Schaller, E. M., V. L. Santucci, S. B. Newman, T. B. Connors, and E. L. Bilderback. 2014. Summary and categorization of documented geologic hazards of the National Park System. Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/GRD/NRR—2014/813. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado.
Schaller EM, Santucci VL, Newman SB, Connors TB, Bilderback EL. 2014. Schaller, E. M., V. L. Santucci, S. B. Newman, T. B. Connors, and E. L. Bilderback. 2014. Summary and categorization of documented geologic hazards of the National Park System. Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/GRD/NRR—2014/813. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado.. Natural Resource Report. NPS/NRSS/GRD/NRR—2014/813. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
Geologic hazards are naturally occurring, dynamic geologic processes which have the potential to cause damage, loss of property, and/or injury and loss of life. These processes include: avalanches, cave and karst incidents, coastal and shoreline hazards, flooding, geothermal risks, glacial activity, mass wasting events, rockfalls, seismic activity, and volcanic hazards. Although servicewide data on geologic hazards is far from comprehensive, the study found that 72 people were killed and at least 124 injured. There have been 141 incidents damaging or destroying park facilities and 31 that affected irreplaceable cultural resources. Of the geologic hazard categories, rockfalls are the most commonly reported incident (27%) followed by flooding (16%) and mass wasting (14%). These hazards often occur repeatedly in the same locations and carefully planned preventative measures could prevent future damages and injuries. Damages to facilities are most common (67%) followed by incidents affecting people (38%) and damage to cultural resources (38%). These numbers add up to more than 100% because events often cause damage to more than one category (facilities, people, cultural resources). Due to an under-reporting of incidents and lack of a centralized database for collecting these events, the results presented in this report far under-represent the true extent of geologic hazards impacting the National Park System. This project is a collaborative effort between the National Park Service (NPS) Geologic Resources Division (GRD) and the Public Risk Management Program (PRMP). It stresses the importance of a servicewide reporting system for geologic hazard incidents and is a first effort to compile servicewide geologic hazard information. Background work for this report involved the review of 225 documented geologic hazards in 83 NPS areas and itemization of those incidents resulting in injury or damage. This effort lays the foundation for establishing a queryable geologic hazard and incident database for the NPS to maintain geologic hazard incident data, add new incidents, analyze trends, and identify areas of high-risk. These data may help guide NPS management decision-making around park planning, injury and resource damage prevention, and to identify future areas of needed research. We recommend the development of a reporting method to collect geologic hazard incidents and capture retrospective incidents not currently itemized. This would allow the National Park Service to more proactively identify geologic hazard areas and investigate mitigating actions. We also recommend the identification of a few high-risk parks to undergo a detailed hazard analysis and develop preventative solutions to recurring issues.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Schaller, Elizabeth; Santucci, Vincent; Newman, Sara; Connors, Timothy; Bilderback, Eric
- Date of Issue
- 2014-05
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- GRD , NRSS
- Keywords
- avalanche, CAVE, Coastal, Flooding, Geologic Hazards, Geologic Resources Division, Geology, Geothermal, Glacial, GRD, Karst, Landslide, mass wasting, National Park Service, NPS, Public Risk Management Program, Rockfall, Seismic, Shoreline, Volcanic
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Geomorphology | Glacial Features and Processes , Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Geomorphology | Hillslope Features and Processes , Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Geomorphology | Coastal/Oceanographic Features and Processes , Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Geomorphology | Stream/River Channel Characteristics , Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Subsurface Geologic Processes | Geothermal Features and Processes , Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Subsurface Geologic Processes | Cave/Karst Features and Processes , Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Subsurface Geologic Processes | Volcanic Features and Processes , Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Subsurface Geologic Processes | Seismic Activity , Ecological Framework: Human Use | Visitor and Recreation Use | Visitor Use