Horizontal-to-Vertical Spectral Ratio Soundings and Depth-to-Bedrock Data for New York City and Long Island, NY

Dates

Publication Date: 2023-05-25
Start Date: 2019-03-29
End Date: 2020-09-25

Citation

DeMott, L.M., Stumm, F., Como, M., and Finkelstein, J., 2023, Horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio soundings and depth-to-bedrock data for New York City and Long Island, NY: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9S7Q68D.

Summary

From March 2019 to September 2020, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New York City Department of Design and Construction and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, collected horizontal-to-vertical seismic (HVSR) surveys at 140 locations in New York, Bronx, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk counties to estimate the thickness of unconsolidated sediments and the depth to bedrock (Lane and others, 2008). The passive-seismic method uses a single, broad-band three-component (two horizontal and one vertical) seismometer to record ambient seismic noise. In areas that have a strong acoustic contrast between the bedrock and overlying sediments, the seismic noise induces resonance at frequencies that range from [...]

Summary

From March 2019 to September 2020, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New York City Department of Design and Construction and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, collected horizontal-to-vertical seismic (HVSR) surveys at 140 locations in New York, Bronx, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk counties to estimate the thickness of unconsolidated sediments and the depth to bedrock (Lane and others, 2008). The passive-seismic method uses a single, broad-band three-component (two horizontal and one vertical) seismometer to record ambient seismic noise. In areas that have a strong acoustic contrast between the bedrock and overlying sediments, the seismic noise induces resonance at frequencies that range from about 0.3 to 40 Hz. The ratio of the average horizontal-to-vertical spectrums produces a spectral-ratio curve with peaks at fundamental and higher-order resonance frequencies. The spectral ratio curve (the ratio of the averaged horizontal-to-vertical component spectrums) is used to determine the fundamental resonance frequency that can be used along with an average shear-wave velocity or a power-law regression equation to estimate sediment thickness and depth to bedrock (Lane and others, 2008; Brown and others, 2013; Fairchild and other, 2013; Chandler and others, 2014; and Johnson and Lane, 2016).

The HVSR data presented in this data release was collected at each site for 20 minutes using a Tromino Model TEP-3C1 three-component seismometer. The data was processed with Grilla 2012 version. 6.21 software to 1) remove anthropogenic noise, 2) convert the time-domain data to frequency domain, 3) compute and plot the spectral ratio curve, and 4) determine the resonance frequency. This data release presents the resonance frequency peaks identified from the HVSR measurements. Also presented are reported depth-to-bedrock data for wells located at or near HVSR data-collection sites in Suffolk, Nassau, and Queens counties (Long Island) for use in comparison of HVSR forward model depths to reported well depths. Raw and processed HVSR data for each HVSR measurement are presented in the attached. The HVSR data-collection sites are designated by a county sequential numbering system for each of the five counties (NYHVSR8, NYHVSR9, etc. where NY indicates New York County, Bx indicates Bronx County, Qn indicates Queens County, Sf indicates Suffolk County, and Ns indicates Nassau County).

Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Contacts

Point of Contact :: Frederick Stumm
Originator :: Laura M DeMott, Frederick Stumm, Michael D Como, Jason Finkelstein
Metadata Contact :: Laura M DeMott
Publisher :: U.S. Geological Survey
Data Owner :: New York Water Science Center
USGS Mission Area :: Water Resources
SDC Data Owner :: New York Water Science Center
Distributor :: U.S. Geological Survey - ScienceBase

Attached Files

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HVSR_NYCBedrock_Metadata_v2.xml Original FGDC Metadata	View	24.67 KB	application/fgdc+xml
HVSR_NewYorkCity_reports.zip		514.18 MB	application/zip
HVSR_NewYorkCity_LIST.csv		12.68 KB	text/csv
HVSR_NewYorkCity_LIST.xlsx		24.8 KB	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet

Shapefile: HVSR_NewYorkCity_Sites.zip
HVSR_NewYorkCity_Sites.cpg		5 Bytes
HVSR_NewYorkCity_Sites.dbf		74.94 KB
HVSR_NewYorkCity_Sites.prj		145 Bytes
HVSR_NewYorkCity_Sites.sbn		1.51 KB
HVSR_NewYorkCity_Sites.sbx		180 Bytes
HVSR_NewYorkCity_Sites.shp		3.93 KB
HVSR_NewYorkCity_Sites.shp.xml		9.76 KB
HVSR_NewYorkCity_Sites.shx		1.19 KB

Related External Resources

Type: Related Primary Publication

DeMott, L.M., Stumm, F., and Finkelstein, J., 2023, Bedrock-surface elevation and overburden thickness maps of the five boroughs, New York City, New York: U.S. Geological Survey Data Report 1176, 22 p.	https://doi.org/10.3133/dr1176

Type: Method

Brown, C.J., Voytek, E.B., Lane, J.W., Stone, J. R., 2013, Mapping Bedrock Surface Contours Using the Horizontal to-Vertical Spectral Ratio (HVSR) Method Near the Middle Quarter Area, Woodbury, Connecticut: U.S. Geological Survey open file report 2013-1028, https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20131028.	https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20131028
Chandler, V. W., and Lively, R. S., 2014, Evaluation of the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio (HVSR) passive seismic method for estimating the thickness of Quaternary deposits in Minnesota and adjacent parts of Wisconsin: Minnesota Geological Survey Open File Report 14-01, 52 p.	https://hdl.handle.net/11299/162792
Johnson, C. and Lane, J., 2016, Statistical comparison of methods for estimating sediment thickness from horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio (HVSR) seismic methods: An example from Tylerville, Connecticut, USA, in Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems Proceedings 2016.	https://library.seg.org/doi/epdf/10.4133/SAGEEP.29-057
Lane, J.W., White, E.A, Steele, G.V., Cannia, J.C., 2013, Estimation of Bedrock Depth Using the Horizontal‐to‐Vertical (H/V) Ambient‐Noise Seismic Method, in Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems Proceedings 2008.	https://doi.org/10.4133/1.2963289
Fairchild, G.M., Lane, J.W., Jr., Voytek, E.B., and LeBlanc, D.R., 2013, Bedrock topography of western Cape Cod, Massachusetts, based on bedrock altitudes from geologic borings and analysis of ambient seismic noise by the horizontal-to-vertical spectral-ratio method: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3233, 1 sheet, maps variously scaled, 17-p. pamphlet, on one CD–ROM.	http://pubs.usgs.gov/sim/3233

Purpose

Data were obtained to help determine thickness of surficial geologic units and depth to bedrock

Horizontal-to-Vertical Spectral Ratio Soundings and Depth-to-Bedrock Data for New York City and Long Island, NY

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