Geophysics and Seismology Commons^™

Seismic Resilience Of Timber Homes, Melia R. Costa

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

The vast majority of residential buildings in California are wood-frame structures. A home is typically a very large investment for families, and damage to the home can be detrimental to a family’s economic success. Thus, reducing the economic impacts of an earthquake on residential timber housing is crucial. A full scale, two-story section of a residential timber house is in construction in the Parson’s Geotechnical and Earthquake Engineering Laboratory on the Cal Poly campus in San Luis Obispo, California. Once built it will be put through earthquake simulation tests on a shake table with various magnitudes of seismic activity. Next, …

The Aimag Project: Using Machine Learning To Predict Crustal Magnetic Anomaly Values, Xavier Gobble, Marlie Mollett, Dr. Dawn King, Dr. Cory Reed, Erin Knese

Undergraduate Research Symposium

A detailed model of the Earth’s total magnetic field is important for acquiring the means for GPS-alternative, magnetic anomaly-based navigation. The Earth’s total magnetic field is an amalgam of 5 mechanisms: the geodynamo generated by the rotation of the Earth’s molten iron core, the fields induced by the flows of electric current in the atmosphere and oceans, the disturbance of the ionosphere by solar wind, and local anomalies attributable to ferromagnetic minerals present in the crust; the lattermost compose the crustal magnetic field. The EMAG2v3 dataset comprises a compilation of satellite, shipborne, and airborne magnetic measurements differenced from the Comprehensive …

Crustal Structure And Evolution Of The Queen Charlotte Plate Boundary, Collin C. Brandl

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

There are many outstanding questions in plate tectonics that remain unanswered because large regions of the Earth are unexplored, both at the surface and in the subsurface. In this dissertation, I processed and analyzed active source seismic reflection data from the historically understudied Queen Charlotte transform plate boundary. Using this dataset, I found that the southern segment of the plate boundary has active underthrusting, is analogous to subduction zone crustal slivers, and is a site of early subduction initiation. Along the entire plate boundary, I constrained the near-surface thermal gradient using the stability of gas hydrate, finding that it is …

Structural Characterization Of The Puma Diapir, Gulf Of Mexico Basin, Rodrigo Velasquez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Basin has been a significant target for oil and gas since the 1990s and continues today as a leading exploration target. This super basin is home to an estimated 200 BBOE (Billon barrels of oil equivalent), with current production totaling 60 BBOE for both USA and Mexico. Even though the overall depositional evolution of the GOM has allowed for the key elements for petroleum accumulations to be met, a complex structural framework is present. This framework results from the asymmetric spreading of the North American Plate from the Yucatan block crating the GOM basin we …

Exploring Intraplate Seismicity In The Midwest, Alexa Fernández

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Intraplate seismicity represents a notable occurrence within the stable North American Craton. This research explores the potential sources of stresses that could reactivate older faults and influence seismic activity within this region. Among these sources, the enduring impact of the last glacial period is considered, which includes continued glacial isostatic adjustments (GIA). During GIA the lithosphere rebounds due to the retreating ice, and the forebulge caused by far-field flexure in response to the glacial load, collapses. This results in significant faulting, fracturing, and seismic activity associated with the deglaciation phase. The adjustment of the lithosphere manifests as both near surface …

Palynostratigraphy And Bayesian Age Stratigraphic Model Of New Ca-Id-Tims Zircon Ages From The Walloon Coal Measures, Surat Basin, Australia, K. Sobczak, J. Cooling, T. Crossingham, H. G. Holl, M. Reilly, J. Esterle, J. L. Crowley, C. Hannaford, M. T. Mohr, Z. Hamerli, S. Hurter

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Surat Basin hosts significant coal and coal seam gas resources. New high-precision CA-TIMS U/Pb zircon ages from tuffs and Bayesian age stratigraphic models are combined with palynology from fine-grained sedimentary rocks and zircon trace elements to provide further chronostratigraphic and biostratigraphic constrains on the Walloon Coal Measures in the eastern margin of the Surat Basin and infer the palaeoenvironment and tectonic setting. The tuff ages range from 165.88 ± 0.11 Ma to 158.84 ± 0.05 Ma, with those from the stratigraphically lower Taroom Coal Measures ranging from 165.88 ± 0.11 to 163.05 ± 0.08 Ma and Juandah Coal Measures …

Exploring Overbank Sediment Deposition Variation In Heavily Modified Floodplains Of The Lower Mississippi River: A Sedimentological And Geophysical Analysis, Seth Fradella

Master's Theses

Since the 1930s, the Lower Mississippi River (LMR) has experienced large-scale modifications to the channel profile and surrounding floodplains through dams, dikes, revetments, dredging, and channel cutoffs. Although these changes have improved navigation and reduced flood risk, unanticipated changes to the major flood return period, individual flood severity and duration, and sediment regime have become increasingly apparent and sometimes problematic, such as the 2011 and 2018-2020 floods. Flood control levees along the LMR have reduced the natural floodplain area by 70-90%, resulting in heavily restricted overbank storage capacity of water and sediment. For the same flood events in recent history, …

Seismic Imaging Of Mcmurdo Ice Shelf Near Williams Airfield, Yeshey Seldon

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Seismic exploration has played a crucial role in understanding the Earth's interior and has been successfully employed in various regions, including Antarctica. This research focuses on analyzing a 1000-m seismic line on McMurdo Ice Shelf near Williams Airfield, as part of the Thwaites Interdisciplinary Margin Evolution (TIME) project. The McMurdo Ice Shelf, covering an expansive area within the Ross Ice Shelf, has undergone significant changes due to evolving oceanic and atmospheric conditions. The presence of Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) has recently impacted the ice shelf, with warmer ocean waters causing basal melting and changes in wind patterns affecting ice flow …

Use Of Geomagnetic Paleointensity As A Correlation Tool In The Eastern Snake River Plain Lava Flows, Melissa Marie Sikes

Theses and Dissertations

The Snake River Plain volcanic province stretches 600 km from eastern Oregon across southern Idaho and into northwest Wyoming. Over the past ~14 million years, olivine tholeiitic lava flows have accumulated. To assess ongoing volcanic hazards, it is important to quantify the number, timing, and size of eruptive events. This assessment requires correlating lava flows across coreholes within the Eastern Snake River Plain. Previous paleomagnetic research applied paleomagnetic inclinations to correlate flows between coreholes. This study tests whether using geomagnetic paleointensity – in addition to inclination – can increase confidence in the correlation of these flows. Pilot samples were retrieved …

Study The Global Earthquake Patterns That Follow The St. Patrick’S Day Geomagnetic Storms Of 2013 And 2015, Dimitar Ouzounov, Galina Khachikyan

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

A response of global seismic activity to the geomagnetic storms of St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) in 2013 and 2015 is investigated. These two storms occurred during nearly identical storm sudden commencement times and similar solar flux levels. We have revealed a rather similar pattern of the most substantial earthquakes that have occurred since these storms. Two major crust continental earthquakes, in Iran (M = 7.7), 16 April 2013, and in Nepal (M = 7.8), 25 April 2015, have occurred with a time delay of ~30 and ~39 days after geomagnetic storm onsets in 2013 and 2015, respectively. After that, …

Gnss And Insar Observations Of Vertical Motion In The Valles Caldera, Nm, Savannah Chase Devine

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The Valles caldera is a rhyolitic “supervolcano” formed 1.231 Ma. An understanding of whether Valles caldera is currently deforming is needed to inform volcanic hazard estimates for northern New Mexico and will allow for a better understanding of the hazards presented by other rhyolitic caldera systems. Here, we present an InSAR time series of the Valles Caldera using 37 interferograms, spanning 2014 to 2022, which show a small but consistent signal of broad pattern subsidence/yr. We also present GNSS observations from a survey conducted in October 2022 and compare the results to surveys in 2002 and 2003 to estimate the …

On The Impact Of Geospace Weather On The Occurrence Of M7.8/M7.5 Earthquakes On 6 February 2023 (Turkey), Possibly Associated With The Geomagnetic Storm Of 7 November 2022, Dimitar Ouzounov, Galina Khachikyan

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

A joint analysis of solar wind, geomagnetic field, and earthquake catalog data showed that before the catastrophic M = 7.8 and M = 7.5 Kahramanmaras earthquake sequence on 6 February 2023, a closed strong magnetic storm occurred on 7 November 2022, SYM/H = −117 nT. The storm started at 08:04 UT. At this time, the high-latitudinal part of Turkey’s longitudinal region of future epicenters was located under the polar cusp, where the solar wind plasma would directly access the Earth’s environment. The time delay between storm onset and earthquake occurrence was ~91 days. We analyzed all seven strong (M7+) earthquakes …

Engineering And Geological Zoning Of The Distribution Areas Of The Eocene Clays Of Northern Tamdytau, Mirabbas Mirsaatovich Zakirov, Inobat Abduvaxidovna Agzamova, Dilshod Kalandarovich Begimkulov, Golibjon Ernazar Ogli Ochilov, Temur Makhmarajabovich Khudoyberdiyev, Dastan Jamal Uli Madiyarov

Technical science and innovation

The article discusses scientific research on the integrated assessment of the problem of ensuring the sustainability of buildings and structures for industrial and civil purposes. The relevance is due to the development of various zoning methods to establish territories with reliable results on the spread of special soils. Especially in cases where swelling clays are common in the territory, characterized by high sensitivity to weather and climatic conditions. Based on the above, the purpose of engineering and geological zoning of the areas of distribution of Eocene clays of Northern Tamdytau was to identify areas of new construction, to ensure the …

Deformation Mapping And Modeling Of The Aleutian Volcanoes With Insar And Numerical Models, Jiahui Wang

Earth Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Surface deformation mapping is an essential component for comprehensive monitoring of volcanic activities, serving as a vital tool for discerning crucial insights into magma dynamics, storage, and migration for accurate hazard forecasting, assessment, and mitigation. However, monitoring of the volcanic deformation across the Aleutian volcanic arc is usually limited by the lack of terrestrial sensors deployed due to their remote locations and hostile environmental conditions, necessitating alternative methodologies for data acquisition and analysis.

My PhD study aims at precisely mapping the crustal deformation for the Aleutian volcanoes and tracking the evolution of the magmatic system with Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar …

Online Temporal Data Mining And Learning: Pursuing Enhanced Efficiency And Robust Algorithms, Sheng Zhong

Computer Science ETDs

Time series data mining and learning serve as a cornerstone across various domains, including finance, healthcare, and science. Recent advancements in network and sensor technologies have ignited an increasing interest in real-time temporal data mining and learning techniques. Various tasks benefit from these techniques, such as environmental monitoring, event detection, anomaly identification, and forecasting. However, these techniques still face significant challenges in the online environment settings, encompassing aspects like efficiency, accuracy, robustness, and scarcity of labeled data. This dissertation presents four innovative solutions: FilCorr, DCT-MASS, FewSig, and BitLINK to overcome these challenges. We evaluate each method and showcase their practical …

A Laser Ultrasound System To Non-Invasively Measure Compression Waves In Granular Ice Mixes, J. Chris Mccaslin, T. Dylan Mikesell, Hans-Peter Marshall

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Accurate knowledge of snow mechanical properties, including Young's modulus, shear modulus, Poisson's ratio, and density, is critical to many areas of snow science and to snow-related engineering problems. To facilitate the assessment of these properties, an innovative non-contacting laser ultrasound system (LUS) has been developed. This system acquires ultrasound waveform data at frequencies ranging from tens to hundreds of kHz in a controlled cold-lab environment. Two different LUS devices were compared in this study to determine which recorded more robust ultrasound in granular ice mix samples. We validated the ultrasound observations with poro-elastic traveltime modeling based on physical and empirical …

Effect Of Biomass Water Dynamics In Cosmic-Ray Neutron Sensor Observations: A Long-Term Analysis Of Maize-Soybean Rotation In Nebraska, Tanessa Morris

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The precise measurement of soil water content (SWC) is crucial for effective water resource management. This study utilizes the Cosmic Ray Neutron Sensor (CRNS) for area-averaged SWC measurements, emphasizing the need to consider all hydrogen sources, including the time-variable ones like plant biomass and water content. Chapter 1 presents a background on soil moisture estimation, CRNS technology, and an overview of the study. It discusses various soil moisture measurement techniques, highlights the gap in knowledge addressed by CRNS technology, explains CRNS functionality and advancements, and outlines the study's motivations and methods.

Chapter 2 reports a study conducted near Mead, Nebraska, …

A Cold Laboratory Hyperspectral Imaging System To Map Grain Size And Ice Layer Distributions In Firn Cores, Ian E. Mcdowell, Kaitlin M. Keegan, S. Mckenzie Skiles, Christopher P. Donahue, Erich C. Osterberg, Robert L. Hawley, Hans-Peter Marshall

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are covered in a layer of porous firn. Knowledge of firn structure improves our understanding of ice sheet mass balance, supra- and englacial hydrology, and ice core paleoclimate records. While macroscale firn properties, such as firn density, are relatively easy to measure in the field or lab, more intensive measurements of microstructural properties are necessary to reduce uncertainty in remote sensing observations of mass balance, model meltwater infiltration, and constrain ice age – gas age differences in ice cores. Additionally, as the duration and extent of surface melting increases, refreezing meltwater will greatly alter …

Estimating Crustal Thickness In Northwest Louisiana Using The Receiver Function Method, Delton Samuel

LSU Master's Theses

I aim to constrain the crustal thickness of the Sabine Block in the Sabine Uplift region of northwest Louisiana, using the frequency domain receiver function deconvolution technique followed by H-κ stacking. The passive margin on the southern edge of the North American continent experienced an active tectonic history, including the spreading events that led to the formation of the Gulf of Mexico. A previous study proposed the Sabine Block is a residual fragment of Proterozoic orogenic origin; however, its full extent and geometry are up for debate. It is now overlain by thick sedimentary sequences ranging from ~4-6 km deposited …

Paleozoic Evolution Of The Yukon-Tanana Terrane Of The North American Cordillera, Nw British Columbia, R. Soucy La Roche, A. Zagorevski, N. L. Joyce, J. L. Crowley

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The origins and primary relationships between tectono-stratigraphic units are fundamental to the terrane concept in accretionary orogens, but they are challenging to assess in metamorphic terranes. In NW British Columbia, three tectonically bounded metamorphic suites of the Yukon-Tanana terrane formed in distinct tectonic settings, based on high-spatial-resolution geochronology and immobile trace-element geochemistry. The Florence Range suite comprises late Neoproterozoic or younger to pre–latest Devonian metasedimentary rocks derived from continental crust, 360 ± 4 Ma calc-alkaline intermediate orthogneiss, and 357 ± 4 Ma amphibolite with oceanic-island basalt composition, consistent with rifting of a continental margin. The detrital signature is dominated by …

How Can Morocco’S Crisis Management And Disaster Response Be Optimized? Lessons From The Al Haouz Earthquake Response, Clara Normand

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Morocco’s disaster management strategy has evolved in reaction to historical crises. On September 8th, 2023, the Al Haouz region of Morocco was struck by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake. The area was especially vulnerable to such a disaster due to its underdeveloped infrastructure, remote location, and lack of services. As the last phase of the disaster management cycle is unfolding, seven months after the earthquake, this research assesses the successes and challenges of the response and establishes areas of improvement to implement in national policies to optimize future crisis management across all four stages of the disaster management cycle.

Influence Of Subsurface Critical Zone Structure On Hydrological Partitioning In Mountainous Headwater Catchments, Hang Chen, Qifei Niu, James P. Mcnamara, Alejandro N. Flores

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Headwater catchments play a vital role in regional water supply and ecohydrology, and a quantitative understanding of the hydrological partitioning in these catchments is critically needed, particularly under a changing climate. Recent studies have highlighted the importance of subsurface critical zone (CZ) structure in modulating the partitioning of precipitation in mountainous catchments; however, few existing studies have explicitly taken into account the 3D subsurface CZ structure. In this study, we designed realistic synthetic catchment models based on seismic velocity-estimated 3D subsurface CZ structures. Integrated hydrologic modeling is then used to study the effects of the shape of the weathered bedrock …

Enhancing Landslide Susceptibility Modelling Through A Novel Non-Landslide Sampling Method And Ensemble Learning Technique, Chao Zhou, Yue Wang, Ying Cao, Ramesh P. Singh, Bayes Ahmed, Mahdi Motagh, Yang Wang, Ling Chen, Guangchao Tan, Shanshan Li

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

In recent years, several catastrophic landslide events have been observed throughout the globe, threatening to lives and infrastructures. To minimize the impact of landslides, the need of landslide susceptibility map is important. The study aims to extract high-quality non-landslide samples and improve the accuracy of landslide susceptibility modelling (LSM) outcomes by applying a coupled method of ensemble learning and Machine Learning (ML). The Zigui-Badong section of the Three Gorges Reservoir area (TGRA) in China was considered in the present study. Twelve influencing factors were selected as inputs for LSM, and the relationship between each causal factor and landslide spatial development …

Investigation Of Gas Dynamics In Water And Oil-Based Muds Using Das, Dts, And Dss Measurements, Temitayo S. Adeyemi

LSU Master's Theses

Reliable prediction of gas migration velocity, void fraction, and length of gas-affected region in water and oil-based muds is essential for effective planning, control, and optimization of drilling operations. However, there is a gap in our understanding of gas behavior and dynamics in water and oil-based muds. This is a consequence of the use of experimental systems that are not representative of field-scale conditions. This study seeks to bridge the gap via the well-scale deployment of distributed fiber-optic sensors for real-time monitoring of gas behavior and dynamics in water and oil-based mud. The aforementioned parameters were estimated in real-time using …

The Study Of Titan's Surface Using Impact Craters And Analogues, Jahnavi Shah

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, is an icy world harbouring a subsurface water ocean, a substantial atmosphere, and a flowing liquid on its surface. These distinctive characteristics give rise to complex chemical reactions on Titan, and also render it akin to Earth in terms of its landforms and processes. This positions Titan as a key target for studying prebiotic chemistry. NASA's fourth New Frontiers mission, Dragonfly, is poised to explore Titan’s surface in the 2030s. Dragonfly’s primary study site will be Selk crater, a relatively fresh impact crater located in Titan’s equatorial sand seas. Impact craters serve as valuable markers for …

High-Precision U-Pb Geochronology Links Magmatism In The Southwestern Laurentia Large Igneous Province And Midcontinent Rift, M. T. Mohr, M. D. Schmitz, N. L. Swanson-Hysell, K. E. Karlstrom, F. A. Macdonald, M. E. Holland, Y. Zhang, N. S. Anderson

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Southwestern Laurentia large igneous province (SWLLIP) comprises voluminous, widespread ca 1.1 Ga magmatism in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The timing and tempo of SWLLIP magmatism and its relationship to other late Mesoproterozoic igneous provinces have been unclear due to difficulties in dating mafic rocks at high precision. New precise U-Pb zircon dates for comagmatic felsic segregations within mafic rocks reveal distinct magmatic episodes at ca. 1098 Ma (represented by massive sills in Death Valley, California, the Grand Canyon, and central Arizona) and ca. 1083 Ma (represented by the Cardenas Basalts in the Grand Canyon and a …

Snow Water Equivalent Retrieval Over Idaho – Part 2: Using L-Band Uavsar Repeat-Pass Interferometry, Zachary Hoppinen, Shadi Oveisgharan, Hans-Peter Marshall, Ross Mower, Kelly Elder, Carrie Vuyovich

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study evaluates using interferometry on low-frequency synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images to monitor snow water equivalent (SWE) over seasonal and synoptic scales. We retrieved SWE changes from nine pairs of SAR images, mean 8 d temporal baseline, captured by an L-band aerial platform, NASA's Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR), over central Idaho as part of the NASA SnowEx 2020 and 2021 campaigns. The retrieved SWE changes were compared against coincident in situ measurements (SNOTEL and snow pits from the SnowEx field campaign) and to 100 m gridded SnowModel modeled SWE changes. The comparison of in situ to …

Snow Water Equivalent Retrieval Over Idaho – Part 1: Using Sentinel-1 Repeat-Pass Interferometry, Shadi Oveisgharan, Robert Zinke, Zachary Hoppinen, Hans Peter Marshall

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Snow water equivalent (SWE) is identified as the key element of the snowpack that impacts rivers' streamflow and water cycle. Both active and passive microwave remote sensing methods have been used to retrieve SWE, but there does not currently exist a SWE product that provides useful estimates in mountainous terrain. Active sensors provide higher-resolution observations, but the suitable radar frequencies and temporal repeat intervals have not been available until recently. Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) has been shown to have the potential to estimate SWE change. In this study, we apply this technique to a long time series of 6 …

Deep Structure Of Siletzia In The Puget Lowland: Imaging An Obducted Plateau And Accretionary Thrust Belt With Potential Fields, Megan L. Anderson, Richard J. Blakely, Ray E. Wells, Joe D. Dragovich

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Detailed understanding of crustal components and tectonic history of forearcs is important due to their geological complexity and high seismic hazard. The principal component of the Cascadia forearc is Siletzia, a composite basaltic terrane of oceanic origin. Much is known about the lithology and age of the province. However, glacial sediments blanketing the Puget Lowland obscure its lateral extent and internal structure, hindering our ability to fully understand its tectonic history and its influence on modern deformation. In this study, we apply map-view interpretation and two-dimensional modeling of aeromagnetic and gravity data to the magnetically stratified Siletzia terrane revealing its …

Geothermal Play Fairway Analysis, Part 2: Gis Methodology, Jacob Deangelo, John W. Shervais, Jonathan M. Glen, Dennis Nielson, Sabodh Garg, Patrick F. Dobson, Erika Gasperikova, Eric Sonnenthal, Lee M. Liberty, Drew L. Siler, James P. Evans

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Play Fairway Analysis (PFA) in geothermal exploration originates from a systematic methodology developed within the petroleum industry and is based on a geologic, geophysical, and hydrologic framework of identified geothermal systems. We tailored this methodology to study the geothermal resource potential of the Snake River Plain and surrounding region, but it can be adapted to other geothermal resource settings. We adapted the PFA approach to geothermal resource exploration by cataloging the critical elements controlling exploitable hydrothermal systems, establishing risk matrices that evaluate these elements in terms of both probability of success and level of knowledge, and building a code-based ‘processing …