High-resolution seismic imaging of the West Napa Fault Zone at Buhman Avenue, Napa, California

In November 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey acquired high-resolution P- and S-wave seismic data across the surface trace of the West Napa Fault zone near Buhman Avenue in Napa, California. We acquired seismic reflection, refraction, and guided-wave data along a 117-m-long profile across the known surface rupture zone of the West Napa Fault zone. To acquire the reflection and refraction data, we co-located shots and geophones, spaced every meter along the profile. We used 118 SercelTM L40A P-wave (40-Hz vertical-component) geophones with a sensitivity of 22.34 volts/meter/second to record 118 P-wave shots. We also used 118 SercelTM L28-LBH S-wave (4.5-Hz horizontal-component) geophones with a sensitivity of 31.3 volts/meter/second to record 118 S-wave shots. We generated P-wave data using a 2.5-kg sledgehammer and steel plate combination. S-wave sources were generated by horizontally striking an aluminum block with a 2.5-kg sledgehammer. We acquired fault-zone guided-wave data by generating P- and S-wave energy (2.5-kg sledgehammer and steel plate or aluminum block) approximately 44 and 55 m northwest of the P- and S-wave recording arrays. All data were recorded using two 60-channel Geometrics Stratavisor NX-60TM seismographs with a 24-bit analog-to-digital converter (Subcommittee of the SEG Engineering and Groundwater Geophysics Committee, 1990); the seismographs were connected to the P- and S-wave geophones via refraction cables. Each shot was recorded for two seconds, with data recording starting 100 ms before the actual time of the shot. Data were recorded at a sampling rate of 0.5 ms, or 2000 samples per second. This report provides the metadata needed to utilize the seismic data.

Data and Resources

Field Value
accessLevel public
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datagov_dedupe_retained 20220722114234
identifier USGS:5e59ddb5e4b01d50924ca238
metadata_type geospatial
modified 20200818
old-spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-122.339796, 38.280793], [-122.339796, 38.281821], [ -122.338406, 38.281821], [ -122.338406, 38.280793], [-122.339796, 38.280793]]]}
publisher U.S. Geological Survey
publisher_hierarchy Department of the Interior > U.S. Geological Survey
resource-type Dataset
source_datajson_identifier true
source_hash 59f7fe972f611870f53a365b86e279ecf927c09f
source_schema_version 1.1
spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-122.339796, 38.280793], [-122.339796, 38.281821], [ -122.338406, 38.281821], [ -122.338406, 38.280793], [-122.339796, 38.280793]]]}
theme {geospatial}
Groups
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • National Provider
  • North America
Tags
  • amerigeo
  • amerigeoss
  • ckan
  • earthquake-hazards
  • faulting-geologic
  • geo
  • geoss
  • napa
  • national
  • north-america
  • northern-california
  • seismic-reflection-methods
  • seismic-refraction-methods
  • seismology
  • united-states
  • usgs-5e59ddb5e4b01d50924ca238
isopen False
license_id notspecified
license_title License not specified
maintainer Mark R Goldman
maintainer_email goldman@usgs.gov
metadata_created 2025-11-21T21:19:43.037970
metadata_modified 2025-11-21T21:19:43.037975
notes In November 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey acquired high-resolution P- and S-wave seismic data across the surface trace of the West Napa Fault zone near Buhman Avenue in Napa, California. We acquired seismic reflection, refraction, and guided-wave data along a 117-m-long profile across the known surface rupture zone of the West Napa Fault zone. To acquire the reflection and refraction data, we co-located shots and geophones, spaced every meter along the profile. We used 118 SercelTM L40A P-wave (40-Hz vertical-component) geophones with a sensitivity of 22.34 volts/meter/second to record 118 P-wave shots. We also used 118 SercelTM L28-LBH S-wave (4.5-Hz horizontal-component) geophones with a sensitivity of 31.3 volts/meter/second to record 118 S-wave shots. We generated P-wave data using a 2.5-kg sledgehammer and steel plate combination. S-wave sources were generated by horizontally striking an aluminum block with a 2.5-kg sledgehammer. We acquired fault-zone guided-wave data by generating P- and S-wave energy (2.5-kg sledgehammer and steel plate or aluminum block) approximately 44 and 55 m northwest of the P- and S-wave recording arrays. All data were recorded using two 60-channel Geometrics Stratavisor NX-60TM seismographs with a 24-bit analog-to-digital converter (Subcommittee of the SEG Engineering and Groundwater Geophysics Committee, 1990); the seismographs were connected to the P- and S-wave geophones via refraction cables. Each shot was recorded for two seconds, with data recording starting 100 ms before the actual time of the shot. Data were recorded at a sampling rate of 0.5 ms, or 2000 samples per second. This report provides the metadata needed to utilize the seismic data.
num_resources 2
num_tags 16
title High-resolution seismic imaging of the West Napa Fault Zone at Buhman Avenue, Napa, California