Geophysics and Seismology Commons^™

The Sedimentary Imprint Of Pleistocene Glacio-Eustasy: Implications For Global Correlations Of Seismic Sequences, Cecilia M. Mchugh, Craig S. Fulthorpe, Koichi Hoyanagi, Peter Blum, Gregory S. Mountain, Kenneth G. Miller

Publications and Research

We evaluate lithofacies, chronology, and seismic sequences from the Canterbury Basin, New Zealand passive continental slope (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program [IODP] Expedition 317 Site U1352 and environs) and compare this with slope sequences from the New Jersey passive margin. Our goal is to understand continental slope sedimentation in response to glacio-eustasy and test the concepts of sequence stratigraphy. High-resolution geochemical elemental and lithostratigraphic analyses were calibrated to a chronology constructed from benthic foramininferal oxygen isotopes for the past ~1.8 m.y. We identify lithofacies successions by their unique geochemical and lithologic signature and correlate them with marine isotope stages (MIS) at …

Pcor Partnership Atlas, Wesley D. Peck, Earl P. Battle, Megan M. Grove, Kyle A. Glazewski, Joyce M. Riske, Charles D. Gorecki, Edward N. Steadman, John A. Harju

EERC Maps and Infographics

The Plains CO₂ Reduction (PCOR) Partnership Atlas provides a regional profile of CO₂ sources and potential CO₂ storage locations across the PCOR Partnership region. The revised fifth edition provides an up-to-date look at PCOR Partnership activities, including additional regional characterization and updates on full-scale demonstration projects. Additional background information on carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) is included to give a better understanding of how CCUS addresses concerns about climate change while allowing future energy needs to be met.

Geophysical Delineation Of Megaporosity And Fluid Migration Pathways For Geohazard Characterization Within The Delaware Basin, Culberson County, Texas, Jonathan David Woodard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Differential dissolution of gypsum karst within the Delaware Basin poses a significant threat to infrastructure that society depends on. The study area is located in Culberson County, Texas and traverses a distance of approximately 54 kilometers along RM 652 within the Gypsum Plain which is situated on the northern margin of the Chihuahua Desert and includes outcrops of Castile and Rustler strata that host karst geohazards. Regions of karst geohazard potential have been physically surveyed proximal to the study area in evaporites throughout the Castile Formation outcrop; minimal hazards, in comparison to the Castile Formation, have been documented in …

Combined Assimilation Of Satellite Precipitation And Soil Moisture: A Case Study Using Trmm And Smos Data, Liao-Fan Lin, Ardeshir M. Ebtehaj, Alejandro N. Flores, Satish Bastola, Rafael L. Bras

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper presents a framework that enables simultaneous assimilation of satellite precipitation and soil moisture observations into the coupled Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) and Noah land surface model through variational approaches. The authors tested the framework by assimilating precipitation data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and soil moisture data from the Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite. The results show that assimilation of both TRMM and SMOS data can effectively improve the forecast skills of precipitation, top 10-cm soil moisture, and 2-m temperature and specific humidity. Within a 2-day time window, impacts of precipitation data assimilation on …

Seeing Prehistory Through New Lenses: Using Geophysical And Statistical Analysis To Identify Fresh Perspectives Of A 15th Century Mandan Occupation, Amber Marie Mitchum

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Great Plains prehistoric research has evolved over the course of a century, with many sites like Huff Village (32MO11) in North Dakota recently coming back to the forefront of discussion through new technological applications. Through a majority of its studies and excavations, Huff Village appeared to endure as the final stage in the Middle Missouri tradition. Long thought to reflect only systematically placed long-rectangular structure types of its Middle Missouri predecessors, recent magnetic gradiometry and topographic mapping data revealed circular structure types that deviated from long-held traditions, highlighting new associations with Coalescent groups. A compact system for food capacity was …

Characterizing Coseismic Ionospheric Disturbance For Surface-Rupturing Earthquakes, Rebekah Faith Lee

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Coseismic ionospheric disturbances (CID) are commonly identified using global navigation space system (GNSS) satellites. Little research, however, has focused on using total electron content (TEC) observations to characterize acoustic sources on Earth's surface. For this thesis, I investigate the applicability of an analytical method to invert the TEC for the acoustic wave. The inversion is based on the modeling of a transfer function. Deconvolving the TEC by the transfer function gives the acoustic wave. Inverting for the acoustic wave in this way would remove phase differences in the TEC created by atmospheric-ionospheric coupling. I test the assumption in the model …

Seismic Refraction And Electrical Resistivity Tests For Fracture Induced Anisotropy In A Mountain Watershed, Aida Mendieta

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The critical zone (CZ) is the earth’s layer where water, air, rock, and life meet. It is the zone with which humans interact most. The National Research council (2001) defines the CZ as a “heterogeneous, near surface environment in which complex interactions involving rock, soil, water, air, and living organisms regulate the natural habitat and determine the availability of life sustaining resources”. The CZ may extend roughly from the top of the vegetation canopy to the deepest part of the rock column where meteoric water circulates – this is often in the 10 – 30 m range. The upper 1-2 …

Application Of Hydrogeophysical Imaging In The Reynolds Creek Critical Zone Observatory, Travis Nielson

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The critical zone is defined as the upper most portion of the crust extending from the top of unweathered bedrock to the top of the vegetation canopy. It is the zone in which inorganic rock is transformed into biologically useful soils and saprolites in a process termed weathering. Because the critical zone is the connection between the subsurface and surface it plays a role in a wide variety of biological, hydrologic, and climatic processes. Understanding the critical zone though is inherently difficult because its scale and heterogeneity often means direct sampling methods, e.g. soil pits and cores, under represent the …

3d Seismic Interpretation Of A Plio-Pleistocene Mass Transport Deposit In The Deepwater Taranaki Basin Of New Zealand, Francisco Jose Rusconi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A series of Plio-Pleistocene mass transport deposits (MTD) have been identified in the deepwater Taranaki Basin, in New Zealand, using the Romney 3D seismic survey, which covers an area of approximately 2000 km2. One of these MTDs has been chosen for description and interpretation based on high confidence mapping of its boundary surfaces. The deposit exhibits an array of interesting features similar to those documented by researchers elsewhere plus a unique basal feature unlike those previously observed. The basal shear surface exhibits erosional features such as grooves, “monkey fingers”, and glide tracks. Internally, the MTD is typically characterized by low …

A Geophysical Investigation Of Stratigraphy And Structure On St. Catherines Island, Georgia, Anne M. Delua

Honors College Theses

Geophysical tools were used to investigate potential structural and stratigraphic pathways of the salt water intrusion that is affecting the surficial aquifer on St. Catherines Island, Georgia. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is a geophysical tool that uses electromagnetic waves to view the subsurface. GPR is used for a variety of applications stratigraphically, biologically, and anthropogenically. GPR electromagnetic waves react to changes in density and composition and type and percentage of pore fluids in sediment and rock. GPR waves also react to interfaces including fractures and faults. GPR waves exhibit attenuation and decreased return signal in materials such as clay. Fresh …

Imaging Wetland Hydrogeophysics: Applications Of Critical Zone Hydrogeophysics To Better Understand Hydrogeologic Conditions In Coastal And Inland Wetlands And Waters, Christine Marie Downs

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three projects utilizing electric and electromagnetic (EM) methods to better understand critical-zone hydrogeologic conditions in select Florida wetlands and waters.

First, a time-lapse electrical resistivity (ER) survey was conducted in section of mangrove forest on a barrier island in southeast Florida to image changes in pore-water salinity in the root zone. ER data show the most variability in the root zone over a 24-hour period, and, generally, the ground is more resistive during the day than overnight.

Second, a suite of three-dimensional forward models, based on varying lateral boundaries and conductivities typical of a coastal wetland, …

How Dredge Pits Evolve Over Time: A Look At Their Geomorphologic Evolution And Infilling Processes, Patrick Robichaux

LSU Master's Theses

As coastal environments become more susceptible to land loss through accelerating sea level rise and subsidence, new restoration methods harnessing borrowed sediment are more valuable than ever. Mud-capped dredge pits (MCDPs) are a relatively new source of restoration-quality sediment that has only recently been utilized for beach and barrier island restorations in Louisiana. Because MCDPs have been in use for less than two decades in only a handful sites, little is understood about their evolution over decadal timescales. To improve our understanding of MCDPs after they are dredged, we have conducted a suite of geophysical surveys including bathymetry, sidescan sonar, …

Exploring The Historical Earthquakes Preceding The Giant 1960 Chile Earthquake In A Time-Dependent Seismogenic Zone, Marco Cisternas, Matias Carvajal, Robert Wesson, Lisa L. Ely, Nicolás Gorigoitia

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

New documentary findings and available paleoseismological evidence provide both new insights into the historical seismic sequence that ended with the giant 1960 south‐central Chile earthquake and relevant information about the region’s seismogenic zone. According to the few available written records, this region was previously struck by earthquakes of varying size in 1575, 1737, and 1837. We expanded the existing compilations of the effects of the two latter using unpublished first‐hand accounts found in archives in Chile, Peru, Spain, and New England. We further investigated their sources by comparing the newly unearthed historical data and available paleoseismological evidence with the effects …

Acoustic And Seismic Fields Of Hydraulic Jumps At Varying Froude Numbers, Timothy J. Ronan, Jonathan M. Lees, T. Dylan Mikesell, Jacob F. Anderson, Jeffrey B. Johnson

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Mechanisms that produce seismic and acoustic wavefields near rivers are poorly understood because of a lack of observations relating temporally dependent river conditions to the near-river seismoacoustic fields. This controlled study at the Harry W. Morrison Dam (HWMD) on the Boise River, Idaho, explores how temporal variation in fluvial systems affects surrounding acoustic and seismic fields. Adjusting the configuration of the HWMD changed the river bathymetry and therefore the form of the standing wave below the dam. The HWMD was adjusted to generate four distinct wave regimes that were parameterized through their dimensionless Froude numbers (Fr) and …

How Useful Is Gsv As An Environmental Observation Tool? An Analysis Of The Evidence So Far., Katherine Nesse, Leah Airt

SPU Works

Researchers in many disciplines have turned to Google Street View to replace pedestrian- or carbased in-person observation of streetscapes. It is most prevalent within the research literature on the relationship between neighborhood environments and public health but has been used as diverse as disaster recovery, ecology and wildlife habitat, and urban design. Evaluations of the tool have found that the results of GSV-based observation are similar to the results from in-person observation although the similarity depends on the type of characteristic being observed. Larger, permanent and discrete features showed more consistency between the two methods and smaller, transient and judgmental …

Using Isotopes To Constrain Water Flux And Age Estimates In Snow-Influenced Catchments Using The Starr (Spatially Distributed Tracer-Aided Rainfall–Runoff) Model, Pertti Ala-Aho, Doerthe Tetzlaff, James P. Mcnamara, Hjalmar Laudon, Chris Soulsby

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Tracer-aided hydrological models are increasingly used to reveal fundamentals of runoff generation processes and water travel times in catchments. Modelling studies integrating stable water isotopes as tracers are mostly based in temperate and warm climates, leaving catchments with strong snow influences underrepresented in the literature. Such catchments are challenging, as the isotopic tracer signals in water entering the catchments as snowmelt are typically distorted from incoming precipitation due to fractionation processes in seasonal snowpack.

We used the Spatially distributed Tracer-Aided Rainfall– Runoff (STARR) model to simulate fluxes, storage, and mixing of water and tracers, as well as estimating water ages …

Assessing A Multi-Platform Data Fusion Technique In Capturing Spatiotemporal Dynamics Of Heterogeneous Dryland Ecosystems In Topographically Complex Terrain, Peter J. Olsoy, Jessica Mitchell, Nancy F. Glenn, Alejandro N. Flores

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Water-limited ecosystems encompass approximately 40% of terrestrial land mass and play a critical role in modulating Earth’s climate and provisioning ecosystem services to humanity. Spaceborne remote sensing is a critical tool for characterizing ecohydrologic patterns and advancing the understanding of the interactions between atmospheric forcings and ecohydrologic responses. Fine to medium scale spatial and temporal resolutions are needed to capture the spatial heterogeneity and the temporally intermittent response of these ecosystems to environmental forcings. Techniques combining complementary remote sensing datasets have been developed, but the heterogeneous nature of these regions present significant challenges. Here we investigate the capacity of one …

Bell Creek Project – Enhanced Oil Recovery Resulting In Associated Co2 Storage, University Of North Dakota. Energy And Environmental Research Center

EERC Brochures and Fact Sheets

Fact sheet about CO₂ storage and enhanced oil recovery (EOR) operations. Part of the Plains CO₂ Reduction (PCOR) Partnership project. [This item is an outdated or superseded version and retained for historical purposes only. It may no longer reflect current information, policies, or practices.]

Lcs-1: A High-Resolution Global Model Of The Lithospheric Magnetic Field Derived From Champ And Swarm Satellite Observations, Nils Olsen, Dhananjay Ravat, Christopher C. Finlay, Livia K. Kother

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

We derive a new model, named LCS-1, of Earth’s lithospheric field based on four years (2006 September–2010 September) of magnetic observations taken by the CHAMP satellite at altitudes lower than 350 km, as well as almost three years (2014 April–2016 December) of measurements taken by the two lower Swarm satellites Alpha and Charlie. The model is determined entirely from magnetic ‘gradient’ data (approximated by finite differences): the north–south gradient is approximated by first differences of 15 s along-track data (for CHAMP and each of the two Swarm satellites), while the east–west gradient is approximated by the difference between observations taken …

Lidar Aboveground Vegetation Biomass Estimates In Shrublands: Prediction, Uncertainties And Application To Coarser Scales, Aihua Li, Shital Dhakal, Nancy F. Glenn, Lucas P. Spaete

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Our study objectives were to model the aboveground biomass in a xeric shrub-steppe landscape with airborne light detection and ranging (Lidar) and explore the uncertainty associated with the models we created. We incorporated vegetation vertical structure information obtained from Lidar with ground-measured biomass data, allowing us to scale shrub biomass from small field sites (1 m subplots and 1 ha plots) to a larger landscape. A series of airborne Lidar-derived vegetation metrics were trained and linked with the field-measured biomass in Random Forests (RF) regression models. A Stepwise Multiple Regression (SMR) model was also explored as a comparison. Our results …

Thermal Radiation Anomalies Associated With Major Earthquakes, Dimitar Ouzounov, Sergey Pulinets, Menas Kafatos, Patrick Taylor

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Recent developments of remote sensing methods for Earth satellite data analysis contribute to our understanding of earthquake related thermal anomalies. It was realized that the thermal heat fluxes over areas of earthquake preparation is a result of air ionization by radon (and other gases) and consequent water vapor condensation on newly formed ions. Latent heat (LH) is released as a result of this process and leads to the formation of local thermal radiation anomalies (TRA) known as OLR (outgoing Longwave radiation, Ouzounov et al, 2007). We compare the LH energy, obtained by integrating surface latent heat flux (SLHF) over the …

The Uppermost Mantle Seismic Velocity And Viscosity Structure Of Central West Antarctica, J. P. O'Donnell, K. Selway, A. A. Nyblade, R. A. Brazier, D. A. Wiens, S. Anandakrishnan, R. C. Aster, Audrey D. Huerta, T. Wilson, J. Paul Winberry

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Accurately monitoring and predicting the evolution of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet via secular changes in the Earth's gravity field requires knowledge of the underlying upper mantle viscosity structure. Published seismic models show the West Antarctic lithosphere to be ∼70–100 km thick and underlain by a low velocity zone extending to at least ∼200 km. Mantle viscosity is dependent on factors including temperature, grain size, the hydrogen content of olivine, the presence of partial melt and applied stress. As seismic wave propagation is particularly sensitive to thermal variations, seismic velocity provides a means of gauging mantle temperature. In 2012, a …

Do Cosmic Ray Air Showers Initiate Lightning?: A Statistical Analysis Of Cosmic Ray Air Showers And Lightning Mapping Array Data, B. M. Hare, Hamid K. Rassoul

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

It has been argued in the technical literature, and widely reported in the popular press, that cosmic ray air showers (CRASs) can initiate lightning via a mechanism known as relativistic runaway electron avalanche (RREA), where large numbers of high-energy and low-energy electrons can, somehow, cause the local atmosphere in a thundercloud to transition to a conducting state. In response to this claim, other researchers have published simulations showing that the electron density produced by RREA is far too small to be able to affect the conductivity in the cloud sufficiently to initiate lightning. In this paper, we compare 74 days …

Seismic Facies Classification Of An Intraslope Minibasin In The Keathley Canyon, Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Lamine Meroudj

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This work examines several volume attributes extracted from 3D seismic data with the goal of seismic facies classification and lithology prediction in intraslope minibasins. The study area is in the Keathley Canyon protraction (KC), within the middle slope of the Northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM). It lays within the tabular salt and minibasins province downdip of the main Pliocene and Pleistocene deltaic depocenters. Interaction between sedimentation and mobile salt substrate lead to the emergence of many stratigraphic patterns in the intraslope minibasins. Interest in subsalt formations left above salt formations poorly logged. Facies classification using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) was …

A Machine Learning Approach To Estimation Of Downward Solar Radiation From Satellite-Derived Data Products: An Application Over A Semi-Arid Ecosystem In The U.S., Qingtao Zhou, Alejandro Flores, Nancy F. Glenn, Reggie Walters, Bangshuai Han

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Shortwave solar radiation is an important component of the surface energy balance and provides the principal source of energy for terrestrial ecosystems. This paper presents a machine learning approach in the form of a random forest (RF) model for estimating daily downward solar radiation flux at the land surface over complex terrain using MODIS (MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) remote sensing data. The model-building technique makes use of a unique network of 16 solar flux measurements in the semi-arid Reynolds Creek Experimental Watershed and Critical Zone Observatory, in southwest Idaho, USA. Based on a composite RF model built on daily observations …

Spreading Rate-Dependent Variations In Crystallization Along The Global Mid-Ocean Ridge System, V. Dorsey Wanless, Mark D. Behn

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

We investigate crustal accretion at mid-ocean ridges by combining crystallization pressures calculated from major element contents in mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) glasses and vapor-saturation pressures from melt inclusions and MORB glasses. Specifically, we use established major element barometers and pressures estimated from 192 fractional crystallization trends to calculate crystallization pressures from >9000 MORB glasses across the global range of mid-ocean ridge spreading rates. Additionally, we estimate vapor-saturation pressures from >400 MORB glasses from PETDB and >400 olivine-hosted melt inclusions compiled from five ridges with variable spreading rates. Both major element and vapor-saturation pressures increase and become more variable with decreasing …

Bounding The Moment Deficit Rate On Crustal Faults Using Geodetic Data: Methods, Jeremy Maurer, Paul Segall, Andrew M. Bradley

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The geodetically derived interseismic moment deficit rate (MDR) provides a first-order constraint on earthquake potential and can play an important role in seismic hazard assessment, but quantifying uncertainty in MDR is a challenging problem that has not been fully addressed. We establish criteria for reliable MDR estimators, evaluate existing methods for determining the probability density of MDR, and propose and evaluate new methods. Geodetic measurements moderately far from the fault provide tighter constraints on MDR than those nearby. Previously used methods can fail catastrophically under predictable circumstances. The bootstrap method works well with strong data constraints on MDR, but can …

Soil-Structure Interaction Effects On The Seismic Response Of Low-Rise Eccentrically Braced Frames, Luis Gerardo Buitrago Goyez

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The importance of soil-structure interaction (SSI) effects on the seismic response of buildings has been long recognized and has been researched for over 40 years. However, SSI analysis has only been applied in a few building projects because the fixed base condition is considered to provide a conservative estimation for the response of buildings under seismic loads. This assumption of a fixed base condition adopted by practitioners is not always conservative or cost-effective, especially for rigid buildings over soft soils. Additionally, for the case of ductile steel frames with eccentric configurations, the influence of SSI on their seismic performance has …

Laboratory Resistivity Measurements For Soil Characterization, Behdad Mofarraj Kouchaki

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Field based electrical resistivity measurements, such as electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and capacitively coupled resistivity (CCR), are geophysical methods that offer a non-destructive and rapid means to collect continuous data. As such, ERT and CCR are becoming increasingly popular tools for geotechnical engineers; however, it is challenging to derive geotechnical information such as soil type, density, and water content from the data. A laboratory geophysical investigation was carried out to gain a better understanding of the parameters that affect the electrical resistivity of soils and devise a relationship between resistivity and soil type or classification. In this study, a soil …

Geophysical Assessment Of Kinion Lake Dam, Tim Allen Moody

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Geophysical methods including Capacitively-Coupled Resistivity (CCR), Electrical Resistivity Tomography/Imaging (ERT/ERI), Multichannel Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW) with Love and Rayleigh waves and a Full-Waveform Inversion (FWI) were performed on Kinion Lake Dam, an earth-filled embankment dam that has historically experienced significant seepage and internal erosion issues. Surveys were completed along the crest and downstream toe of the dam. Results from the surveys indicate that each method is capable of resolving the bedrock depth within 1-2 m of locations shown on previous drilling logs, though some discrepancies between the methods exist. A weathered bedrock layer is believed to have led to …