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 …

Estimating Deep Percolation In The Mountain Rain-Snow Transition Zone, Patrick Richard Kormos

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Deep percolation (DP) is estimated from a small study catchment in the semi arid rain-snow transition zone in the foothills north of Boise, ID. A water balance is performed at the catchment soil bedrock interface, where soil drainage is assumed to be partitioned into DP and streamflow. While stream flow is measured, soil drainage must be estimated. We model the snow dynamics and surface water inputs (SWI) to the soil (Chapter 3), and the soil dynamics and soil drainage to the soil-bedrock interface (Chapter 4). The high spatiotemporal dataset used in this modeling effort is presented for the 2011 water …

Computing Curvature And Curvature Normals On Smooth Logically Cartesian Surface Meshes, John Thomas Hutchins

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This thesis describes a new approach to computing mean curvature and mean curvature normals on smooth logically Cartesian surface meshes. We begin by deriving a finite-volume formula for one-dimensional curves embedded in two- or three- dimensional space. We show the exact results on curves for specific cases as well as second-order convergence in numerical experiments. We extend this finite-volume formula to surfaces embedded in three-dimensional space. Exact results are again derived for special cases and second-order convergence is shown numerically for more general cases. We show that our formula for computing curvature is an improvement over using the “cotan” formula …

Electrochemical Reduction Of Aqueous Uranium, Jonathan M. Scaggs

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The electrochemical reduction of uranium in acidic aqueous environments with the express purpose of generating U(III) consistently is critically evaluated. Generating U(III) in an aqueous environment is difficult and extremely unstable and has historically been difficult to achieve and isolate for further investigation. The electrochemical cell, electrodes, supporting electrolytes, and pH’s are all reviewed and evaluated for the purpose of optimizing the systemic requirements to electrochemically generate U(III). Several new types of electrochemical cells to include two new spectroelectrochemical for UV-Vis and FT-Raman investigation were designed and tested for the purpose of analyzed the redox species of aqueous uranium generated …

Interactive Focus+Context Glyph And Streamline Vector Visualization, Joshua Joseph Anghel

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

With data sets growing in size, more efficient methods of visualizing and analyzing data are required. A user can become overwhelmed if too much data is displayed at once and be distracted from identifying potentially important features. This thesis presents methods for focus+context visualization of vector fields. Users can interact with the data in real time to choose which regions should have more emphasis through a mouse or touch interface. Streamlines and hedgehog based visualizations are used to provide focus+context to vector visualizations. The presented visualization methods are shown to be more computationally efficient and are shown to scale well …

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 …

Influence Of Microstructure On The Propagation Of Fatigue Cracks In Inconel 617, Benjiman Michael Albiston

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Inconel 617 is a candidate material for use in the intermediate heat exchanger of the Next Generation Nuclear Plant. Because of the high temperatures and the fluctuations in stress and temperature, the fatigue behavior of the material is important to understand. The goal of this study was to determine the influences of the microstructure during fatigue crack propagation. For this investigation, Inconel 617 compact tension samples, fatigue tested by Julian Benz at the Idaho National Laboratory, were obtained. The testing conditions included two environments at 650 °C (lab air and impure-He) and varied testing parameters including: loading waveform (triangular, trapezoidal), …

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. …

Investigation Of Human-Induced Land Use Changes Under Present And Future Climate Projections In Southern Idaho, Korri Allen Anderson

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Water is the lifeblood of Idaho agricultural practices. Under future climate, water shortages may occur and better water management will need to occur under these conditions. The role of irrigation under a changing climate has not been previously investigated in the Snake River Basin. Irrigation schemes implemented in the NOAH Land Surface Model are tested within the Weather Research and Forecast Model 3.4 at 4-km resolution. The goals of this research are to investigate the effect of irrigation-induced cooling on local and regional climate in Southern Idaho, under present and future climate projections, and to diagnose irrigation-induced changes to surface …

Document Classification, Shane K. Panter

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

We present an overview of the document classification process and present research conducted against the newly constructed SBIR-STTR corpus. Specifically, the current methods in use for annotation, corpus construction, feature construction, feature weighting, and classifier algorithms are surveyed. We introduce a new dataset derived from public data downloaded from sbir.gov and the Text Annotation Toolkit (TAT) ₁ for use in classification research.

TAT is a collection of independent components packaged together into one open source software application. TAT was engineered to support the document classification process and workflow. Tracking of changes in a working corpus, saving data used in the …

Novel Algorithms And Software For Biological Sequence Analysis, William Casey Bullock

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Bioinformatics is a broad realm of research in which Computer Science has much to offer. Collecting, sorting, and analyzing statistical information for DNA and protein sequences is difficult due to the sheer amount of available data. Tools have been created to do this, but they have generally been limited by speed or robustness.

In addition to analyzing the statistical properties of biological sequences, it is also important to model and understand their chemical and physical properties. A number of valuable software tools are available for modeling and predicting the properties of biological sequences in Computational Chemistry, including molecular docking, and …