Geophysics and Seismology Commons^™

Salt Mobility Under Different Geological Regimes, Oznur Surek

Masters Theses

"This study investigates the evolution of Dan Salt Structure in the southern salt dome province, Danish Central Graben and Mars-Ursa Basin in the Northern Gulf of Mexico to understand salt and sediment interaction over time under different geologic regimes. An integration of structural and stratigraphic analyses is conducted to understand the relationship between halokinesis and sedimentation.

Interpretation of the seismic data in Dan Salt Structure shows that the structure has a complex geometry, which is divided into upper and lower parts. The evolutionary stage of both the upper and lower parts of the structure has been influenced by salt. The …

Slip Estimation From Real-Time Gps In Cascadia, Jesse Senko

All Master's Theses

Current systems for rapidly characterizing earthquakes are based on seismic, teleseismic, and Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (DART) buoy data. These systems have significant limitations that hinder them from making rapid and accurate assessments of large earthquakes used for local tsunami warnings where run-up can occur minutes after the earthquake. Seismic and teleseismic networks saturate around M_w 7.0. Tsunami waves take tens of minutes to reach the buoys, so rapid assessment is impossible. GPS overcomes these limitations for large earthquakes. GPS does not saturate, and the offsets being detected occur very quickly after an earthquake. This thesis develops …

3d Seismic Attribute Analysis And Machine Learning For Reservoir Characterization In Taranaki Basin, New Zealand, Aamer Alhakeem

Doctoral Dissertations

"The Kapuni group within the Taranaki Basin in New Zealand is a potential petroleum reservoir. The objective of the study includes building a sequential approach to identify different geological features and facies sequences within the strata, through visualizing the targeted formations by interpreting and correlating the regional geological data, 3D seismic, and well data by following a sequential workflow. First, seismic interpretation is performed targeting the Kapuni group formations, mainly, the Mangahewa C-sand and Kaimiro D-sand. Synthetic seismograms and well ties are conducted for structural maps, horizon slices, isopach, and velocity maps. Well log and morphological analyses are performed for …

The Utility Of Geophysical Techniques To Image The Shallow Subsurface In Karst Areas In Missouri, Nathainail Bashir

Doctoral Dissertations

"This dissertation is composed of three papers, which are focused on the utility of geophysical techniques to imaging the shallow subsurface in karst areas in Missouri.

In the first paper, ground penetrating radar (GPR) and time domain electromagnetic metal detector (TDEM-MD) methods were effectively deployed in an investigation of the cemetery with the intent of locating unmarked graves. The outcome of this study is to expand the knowledge of GPR and TDEM-MD methods, to locate unmarked graves in cemeteries. The study concluded that the GPR method is superior than TDEM-MD to locate buried caskets in cemetery investigations.

In the second …

Reprocessing Of The 2 Hz P-P Data From The Blackfoot 3c-2d Survey With Special Reference To Multicomponent Seismic Processing, Onur Akturk

Masters Theses

"The 3C-2D multicomponent seismic survey was acquired in the Blackfoot Field, which is located 15 km southeast of Strathmore, Alberta. The 2 Hz vertical component data were reprocessed to better image the target reservoir, the Glauconitic sand formation at approximately 1150 ms. The zone of the major reflector at about 1550 ms was also taken into consideration to determine the better seismic section for further processing. The main characteristics of the converted wave processing, such as common conversion point (CCP), asymptotic binning, gamma ratios, receiver statics, rotation of the data, positive/negative offsets, and anisotropy, were also summarized in this study. …

3d Seismic Imaging Of Submarine Stratovolcanic And Salt Structures Beneath The Taranaki Basin, New Zealand And The Gulf Of Mexico, Ersin Erdem Unkaracalar

Masters Theses

"The relationship of submarine stratovolcanic and salt structures with overlying sediments creates a significant role in the petroleum system due to the emplacement and burial of volcano and salt. This study characterizes the spatial and temporal distribution of structural and stratigraphic features associated with submarine stratovolcano and salt body to provide insights for elements and processes of petroleum geology related to regional tectonics.

The stratovolcanic and salt structures are clearly identified on seismic sections. However, distortion of ray paths passing through the salt and turning seismic waves prevents accurate identification of steep flanks of salt. The seismic response to a …

Reprocessing Of 3c-2d Seismic Reflection Data From The Spring Coulee Field, Alberta, Yasin Demir

Masters Theses

"The 3C-2D seismic datasets were acquired in 2008 in the Spring Coulee Field, Alberta, which is located in Township 4, Range 23, and west of the 4th Meridian in the Alberta Basin. Line 2008-SC-01 was reprocessed to obtain better image of the formation targeted at between 1300 ms and 1400 ms. The depositional settings of the Madison Formation consist of shallow and carbonate shelf deposits. The processing workflow was designed by testing several methods, algorithms, and parameters, and finding the optimal processing solution. The processing steps included elevation statics, noise suppression, deconvolution operator, and 2D Kirchhoff poststack time migration. In …

Bridge Deck Assessment Using Visual Inspection, Ground Penetrating Radar, Portable Seismic Property Analyzer-Ultrasonic Surface Wave, Hammer Sounding And Chain Drag, Abdullah Hadi Zaid Alhaj

Masters Theses

"Integrated non-destructive techniques were utilized to assess the condition of a reinforced concrete bridge deck. There were two main objectives accomplished.

The first objective was to assess the integrity of the reinforced concrete bridge deck using four non-destructive techniques, namely visual inspection, ground penetrating radar, portable seismic property analyzer-ultrasonic surface wave, and hammer sounding and chain drag. Visual inspection data were used to identify signs of deterioration on surface of the bridge deck such as cracking, concrete leaching, and reinforcement corrosion. Ground penetrating radar data were used to determine the relative condition of the bridge deck. However, due to the …

Application Of Seismic Attributes For 3-D Seismic Visualization Contributed In Structural And Stratigraphic Interpretation Of The Tangahoe And Farewell Formations In The Kupe Field, Taranaki Basin, New Zealand, Housam Hussein Grabeel

Masters Theses

"Taranaki Basin is a mainly offshore basin covering an area of approximately 100,000 km², elongated across the western margin of New Zealand's north island. However, the modern limit of the basin is extended toward the deep water to cover about 330,000 km². The basin is divided by tectonic activities into northern and southern grabens. The southern region has become the most extensively researched district in recent years as its prime lithology and structural trap distributions provide numerous hydrocarbon fields. One such field is the Kupe Field (256 km²), which lies on a northerly-plunging, reverse-faulted, …

Imaging The Subsurface In Eastern Part Of Lake Chesterfield Using A Combination Of Geophysical Tools, Jiawei Li

Masters Theses

"The Lake Chesterfield North Dam in Wildwood city, Missouri has been leaking, more or less continuously since the dam was constructed in 1986 despite mitigation efforts in 1988, 1994, 1995, 2004, and 2005. Neither the grouting efforts in 1988, 1994, 1995, 2004 or 2005, nor the placement and rehabilitation of an impervious clay liner in 2005 has solved the problem. Indeed, in June of 2017, the water level in Lake Chesterfield dropped at an alarmingly rapid rate.

Prior to authorizing additional mitigation work, the Lake Chesterfield Home Owners Association (LCHOA) decided to acquire geophysical data across the dry lake bed. …

Gravitational Analysis And Fault Identification Within An Active Rift Basin: The Mesilla Valley Bolson In Western Texas - Southern New Mexico, Jose Pablo Cervantes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The metropolitan region of El Paso Texas and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, located within the northern Chihuahua Desert, contains approximately two million inhabitants. The two main aquifers that supply groundwater to this region are the Mesilla and Hueco Bolsons. Both bolsons have been tapped for decades without sustainable recharge. This study's purpose is to use geophysical methods coupled with published geochemical analyses to determine the structural and stratigraphic controls on the quality and quantity of groundwater in the southern Mesilla Bolson.

The Mesilla Bolson is one of many fault-controlled basins within the Rio Grande Rift - southern Basin and Range. Faults …

Back Calculation Of Intelligent Compaction Data For Mechanical Properties Of Soil System, Afshin Gholamy

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

For national economy, it is very important to have a reliable infrastructure. Because of this, all over the world, new roads are constantly being built and old roads are being maintained and, if necessary, expanded and/or repaired. Building a good quality road is very expensive, it costs several million dollars per kilometer. It is therefore crucial to make sure that the newly built and newly repaired roads are sufficiently stiff - so that they can withstand the predicted volume of traffic for a sufficient number of years. Current methods of estimating the stiffness are time-consuming and labor-consuming. The most accurate …

Investigating The 2016 Jackson, Wyoming Earthquake Sequence Using Waveform Cross-Correlation And Seismic Array Methods, Emily Jo Graves

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

During a visual inspection of PDAR data extracted for the catalog events, I observed additional, unreported events, which is to be expected during an energetic swarm or seismic sequence. The casual observation of missed events strongly implied that more such missed events could be found in the data, which could improve the completeness of the earthquake catalog for the Jackson, Wyoming area. Catalog completeness improves our assessment of a region's tectonic behavior and earthquake exposure. To search for recurring swarm or earthquake sequence behavior, I applied waveform correlation methods to scan nearly two decades of continuous PDAR waveforms, comparing to …

Onshore-Offshore Velocity Models North Of The Mendocino Triple Junction In Northern California, Alan Jacquez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Mendocino Triple Junction (MTJ) marks the boundary where the Gorda plate, North American Plate, and Pacific Plate meet, separating the Cascadia subduction zone to the North from transform tectonics of the San Andreas plate boundary. This actively deforming region experiences high seismic activity and young geological features. Here we examine offshore and onshore seismic wide-angle reflection and refraction data north of the MTJ crossing the Cascadia subduction zone from offshore northern California to the Western edge of the Sierra Nevada. We image subsurface structures in this region by creating P-wave velocity models using datasets collected in 1993 to 1994 …

Magnetotelluric Analysis Of Central Kenya Kenyan Rift Volcanoes For Geothermal Development, Anna Wairimu Mwangi

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Abstract

High temperature geothermal resources are vast along rift margins because of emplacement of magma in shallow crust. This is the case along the Kenyan Rift valley also known as the Gregory Rift. It is the Eastern arm of the East African rift and a chain of volcanoes along the rift graben characterizes it. We use (MT) magnetotelluric method to image beneath the peralkaline province of the Kenya Rift i.e. Olkaria, Eburru, Badlands, and Longonot volcanoes. The resistivity structure shows active geothermal activity happening at the upper 3km from the subsurface as evidenced by low resistivity cap rock comprised of …

Determing Fault Location Within An Active Rift Basin Using Gravity Analysis To Determine Fault Movemnet And Effect On Water Recharge, Mark Andrew Ornelas

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The growth of the El Paso, TX and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, metropolitan area has increased reliance of groundwater pumping from the Hueco Bolson. With growing demands for water and recharge of the bolson not occurring at a fast enough rate, water storage within the bolson is beginning to diminish. My study focuses on locating and understanding how faults interact with water flow into the basin and how they aid in storing water on the northwestern side of the bolson. Previous studies in the northernmost part of my study area have delineated a series of faults that predominantly trend northwest-southeast. In …

Geophysical Investigations Of Southcentral Alaska, Felix Dziedzorm Ziwu

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Castle Mountain Fault (CMF) is the closest (<50 km) active fault to Anchorage, Alaska and is known to be capable of producing earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 â?? 7.1. While several mapping and trenching studies have been conducted along the CMF, geophysical investigations along the fault zone have been limited. We use over 700 recently collected, closely spaced gravity observations, in addition to existing regional gravity, aeromagnetic, seismic reflection, well log data, and geologic information, to develop new 2D models of the deeper structure of the CMF system. We developed four 2D integrated forward models across the Castle Mountain Fault. These models indicate differences between the western and eastern segments of the Castle Mountain Fault. The models show a thick sequence of Tertiary to Mesozoic sediments overlying the Peninsular terrane basement at varying depths within the area. We identified two main intrusive granitic rocks based on the varying susceptibilities. These granitic rocks share a possible fault contact with the Mesozoic sedimentary rocks. The model also shows that the CMF cuts through the Mesozoic sediments at depth. These rocks can create strong coupling along the fault and with the decreasing eastward angle of subduction, it is highly for fluid migration to the eastern edge of the subducting Yakutat microplate. Seismic events plotted along the profiles supports the Holocene motion along the western CMF (WCMF) and indicates a deeper extent of the CMF into the crust. The eastern CMF shows high rate of deformation based on the structures associated with the Mesozoic rocks.

Supercycle In Great Earthquake Recurrence Along The Japan Trench Over The Last 4000 Years, Kazuko Usami, Ken Ikehara, Toshiya Kanamatsu, Cecilia M. Mchugh

Publications and Research

On the landward slope of the Japan Trench, the mid-slope terrace (MST) is located at a depth of 4000–6000 m. Two piston cores from the MST were analyzed to assess the applicability of the MST for turbidite paleoseismology and to find out reliable recurrence record of the great earthquakes along the Japan Trench. The cores have preserved records of ~ 12 seismo-turbidites (event deposits) during the last 4000 years. In the upper parts of the two cores, only the following earthquakes (magnitude M ~ 8 and larger) were clearly recorded: the 2011 Tohoku, the 1896 Sanriku, the 1454 Kyotoku, and …

Probing The Precambrian Geodynamo: Analysis Of The Geomagnetic Field Behavior And Calibration Of Pseudo-Thellier Paleointensity Method For Mesoproterozoic Rocks, Marine Foucher

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Understanding the geomagnetic field direction and strength (e.g., paleomagnetism and paleointensity, respectively) recorded by Precambrian rocks is essential to obtain insight into the nature and evolution of the Earth’s early geodynamo and for constraining models of planetary evolution. Major milestones of our planet’s history, such as beginning of plate tectonics, development of the atmosphere and life, took place during the first four billion years. However, the available data on the Earth’s magnetic field in the Precambrian are very limited, especially the information about the field intensity which represents one of the most challenging aspect of paleomagnetic research. Many Precambrian rocks …

Assessing The Use Of Tsunami Simulations As A Tool To Predict Source Magnitudes And Locations Of Paleoearthquakes In Chile, Rebeca Isabel Becerra

All Master's Theses

A long-term goal of paleotsunami studies is the ability to predict paleoearthquake parameters based on tsunami deposits found on land. Chile provides an exemplary location for testing methods of making these predictions because the historical record includes 41 major earthquakes as far back as 1562 AD, and there are many known paleotsunami deposits throughout the region. Using these records as a comparison tool, I evaluated simulated tsunami wave heights and inundation extent with the tsunami model GeoClaw for nine hypothetical tsunamigenic large earthquakes (M_w 8.6, 8.8, and 9.0) in south-central Chile with epicenters at -35.1º, -38.8º, and -42.9º. As …

Tsunami Excitation Estimation From Real-Time Gnss, Catherine Jeffries

All Master's Theses

Tsunami early warning systems currently comprise modeling of observations from the global seismic network, deep-ocean DART buoys, and a global distribution of tide gauges. While these tools work well for tsunamis traveling teleseismic distances, saturation of seismic magnitude estimation in the near field can result in significant underestimation of tsunami excitation for local warning (Wang et al., 2012). Moreover, DART buoy and tide gauge observations cannot be used to rectify the underestimation in the available time, typically 10-20 minutes, before local runup occurs. Real-time GNSS measurements of coseismic offsets may be used to estimate finite faulting within 1-2 minutes and, …

Lithospheric Layering And Thickness Beneath The Contiguous United States, Lin Liu

Doctoral Dissertations

"The Upper Mississippi Embayment (UME), where the seismically active New Madrid Seismic Zone resides, experienced two phases of subsidence commencing in the Late Precambrian and Cretaceous, respectively. To provide new constraints on models proposed for the mechanisms responsible for the subsidence, we computed and stacked P-to-S receiver functions recorded by 49 USArray and other seismic stations located in the UME and the adjacent Ozark Uplift and modeled Bouguer gravity anomaly data. The inferred thickness, density, and Vp/Vs of the upper and lower crustal layers suggest that the UME is characterized by a mafic and high-density upper crustal layer of ∼30 …

Seismic Anisotropy And The Mantle Dynamics Beneath The Arabian Plate, Saleh Ismail Hassan Qaysi

Doctoral Dissertations

"We investigate mantle seismic azimuthal anisotropy and deformation beneath the Arabian Plate and adjacent areas using data from 182 broadband seismic stations which include 157 stations managed by the Saudi Geological Survey. A total of about 4000 pairs of shear wave splitting parameters are obtained using the transverse minimization technique. The individual XKS (including PKS, SKS, and SKKS) splitting measurements were manually checked to ensure the quality. The well-defined parameters show dominantly N-S fast orientations at the majority of the stations, and NW-SE fast orientations along the Zagras Mountain front. No clear systematic variations of the splitting parameters as a …

Delineation Of A Coal Combustion Residue Landfill And Underlying Karst Subsurface In Southwest Missouri Using Ert And Masw Surveys, Ruobai Zhao

Doctoral Dissertations

"The safe containment of coal combustion residual (CCR) in landfills was addressed by the U.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA) CCR rule published in 2015. The new rule affects new and existing U.S. based CCR landfills in terms of implementing safeguard systems for safe disposal and contamination control. Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) data were acquired across and in proximity to a CCR landfill in southwest Missouri, USA, with the intent to identify potential karst features and seepage pathways.

Electrical resistivity tomography data were acquired using an automated 8-channel resistivity meter and multichannel analysis of …

Crustal Structure Beneath The Eastern Margin Of The Tibetan Plateau And Adjacent Areas From Receiver Function Stacking And Gravity Modeling, Yunxin Peng

Doctoral Dissertations

"To provide constraints on the mechanisms responsible for the uplift and crustal thickening of the eastern Tibetan Plateau, the thickness and Vp/Vs values of the Moho beneath 153 seismic stations are obtained by stacking P-to-S converted phases from the Moho and gravity modeling. The resulting crustal thickness generally decreases from the northwest to the south-east, from about 60 km in the Bayan Har Block to 30 km in the Sichuan Basin. The crustal Vp/Vs measurements in the Qinling Orogenic Belt, Bayan Har Block, Chuxiong Basin, and Yangtze Platform indicate an overall intermediate to felsic crustal composition. With a relatively thick …

On The Spatial Modelling Of Mixed And Constrained Geospatial Data, Hassan Talebi

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Spatial uncertainty modelling and prediction of a set of regionalized dependent variables from various sample spaces (e.g. continuous and categorical) is a common challenge for geoscience modellers and many geoscience applications such as evaluation of mineral resources, characterization of oil reservoirs or hydrology of groundwater. To consider the complex statistical and spatial relationships, categorical data such as rock types, soil types, alteration units, and continental crustal blocks should be modelled jointly with other continuous attributes (e.g. porosity, permeability, seismic velocity, mineral and geochemical compositions or pollutant concentration). These multivariate geospatial data normally have complex statistical and spatial relationships which should …

Importance Of Hydrothermal Vents In Scavenging Removal Of 230th In The Nansen Basin, O. Valk, M. M. Rutgers Van Der Loeff, W. Geibert, S. Gdaniec, M. J.A. Rijkenberg, S. B. Moran, K. Lepore, R. L. Edwards, Y. Lu, Viena Puigcorbe

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

In this study we present dissolved and particulate ²³⁰Th and ²³²Th results, as well as particulate ²³⁴Th data, obtained as part of the GEOTRACES central Arctic Ocean sections GN04 (2015) and IPY11 (2007). Samples were analyzed following GEOTRACES methods and compared to previous results from 1991. We observe significant decreases in ²³⁰Th concentrations in the deep waters of the Nansen Basin. We ascribe this nonsteady state removal process to a variable release and scavenging of trace metals near an ultraslow spreading ridge. This finding demonstrates that hydrothermal scavenging in the deep‐sea may vary on annual time …

Application Of Seismic Radial Anisotropy For Near-Surface Fractures Identification, Jer-Yu Jeng

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Fractures significantly control the groundwater flow and solute transport in geological settings of low-permeable rocks. Fractures also affect seismic wave propagation. For instance, they can create a directional dependence of seismic velocity with respect to their orientations, known as seismic anisotropy. Seismic radial anisotropy as used here is the difference between the velocity of a vertically polarized S-wave (SV) and one polarized horizontally (SH). In this thesis, seismic radial anisotropy was used to evaluate its usefulness for correlating with near-surface fractures. The seismic radial anisotropy models were obtained at two sites from dispersion analyses of the Rayleigh waves, with vertical …

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.