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Database of Central and Eastern North American Seismic Velocity Structure

Metadata Updated: January 21, 2026

The “Database of Central and Eastern North American Seismic Velocity Structure” involves the compilation of one-dimensional (1D) seismic velocity-depth functions for central and eastern North America (CENA). The present database is an update of the report by Chulick and Mooney (2002) who present a compilation and statistical analysis of 1D seismic velocity-depth functions for North America and its margins. All seismic velocity-depth functions are extracted from peer-reviewed journal articles, with 86% derived from active-source seismic refraction profiles and the remaining 14% from receiver functions or local earthquake tomography models. No reanalysis of the original seismic field data was undertaken. The database of Chulick and Mooney (2002) covered a much larger region than central and eastern North America. In 2013 the USGS focused on augmenting the Chulick and Mooney (2002) database to update the coverage specifically for central and eastern North America. This augmented compilation was done to help characterize the seismic site response at the locations of nuclear power facilities and was a deliverable specified by a USGS-Nuclear Regulatory Commission Inter-agency Work Agreement, which can be found at https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1428/ML14280A412.pdf. Each seismic velocity-depth function is specified by its unique latitude and longitude and consists of the published crustal model for the subsurface Earth layers at that location, with each layer specified by compressional-wave velocity, shear-wave velocity, thickness, and depth. Each entry also includes other information, such as: elevation, geologic province, age of last significant thermo-tectonic activity, and the principal seismic methodology used to determine the velocity-depth function. Chulick, G.S., and Mooney, W.D., 2002, Seismic Structure of the Crust and Uppermost Mantle of North America and Adjacent Oceanic Basins: A Synthesis, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, vol.92, no.6, p.2478–2492.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Created Date January 11, 2026
Metadata Updated Date January 21, 2026

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date January 11, 2026
Metadata Updated Date January 21, 2026
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/USGS_608805a2d34e0fbbe3ddb82d
Data Last Modified 2021-11-15T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Datagov Dedupe Retained 20260120233220
Harvest Object Id 0a1e0242-02fc-445e-8e37-22e51554ef48
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -114.95, 19.73, -114.95, 54.98, -59.59, 54.98, -59.59, 19.73, -114.95, 19.73}
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash ed06093080116101ce27bd6adc597d655cf4048aa7a3cc50cf5a15a71e51ad82
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -114.95, 19.73, -114.95, 54.98, -59.59, 54.98, -59.59, 19.73, -114.95, 19.73}

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