Geophysics and Seismology Commons^™

Satellite Observation Of Ch4 And Co Anomalies Associated With The Wenchuan Ms 8.0 And Lushan Ms 7.0 Earthquakes In China, Y. Cui, Dimitar Ouzounov, N. Hatzopoulos, K. Sun, Z. Zou, J. Du

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Spatial and temporal variations of total column of CH4 and CO (TotCH4 and TotCO) associated with the 12 May 2008 Wenchuan and 20 April 2013 Lushan earthquakes in western Sichuan, China were investigated using satellite data from AQUA AIRS in order to understand the lithospheric and atmospheric interactions during the seismic activity. The Wenchuan MS 8.0 and Lushan MS7.0 earthquakes occurred in the Longmenshan fault zone. It was observed that large amounts of gases emitted from the earth's crust into the atmosphere before, during and after the earthquakes. The anomalies of TotCH4 and TotCO occurred along the …

Characterization And Delineation Of Karst Geohazards Along Rm652 Using Electrical Resistivity Tomography, Culberson County, Texas, Adam F. Majzoub

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Delaware Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico is the major western subdivision of the Permian Basin and a northern extension of the Chihuahuan Desert. The major evaporite unit within the Delaware Basin is the Castile Formation, which consists of gypsum/anhydrite and is highly susceptible to dissolution and karsting. Manifestations of karst within the Castile outcrop are abundant and include sinkholes, subsidence features and caves, both epigene and hypogene in origin.

Land reconnaissance surveys conducted during the summer of 2015 documented abundant karst landforms in close proximity to a major thoroughfare, RM 652, in Culberson County, Texas. 2D …

Earthquake Hazard Mitigation In The New Madrid Seismic Zone: Science And Public Policy, Alice M. Orton, Zhenming Wang, Lanmin Wang, Edward W. Woolery

Report of Investigations--KGS

In the central United States, earthquake sources that are not well defined, long earthquake recurrence intervals, and uncertain ground-motion attenuation models have contributed to an overstatement of seismic hazard for the New Madrid Seismic Zone on the national seismic hazard maps published by the U.S. Geological Survey. A series of informal interviews in western Kentucky with local businesspersons, public officials, and other professionals in occupations associated with seismic-hazard mitigation discussed seismic-mitigation policies in relation to depressed local economy. Scientific and relative economic analysis was then performed using scenario earthquake models developed with the Federal Emergency management Agency's Hazus-MH software. The …

Using Electrical Resistivity Imaging To Characterize Karst Hazards In Southeastern Minnesota Agricultural Settings, Toby Dogwiler, Blake Lea

Sinkhole Conference 2015

Much of the Driftless Area of southeastern Minnesota is underlain by karstified carbonate bedrock. Land use in this karst terrain is dominated by agriculture, including row crop and dairy operations. The karst in this region is often mantled with up to 15 m of soil and unconsolidated sediments. As a result, underlying karst hazards such as incipient sinkholes are often hidden until they are suddenly revealed by the collapse of subsurface voids. Regionally, the economics of the dairy industry is causing a trend toward the consolidation and expansion of existing operations. As concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) or feedlots expand, …

Characterization Of Karst Terrain Using Geophysical Methods Based On Sinkhole Analysis: A Case Study Of The Anina Karstic Region (Banat Mountains, Romania), Laurentiu Artugyan, Adrian C. Ardelean, Petru Urdea

Sinkhole Conference 2015

To understand karst topography, we must determine both the nature and the factors that are defining dissolution processes in soluble rocks, as well as the drainage network resulting from these processes. The goal of this paper is to understand the underground drainage direction configuration and, also, the factors that are involved in surface water drainage of the Anina karstic region. In this study we used two complementary geophysical methods, spontaneous potential (SP) and ground penetrating radar (GPR), applied in 5 sinkholes with a funnel shaped aspect. Four of these sinkholes are circular and one of them is elongated NW-SE direction. …

Possible Precursor Events To Earthquakes And The Resulting Effects On Organic Material In The Surrounding Water Bodies, Kiyoko Nakatsui

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Being located on the “Ring of Fire” Japan experiences many seismic events. Adding to this, it is located at the convergence of four fault lines where seismic activity will be even more frequent and severe. Although small tremors occurring in an area are indicators of an earthquake to come it only gives minutes of warning. Scientists are now trying to see if latent heat and gas release from fault lines can indicate an earthquake to come with hours or even days of warning. MODIS aqua and terra data will be analyzed in order to see if such precursors can be …

Comparison Of The Ground-Motion Attenuation Relationship Between The Wenchuan, China, Area And The Central And Eastern United States, Jiwei Feng, Zhenming Wang, Edward W. Woolery, Shanyou Li

Report of Investigations--KGS

An M_w-7.9 earthquake occurred in Wenchuan, China, in 2008, along the Longmenshan Fault, which is located on the western border of the South China stable continental region. A detailed comparison of the Wenchuan ground-motion attenuation relationships with the relationships for the central and eastern United States (also a stable continental region) showed that the ground-motion prediction equation for the Wenchuan area is similar to those for the central and eastern United States. Thus, the strong-motion records from the Wenchuan earthquake can be used for constraining the ground-motion prediction equation and engineering analysis for the central and eastern United …

The Monica (Monitoring Of Ice Within Caves) Project: A Multidisciplinary Approach For The Geophysical And Paleoclimatic Characterization Of Permanent Ice Deposits In The Southeastern Alps, Renato R. Colucci, Emanuele Forte, Barbara Stenni, Marco Basso Bondini, Mauro Colle Fontana, Costanza Del Gobbo, Daniele Fontana, Doriana Belligoi, Valter Maggi, Marco Filipazzi

The International Workshop on Ice Caves

On days 30 September and 1-2 October 2013, a 7.8 m long ice core has been extracted from a permanent ice cave deposit in the Southeastern Alps (Vasto’s cave, Mt.Canin - Julian Alps). Each 20 to 100 cm long section of the ice core have been immediately stored in plastic bags and preserved thanks to dry ice. The ice samples, thanks to the helicopter, has been subsequently brought on valley and promptly stored in a refrigerated van, made available by BoFrost. Thus the ice cores has been transported intact to the EUROCOLD laboratory in Milan. These operations have been carried …

Comparison Of Earthquake Source Models For The 2011 Tohoku Event Using Tsunami Simulations And Near‐Field Observations, Breanyn T. Macinnes, Aditya Riadi Gusman, Randall J. Leveque, Yuichiro Tanioka

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Selection of the earthquake source used in tsunami models of the 2011 Tohoku event affects the simulated tsunami waveform across the near field. Different earthquake sources, based on inversions of seismic waveforms, tsunami waveforms, and Global Positioning System (GPS) data, give distinguishable patterns of simulated tsunami heights in many locations in Tohoku and at near‐field Deep‐ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) buoys. We compared 10 sources proposed by different research groups using the GeoClaw code to simulate the resulting tsunami. Several simulations accurately reproduced observations at simulation sites with high grid resolution. Many earthquake sources produced results within 20% …

Feasibility Of Seismic Monitoring To Identify Avalanche Activity: Snoqualmie Pass, Wa, Kathryn Johnston

All Master's Theses

Avalanches across the Interstate-90 corridor over Snoqualmie Pass, in Washington State, are a concern for winter travelers and backcountry recreation. The temporary closure of the interstate for avalanche mitigation work also affects commerce by delaying transportation of merchandise. The study of seismic signals associated with snow avalanches could allow for greater understanding of avalanche properties, while remote sensing of avalanche activity could help established avalanche control programs and regional avalanche centers with forecasting and mitigation efforts. Two seismic stations were installed near the Alpental ski area on Snoqualmie Pass and recorded seismic activity throughout the winters of 2009-2010 and 2010-2011. …

Ground Motion For The Maximum Credible Earthquake In Kentucky, Zhenming Wang

Report of Investigations--KGS

Although they are not frequent, earthquakes occur in and around Kentucky and pose certain hazards. Assessing seismic hazards is challenging, however, because of a lack of observations. The best estimates of ground motions that could be expected if the maximum credible earthquake occurs in or around Kentucky are depicted in maps showing peak ground acceleration and short-period (0.2 second) and long-period (1.0 second) response accelerations with 5 percent critical damping on hard rock. Another consideration for seismic safety is that the maximum credible earthquake has a long recurrenece interval, from 500 to 1,000 years in the New Madrid Seismic Zone …

Geoelectrical Response Of Surfactant Solutions In A Quartzitic Sand Analog Aquifer, Meghan Therese Magill

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In this project, the resistivity and phase shift of ten surfactant aqueous solutions in a sand matrix were measured using spectral induced polarization (SIP). In addition, specific conductivity, pH, dissolved oxygen, and dielectric constant measurements of the solutions were also evaluated. The frequency range assessed was 0.091-12000Hz. The surfactants, which are typically used in the remediation of tetrachloroethylene, were Aerosol MA 80-I, Dowfax 8390, and Steol CS-330. The surfactants were mixed into solutions of both deionized and tap water at varying concentrations and injected into a closed system of silica sand. The surfactant treatments altered resistivity, specific conductivity, and pH …

Geology And Hydrology Of Karst In West-Central And North-Central Florida, Lee J. Florea

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

The state of Florida is blessed with the highest density of large springs in North America and hundreds of smaller springs where the water from limestone aquifers returns to the surface (Scott et al., 2004). Spectacular underwater caves supply water to these springs. Lesser known are the equally fantastic air-filled caves of Florida and South Georgia (Florea, 2006; Lane, 1986). This paper features these underwater and airfilled caves, explores the impact of changes in sea level on karst in this near-coastal environment, and establishes several geologic and hydrologic characteristics that distinguish karst in the limestones of the southeast from karst …

Focus Group On Karst Hydrology - Conceptual Models, Aquifer Characterization, And Numerical Modeling, Martin Sauter, Lee J. Florea, Others

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

I Sinkholes Nella Letteratura Scientifica Internazionale: Una Breve Rassegna, Con Particulare Riferimento Agli Stati Uniti D'America, Lee J. Florea, Mario Parise

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

Fenomeni di sinkholes sono diffusi in moltissimi paesi del mondo, in ambiti geologici e morfologici alquanto differenziati, e coinvolgono svariate litologie, sia nelle successioni di copertura che in quelle direttamente affioranti alla superficie. Il presente contributo intende fornire una breve rassegna, certamente non esaustiva, sullo stato dell’arte delle ricerche relative ai sinkholes in ambito internazionale. Esso consiste in una descrizione della più aggiornata e diffusa classificazione dei sinkholes e, a seguire, in descrizioni delle più tipiche casistiche di sinkholes nei vari paesi. Tra questi, viene dato particolare risalto agli Stati Uniti d’America (e, più in particolare, alla Florida), dove le …

International, Cooperative Research In The Apuseni Mountains Of Western Romania, Lee J. Florea, Bogdan P. Onac

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

In May of 2006, nine American scientists and cavers from the Karst Research Group at the University of South Florida traveled to western Romania to attend and present at an international conference on records of climate change in caves in the historic Roman town of Baile Hurculane. The conference, co-sponsored by the “Emil Racoviţă” Speleological Institute of Romania and the Karst Waters Institute, drew more than 100 experts in the field of climate change and karst, and was a wonderful time spent alongside the thermal springs and Austro-Hungarian bathhouses nestled within the massive limestone canyon of the Cerna River.

Following …

Sinkhole Distribution Based On Pre-Development Mapping In Urbanized Pinellas County, Florida, Usa, Robert Brinkmann, Kelly Wilson, Nichole Elko, Larry D. Seale, Lee J. Florea, H L. Vacher

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

Locating sinkholes in Pinellas County, Florida, is confounded by the presence of a cover of Quaternary sediments that mute the surface appearance of these sinkholes. As a first step in addressing the sinkhole hazard in the county, we analysed aerial photographs from 1926 and 1995 that covered the entire county. We digitized all identifiable sinkholes in each set of photographs in a GIS (Geographical Information System) using a set of criteria established to differentiate between karst depressions and depressions resulting from other geological processes. The 1926 photographs, although of low quality, helped to establish a baseline prior to urbanization. The …