Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Geophysical Investigations Of The Seattle Fault Zone In Western Washington And A Geothermal System At Mount Princeton, Colorado, Andrew Patrick Lamb

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

We use an array of existing and modified geophysical techniques to investigate the active Seattle thrust fault zone in western Washington and a geothermal system at Mt. Princeton Colorado. Through the integration of different geophysical methods, we can extend our observations of the surface geology to beneath the subsurface, thereby giving us a greater understanding of the structures and their kinematic interplay.

We find geophysical evidence through the use of potential field and seismic data for the Seattle fault zone extending further to the west than previously thought. We also find evidence that the Seattle fault zone may be linked …

Integrated Geophysical Exploration Of A Known Geothermal Resource: Neal Hot Springs, Clinton Ryan Colwell

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

I present an integrated geophysical characterization of the Neal Hot Springs geothermal system in eastern Oregon. This newly established 23 MW geothermal production site is located in a region of complex geology and intersecting faults associated with two major extensional systems; the Oregon-Idaho Graben and the western Snake River Plain. The intersection of two dominant fault orientations, coupled with a high geothermal gradient from relatively thin continental crust and radioactive decay from a shallow granitic body, produces the pathways and heat needed for deep water circulation at Neal Hot Springs. New geologic mapping, geochemistry, and measurements from several boreholes in …

Synthesizing Measurement, Modeling And Remote Sensing Techniques To Study Spatiotemporal Variability Of Seasonal Snow, Andrew R. Hedrick

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Mountain snowpacks vary drastically over length scales as small as 1—2 meters in complex terrain and require high resolution measurements to accurately quantify the spatial distribution of snow. This thesis explores this spatial distribution using remote sensing, modeling and ground-based observations. Snow depth estimates from airborne LiDAR at 5 m resolution over 750 km² was compared to in situ observations and results from physically-based snow and wind redistribution models, and a new low cost method for continuous depth measurements at the slope scale was developed.

Repeated airborne Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) surveys are capable of recording snow depth …

Assessing Local Snow Variability Using A Network Of Ultrasonic Snow Depth Sensors, Erik Thorsten Boe

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

During the 2009-2010 winter season, 21 inexpensive ultrasonic snow depth (USD) sensors were constructed and installed, in addition to two standard Judd USD sensors, at Treeline and Lower Deer Point sites located within the snow dominated Dry Creek Experimental Watershed, near Boise, Idaho. Six USD sensors, including a single Judd Communications USD sensor, were installed at the Treeline site along a northeast to southwest transect of the small 0.02 km² catchment. Seventeen USD sensors, including a single Judd Communications USD sensor, were installed at Lower Deer Point in a randomized stratified pattern with respect to aspect and vegetation to …

A Precambrian History Of Cratonic North American Crust Beneath The Snake River Plain, Idaho, Emerald Kirke Shirley

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Granulite xenoliths erupted in Neogene basalts, and a rare outcrop of Precambrian basement along the northern margin of the Snake River Plain (SRP), can be used as windows into the origin and stabilization of the lower crust of southern Idaho. Previous work to determine the nature of the lower crust beneath the Snake River Plain was conducted on a suite of xenoliths exposed in Southern Idaho at Square Mountain (SM), Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve (CRMO), and the Spencer-Kilgore (SK) area (Leeman, 1979; Leeman et al., 1985; Matty, 1984; Wolf et al., 2005), as well as on …

A Solution To The Problem Of Interpreting Very Long Time Series Of Ambient Noise As Measured At Very Sparse Networks, Kathryn Teresa Decker

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Cyclic Distributional Model Of The Late Moscovian Fusulinids In The Donets Basin (Ukraine) In Response To Eustatic Sea Level Fluctuations And Its Application In Biostratigraphy And Correlation, Rimma Khodjanyazova

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The continuous Pennsylvanian shallow-marine, paralic, siliciclastic succession in the Donets Basin is pivotal for correlation of marine and continental strata in northern Pangaea with coeval shallow-marine mainly carbonate strata in the Moscow Basin, a historical type area of Moscovian Horizons. The details of the history of establishment, lithostratigraphy and current biostratigraphy of Podolskian and Myachkovian Horizons in the Moscow Basin that are not readily available in Western literature are reviewed.

A model of cyclic recurrence (~0.6 —1myr) of three main fusulinid assemblages in the Pennsylvanian siliciclastic-carbonate succession in the Donets Basin is proposed. A Hemifusulina-association (A) indicates the onset …

Transfer Of Snow Information Across The Macro-To-Hillslope-Scale Gap Using A Physiographic Downscaling Approach: Implications For Hydrologic Modeling In Semiarid, Seasonally Snow-Dominated Watersheds, Reggie D. Walters

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Snow and ice are substantial components of the global energy balance and hydrologic cycle. Seasonal snow covers an area of 47 million km² at its average maximum extent, 98% of which occurs across the Northern Hemisphere. The earth’s radiation budget is largely controlled by the fraction of absorbed solar energy, a parameter that is dependent upon snow surface albedo. Mountain snowpacks act as natural reservoirs, storing large quantities of water throughout the winter until eventual release during the melting phase. Accurate characterization of snow-covered area (SCA) and snow water equivalent (SWE) in such terrain could substantially improve the estimation …

The Geothermal System Near Paisley Oregon: A Tectonomagmatic Framework For Understanding The Geothermal Resource Potential Of Southeastern Oregon, Kyle Aaron Makovsky

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The tectonic and magmatic framework of southeast Oregon provides the conditions necessary for the existence of geothermal energy resources. However, few detailed studies of geothermal systems in this part of the Basin and Range have been conducted. Young bimodal magmatism and faulting associated with the High Lava Plains coupled with the encroachment of the Basin and Range tectonic province and potentially the Walker Lane have created the structural configuration, heat source, and secondary permeability necessary for geothermal systems in southeast Oregon. The relative contribution of these provinces to the overall tectonomagmatic framework is less well understood. In this study, the …

Characterization Of Heterogeneous Media With Multicomponent Laser Ultrasonics, Thomas E. Blum

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Wave propagation in scattering media is a complicated topic, but scattered elastic waves carry important information about the internal structure of the medium. It is a current topic of research and for the foreseeable future. Advances in theory and applications described in this manuscript benefit from new ways to collect more densely sampled, multicomponent, true-amplitude data.

Thus far, most fracture characterization experiments in the laboratory involve contacting transducers as elastic wave sources and receivers. Similarly, rock properties such as anisotropy and attenuation are also measured with contacting techniques. These type of measurements are well-suited for time-of-flight measurements, but for scattering …

Age, Provenance, And Structure Of The Weatherby Formation, Eastern Izee Sub-Basin, Blue Mountains Province, Oregon And Idaho, Bryant Douglas Ware

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The terranes of the Blue Mountains province of eastern Oregon and west-central Idaho provide an important link between the geology of the North American Cordillera exposed in Canada and Alaska in the north and Nevada and California in the south. The Izee basin is a volcanic-rich sedimentary sequence onlapping the volcanic arc and accretionary mélange terranes of the Blue Mountains, and comprises the marine flysch Weatherby Formation at its eastern extent. This study sought to establish the stratigraphic and structural relationships between the Weatherby Formation and the proximal Baker and Olds Ferry terranes. Small-scale mapping, structural measurements, and geochronological data …

Pattern Recognition In Earthquake Swarms From The 2009 Eruption Of Redoubt Volcano, Alaska, Catherine Jeanne Carlisle

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Earthquake swarms at volcanoes are common indicators of unrest and can be used to predict eruptions. However, not all earthquake swarms lead to an eruption but may die off instead. Variabilities in characteristics of swarms can lead to false predictions of an eruption. During the 2009 eruption of Redoubt Volcano in Alaska, there were five earthquake swarms, three of which preceded explosive eruptions and two that did not. These data were used to explore the variable characteristics that may be diagnostic of whether or not an eruption is imminent.

Data were recorded by the Alaska Volcano Observatory throughout the eruption. …