Contemporary Seismicity in and Around the Yakima Fold-and-Thrust Belt in Eastern Washington

We examined characteristics of routinely cataloged seismicity from 1970 to the present in and around the Yakima fold-and-thrust belt (YFTB) in eastern Washington to determine if the characteristics of contemporary seismicity provide clues about regional-scale active tectonics or about more localized, near-surface processes. We employed new structural and hydrologic models of the Columbia River basalts (CRB) and found that one-third to one-half of the cataloged earthquakes occur within the CRB and that these CRB earthquakes exhibit significantly more clustered, and swarmlike, behavior than those outside. These results and inferences from published studies led us to hypothesize that clustered seismicity is likely associated with hydrologic changes in the CRB, which hosts the regional aquifer system. While some general features of the regional groundwater system support this hypothesis, seismicity patterns and mapped long-term changes in groundwater levels and present-day irrigation neither support nor refute it. Regional tectonic processes and crustal-scale structures likely influence the distribution of earthquakes both outside and within the CRB as well. We based this inference on qualitatively assessed alignments between the dominant northwest trends in the geologic structure and the seismicity generally and between specific faults and characteristics of the 2009 Wooded Island swarm and aseismic slip, which is the only cluster studied in detail and the most vigorous since regional monitoring began.USGS-NAGTGeological Science

On the extension of the concept of Thin Shells to The Einstein-Cartan Theory

This paper develops a theory of thin shells within the context of the Einstein-Cartan theory by extending the known formalism of general relativity. In order to perform such an extension, we require the general non symmetric stress-energy tensor to be conserved leading, as Cartan pointed out himself, to a strong constraint relating curvature and torsion of spacetime. When we restrict ourselves to the class of space-times satisfying this constraint, we are able to properly describe thin shells and derive the general expression of surface stress-energy tensor both in its four-dimensional and in its three-dimensional intrinsic form. We finally derive a general family of static solutions of the Einstein-Cartan theory exhibiting a natural family of null hypersurfaces and use it to apply our formalism to the construction of a null shell of matter.Comment: Latex, 21 pages, 1 combined Latex/Postscript figure; Accepted for publication in Classical and Quantum Gravit

Invariant Connections with Torsion on Group Manifolds and Their Application in Kaluza-Klein Theories

Invariant connections with torsion on simple group manifolds $S$ are studied and an explicit formula describing them is presented. This result is used for the dimensional reduction in a theory of multidimensional gravity with curvature squared terms on $M^{4} \times S$. We calculate the potential of scalar fields, emerging from extra components of the metric and torsion, and analyze the role of the torsion for the stability of spontaneous compactification.Comment: 13 pages, LATEX, UB-ECM-PF 93/1

Maxwell Fields in Spacetimes Admitting Non-Null Killing Vectors

We consider source-free electromagnetic fields in spacetimes possessing a non-null Killing vector field, $\xi^a$. We assume further that the electromagnetic field tensor, $F_{ab}$, is invariant under the action of the isometry group induced by $\xi^a$. It is proved that whenever the two potentials associated with the electromagnetic field are functionally independent the entire content of Maxwell's equations is equivalent to the relation \n^aT_{ab}=0. Since this relation is implied by Einstein's equation we argue that it is enough to solve merely Einstein's equation for these electrovac spacetimes because the relevant equations of motion will be satisfied automatically. It is also shown that for the exceptional case of functionally related potentials \n^aT_{ab}=0 implies along with one of the relevant equations of motion that the complementary equation concerning the electromagnetic field is satisfied.Comment: 7 pages,PACS numbers: 04.20.Cv, 04.20.Me, 04.40.+

The Einstein 3-form G_a and its equivalent 1-form L_a in Riemann-Cartan space

The definition of the Einstein 3-form G_a is motivated by means of the contracted 2nd Bianchi identity. This definition involves at first the complete curvature 2-form. The 1-form L_a is defined via G_a = L^b \wedge #(o_b \wedge o_a). Here # denotes the Hodge-star, o_a the coframe, and \wedge the exterior product. The L_a is equivalent to the Einstein 3-form and represents a certain contraction of the curvature 2-form. A variational formula of Salgado on quadratic invariants of the L_a 1-form is discussed, generalized, and put into proper perspective.Comment: LaTeX, 13 Pages. To appear in Gen. Rel. Gra

An Annotated List of the Fishes of Lake Erie and its Tributary Waters Exclusive of the Detroit River

Author Institution: U. S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, Sandusky Biological Station, Sandusky, Ohio ; Curator of Vertebrate Collections and Professor, Faculty of Zoology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OhioDramatic fluctuations have occurred in the abundance of many species in Lake Erie and its tributary waters in the last century. Some fishes of former economic importance have become commercially extinct. Several species apparently have been extirpated, especially in the tributaries. It is believed that further changes in the abundance of other species will occur in the near future. This publication consolidates the confirmed records of fish species for Lake Erie and its tributaries. One hundred and thirty-eight species of fishes are listed and, where appropriate, brief comments on present and past distribution, and abundance and economic status are given. Selected references are listed as additional sources of information for each species

The Motion of a Body in Newtonian Theories

A theorem due to Bob Geroch and Pong Soo Jang ["Motion of a Body in General Relativity." Journal of Mathematical Physics 16(1), (1975)] provides the sense in which the geodesic principle has the status of a theorem in General Relativity (GR). Here we show that a similar theorem holds in the context of geometrized Newtonian gravitation (often called Newton-Cartan theory). It follows that in Newtonian gravitation, as in GR, inertial motion can be derived from other central principles of the theory.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure. This is the version that appeared in JMP; it is only slightly changed from the previous version, to reflect small issue caught in proo

Wormholes in spacetime with torsion

Analytical wormhole solutions in $U_4$ theory are presented. It is discussed whether the extremely short range repulsive forces, related to the spin angular momentum of matter, could be the ``carrier'' of the exoticity that threads the wormhole throat.Comment: 10 pages revte

The Impact of COVID-19 Test Requirements on Cross-Border Travel: A Case Study of Blaine, WA

The COVID-19 pandemic brought new and unprecedented requirements for cross-border travel. In Summer 2021, after more than a year of restrictions on ‘non-essential’ travel, Canada began allowing vaccinated travelers with a negative PCR test to enter and return for discretionary purposes and without quarantine. However, testing requirements for entry to Canada continue to fluctuate, with the latest change going into effect February 28th, 2022. This Border Brief uses the case study of the land border between British Columbia and Washington State to explore how different testing regimes may impact cross-border travel