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Field observations of the December 1977 wind storm, San Joaquin Valley, California

1981; Geological Society of America; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1130/spe186-p233

H. G. Wilshire, J.K. Nakata, B. Hallet,

Seismic Waves and Analysis

An extraordinary wind storm on December 20, 1977, caused moderate to severe damage to structures, crops, orchards, vehicles, wildlife, and soils in an area of about 2,000 km2 in the Southern San Joaquin Valley, California. Wind that may locally have reached velocities of 300 km/hr mobilized more than 25 million metric tons of soil from grazing lands alone within a 24-hour period, yielding a depositional plume that extended at least to the northern end of the Sacramento Valley; comparable amounts of soil may have been displaced in adjacent agricultural lands. The wind-stripped land in the Tehachapi and San Emigdio mountains caused accelerated runoff during ensuing rainstorms that exacerbated the problem of flooding in the southern valley and initiated numerous gullies that will continue to extend the loss of soil.