, and sustainability (Pilkey and Wheeler 1996). These shortcomings have led to innovative nourishment approaches, such as the Zandmotor experiment in Holland, which are designed to replicate natural coastal processes that enhance sediment deposition. The Zandmotor is a massive 21.5 million-m3 deposit of sand designed to nourish a 10–20 km stretch of coast over a 30-year period (Stive, et al. 2013).

Unlike traditional nourishment, which typically spreads sand out along the shoreline, the Zandmotor was placed in one location (Figure 2) and is intended to take advantage of natural sediment transport processes to transport sand along the shoreline and on to the intertidal beach. This approach is expected to

AEG NEWS 58 (4)

December 2015

PROFESSIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS HEADER HERE

Summary and Anticipated Responses to Elwha River Dam Removal 2011). Prior to dam removal, beaches to the east of the river mouth were characterized by chronic erosion at rates exceeding 1 m/yr and beach substrate was composed of a large gravel/cobble fraction (Figure 4), both of which were attributed in part to a sediment supply deficit resulting from dams in the river (J. Warrick, et al. 2009). After dam removal, beaches to the east of the river mouth were expected to respond rapidly to the increase in sediment supply. Specifically, beaches to the east of the river mouth were expected to see a reduced rate of erosion associated with the addition of sediment volume to their profiles, and the grain size of the active portion of the intertidal beach is expected to decrease.

Figure 3. Map of four cross-shore beach profile transects (132, 164, 190 and 204) used to assess the initial shoreline response to the Elwha Dam Removal.

The Elwha River drains into the Strait of Juan de Fuca (SJDF) in Washington State, USA. BACKGROUND PHOTO BY USDA NAIP PROGRAM

have ecological and efficiency benefits over typical nourishment approaches and is being touted as a potential long-term engineering solution to address shoreline retreat in an era of rapid relative sea level rise.

Natural Nourishment Nourishment projects are not always attractive or feasible either due to inadequate sediment supply at borrow sites, high costs associated with transporting sediment, or ecological concerns. A potentially more attractive approach is “natural nourishment,� in which eroding shorelines might be maintained by reconnecting terrigenous sediment supply (reduced due to dam construction or other sediment impoundments) to the coastal environment. The sediment flux from land to the coastal ocean has been reduced around the globe due to sediment trapping by reservoirs (Syvitski, et al. 2005) and the construction of dams has been associated with coastal retreat (Willis and Griggs 2003). Restoring sediment flux to the coastal environment by dam removal may offer benefits to restoring currently eroding sections of coast or maintaining coasts projected to erode under elevated rates of sea level rise.

The Elwha Example The removal of two dams on the Elwha River in Washington State arguably provides the best opportunity in the U.S., if not the world, to study the coastal response to a natural nourishment project. The Elwha River is a coastal river draining the Olympic Peninsula into the Strait of Juan de Fuca (Figure 3). A conceptual model of sediment transport for the Elwha River delta and adjacent littoral cell suggests that beaches are maintained in part by sediment supply from the river driven from west to east by waves and wind energy moving into the Strait of Juan de Fuca (Gelfenbaum, Duda and Warrick, Chapter 9: December 2015

Figure 4. The coarse intertidal beach at Transect 190 (perspective facing west), characteristic of the shoreline of the Elwha River delta prior to dam removal PHOTO BY IAN MILLER

A project initiated in 2011 by Washington Sea Grant was designed to investigate rates and patterns of beach morphology change associated with the Elwha Dam removal (Miller, The Changing Elwha Shoreline 2012) and complement annual to bi-annual combined topography/bathymetry surveys led by the USGS (Gelfenbaum, Stevens, et al. 2015). Four cross-shore oriented transects are mapped at least once each month, ideally during tides at or below mean low water, using Real Time Kinematic-Differential GPS mounted on a rover pole. Digital grain size photos are collected at 0.25m elevation increments on the beach face and analyzed using a digital grain size technique (Gelfenbaum, Stevens, et al. 2015). Profile data are used to create time-series of beach position, and digital grain size photos are used to produce estimates of mean grain size. The high frequency intertidal changes revealed by these data can be interpreted using bi-annual surveys led by the USGS that include bathymetric coverage to a depth of approximately 15 meters (Gelfenbaum, Stevens, et al. 2015).

The removal of the two dams released an estimated 6 million m3 of sediment to the coastal environment between September 2011 and September 2013, ~ 2.5 million m3 of which formed intertidal and sub-tidal deposits of primarily

AEG NEWS 58 (4)

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HEADER HERE CONTRIBUTIONS PROFESSIONAL

500

Meters

m

2011

500

Meters

2015

m

Figure 5. Before/after aerial photos of the Elwha River delta.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF GOOGLE EARTH

sand and gravel in the near shore zone adjacent to the river mouth (Gelfenbaum, Stevens, et al. 2015). After the dam removal was completed in January 2015, an additional ~1.0 million m3 of primarily sand and gravel had been added to the Elwha River delta (Warrick, Gelfenbaum, et al. 2015). The majority of the measurable deposition occurred directly adjacent to the river mouth and is forming a new, complex intertidal and estuarine habitat (Figure 5). An additional area of sub-tidal deposition of mud and sand lies to the west of the river, and another deposit of sand stretches around the delta to the east in the lower intertidal and shallow sub-tidal zone (Warrick, Gelfenbaum, et al. 2015).

The response of the beach to this massive deposition of dam-related sediment has been complex in both space and time. Small amounts of sand were first observed on the beach in May of 2012, but the first massive deposition event occurred in late fall 2012 and was followed by rapid progradation of the beach near the river mouth by the summer of 2013 (Figure 6). A conceptual model of sediment transport around the Elwha River delta suggested that this massive accumulation of sand and gravel deposited near the river mouth would be expected to transport rapidly to the east along the beach (Gelfenbaum, Duda and Warrick 2011). By contrast, profile data suggests that alongshore transport of sand to the west occurred, resulting in beach accretion at beach transect 132, ~600 m to the west of the river mouth (Figure 7), and a reduction in the mean grain size of the beach (Gelfenbaum, Stevens, et al. 2015).

In contrast, intertidal profiles to the east of the river mouth area continued to erode through the first two years after dam removal (Figure 7). This erosion occurred despite the deposition of sand in the lower intertidal and shallow sub-tidal that began in the winter of 2012–13 and expanded in volume through January 2015 (Warrick, Gelfenbaum, et al. 2015).

While the persistent erosion on the eastern Elwha River delta is not completely consistent with the expected transport of sediment around the Elwha River delta, it does not necessarily reflect a long-term trend. There is evidence that the beach is responding at Transect 190, approximately 1000 m east of the river mouth, albeit at a slower rate than expected (Figure 7). The slower response rate may be due to the mechanism by which beach nourishment appears to be occurring—rather

Figure 6. Beach profile and shoreline position before, during and after dam removal at Transect 164 (see Figure 3), with key components of the dam removal timeline illustrated: A) Initiation of dam removal, B) the lower dam site begins passing sand and gravel, C) the upper dam site begins passing sand and gravel and D) dam removal is complete.

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AEG NEWS 58 (4)

December 2015

PROFESSIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS HEADER HERE

Figure 7. Time series of beach position at three cross-shore transects adjacent to the Elwha River mouth (see Figure 3), with key components of the dam removal timeline illustrated: A) Initiation of dam removal, B) the lower dam site begins passing sand and gravel, C) the upper dam site begins passing sand and gravel and D) dam removal is complete.

than being dominated by along-shore sediment transport processes, an apparent seasonal pattern of summer beach growth and winter retreat at Transect 190 (Figure 7) that started in the summer of 2014 suggests that complex crossshore processes may be controlling the nourishment of the intertidal beach.

What It All Means The Elwha River delta and surrounding coastal areas are still responding to dam removal and it may take another 10 or 20 years before we really understand the role played by dam removal in nourishing the shoreline. Towards that end, monitoring continues on the Elwha River delta itself, as well as on shorelines east and west of the delta (Parks 2013) and on Ediz Hook (Miller, Tracking Shorelines 2014) at the terminal east end of the drift cell. Those data-collection projects will undoubtedly continue to offer illuminating insights into the fate and distribution of beach-building sediment associated with a large natural nourishment project. Such efforts will also inform conversations, planning and action geared towards enhancing coastal resilience in the U.S. and elsewhere.

The author wishes to acknowledge Dr. Guy Gelfenbaum (USGS) for a thoughtful review of this article.

References Gelfenbaum, G., A. W. Stevens, I. M. Miller, J. A. Warrick, A. S. Ogston, and E. Eidam. “Large-scale Dam Removal on the Elwha River Washington, USA: Coastal Geomorphic Change.” Geomorphology, 2015: 649–668.

Gelfenbaum, G., J. J. Duda, and J. A. Warrick. “Chapter 9: Summary and Antici-

December 2015

pated Responses to Elwha River Dam Removal.” In Coastal Habitats of the Elwha River, Washington - Biological and Physical Patterns and Processes Prior to Dam Removal, by J. J. Duda, J. A. Warrick and C. S. Magirl. US Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5120, 2011.

Hapke, C.J., E. A. Himmelstoss, M. G. Kratzmann, J. H. List, and E. R. Thieler.

National Assessment of Shoreline Change: Historical Shoreline Change along the New England and Mid-Atlantic Coasts. USGS Open File Report 2010-1118. US Geological Survey, 2010.

Miller, I. M. The Changing Elwha Shoreline. June 6, 2012.

—. Tracking Shorelines. April 7, 2014. http://coastnerd.blogspot.com/2014/04/tracking-new-shorelines.html.

Parks, D. “Beach Sediment Characterization of, and Bluff Contributions to, the Elwha and Dungeness Drift Cells.” Proceedings of the 8th Annual Elwha Nearshore Consortium Workshop. Port Angeles, WA, 2013. 14–15.

Pilkey, O. H., and K. D. Wheeler. The Corps and the Shore. Island Press, 1996.

Stive, M. J., et al. “A New Alternative to Saving Our Beaches from Sea-Level Rise: The Sand Engine.” Journal of Coastal Research, 2013: 1,001–1,008.

Sweet, W., J. Park, J. Marra, C. Zervas, and S. Gill. Sea Level Rise and Nuisance Flood Frequency Change around the United States. U.S. Department of Commerce, 2014.

Syvitski, J. M., C. J. Vorosmarty, A. J. Kettner, and P. Green. “Impact of Humans on the Flux of Terrestrial Sediment to the Global Coastal Ocean.” Science, 2005: 376–380.

Warrick, J. A., et al. Beach Morphology Monitoring in the Elwha River Littoral Cell 2004–09. US Geological Survey Data Series 288, 2010.

Warrick, J. A., G. Gelfenbaum, A. W. Stevens, I. M. Miller, G. M. Kaminsky, and M. M. Foley. “Coastal Change from a Massive Sediment Input: Dam Removal, Elwha River, Washington USA.” Proceedings of Coastal Sediments ‘15. San Diego, CA: World Sicentific Publishing Company, 2015.

Warrick, J.A., D. A. George, G. Gelfenbaum, P. Ruggiero, G. M. Kaminsky, and M. Beirne. “Beach Morphology and Change Along the Mixed Grain-Size Delta of the Dammed Elwha River, Washington.” Geomorphology, 2009: 136–148.

Willis, C. M., and G. B. Griggs. “Reductions in Fluvial Sediment Discharge by Coastal Dams in California and Implications for Beach Sustainability.”

Journal of Coastal Research, 2003: 167–182.

Wilson, S. G., and T. R. Fischetti. Coastline Population Trends in the United States: 1960 to 2008. U.S. Census Bureau, 2010.

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Rock-Paper-Scissors;Terrain-Fire-Rain Jeffrey R. Keaton, Greg M. Stock, and Jerome V. De Graff

Introduction Climatologists and weather forecasters are predicting a severe El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) for the winter of 2015–16 in the Northern Hemisphere. This likely means increases in both the amount and the intensity of winter rain in parts of the southwestern U.S., particularly California. If so, this would contrast with the extended hot and dry conditions experienced over the past few decades that have produced low soil moisture and drought-stressed trees with enhanced susceptibility to wildfires that burn fast and hot.

Burned watersheds are well-known for generating impressively large amounts of sediment because fire damages or destroys vegetation allowing the full energy of falling rain drops to impact the soil, alters the characteristics of surface soils to enhance runoff and diminish infiltration, and promotes flowing water to progressively increase in sediment concentration often leading to development of debris flows (De Graff, 2014). The importance of sediment yield on degrading water quality and disrupting society is reported in the news. Two recent reports

by Geotechnical Extreme Event Reconnaissance (GEER) Association (www.geerassociation.org) documented some of the effects of a cloudburst-type storm on August 9, 2013, on slopes burned by the 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire (Keaton et al., 2013) and of a series of winter storms that tracked across recently burned slopes in southern California in December 2014 (Keaton et al., 2015). Terrain, geology, vegetation, climate, and weather control landscape equilibrium. Climatechange and weather variability control drought (fire susceptibility) and precipitation distribution and intensity. Randomness in storm-cell development and movement (track and speed) make post-fire sediment yield a probabilistic problem, but neither parameter ranges nor covariances are understood. Hence the title of this article, referencing the game of rock-paper-scissors, with pairwise relationships that have imaginary consequences— scissors cut paper; paper covers rock; rock breaks scissors.

The “randomness” in this game is introduced by the players being able to select any one of the three objects without boundary conditions because they all select an object simultaneously; in other words, presumably, all three players are just as likely to select rock as two players selecting rock and one selecting paper. The randomness of the game could be disrupted if one player always selecting rock, for example.

Terrain-fire-rain is not exactly a game, but can be analyzed within pairwise relationships. Terrain is always present, but it does not have the same slope steepness, slope aspect, slope length, or underlying geology from area to area within a single wildfire perimeter, nor from wildfire to wildfire. The game or problem is defined where fire is always present, but as with terrain, it is variable in intensity depending on vegetation density and moisture. The fire’s effects on watershed soils are a function of time since the burn ended and landscape recovery began. Rain is always present, too. It is rain that generates 24

runoff that erodes the soils on burned watershed slopes.

High-intensity downpours work to dislodge soil particles and keep them in suspension so that the runoff has higher unit weight, which produces higher stream power than clear water would produce in the same channel geometry (Keaton, 2011).

The effects of rain are variable because the storm cells are dynamic and typically poorly understood. A common practice is to collect and analyze precipitation data from the closest rain gauge, report its distance from the debris flows that were generated on burned slopes, and assume that the rainfall that produced the erosion and sediment yield effects is approximately the same as the gauge value.

The terrain-fire-rain game is probabilistic but the primary randomness seems to be with the rain. The terrain could be characterized in great detail, particularly after a fire has removed most or all vegetation. The burn intensity could be characterized by teams of geologists, hydrologists, biologists, and foresters. Therefore, after a fire is extinguished and it is safe for the team to evaluate the conditions, the terrain and fire effects become essentially deterministic, but time-varying as the burned watershed landscape recovers. Landscape recovery is non-uniform over the burned watershed because of slope and aspect, as well as underlying geology and precipitation variability. Sediment discharge models for burned watersheds utilizing these data have been developed by the USGS (Gartner et al., 2008).

Recently burned watersheds produce more sediment during the first few years after the fire (De Graff et al., 2015), but the role landscape recovery plays in returning sediment delivery to pre-fire conditions is not well documented. Recovery time for burned watersheds is valuable for emergency response planning. However, recovery time is challenging to estimate theoretically because it is non-uniform. Future climate conditions are likely to be different from those experienced in the past, and climate change is presenting challenges that result in lack of confidence in forecasting the range of what is expected.

NEXRAD weather radar is a quantitative tool that is freely available for geologists and engineers to use to help visualize rainfall variability in some detail. As weather radar images are displayed every day on news reports and smart phone applications, most people have some idea of how to interpret the displayed results.

NEXRAD Weather Radar The National Weather Service has operated Weather Surveillance Radar since 1957. The system has used Doppler (WSR-88D) or NEXRAD (Next Generation Radar) technology since 1991.

NEXRAD currently has 159 sites throughout the U.S. and select overseas locations. Descriptive information available from the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA; www.ncdc.noaa.gov/) describes radar as an object-detection system that uses radio

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PROFESSIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS HEADER HERE waves to determine range, altitude, movement direction, and speed. The radar antenna transmits pulses of radio waves or microwaves, which bounce off objects in their path, returning a small amount of the wave’s energy (radar echo) to a receiving antenna.

NEXRAD data consist of three meteorological base data quantities: reflectivity, mean radial velocity, and spectrum width, collectively known as Level II data. Additional quantities measured include the dual-polarization base data of differential reflectivity, correlation coefficient, and differential phase. From Level II quantities, computer processing generates numerous meteorological analysis products known as Level III data, which are archived and made available for online retrieval at www.ncdc.noaa.gov/nexradinv/.

Radar reflectance reported in a scale specific to meteorology (decibels in the Z scale, dBZ) is useful in estimating precipitation intensity and amount. Reflectance is a measure of the radar signal returned by moisture (raindrops or hail) in a cubic meter of atmosphere normalized to the radar signal returned by a single 1-mm-diameter raindrop in 1 cubic meter of atmosphere. To adequately sample the atmosphere, the WSR-88D employs a volume coverage pattern consisting of a series of 360-degree sweeps of the antenna at pre-determined elevation angles completed in a specified period of time. In Clear-Air Mode, the WSR-88D completes seven azimuthal scans comprising five elevation angles in a period of ten minutes. In Precipitation Mode, the WSR-88D completes 16 azimuthal scans comprising 14 elevation angles in five minutes.

The NEXRAD data useful for documenting precipitation intensity are base reflectivity and composite reflectivity. Base reflectivity is a display of radar echo intensity measured in dBZ which is used to detect precipitation, evaluate storm structure, locate atmospheric boundaries, and determine hail potential. Composite reflectivity is a display of maximum reflectivity for the total volume within the elevation range of the radar. This is used to reveal the highest reflectivities in all echoes, examine storm structure features, and determine storm intensity. Typical NEXRAD station data consists of four short-range base reflectivity products at elevation angles of about 0.5°, 1.5°, 2.4°, and 3.4° and one short-range composite reflectivity product. Short-range products provide data up to 124 nautical miles (230 km, 143 mi) from the antenna.

The short-range composite reflectivity product was used to analyze precipitation for the GEER responses to the August 9, 2013, cloudburst in Manitou Springs, the March 22, 2014, Oso Landslide, and the December 2014 storms on burned watersheds in southern California. Rainfall intensity is estimated or calculated based on guidance provided by the National Weather Service (weather.noaa.gov/radar/radinfo/ radinfo.html).

A Tale of Two Fires On July 21, 2015, an intense but localized storm occurred in the vicinity of the west entrance of Yosemite National Park, California, near the town of El Portal on Highway 140. Several fires have occurred in the area over the past six years (Figure 1, top December 2015

Fig 1. Distribution of NEXRAD radar stations (blue triangle in red square symbols) in California and Nevada and quality of rainfall radar coverage (lower diagram), and approximate perimeters of selected fires near El Portal – Yosemite Valley, CA, with quality of radar coverage (upper diagram). Radar coverage and NEXRAD station locations from NOAA (gis.ncdc.noaa.gov); fire perimeter lines from various online sources. Identified NEXRAD station designations: 1 - KHNX. 2 - KMUX, 3 - KDAX

panel), including the 2009 Big Meadow Fire, the 2011 Motor Fire, the 2013 Rim Fire, and the 2014 El Portal and Dog Rock fires. The El Portal Fire ignited on the north edge of El Portal on July 26, 2014 and burned rapidly over the next eight days. The total fire area was 1,922 hectares. The fire burned on slopes underlain by a mix of Cretaceous granite, diorite, and gabbro, as

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Fig 2. Sediment accumulation on the El Portal Road within the burned area of the Dog Rock Fire resulting from the July 21, 2015 rainstorm. Approximately 600 cubic meters of sediment was deposited on the road, closing it for several days.

PHOTO COURTESY OF DAN DELISLE.

well as Paleozoic metasedimentary rocks. Topographic relief within the burned area is approximately 1270 m, with mean hillslopes angles in the range of 25째 to 40째. The Dog Rock Fire ignited on the north side of the El Portal Road in Yosemite National Park on October 7, 2014 and burned for approximately five days. The total fire area was 126 hectares. The fire burned entirely on slopes underlain by Cretaceous granite and granodiorite. Topographic relief within the burned area is 645 m, with relatively steeper mean hillslope angles and more exposed bedrock than within the area burned by the El Portal Fire.

The storm of July 21, 2015 mobilized sediment from both the El Portal and Dog Rock fire areas, but the volume and maximum particle size of sediment were significantly larger within the Dog Rock Fire area. Approximately 600 cubic meters of mostly coarse sediment was deposited on the highway, with individual boulders exceeding 1 cubic meter in volume. Debris covered the road in several locations within the burned area (Figure 2), trapping several cars and causing minor damage. The road closure was located approximately where the Dog Rock Fire perimeter coincides with the line representing the highway in Figure 1. In contrast, during the same storm the area burned by the El Portal Fire experienced some flooding but relatively small amounts of sedimentation, totaling approximately 150 cubic meters of mostly of sand and mud.

Why did the slopes burned by the 2014 El Portal Fire not produce similar amounts of sediment as the slopes burned by 26

the 2014 Dog Rock Fire? Several factors probably contributed, but localized spatial variability in the July 21 storm is likely the primary reason.

NEXRAD is Rad NEXRAD station locations and the quality of the weather radar signal in California and Nevada are shown in Figure 1 (bottom panel). The upper panel in Figure 1 has the same weather radar quality coloration as the lower panel. The Dog Rock Fire perimeter and nearly the entire El Portal Fire perimeter are in the fair quality weather radar signal area.

Hourly representations of the NEXRAD signal processed by the National Weather Service as the National Reflectivity Mosaic are shown in Figure 3, which consists of two groups of three panels. The 1:00 PM panel shows some radar echoes in the upper right corner and the explanation of the radar color symbols. Warmer colors correspond to higher numbers and greater reflectivity. The 2:00 PM panel shows a larger area involved with the storm. The 3:00 PM panel shows that the storm cell had moved slowly to the west and south. The 4:00 PM panel appears to have three areas of warm to hot colors that are relatively small. By 5:00 PM on July 21, 2015, the storm has developed into a relatively coherent cell with high reflectivity (red color) that is about 8,400 hectares in size and AT RIGHT: Fig. 3. Hourly radar scenes from the National Reflectivity Mosaic website. A. 1:00 PM, 2:00 PM, and 3:00 PM; B. 4:00 PM, 5:00 PM, and 6:00 PM.

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PROFESSIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS HEADER HERE AT LEFT: Fig 4. Five minute radar scenes from the National Reflectivity Mosaic website. A. 4:45 PM, 4:50 PM, and 4:55 PM; B. 5:05 PM, 5:10 PM, and 5:15 PM.

covering the Dog Rock Fire area. By 6:00 PM the high intensity part of the storm has reduced in size and appears to have moved west.

The developing storm cell between 4:45 PM and 5:15 PM is presented in two groups of three panels in Figure 4. The Dog Rock Fire perimeter is covered by red color for reflectivity in all panels in Figure 4 at 4:45 PM, 4:50 PM, 4:55 PM, 5:05 PM, 5:10 PM, and 5:15 PM, as well as at 5:00 PM (Figure 3).

Therefore, the entire Dog Rock Fire burn area was receiving heavy precipitation for a full 30 minutes. The date and time at which the highway-closing event occurred at Dog Rock was July 21, 2015, around 5:00 PM. The El Portal Fire burn area was receiving only moderate rainfall during the time that the Dog Rock Fire burn area was receiving the heavy precipitation from 4:45 to 5:15 PM. A rain rate value could be applied to the reflectance values to produce an estimate of precipitation amount for the storm and its intensity at increments ranging from five minutes to one hour. Storm amount-intensity diagrams were developed by the USGS to explain initiation of debris flows and debris floods from burned slopes (Cannon et al., 2008; Staley et al., 2014).

Conclusion NEXRAD radar data provide key insights into the different responses of the Dog Rock and El Portal fires.

These fires occurred within three months of each other, so watershed recovery time was not a factor in the sediment discharge differences. The somewhat steeper hillslopes and greater bedrock exposures within the Dog Rock burned area may have enhanced runoff, but ultimately the different responses seem to be controlled by the spatial distribution, intensity, and duration of precipitation during the July 21, 2015 storm, as revealed clearly by the NEXRAD data. Similarly, the storm intensity was light for slopes burned in the 2011 Motor Fire (Figures 3 and 4) and thus does not provide data that could be used to demonstrate that four years (2015–11) is sufficient for watershed slopes to recover to pre-burn sediment yield potential.

These types of observations need to be documented to help characterize recovery time. Much like the rock-paperscissors game in which elements of chance may not be truly random because of the players’ ability to choose the same object repeatedly, the terrain-fire-rain game is not truly random because the terrain is fixed and the fire component becomes knows after the smoke dissipates. We must continue to play the terrain-fire-rain game paying attention to all of the sources of variability and learning what we can. Documented occurrences of post-fire sediment discharge, particularly debris flows, should be researched using archived NEXRAD weather radar data to correlate them to precipitation. Radar rainfall certainly will be a useful tool where it is available, but the challenge will be how to invert past data to allow precipitation intensity and distribution to be forecast, at least in probabilistic terms.

December 2015

References Cannon SH, Gartner JE, Wilson RC, Bowers JC, Laber JL (2008) Storm rainfall conditions for floods and debris flows from recently burned areas in southwestern Colorado and southern California. Geomorphology 96:250–269 De Graff, JV (2014) Improvement in quantifying debris flow risk for post-wildfire emergency response. Geoenvironmental Disasters 2014, 1:5, 10 p De Graff JV, Cannon, S, and Gartner, JE, (2015) Timing of Susceptibility to Post-fire Debris Flows in the Western USA. Environmental & Engineering Geoscience, First published on June 30, 2015,doi:10.2113/EEG-1677 Gartner JE, Cannon SH, Santi PM, deWolfe VG (2008) Empirical models to predict the volumes of debris flows generated by recently burned basins in the western U.S. Geomorphology 96:339–354 Keaton, JR (2011) Modified Slake Durability Test Applicability for Soil Materials: Proceedings of International Symposium on Erosion and Landscape Evolution. American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers Specialty Conference, Anchorage, AK, September 19, CD paper, 8 p.

Keaton, JR, Ajmera, B, Upadhyaya, S, Tiwari, B, Turner, B, Kwak, DY, and Brandenberg, SJ, (2015) December 2014 storm damage below recently burned slopes, Los Angeles, Orange, and Ventura Counties, California. Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance Association Report No. GEER-042 (www.geerassociation.org), 150 p.

Keaton, JR, Anderson, SA, Santi, PM, and Dashti, S, (2013) Geotechnical effects of intense precipitation on August 9, 2013, on slopes above Manitou Springs, Colorado, that were burned in the 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire. Geotechnical Extreme Event Reconnaissance Association, GEER Association Report No. GEER-033 (www.geerassociation.org), 136 p.

Staley DM, Gartner, JE, and Kean, JW (2014) Objective definition of rainfall intensity-duration thresholds for post-fire flash floods and debris flows in the area burned by the Waldo Canyon Fire, Colorado, USA. Lollino, G., et al. (eds), Engineering Geology for Society and Territory – Vol 2: Springer International Publishing Switzerland, p. 621-624.

Authors’ Info Jeffrey R. Keaton, Amec Foster Wheeler, jeff.keaton@amecfw.com Greg M. Stock, National Park Service–Yosemite National Park, greg_stock@nps.gov Jerome V. De Graff, California State University Fresno, jdegraff@csufresno.edu

Sponsored by AEG Landslides Technical Working Group and Geotechnical Extreme Event Reconnaissance (GEER) Association

Got Volcanics?

LAST CALL for ABSTRACTS for the March 2016 issue of AEG News…

The March special edition of the News will be on volcanology. Please submit ideas for articles to AEG News editor Anna Saindon at rmsain@gmail.com. Final articles will be due no later than January 31, 2016. As a reminder, photos and other graphic images must be a minimum of 300 dpi—ideally at 7.5” wide—for cover consideration.

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Introducing a New Section to AEG News: We invite readers to submit articles about their life/practice as an engineering geologist: your adventures and misadventures, challenges met, characters met, and life lessons learned while working as an engineering geologist.

The Calf in the Test Pit (and Soil Samples That Would Float on Water) Robert E. Tepel, PG, CEG, and AEG Past President “Found a calf in a test pit today; 2 ½ meters down.”

So reads an entry in my job diary for August 27, 1975. I was working on the Brazilian Shield, in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, near the town of Araxá. I was employed by a small, California-based, geotechnical firm that specialized in earth dams. Our client was a Brazilian civil engineering firm that needed our expertise in dams. My job was to develop foundation and construction materials information for the design of a series of dams that would capture the tailings from a new mine that would produce phosphate fertilizer. The design concept was to build three earthen starter dams along a valley and dispose of the tailings by hydraulic fill into the reservoirs, constructing hydraulic fill dams with coarser tailings to retain the fines and water—a good concept for a remote and mostly unpopulated area that has low seismicity.

This is a story about working as an engineering geologist in a remote but civilized area in a developing country, hung around the story of a wayward calf. And the story would not be the same today in a practical and technical sense because now we have the Internet, GPS, and cell phones. But it might well be the same today in terms of cultural values to be learned and accepted.

At the start, the Brazilian on-site project manager (chefe) told me that there was no mechanized equipment available, and that the mine owner/developer (a company named Arafert) would supply me with several three-man crews to hand-dig test pits instead of furnishing the backhoe I requested. Backhoes are commonly used for shallow exploratory test pits or trenches in developed countries, but hand-dug test pits are customary in remote areas of developing countries. Labor is inexpensive and mechanized equipment is either not available or very expensive and assigned to more important work. The Brazilians had a good, practical system. The test pits started with a one-meter square marked at the surface at locations I selected; they were dug with hand tools to an initial depth of three meters. When a pit became too deep for the workmen to toss the dirt out of it with their shovels, they set up a windlass with rope and bucket, and excavated the pit by the bucketful.

Ladders were made of scrap lumber and used to get into and out of the pit as it was deepened. At a depth of three meters, the pit cross section was reduced to three-quarters of a meter square, leaving a small shelf on two adjacent sides of the pit to support a ladder that went to the surface. Upon completion to a total depth of six meters, another ladder was left in the bottom part of the pit. I logged the pit walls from the ladders, 30

documenting geologic features and field-testing for engineering properties of the soil for dam foundation characterization. I collected soil samples for laboratory testing, too.

Most of the testing was done at a soils lab in São Paulo, but some undisturbed block samples were carefully wrapped, sealed, and shipped by airfreight to my employer’s lab in Palo Alto, California.

It is necessary to know the foundation conditions at depths greater than six meters, of course, and Arafert gave me the use of a drill crew that had a small, skid-mounted, diesel-powered drill rig that could core drill to acceptable depths and also perform Standard Penetration Tests (SPTs).

The chain-smoking driller was able to provide excellent recovery of the weak soils. I was soon calling him Sr. Cem Percentagem (Mr. Hundred Percent). We got along well, but the entire crew got very excited one day when I took a good swat at a very larger and ugly insect, about the size of a hummingbird, that was flying around us. I got the message, delivered in excited Portuguese, to never do that again: it was a very dangerous insect. The insect flew into a hole in the ground and Sr. Cem Percentagem dispatched it by pouring some diesel fuel down the hole and setting it on fire.

So there I was, busily driving among the three dam sites in a VW bug with an oil-bath air cleaner that had to be serviced weekly because of the gritty dust at the dam sites and on dirt roads. Arafert had rented the car, which was brand new, from the owner, one of their employees, whose only conditions were the weekly oil change and that I keep dirt and pig droppings out of the car when I drove through a local pig farmer’s facilities to get to one of the dam sites. I selected test pit locations, and marked their locations on maps using my tripod-mounted Brunton compass, and logged test pits every day. I often returned to previously logged pits as new pits revealed a more comprehensive picture of the geology that had to be confirmed and sometimes revising the logs as the geologic picture became clearer.

A test-pit log is an interpretative document consisting of a detailed sketch of the pit wall(s), with descriptions of the geologic structure and materials found and their engineering properties as determined in the field. Locations and types of samples are noted, as are the orientations of geologic structures or features. My descriptive notes on the log had to be in Portuguese to meet the client’s needs for immediately useable geological and engineering information. This was not as challenging as one might think because the descriptions on a

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TALES FROM HEADER THE HERE FIELD test pit log (or core log) can consist mainly of nouns, adjectives, and numbers. This eliminates the need to know, and understand in detail, verbs and their conjugation, and only the simplest declensions of nouns and adjectives are used.

For ordinary simple communication, I had to learn some basic Portuguese and its grammar. (A friendly guest at the hotel told me that a good way to learn a foreign language is to get some children’s comic books because the actions (verbs) are illustrated and the vocabulary is simple. I used Dennis the Menace.)

The test-pit logs were drawn to metric scales, as were all of the project maps, plans, and my geologic maps and cross sections. Working in the metric system is easy for an engineering geologist who is familiar with the seismological literature, which is in metric. A young Brazilian engineer, Leonardo, who spoke excellent English, was assigned to help me when I needed to make complex communications with the workmen or the project technical staff who were not conversant in English.

Now, about that calf…

On the morning of August 27, 1975, I arrived at one of the dam sites and saw all three test-pit crews standing near the top of a test pit that I knew was not yet dug to full depth.

They were staring intently into the pit. I took a look and saw a calf standing in the bottom of the pit, 2.5 meters down, looking up at us with baleful eyes, apparently unharmed. No big surprise that a calf would be wandering around the site; the native sub-tropical forests had mostly been cleared to convert the land to grazing or coffee plantation use. The locals know best in these situations, so I told the foreman that I would basically get out of his way and work elsewhere while he solved the problem of the calf and completed the test pit to a six-meter depth.

The next morning, I drove to the site and found that the test pit had been completed, minus calf. My Brazilian colleague, Leonardo, later told me that the workmen had solved the problem by slowly and carefully refilling the test pit with the excavated soil, causing the calf to rise in the pit until it could clamber out on its own and walk away. Then they re-excavated the pit and carried it to target depth, all in one day.

As efficient as the Brazilian workmen were, I still longed for a backhoe; it would be much faster and could dig long trenches so I would not have to interpolate geologic conditions and engineering properties between those widely spaced one-meter square test pits. New equipment was arriving on the job site in preparation for construction of a pilot plant and access roads to the mine site.

A few days later I spotted a thing of beauty: a brand new Case backhoe, exactly like the ones I used at home. I went to the chefe and explained that I could cut a month off my schedule, and do the job much better from a technical design standpoint, if he would supply the backhoe and an operator to me for just two weeks. His answer was simple: no, I could not have use of the backhoe but I could have use of a dozen more laborers, or even more if I wanted them, to dig more test pits on a faster schedule. I asked why. His answer taught me something. He said, “Because we must have work for the men.”

December 2015

Then I understood why the mining company, Arafert, which paid wages to the laborers, in accordance with local practice also provided them with work clothes, tools, transportation from town to worksite and back, task and safety training, medical care, and lunch every day (which I thought was nutritious enough to be designed by a dietician).

To close out the story of my Brazilian assignment with a technical note: the test pits were easy to dig because, over very long periods of time in a sub-tropical dry season/wet season climate, the crystalline igneous and metamorphic rock (granitics, schists, and related rocks) of the Brazilian shield had weathered extensively and to great depth by chemical alteration. The result was what I would call a clay-poor saprolite, although it did not fit a classic definition of a saprolite. It was a residual “soil” that retained the original grain structure of the rock from which it was derived in-place, but in this case the only grains left were quartz because the feldspar and ferromagnesian minerals had weathered by chemical alterations to other minerals, all of which (except a little clay) were carried away by groundwater.

What remained were mostly quartz grains, in point-topoint contact in the same configuration they had in the original rock, with thin clay coatings that held them together, and remnants of oxidized iron-bearing minerals that gave the soil a reddish color. Because of the high air void content, the soil had low bulk density and was easy to excavate with hand tools. I regularly sent samples to São Paulo for routine engineering properties testing, and the results always came back in a few days, all in compliance with ASTM standards. Then there was a pause.

For several days no test results were delivered to me.

My Brazilian colleague, Leonardo, finally came to me and explained, with some embarrassment, that his laboratory must have made a mistake in testing some samples and we would have to re-sample some of the test pits. I asked what the problem was. He said that the density test results were unexplainable because they showed that some soil samples were less dense than water (unit weight of less than 1000 kg/m3). They thought that should be impossible. I thought it over and told him his results were consistent with many previous tests that showed very low unit weights, just above the density of water, and I was not surprised that a few samples would test at lower density than water because of the high air void content. If you could wrap those undisturbed soil samples in Saran Wrap®, they would float on water. Unusual, but not unexplainable.

About the Author Bob Tepel has had a varied geologic career across government agencies, consulting, and working towards protection of the public. He founded the California Council of Geoscience Organizations to support the California geology licensure board, and has published series of articles and presentations on supporting licensure across the country. Bob is an active member, leader, and awardee in many organizations, and began his stint in AEG in the 1960s. His extensive career lends to many interesting stories which he shares with the next generations of geologists and engineers regularly.

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Carolinas Section Maddie German, Chair The Carolinas Section has been busy over the summer and into the fall. Our newly added summer meeting took place August 6 in Raleigh. At this meeting Dr. Chris Tacker, a Research Curator in Geology at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, presented igneous geochemistry, diamond petrogenesis, exploration methods, and techniques used by Jeff Moyer. Jeff Moyer was a gold prospector and amateur exploration geologist who found 13 gem quality diamonds in North Carolina over the last 10 years. This meeting was well attended by consultants, state employees and students.

A networking social event was held at the Tobacco Road Café in Durham on August 19. Our social chair, Adam Phillips, arranged seating on the patio that allowed us to watch the Durham Bulls, a local minor league team, play while we socialized, ate, and of course, sampled a wide variety of craft beverages!

Our fall Section meeting was held on September 17.

Daphne Jones, PG, RSM, and Joan Smyth, PG, RSM, presented Assessment in the Media Spotlight and shared stories of the many surprise encounters during a large brownfield redevelopment site at Winston-Salem State University. The meeting was well attended at Asheville Brewing Company, conveniently located in downtown Asheville.

Our Section offered two courses in groundwater geochemistry at the Frontier in Durham: Introduction to Groundwater Geochemistry on October 5, and Intermediate Groundwater Geochemistry on October 6. Bill Deutsch, the course instructor, has taught more than 150 courses in groundwater geochemistry and is the author of Groundwater Geochemistry, published

by CRC Press. Approximately 50 attendees were present for each day of classes and everyone enjoyed exceptional teaching and networking with a mix of consultants and regulators from across the state.

Our fall field trip was a Wine Terroir and Tasting Tour in the Yadkin Valley of North Carolina. We visited wineries and tasting wine October 9–11. Dr. Stephen Harper, Dr. Marlene McCauley, and Jane Gill-Shaler provided details of the terroir and geology associated with each of the wineries and the Yadkin Valley region. The meeting was well attended by about 30 wine and rock enthusiasts. Sue Buchanan has written a summary article of the trip; find it on page 19 of this issue of the News.

Despite many ongoing activities, we have once again donated Earth Science kits at the North Carolina Earth Science Teachers Conference, which is held each year in Winston Salem. Our last Section meeting of the year was November 12 in Greensboro at Natty Greenes, where Malcolm Schaeffer, PG discussed The Piedmont Groundwater System – the Transition Zone Between Regolith and Bedrock: Existence and Characteristics, a pertinent topic to most of us in the environmental and engineering geology fields.

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Many Carolinas Section members attended and gave technical presentations at the Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh. Attendees found it a great opportunity to speak with and learn from other members along the east coast and from across the country.

New York–Philadelphia Section Brionna O’Connor, Newsletter editor NY–P had a busy fall start this year. Several Section Members—including NY–P Chairman and Director, Curt Schmidt, former Section Chairs Loren Lasky and Theodore Toskos, professor Chad Freed, Matt McMillan, and others—were in attendance at the AEG Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh in September. They enjoyed networking with members from all Sections and meeting new folks in NY–P. Theodore Toskos presented two lectures: Balancing Professional Judgment and the Risk of Decision and Professional Geologists and Contaminated Site Remediation Licensure. NY–P Section Member, professor Nazrul Khandaker of CUNY York College, LI, NY, was honored in Pittsburgh with AEG’s prestigious Claire P. Holdredge Publication Award for his article Geoengineering Constraints on Foundation: Case Study from Queens, New York City, USA, written with coauthors, S. Schleifer, A. R. Slaughter, M. Ahmed and B. A. Sayeed; and published in Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering, vol.

5, no. 14, 2015. The paper was judged to be an outstanding contribution to the Engineering Geology profession.

Student and NY–P Section Member Patrick Beaudry, also of CUNY Queens College, was the recipient of the West-Gray Scholarship award, an endowed fund that supports undergraduate and graduate geology students in the eastern half of the U.S.

L to R: NY–P past Chair Ted Toskos chats with current Chair Curt Schmidt after delivering two talks at the AEG Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh

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December 2015

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Upcoming Events We are planning a joint meeting this winter or spring with the Delaware Valley Geo Institute (DVGI) in King of Prussia, PA. This spring we will be pleased to host our second annual Student Night! The competitive conference consists of four oral presentations and at least 16 poster sessions. We are excited to offer this opportunity to both the students and Chapter Members as it is a great opportunity for growth and learning by everyone involved. NY–P continues to make and develop connections with other professional organizations as our local membership grows.

Oregon Section Chris Humphrey, Section Secretary

NY–P Member Professor Nazrul Khandaker, CUNY York College(R), was delighted to accept the Claire P. Holdredge Publication Award from past winner Allen Hatheway.

PHOTOS BY LOREN LANSKY

The Remediation + Redevelopment + Results (RE3) conference was held in Philadelphia, PA, this September. Loren Lasky (NJDEP, NY–P Program Committee and Former Chair) was in attendance and claimed a prize presented by PeroxyChem, LLC, as second place winner in a challenge to identify a tray of rocks and minerals! NY–P Members, Curt Schmidt, Rose DeLorenzo, Loren Lasky, and Bharat Patel assisted the RE3 staff in signing in/out registrants who wished to obtain continuing education credits (CECs).

The NY–P Section held its first dinner meeting of the fall season on October 4 with Dr. Gary A. Robbins (Professor of Geology at University of Connecticut) presenting Dissolved Oxygen Alteration to Assess Groundwater Flow and Contaminant Migration in Fractured Rock. Dr. Robbins is one of several speakers in the past few months to continue an ongoing discussion of fractured rock characterization. The talks continue to be well attended and stimulate lively discussions.

October 29, NYP hosted its second joint networking event with the Licensed Site Remediation Professionals Association (LSRPA), the Alliance of Hazardous Materials Professionals (AHMP), and the Society of Women Environmental Professionals (SWEP) for aspiring professionals. The focus of these joint events is to show the benefits of belonging to and engaging in professional organizations to advance one’s career and achieve more professional success.

At press time, our November events included a presentation by former Chair Mark Zdepski of JMZ Geology on The History of the Brownstone Quarrying Industry in New Jersey.

The Friends of Mineralogy – Pennsylvania Chapter hosted a symposium and field trip November 7–8.

December 2015

The Oregon Section kicked off its new year with a number of very interesting and timely presentations. In September, Benjamin George, PE, CEG, with Cornforth Consultants, Inc. (Landslide Technology), updated us on continuing mitigation efforts for the Ross Powerhouse landslide, which occurred on March 14, 2010 in Whatcom County, WA, within the Ross Lake National Recreation Area. The event included failure of approximately 16,000 cubic yards of rock from a 400-foothigh slope, destroying 80-ton and 100-ton barge landings along with two boat docks utilized by Seattle City Light, North Cascades National Park, Ross Lake Resort and the general public. It also buried an access road between the powerhouse and the top of the dam; this road provides the only access between Ross Powerhouse and the dam for daily operation, emergency equipment and supplies. The September meeting had 36 attendees.

Our October meeting included a presentation from Ian Madin, RG, Interim Oregon State Geologist, who discussed the current state of the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI), including how DOGAMI plans to face existing financial and administrative challenges. DOGAMI experienced a complete management turnover in the first few months of 2015. In addition, there were formidable uncertainties about the agency’s financial situation, and this required the agency to ask the Oregon legislature for additional funds to finish out the 2013–15 budget period. Although DOGAMI did receive additional funds, they were also required to significantly restructure their business practices. DOGAMI is now working hard to implement the changes required by the legislature, while continuing to seek new opportunities for developing tools and data to help Oregon plan for natural hazards and responsibly develop resources. Most of those in the audience felt a strong sense of relief to know that DOGAMI is now on a sound financial footing for the next biennium, and we were very grateful to Madin for taking on this immense leadership challenge. The October meeting had 43 attendees.

While our 2015–16 meeting schedule is still not fully developed, we have some exciting future events in the works, including: Student Night (which includes a student poster session), visits from both the 2015–16 Richard Jahns Distinguished Lecturer Jerry De Graff and AEG President

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HEADER THE HOMEFRONT HERE Paul Santi, and our annual joint meeting with the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Oregon Section Geotechnical Group. In addition, we hope to have a joint meeting with the Association for Women Geoscientists (AWG).

In September, Katie Castelli (ODOT) and Michael Zimmerman (GRI) led a field trip to illustrate geotechnical challenges of the Oregon Department of Transportation’s (ODOT’s) Newberg-Dundee Bypass project. ODOT has worked for many years with the local communities to plan the bypass which will significantly reduce congestion on OR 99W, once completed. The field trip attendees had a tour of Phase 1 of the project, which is currently under construction and is expected to open to vehicle traffic in 2017. Field trip stops included project features, such as retaining walls, buttresses and bridges; as well as some stops to look at landslides.

Portland State University (PSU) Student Chapter Bryan Allen, President The Portland State University (PSU) AEG Student Chapter is off to a great start. This year’s student chapter officers include: Bryan Allen, President; Tiyana Casey, Vice-President; Jessie Meziere, Treasurer; and Eli Ahern, Secretary.

The PSU Student Chapter Faculty Advisor is Scott Burns, PhD, RG. The Student Chapter added 40 new Student Members and of those ten registered as Student Members with AEG. The PSU Student Chapter participated in the Federal Highway Administration Open House on November 16.

Upcoming plans include hosting a Resume Workshop, Career Night, and Scholarship Workshop—dates TBD. Angela Pillar, PSU undergraduate, will be presenting her research on landslide hazard mapping in Rwanda using linear regression at AGU in San Francisco. She plans on continuing her research as her undergrad thesis. Tiyana Casey, a PSU undergraduate, will also be presenting her research at AGU in San Francisco on air quality in the Portland metro region and the Columbia River Gorge.

Rocky Mountain Section Denise Garcia, Secretary Our September meeting was a successful first meeting back after summer break. David Bieber with Front Range Aggregates, LLC, presented The Aggregate Industry in Colorado, and an Engineering Geologist’s Role in that Industry. Bieber described how engineering geology plays a significant part in the production and use of aggregates including the evaluation of material properties, mine planning, water quality and quantity evaluations, and site reclamation. In addition, he gave an account of his career path and the importance of connections specifically for the young professionals in the audience.

We had two speakers for our October meeting, Evan Lindenbach of the Bureau of Reclamation presented Proposed Temperance Flat Dam – Bureau of Reclamation Rock Mechanics Testing and Reporting, and Alvaro Puente Querejazu of the Colorado School of Mines/Geological Engineering Department

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gave a talk on Assessment of the Progression of Coal Mine Subsidence in Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Colorado, Using InSAR. Lindenbach discussed the proposed construction of an approximately 600-foot-high roller-compacted concrete dam on the San Joaquin River above Millerton Reservoir, to store an additional 1.26 million acre-feet of surface water. As part of the design, an extensive rock mechanics testing program is being completed on cores located along the proposed dam axis, adjacent to the axis, and along the outlet tunnel alignment. The program includes indirect tensile strength testing, petrographic analysis, uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) testing, and direct shear testing of existing joints. Querejazu’s talk discussed previous mining in Colorado and the potential for ongoing subsidence and how Interferometry synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) images were generated to assess ground surface elevation changes in northern Colorado Springs. The results indicate that coal mine subsidence has continued to occur in northern Colorado Springs.

For our November meeting, the 2015–16 Richard H. Jahns Distinguished Lecturer, Jerry De Graff, gave a very interesting talk entitled The Story of the Matthieu Landslide-Dam, Dominica, West Indies. De Graff described how the behavior of the Matthieu landslide dam in the small island nation of Dominica in the eastern Caribbean clearly illustrates how far off the mark predictions regarding when downstream flooding will take place can be.

In other news, in September we voted on positions for the section Board of Directors. Kevin Mininger will serve as Chair this year and Kami Deputy will take up the position next year.

Denise Garcia will continue as Secretary and Jill Carlson will continue as Treasurer and Webmaster.

Sacramento Section Chase White, Secretary The Sacramento Section held its August 2015 meeting at Aviator’s Restaurant in south Sacramento. Our speakers for the evening were Byron Anderson, PG, CEG of Kleinfelder and Bruce Hilton, PG, CEG, and Past President of AEG. Byron and Bruce gave a talk entitled Constructing a Spring-Water Collection System in Kenya that summarized the work they did for an Engineers Without Borders (EWB) volunteer project. (see AEG News, March 2015). Bruce and Byron discussed the “on-thefly” design changes that had to be made at the site and how the team overcame the various challenges and unanticipated conditions that were encountered. The talk wrapped up with Byron and Bruce encouraging AEG members to participate in EWB and noting that being an “engineer” is not a requirement for participation.

The Section took September off from any formal activities so many of our members, including incoming Section Chair Meredith Beswick, could attend the AEG Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh.

On October 14, we held our annual joint meeting with the Sacramento chapter of the Geo-Institute (GI) of ASCE. The event was held at the midtown Sacramento Old Spaghetti

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December 2015

THEHEADER HOMEFRONT HERE Factory restaurant and hosted a large group of area geoprofessionals as well as several students from UC Davis and Sacramento State. The presentation for the meeting was on the recently-completed multi-year and multi-million dollar Levee Evaluations Program (LEP) undertaken by the State of California Department of Water Resources (DWR) beginning in 2006. Rich Millet of AECOM and Steve Mahnke of DWR discussed Urban and Non-Urban Levee Program – Overview and Findings, covering the breadth and depth of the cutting-edge and state-of-practice defining levee evaluations that were performed for the flood control system in the northern and central portions of California’s Central Valley.

The Sacramento Section was proud to participate in the 2015 Ray Taber Foundation Golf Tournament and Oktoberfest on October 30. This inaugural event was conceived to benefit the Ray Taber Foundation Scholarship Fund and other philanthropic goals of the Foundation. H. Ray Taber was one of the founding members of AEG and the Ray Taber Foundation’s mission is to advance the science of integrating geology and civil engineering in their application to the built world and to contribute to the historical preservation and advancement of economically sustainable small ranch farming. The primary purpose of the foundation is to serve as a vehicle for providing education scholarships to students in these specific areas of study, but also as support for research endeavors and other activities, which will aid the general advancement of these areas of specialization. We promise a full report on the event in the next issue of AEG News!

St. Louis Section

Cardinals Game at Busch Stadium – welcoming AEG

Stefanie Voss, Section Editor

PHOTO BY RICH STECKEL

The St. Louis Section took a short break over the summer. We celebrated the end of the season watching the Cardinals play the Giants on August 18. Twenty members enjoyed the game, even if it wasn’t a winner.

In September, Section Members John Carrow, Greg Hempen, Anna Saindon, Phyllis Steckel, Ryan Damery, Jennifer (Delancey) Damery, Dr. David Rogers, and Dr. Paco Gomez attended the AEG Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, PA. The St. Louis section received Second Place for the Section Award.

Our September Section meeting was held at Pietro’s Restaurant. Speaker Dr. Robert Criss of Washington University in St. Louis discussed the need for a realistic flood risk assessment in the Upper Mississippi River Basin. Flood levels above flood stage are becoming more common with many possible causes, such as channelization. Dr. Criss is investigating the need to change how flood frequency determines flood stage.

He advocates using modern means and standard deviations of stage levels over the use of discharges. The talk generated a lot of interesting discussion.

At the October meeting, Jim Hummert, of AECOM, discussed Levee and Dam Safety Monitoring Technologies and Techniques. His talk covered various automated data acquisition systems (ADAS), wireless delivery, and data management at levee and dam sites. The systems are used to verify the December 2015

performance of dams or levees and can provided early warning any changing conditions within the structures. He highlighted three dams—Bluestone, Wolf Creek, and Tuttle Creek— which incorporated ADAS for monitoring and data collections.

Data is collected using wireless systems and analyzed using DamSmart software.

We have several other meetings planned for the remainder of the year and have scheduled two field trips, both to the New Madrid region in southeast Missouri.

Southeastern Section

By Matthew Howe, Chair On the weekend of October 9–11, the AEG Southeastern Section joined with the Georgia Geological Society for their annual field trip. The field trip was held in the Cartersville, GA area, which is just northwest of Metropolitan Atlanta and was titled, Origin of Ore Deposits in the Cartersville Mining District & Stratigraphic and Structural Evidence for the Separation of the CartersvilleGreat Smoky and Emerson-Talladega Faults. It started with a social and technical talk on Friday night at the field trip headquarters hotel, the Clarion Inn in White, GA. Field trip leaders Randy Kath, Tim Chowns, Stan Bearden, and Tom Crawford spoke about the exposures that we would see over the weekend.

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Randy Kath discussing the history and geology of the Vulcan Materials Company Bartow Quarry

Southeastern Section field trip participants viewing the back wall in the ochre open pit mine

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AEG NEWS 58 (4)

December 2015

THEHEADER HOMEFRONT HERE On Saturday, we loaded up in a charter bus and a few university vans and headed to the Bartow Vulcan Quarry. We went down to the bottom of the quarry pit where a great exposure of the Corbin Metagranite can be viewed. Our second stop was to an outcrop on the entrance road to the quarry where we viewed the Rolling Spring Formation. The third stop was to an exposure near the Allatoona Dam and Powerhouse. At lunch on Saturday, we enjoyed barbeque sandwiches while we sat at a pavilion along the north bank of the Etowah River. After lunch, we traveled to the Iron Hill Campground along the banks of Lake Allatoona. We hiked three miles to the beach on the lake. Along the way, we viewed the ruins of an old iron mine, the location of the Emerson/Cartersville fault, and outcrops of several of the surrounding formations.

On Sunday, we loaded up again and headed to New Riverside Ochre-Emerson Barite Mine. We walked through the processing plant and viewed the barite deposits within the outcrops of the open pit mine. The final stop of the field trip was the Cooper Furnace, an old cold-blast charcoal furnace operating prior to and immediately after the Civil War to make pig iron.

Southern California Section Inland Empire Chapter (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) Shaun Wilkins, Secretary The late summer and fall for the Inland Empire Chapter is typically quiet due to members’ end-of-summer vacations and the September hiatus so as not to interfere with the AEG Annual Meeting, which a number of our members attended.

At the Chapter’s October Meeting was a treat as we hosted a rock star of California geology. Dr. Jonathan C Matti of the USGS provided a lively discussion entitled The San Andreas Fault System in the Inland Empire Region: What Is Known and What Remains to Be Known. Dr. Matti provided a regional framework and timeline for movement on the San Andreas Fault in the Inland Empire region, with emphasis on previously-abandoned strands of the San Andreas, cross-cutting relationships of related faults; concurrent, yet alternating movement on the nearby San Jacinto Fault system; and a major reorganization of the San Andreas system in the area that occurred about 1 million years ago. The presentation was hosted by the Pinnacle Peak Steakhouse in Colton, which has a room that allows for larger groups. As expected, this was one of the most popular monthly talks in our history, garnering an attendance of over 50 professionals.

Our Chapter is pleased to announce the 2015–16 slate of officers, all of which were re-elected from last year. Greg Johnson, Supervising Engineering Geologist at Los Angeles County Department of Public Works returns as Chair. Jeff Fitzsimmons, a CA certified PG working towards his CEG license, starts his third term as Vice Chair, and has recently became a geologist for the Regional Water Quality Control Board for the Lahontan Basin. Jeff has already lined up December 2015

speakers for nearly the entire year; we expect to break all previous attendance records for the Chapter. Treasurer Mark Doerschlag is a seasoned CEG working for the consulting firm Aragon Geotechnical, Inc. in Riverside, CA. This is Mark’s third consecutive year in the post.

Third-term Secretary Shaun Wilkins works as a project level geologist for the consulting firm Petra Geosciences, Inc., in Costa Mesa, Orange County, CA. and has recently acquired his PG certification. In addition to planning and coordination of meeting venue and submission of our quarterly HomeFront news articles, Shaun will also be putting together the chapter newsletters and recording RSVPs for the monthly meetings.

In addition to a full slate of monthly talks offered to our members throughout the year, plans are already well under way for a short course and field trip in 2016.

Texas Section Stephanie Coffman, Chair The AEG Texas Section Fall Meeting was held on October 17.

A total of 52 people (40 members, 6 non-members, 6 student members) attended the day-long field trip to witnessed the aftermath of the massive flooding that took place along the Blanco River in the Texas Hill Country this past spring (May 23–24, 2015). Over 13 inches of rainfall in the watershed, and the river rose over 35 feet in under 4 hours. (See Field Trips, page 17).

Onboard a tour bus, the group drove through the town of Wimberly, which received national news coverage after 11 lives were lost and numerous structures were heavily damaged or destroyed by the floodwaters. Our speakers, Dr. Chad Furl (University of Texas at San Antonio) and Alec MacDonald (USGS), pointed out the flood damage, high water marks, and the USGS gage that was swept away during the flooding.

Our first stop was just upstream from Wimberly at the Fischer Store Road Bridge, which had been overtopped and swept away during the flooding. Pieces of it were laying on the on the ground as if they were draped there like a picnic blanket, and the large piers that once supported it were leaning in the direction of the flow. The limestone bedrock exposed on the channel bed was sand blasted to a brilliant white from all the sediment and debris in the flood water, and grains and fragments of scoured rock were piled up in depositional bars that were up to 10 feet high in a reach of river that has historically not contained bar features.

Next, we stopped at Roland & Viola Bindseil Park in Blanco.

The city park had a limestone boulder amphitheater where we sat and ate lunch while listening to two presentations. Dr. Chad Furl, a Hydrometeorologist/Environmental Engineer and PostDoc, presented on the extreme hydrometeorological event in the Texas Hill County that resulted in the devastating floods. He described his work on field efforts that are documenting the high water marks along the Blanco River and shared results from a physical-based hydrological modeling effort that focuses on flood forecasting for early flood-warning systems. He spoke about the importance of the modeling effort, as Texas regularly

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leads the nation in the number of flood fatalities each year. Alec MacDonald, a Hydrologic Technician for the USGS Texas Water Science Center, presented on the USGS gage locations where he is responsible for collecting flow data. He gave history of the gage sites, described how they are set up, and explained how stage and discharge data are collected.

Many of the gages in the area were overtopped, swept away, and destroyed during the flooding.

Our final stop in Martindale, TX, was to one of the USGS gage locations Alec spoke about during his presentation. He opened up the gage house to let the group look inside and explained how it worked. We ended the tour by walking down to the Blanco River to get our feet wet and looked up to see debris in the trees over 35 feet above our heads.

TOP: AEG TX Section group

PHOTO BY DR. CHRISTOPHER MATHEWSON

ABOVE: AEG TX Section Officers with presenters at the City Park, L to R: Benson Chow, Eric Walston, Alec MacDonald, Chad Furl, Stephanie Coffman, and Carolyn Faris

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Didn’t See YOUR Section?

Ask your Section’s Chair and/or Newsletter Editor to send in a report for the December News. Submission deadline for the March issue is January 31, 2016.

AEG NEWS 58 (4)

December 2015

s r o s n o p S Corporate

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December 2015

AEG NEWS 58 (4)

Denise Chew 11180 Downs Rd Pineville, NC 28134 704-588-7970 info@enviroequipment.com www.enviroquipment.com

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