Geophysics and Seismology Commons^™

Observation And Modeling Of Source Effects In Coda Wave Interferometry At Pavlof Volcano, Matthew M. Haney, Kasper Van Wijk, Leiph A. Preston, David F. Aldridge

CGISS Publications and Presentations

We examine seismic records of repeating explosions from Pavlof volcano, Alaska, during its 2007 eruption. Repetitive explosions are typical of Strombolian-style eruptions and allow measurement of relative time shifts between similar late-arriving phases using the technique called coda wave interferometry (Snieder et al., 2002). The measurements enable the detection of small changes in the volcanic interior of Pavlof. We are able to resolve an increase in the relative traveltime change of late-arriving seismic waves on the order of 0.3% over the course of two weeks. Based on the spectra of the explosions, their location inside the magma conduit, previous studies …

The Virtual Refraction: Useful Spurious Energy In Seismic Interferometry, Dylan Mikesell, Kasper Van Wijk, Alexander Calvert, Matthew M. Haney

CGISS Publications and Presentations

Seismic interferometry is rapidly becoming an established technique to recover the Green’s function between receivers, but practical limitations in the source-energy distribution inevitably lead to spurious energy in the results. Instead of attempting to suppress all such energy, we use a spurious wave associated with the crosscorrelation of refracted energy at both receivers to infer estimates of subsurface parameters. We named this spurious event the virtual refraction. Illustrated by a numerical two-layer example, we found that the slope of the virtual refraction defines the velocity of the faster medium and that the stationary-phase point in the correlation gather provides the …

Characterizing The Deformation Of Reservoirs Using Interferometry, Gravity, And Seismic Analyses, Cara Schiek

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In this Dissertation, I characterize how reservoirs deform using surface and subsurface techniques. The surface technique I employ is radar interferometry, also known as InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar). The subsurface analyses I explore include gravity modeling and seismic techniques consisting of determining earthquake locations from a small-temporary seismic network of six seismometers. These techniques were used in two different projects to determine how reservoirs deform in the subsurface and how this deformation relates to its remotely sensed surface deformation.

The first project uses InSAR to determine land subsidence in the Mimbres basin near Deming, NM. The land subsidence measurements …

Imaging Complex Structure In Shallow Seismic-Reflection Data Using Prestack Depth Migration, John H. Bradford, Lee M. Liberty, Mitchell W. Lyle, William P. Clement, Scott Hess

CGISS Publications and Presentations

Prestack depth migration (PSDM) analysis has the potential to significantly improve the accuracy of both shallow seismic reflection images and the measured velocity distributions. In a study designed to image faults in the Alvord Basin, Oregon, at depths from 25–1000 m, PSDM produced a detailed reflection image over the full target depth range. In contrast, poststack time migration produced significant migration artifacts in the upper 100 m that obscured reflection events and limited the structural interpretation in the shallow section. Additionally, an abrupt increase from ~2500 to >3000 m/s in the PSDM velocity model constrained the interpretation of the transition …

Investigating The Stratigraphy Of An Alluvial Aquifer Using Crosswell Seismic Traveltime Tomography, Geoff J.M. Moret, Michael D. Knoll, Warren Barrash, William P. Clement

CGISS Publications and Presentations

In this study, we investigate the use of crosswell P-wave seismic tomography to obtain spatially extensive information about subsurface sedimentary architecture and heterogeneity in alluvial aquifers. Our field site was a research wellfield in an unconfined aquifer near Boise, Idaho. The aquifer consists of a ~ 20-m-thick sequence of alluvial cobble- and-sand deposits, which have been subdivided into five stratigraphic units based on neutron porosity logs, grainsize analysis, and radar reflection data. We collected crosswell and borehole-to-surface seismic data in wells 17.1 m apart. We carefully considered the impact of well deviation, data quality control, and the choice of inversion …

Applying Reflection Tomography In The Postmigration Domain To Multifold Ground-Penetrating Radar Data, John H. Bradford

CGISS Publications and Presentations

Acquisition and processing of multifold ground-penetrating radar (GPR) data enable detailed measurements of lateral velocity variability. The velocities constrain interpretation of subsurface materials and lead to significant improvement in image accuracy when coupled with prestack depth migration (PSDM). Reflection tomography in the postmigration domain was introduced in the early 1990s for velocity estimation in seismic reflection. This robust, accurate method is directly applicable in multifold GPR imaging. At a contaminated waste facility within the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hanford site in Washington, the method is used to identify significant lateral and vertical velocity heterogeneity associated with infilled waste pits. Using …

Effects Of Signal Processing And Antenna Frequency On The Geostatistical Structure Of Ground-Penetrating Radar Data, Greg A. Oldenborger, Michael D. Knoll, Warren Barrash

CGISS Publications and Presentations

Recent research has suggested that the geostatistical structure of ground-penetrating radar data may be representative of the spatial structure of hydraulic properties. However, radar images of the subsurface can change drastically with application of signal processing or by changing the signal frequency. We perform geostatistical analyses of surface radar reflection profiles in order to investigate the effects of data processing and antenna frequency on the semivariogram structure of radar reflection amplitudes. Surface radar reflection data collected at the Boise Hydrogeophysical Research Site illustrate the processing- and antenna-dependence of radar semivariograms for a fluvial, cobble-and-sand aquifer. Compensating for signal attenuation and …

What's Shakin': Earthquake Research At Bridgewater, Robert C. Cicerone

Bridgewater Review

No abstract provided.

Final Report On Task 12: Southern Great Basin Seismic Network Operations, James N. Brune, David Von Seggern, Ken Smith, Glenn Biasi

Publications (YM)

The Nevada Seismological Laboratory began seismic monitoring operations under the DOE-UCCSN Cooperative Agreement on 11/01/1999. This final report summarizes our activities and studies made in the four years up to 09/30/2003. Previously, NSL operated under the M&O for the Yucca Mountain Project from October 1995 through September 1999 and under the U. S. Geological Survey from October 1992 through September 1995. For purposes of this report, earthquakes occurring in the years FY1998 and FY1999 were analyzed in the first two years of the NSL’s involvement with the Cooperative Agreement, and they will be treated here, along with the data in …

Depth Characterization Of Shallow Aquifers With Seismic Reflection, Part Ii—Prestack Depth Migration And Field Examples, John H. Bradford, D. S. Sawyer

CGISS Publications and Presentations

It is common in shallow seismic studies for the compressional-wave velocity in unconsolidated sediments to increase by a factor of four or more at the transition from dry or partial water saturation to full saturation. Under these conditions, conventional NMO velocity analysis fails and leads to large depth and layer thickness estimates if the Dix equation is assumed valid. Prestack depth migration (PSDM) is a means of improving image accuracy. A comparison of PSDM with conventional NMO processing for three field examples from differing hydrogeologic environments illustrates that PSDM can significantly improve image quality and accuracy.

Aftershocks And Pore Fluid Diffusion Following The 1992 Landers Earthquake, William Bosl, A Nur

Nursing and Health Professions Faculty Research and Publications

We model the evolution of regional stress following the 1992 Landers earthquake in order to test the importance of pore fluid flow in producing aftershocks. Rising fluid pressure due to pore fluid flow and the resulting Coulomb stress changes were found to be strongly correlated with the time and location of aftershock events. Regional aftershock frequencies computed by integrating pore pressure decay rates also agreed quite well with aftershock data. Calculations show that regions of rising postseismic poroelastic Coulomb stress overlap considerably with regions of positive coseismic Coulomb stress. Thus pore fluid flow, which affects pore pressure within faults and …

Identification Of Subsonic P-Waves, Paul Michaels

CGISS Publications and Presentations

A field trial was conducted to test the existence of subsonic (V_p <331 m>/s) P-waves previously reported in the literature. A 1-m-long reverse profile was acquired with three-component (3C) geophones on a sandy silt (unified classification ML). The silt had a porosity of 54%, a degree of water saturation of 63%, and a plasticity index of 10. No subsonic P-waves were observed, although high frequency (up to 1200 Hz) Rayleigh waves were identified by hodogram analysis. These surface waves were observed with horizontal velocities that varied from 40 to 200 m/s. Hodogram observations and theory suggest that …

Depth Characterization Of Shallow Aquifers With Seismic Reflection, Part I—The Failure Of Nmo Velocity Analysis And Quantitative Error Prediction, John H. Bradford

CGISS Publications and Presentations

As seismic reflection data become more prevalent as input for quantitative environmental and engineering studies, there is a growing need to assess and improve the accuracy of reflection processing methodologies. It is common for compressional-wave velocities to increase by a factor of four or more where shallow, unconsolidated sediments change from a dry or partially watersaturated regime to full saturation. While this degree of velocity contrast is rare in conventional seismology, it is a common scenario in shallow environments and leads to significant problems when trying to record and interpret reflections within about the first 30 m below the water …

Use Of Principal Component Analysis To Determine Down-Hole Tool Orientation And Enhance Sh-Waves, Paul Michaels

CGISS Publications and Presentations

A common problem in down-hole shear wave surveys is the determination of the tool rotation relative to the seismic source polarization direction. This paper reports an algorithm which has been developed to solve for this angle in the horizontal plane. The method employs Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to determine the angle from the large motion of the SH-wave (not first motion). Once the angle is known, the horizontal component data may be rotated so that one component is aligned with the source polarization, and the other orthogonal to it.

Significant findings include the following. First, subtraction of oppositely polarized source …

Surficial Slip Distribution On The Central Emerson Fault During The June 28, 1992, Landers Earthquake, California, Sally F. Mcgill, Charles M. Rubin

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

We present the results of our mapping of a 5.6‐km length of the central Emerson fault that ruptured during the 1992 Landers earthquake in the southwestern Mojave Desert, California. The right‐lateral slip along this portion of the rupture varied from about 150 to 530 cm along the main rupture zone. In some locations a total of up to 110 cm of additional right‐lateral slip occurred on secondary faults up to 1.7 km away from the main rupture zone. Other secondary faults carried up to several tens of centimeters of left‐lateral or thrust displacement. The maximum net vertical displacement was 175 …

Long Dormancy, Low Slip Rate, And Similar Slip‐Per‐Event For The Emerson Fault, Eastern California Shear Zone, Charles M. Rubin, Kerry Sieh

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Excavations in a playa along the 1992 rupture of the Emerson fault reveal evidence of two paleoseismic events, with only one large prehistoric rupture in the past 15 millennia. Accelerator mass spectrometer radiocarbon ages of charcoal from playa sediments and from fault‐scarp colluvium directly beneath the playa beds indicate that the last large prehistoric slip event occurred about 9000 ka. Trench‐wall exposures revealed clear evidence of at least one pre‐9 ka rupture at the playa site. The event horizon of this earthquake is between two pedogenic carbonate layers that have radiocarbon ages of 14.8 ka and 24.1 ka, implying that …

Location Of Solution Channels And Sinkholes At Dam Sites And Backwater Areas By Seismic Methods: Part I, Vincent P. Drnevich, S. R. Smith, E. P. Cleveland

KWRRI Research Reports

The basic concepts associated with the sledge hammer seismic refraction survey are reviewed and a modified version called down hole shooting is discussed. The latter method has distinct advantages for rock surface profiling. These include: calibration at the end points of the survey, measurement of vertical wave propagation velocities directly, and having a refracted wave ray path for almost the entire survey length.

The down hole shooting seismic refraction survey has been simulated with the digital computer. The method can handle any shaped rock surface profile and generates corresponding travel time curves for the forward and reverse profile surveys. This …