This guidebook chapter outlines a walking tour that provides an introduction to the geological, archaeological, and historical setting of Pittsburgh, with an emphasis on the use of local and imported geologic materials and resources in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The focus is on downtown Pittsburgh, the low-lying triangle of land where the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers join to form the Ohio River, and Coal Hill (Mount Washington), the escarpment along the Monongahela River to its south. Topics include the importance of—and concomitant effect of—historic coal use; use of local and imported geologic materials, including dimension stone used for buildings and gravestones, and chert used for gunflints and millstones; the frontier forts built at the site; and the ubiquitous landslides along Coal Hill.

Tehran, the capital of the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a case of unplanned urban development. About 12% of Iranians are Tehran dwellers, and geology plays a major role in their environment. The city is located in northern Iran in the foothills of the Alborz Mountains. Sediments underlying the city are composed of coarse (northern part of Tehran) to very fine (southern part of Tehran) sandstone, siltstone, and mudstone with interbeds of gravels and pebbles in various proportions up to a depth of 1600 m. The early settlers were attracted to the area because there were bountiful springs and kanats (or qanats, an underground channel with vertical access shafts used to transport water from an aquifer under a hill to the surface without the need for pumping). The inharmonious geomorphology has strongly influenced the local climate for Tehran, with northern portions of the city in the humid mountains and southern portions in the desert. As development and expansion of the urban area continue, there will be increasing demand for natural resources and services such as water supply and construction material, land-use changes, increasing pollution, and exposure to geological hazards. In this article, we use surface and subsurface geological data to highlight the geological constraints on sustainable urban growth and management.

Geoscientists play increasingly important roles in international development amidst population growth and concomitant demands on water resources and exposures to natural hazards. This paper demonstrates the value of geoscientists for public good by detailing the range and depth of contributions within a single case study of Dakar, Senegal. This urban agglomeration is home to 3 million residents and represents a major hub of business and migration within West Africa. Its unique geology and locus within the drought-prone western Sahel contribute to specific challenges that have strongly shaped its present cultural and environmental landscape. Sustainable development in Dakar depends in particular on groundwater monitoring, mapping of cliff retreat and landslides, flood studies, coastal erosion studies, and prediction of the local effect of sea-level rise. These critical geoscientific investigations, including fruitful collaborations between Senegalese and foreign geoscientists, are helping to mitigate the environmental effects of previous unplanned growth and to inform policy going forward.

Geologic hazards such as earthquakes and landslides pose threats to communities in Kentucky. Landslides in particular cause millions of dollars in damage each year. Developing and implementing mitigation measures are the most effective ways to abate the impact of these hazards on communities. Earth scientists play important roles in the development and implementation of mitigation measures by providing the scientific basis—hazard maps in particular. It is critical that hazard maps be produced with the best science, but also that the meaning of the maps, as well as the associated uncertainties, be clearly and understandably communicated to the users and decision makers. The Kentucky Geological Survey (KGS) studies earthquakes and landslides and produces appropriate hazard maps that can be used by communities to develop mitigation measures. Furthermore, KGS works closely with communities and state agencies to help them understand and use the hazard maps.

Shallow landslides are significant natural hazards in Oregon, and identification of areas susceptible to future landslides is a critical step in reducing risk. Recent advances in identification of areas susceptible to shallow landslides are mostly based on geographic information system (GIS) calculations of the slope stability using the infinite slope equation. This technique was further improved with high-resolution light detection and ranging (LiDAR)–based digital elevation models (DEM) converted to very accurate slope data as input into the GIS models. However, these models still underestimate and overestimate the susceptibility in certain areas compared to past landslide events and field observations. One significant overestimation we noted occurs in regionally flat areas with isolated steep slopes that have very little relief. We developed a method to remove these isolated overestimated areas using a neighborhood analysis with a maximum relief of 1.22 m (4 ft). Because landslides that originate on the steep slope may extend back into the flat area above the slope, or out onto the flat area at the toe of the slope, we applied a 9 m (30 ft) buffer (twice our defined depth to failure for shallow landslides) for all of the areas with a calculated factor of safety (FOS) less than 1.5. We tested the methods on three landslide inventory databases examining two main criteria: (1) capture rate (overall and individual landslides) and (2) reduction in total map area susceptibility coverage while maintaining a high capture rate. We found the two methods maintained a capture rate between 90% and 99% while at the same time reducing the total map area susceptibility zones from 64% to 42%.

During the Quaternary, large deep-seated landslides were initiated along the eastern flank of the Colorado Front Range, and rivers cut and deposited large strath terraces along the western High Plains. These are the most extensive and prominent geomorphic features in the landscape. On this field trip, we will explore the Quaternary evolution of these Front Range features, in addition to viewing the smaller erosion scars and deposits associated with a 1000-yr precipitation event in 2013. We begin the trip near Golden, Colorado, where we will view the most extensive Quaternary strath terrace (Rocky Flats) preserved in the Denver Basin. We then head to Boulder, Colorado, to view the contrast between recent debris flows and deep-seated Quaternary landslides. Near Lefthand Creek, north of Boulder, we will view a suite of strath terraces and discuss the cosmogenic radionuclide dates that indicate both rapid incision and a new version of the terraces ages. Throughout the day, we will focus on the geomorphic work done by rare events, as well as discuss numeric and relative dating of Quaternary terraces and landslides.

The Middle Fork Nooksack River drains the southwestern slopes of the active Mount Baker stratovolcano in northwest Washington State. The river enters Bellingham Bay at a growing delta 98 km to the west. Various types of debris flows have descended the river, generated by volcano collapse or eruption (lahars), glacial outburst floods, and moraine landslides. Initial deposition of sediment during debris flows occurs on the order of minutes to a few hours. Long-lasting, down-valley transport of sediment, all the way to the delta, occurs over a period of decades, and affects fish habitat, flood risk, gravel mining, and drinking water.Holocene lahars and large debris flows (>106 m3) have left recognizable deposits in the Middle Fork Nooksack valley. A debris flow in 2013 resulting from a landslide in a Little Ice Age moraine had an estimated volume of 100,000 m3, yet affected turbidity for the entire length of the river, and produced a slug of sediment that is currently being reworked and remobilized in the river system. Deposits of smaller-volume debris flows, deposited as terraces in the upper valley, may be entirely eroded within a few years. Consequently, the geologic record of small debris flows such as those that occurred in 2013 is probably very fragmentary. Small debris flows may still have significant impacts on hydrology, biology, and human uses of rivers downstream. Impacts include the addition of waves of fine sediment to stream loads, scouring or burying salmon-spawning gravels, forcing unplanned and sudden closure of municipal water intakes, damaging or destroying trail crossings, extending river deltas into estuaries, and adding to silting of harbors near river mouths.

The past decade has seen a rapid increase in the application of high-resolution imagery and geographic-based information systems across every segment of society from security intelligence to product marketing to scientific research. Google Earth has positioned itself at the forefront of this spatial information wave by providing free access to high-resolution imagery through a simple, user-friendly interface. Whereas Google Earth imagery has been widely exploited across the earth sciences for spatial visualization, education, and place-based searches, few studies have utilized the high-resolution imagery to yield quantitative insights about the processes and mechanisms acting at the earth's surface. In this paper, we detail the benefits of the underlying high-resolution imagery available within Google Earth, review the limited published research to date, and utilize this imagery to quantitatively illuminate previously difficult and unresolved questions within the discipline of geomorphology involving: (1) channel-width variability and scaling relations in the tectonically active Himalaya; (2) landslide characteristics related to large magnitude climatic and tectonic events in Haiti; and (3) identification and quantification of laterally offset geomorphic features within eastern California. In each example, we compare analyses using freely available Google Earth imagery with standard imagery and techniques (e.g., Landsat, ASTER, lidar) to demonstrate the potential benefits of using high-spatial resolution Google Earth imagery over established methodologies. In addition, we discuss the potential limitations and problems with using the imagery currently available in Google Earth and propose favorable future applications, namely studies in remote terrains and those requiring high-resolution imagery across a large spatial extent, where purchasing such imagery in an academic environment would be cost-prohibitive. Whether as a supplement, for reconnaissance, or as the primary data set, high-resolution Google Earth imagery, when properly applied, holds great promise for quantitatively tackling previously unresolved problems in the study of earth surface processes.

Thin, planar, dark, lamination-like bands are found in host siltstones in the Miocene-Pliocene metamorphosed Miura-Boso accretionary prism, southern Boso Peninsula, Japan. We classified the bands into four types on the basis of distribution, crosscutting relations, and internal textures. Type 1-1 dark bands are developed parallel to the bedding plane and do not include crushed or deformed grains within the band. Type 1-2 bands are also developed parallel to the bedding plane, but grain alignment within the band cuts obliquely across that in the host rock. Type 2 bands include ductilely deformed grains similar to an S-C′ structure, whereas type 3 bands have cataclastic grains. All the dark bands except type 1-1 (being an open fracture with little displacement) are shear bands or slip planes formed from sedimentation to accretion, although the formation mechanisms between the four types are different. These deformation bands are affected by the state of consolidation and magnitude of stress during formation, reflecting the deformation processes. Type 1-1 bands show evidence of independent particulate flow from excess pore-fluid-pressure generation, which occurs just after sedimentation. Type 1-2 bands are flexural-slip faults formed during formation of folds; type 2 bands are sliding planes formed from submarine landslides, whereas type 3 bands are thrust faults formed during accretion.

In the past two centuries, several researchers, based on different interpretations of the Homeric poems, have proposed that the ancient homeland of Odysseus may not have been the present Ithaca Island in the Ionian Sea but somewhere else. Among them, there is the opinion that the Homeric Ithaca was the western part of Kefalonia Island, the Paliki peninsula, separated at that time from the main island by a channel. The aim of this study is to verify, based on geological and geomorphological field observations, the existence of the proposed “channel” during the Homeric era, and its filling by a series of landslides originating from the eastern mountains, and to determine the paleogeographic evolution of the study area in the late Holocene. Detailed geological and geomorphological mapping was performed focusing on different landforms of fluvial origin, slope changes, planation and depositional surfaces, karst features, mass wasting features, and faults. Topographic diagrams and maps, aerial photographs, and satellite images were used, accompanied by extensive fieldwork. For the geological mapping, field observations were combined with previous works. A spatial database derived from the aforementioned material and work was constructed using geographic information system (GIS) techniques. A digital terrain model (DTM) of the study region was also created. All the geological and geomorphological evidence refutes the hypothesis for the existence of a channel in NW Kefalonia. Moreover, there is a serious discordance in the time period needed for the formation and evolution of the landscape, considering the rock type and the Mediterranean climate of the area.

The Pittsburgh region has long been recognized as one of major landslide activity. This results from the geology and geomorphic processes shaping the region. The underlying bedrock of flat-lying interbedded strong and weak sedimentary strata has been acted upon by erosion, stress relief, and mass wasting, including creep and landsliding processes, to produce masses of marginally stable colluvial rock and soil on many of the steep hillsides common to the region. Landsliding often involves re-activation of such rock and soil masses. Recent landsliding is often triggered by heavy precipitation and by human activities, i.e., slope excavation, fill placement, and changes in long-established patterns of surface and subsurface drainage.This field trip has four stops, all within 20 mi of downtown Pittsburgh. Each stop is along a transportation corridor (railroad, local road, and two along an interstate highway). Each stop has various sized examples of the types of landslides common to the region. Most of these examples involve reactivation of unrecognized colluvial landslide masses.

Geologic, geomorphic, and geophysical analyses of landforms, sediments, and geologic structures document the complex history of pluvial Lake Bonneville in northern Cache Valley, NE Great Basin, and shows that the outlet of Lake Bonneville shifted ~20 km south after the Bonneville flood. The Riverdale normal fault offsets Bonneville deposits, but not younger Provo deposits ~25 km southeast of Zenda, Idaho. Rapid changes in water level may have induced slip on the Riverdale fault shortly before, during, or after the Bonneville flood. Although other processes may have played a role, seismicity might have been the main cause of the Bonneville flood.The outlet of Lake Bonneville shifted south from Zenda first 11, then another 12 km, during the Provo occupation. The subsequent Holocene establishment of the drainage divide at Red Rock Pass, south of Zenda, resulted from an alluvial fan damming the north-sloping valley. Weak Neogene sediments formed sills for the three overflowing stages of the lake, including the pre-flood highstand. Field trip stops on flood-modified landslide deposits overlook two outflow channels, examine and discuss the conglomerate-bearing sedimentary deposits that formed the dam of Lake Bonne ville, sapping-related landforms, and the Holocene alluvial fan that produced the modern drainage divide at Red Rock Pass.The flood scoured ~25 km of Cache and Marsh Valleys, initiated modest-sized landslides, and cut a channel north of a new sill near Swan Lake. Lake Bonneville dropped ~100 m and stablilized south of this sill at the main, higher ~4775 ± 10 ft (1456 ± 3 m) Provo shoreline. Later Lake Bonneville briefly stabilized at a lower ~4745 ± 10 ft (1447 ± 3 m) Provo sill, near Clifton, Idaho, 12 km farther south. An abandoned meandering riverbed in Round Valley, Idaho, shows major flow of the large Bonneville River northward from the Clifton sill. Field trip stops at both sills and overlooking the meander belt examine some of the field evidence for these shorelines and sills.The Bear River, which enters Cache Valley at the mouth of Oneida Narrows, 17 km ENE of the Clifton sill, was the main source of water in Lake Bonneville. It produced 3 sets of deltas in Cache Valley—a major delta during the Bonneville highstand, a larger composite delta during occupation of two Provo shorelines, and at least one smaller delta during recession from the Provo shoreline. The Bonneville delta and most of the Provo delta of the Bear River were subaqueous in Cache Valley, based on their topsets being lower than the coeval shorelines. The Bonneville delta is deeply dissected by closely spaced gullies that formed immediately after the Bonneville flood. The delta morphologies change sequentially from river-dominated to wave-dominated, then back to river-dominated. These unique shapes and the brief, intense erosion of the Bonneville delta record temporal changes in wave energy, erosion, vegetation, and/or storminess, at the end of the Pleistocene. Stops on a delta near Weston, Idaho, reveal many of the distinguishing features of the much larger deltas of the Bear River in a smaller, more concentrated form. We will see and discuss the ubiquitous gully erosion in Bonneville landforms, the nearly undissected Provo delta, the subaqueous topset of the Provo delta, and the wave-cut and wave-built benches and notches at the upper and lower Provo shorelines.

The prime cause of the relocation of one of the first villages founded in Venezuela by Spaniards in the early seventeenth century was likely motivated by earthquakes. San Antonio de Mucuñó, located in the Merida Andes ~200 km south-southeast of Maracaibo, was subjected to the effects of landslides triggered by a series of seismic events that took place in and around the year 1674. Historical documents, the geological and seismo-tectonic setting, and paleoseismic data support the conclusion that the earthquakes of 1674 occurred on the nearby, seismically active Bocono fault.

Earthquake archaeology developed in Japan simultaneously with that in the Mediterranean in the mid-1980s. By 1996, evidence of earthquake occurrence had been documented at 378 sites throughout the archipelago. The main features identified include various results of liquefaction, faults, landslips, and surface cracking. This evidence differs greatly from the standard Mediterranean focus on building damage, and the reasons for the very different natures of archaeoseismology in these world regions are explained herein. This article recounts the development of this new subfield, inspired by the interest of geomorphologist Sangawa Akira and taken to its most recent advances in identifying soft-sediment deformation structures by geoarchaeologist Matsuda Jun-ichirō. The evidence of earthquake activity at archaeological sites can be matched with earthquakes caused by either active fault movement or subduction. The historical record of earthquake occurrence, already documented back to 599 C.E., is extended into the prehistorical record through relative dating of artifacts and features on archaeological sites. Both the identification and the dating of the archaeological evidence of earthquakes can be challenged, though the “territorial approach” gives the data a significance that is not achieved through analysis of single sites.

Glaciers are a significant natural resource in Alaska and the Western United States, covering respective areas of ~74,600 and 688 km2 (Dyurgerov, 2002; Fountain et al., 2007). A large percentage of these glaciers exist within the boundaries of lands managed by the U.S. federal government. For example, glaciers in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve and Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska cover a total area of ~20,000 km2 (Adema, 2004). In contrast to geologic processes that operate on time scales on the order of thousands or even millions of years, significant glacier change can occur within a human lifetime. The dynamic nature of glaciers strongly influences the hydrologic, geologic, and ecological systems in the environments in which they exist. Additionally, the sensitive and dynamic response to changes in temperature and precipitation make glaciers excellent indicators of regional and global climate change (Riedel and Burrows, 2005). Long-term monitoring of glacier change is important because it provides basic data for understanding and assessing past, current, and possible future conditions of the local, regional, and global environment. A basic understanding of local and regional environmental systems is critical for responsible land management and decision-making.

Paleontological resources (fossils) are the remains of life preserved in a geologic context. Fossils may consist of the physical remains of a biological organism such as a tooth, bone, shell, leaf, cone, seed, or wood. Evidence of biological activity may sometimes be preserved in rocks, hence tracks, traces, burrows, coprolites (fossil dung and feces), and nests represent other valuable types of paleontological resources.The fossil record reveals an extremely rich diversity of ancient organisms preserved in the Earth's strata (layers of rock). The fossil record of life on Earth spans nearly every period of geologic history from Precambrian bacteria, billions of years old, to more recent Pleistocene or Holocene cave fossils dating back only a few thousand years. Together, fossils from around the world yield significant scientific and educational information regarding the history of life on Earth.From the moment of death for an organism, a wide array of agents and forces work toward the breakdown and destruction of its physical remains. Raup and Stanley (1978) identify and describe biological, chemical, and mechanical variables associated with the destruction of biological remains. Only a very small percentage of all living organisms become part of the fossil record, and of those, an even smaller percentage have been discovered, collected and studied. The preservation of fossils and the associated biases in the fossil record are directly attributable to the organism's morphologic composition, rate of post-mortem burial, environment of deposition, diagenetic variables, tapho-nomic (after death) factors, and the post-depositional geologic history of

Slope movements, including types of landslides and extremely slow soil creep (Varnes, 1978), occur throughout the United States and within many national parks. The collection of vital signs of regional landslide information, referred to as monitoring, is not only scientifically useful, but is beneficial for assessment of landslide hazards and risk, which is in turn important for regional operations and planning.Different types of slope movement, such as fall, topple, slide, spread, and flow, can occur in a variety of materials and degrees of slopes. Specific types of landslides (Fig. 1), such as rockfall, earth slump, and debris flow, can occur depending upon the types of geologic materials and movement (Cruden and Varnes, 1996). A landslide can be caused by one or more of several factors, of which geological, morphological, physical, and human factors are the most common. The term landslide trigger refers specifically to an external stimulus, such as intense rainfall, rapid snowmelt, earthquake, volcanic eruption, or stream or coastal erosion. These stimuli initiate an immediate or near-immediate landslide movement by rapidly increasing shear stresses or porewater pressures, by ground acceleration due to seismic activity, by removing lateral support, by reducing the strength of slope materials, or by initiating debris-flow activity. Most landslides with recognized triggers are caused by precipitation: rainfall, snow meltwater, or combinations of both. In rock masses, rain and meltwater penetrate joints and produce hydrostatic pressures. In soils, the increase of pore-water pressures reduces shear resistance (Schuster and Wieczorek, 2002).