Skip to main content

Person

Francis Ashland

thumbnail
Pluvials can have dramatic impacts on the shoreline bluffs of Lake Michigan due to increases in both shallow subsurface moisture conditions related to the prolonged wet weather pattern and wave erosion as the lake level rises. These changes can result in an increased frequency and magnitude of slope failures. During the most recent pluvial, the monthly average level of Lake Michigan rose 1.9 m from a record low in January 2013 to a near record high in June-July 2020. To assess the impacts on coastal bluffs from slope failures during the recent pluvial, an inventory of landslides was completed, including slope failures active during the early part of the pluvial, on the coastal bluffs of South Manitou Island, part...
This data release includes time-series, qualitative descriptions, and laboratory testing data from two monitoring stations installed in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria in 2017, which led to tens of thousands of landslides across the island (Bessette-Kirton et al., 2017). The stations were installed in July of 2018 to investigate subsurface hydrologic response to rainfall and develop a quantitative link between rainfall and landsliding. The Toro Negro site is located within the state protected Toro Negro rainforest near 18°10’N, 66°34’W and the Utuado site is located outside the city of Utuado near 18°17’N, 66°39’W. The soil found at the Toro Negro site is low-permeability, fine-grained and cohesive, and underlain...
Pluvials can have dramatic impacts on the shoreline bluffs of Lake Michigan due to increases in both shallow subsurface moisture conditions related to the prolonged wet weather pattern and wave erosion as the lake level rises. These changes can result in an increased frequency and magnitude of slope failures. During the most recent pluvial, the monthly average level of Lake Michigan rose 1.9 m from a record low in January 2013 to a near record high in June-July 2020. To assess the impacts on coastal bluffs from slope failures during the recent pluvial, an inventory of landslides was completed, including slope failures active during the early part of the pluvial, on the coastal bluffs of North Manitou Island, part...
Seasonal variations in vegetation, rainfall, and soil moisture conditions have the potential to impact the slope stability of locally forested coastal bluffs in the Atlantic Highlands of New Jersey. Both the seasonality and rainfall amounts of the two types of storms that induce shallow landslides in the area vary considerably. Most of the documented historical landslides are the result of heavy rainfall caused by late summer-fall tropical cyclones. The majority of the remaining documented landslides are related to spring nor’easters and total storm rainfall amounts for these storms are generally lower than the rainfall amounts for the tropical cyclones. In order to assess how conditions that may affect the potential...
ScienceBase brings together the best information it can find about USGS researchers and offices to show connections to publications, projects, and data. We are still working to improve this process and information is by no means complete. If you don't see everything you know is associated with you, a colleague, or your office, please be patient while we work to connect the dots. Feel free to contact sciencebase@usgs.gov.