Geophysics and Seismology Commons^™

Lithostratigraphic And Petrophysical Analysis Of The Middle Devonian Marcellus Shale At The Mamont Prospect, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Ty Taylor

All Theses

The organic-rich Middle Devonian Marcellus Shale of the Appalachian basin is a rapidly developing natural gas play. Stratigraphic boundaries of the Marcellus Shale in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania were identified using geophysical logs from 10 vertical gas-producing wells in a 23 sq. km area. Gamma-ray, bulk density, and resistivity well logs were examined to assess hydrocarbon potential. Values of porosity, total organic carbon (TOC), and water saturation (SW) were derived and mapped by incorporating well-log data into Marcellus-specific formulas. Gamma-ray, penetration (minutes per foot drilled), and mud-logging gas (total gas) from 12 horizontal wells from within the study area were also …

Teaching Geophysics With A Vertical-Component Seismometer, Kasper Van Wijk, Ted Channel, Karen Viskupic, Martin L. Smith

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Earthquakes are some of the more dramatic expressions of the dynamics of our planet. The sudden release of stress built up slowly by tectonic or volcanic processes often has far-reaching consequences, and can be measured (in classrooms) around the world. This is one reason why designing and building seismometers has been a popular activity,^1,2 and why different versions of “Seismometer in Schools” projects thrive in the United States, Australia, and Europe. We present a cheap, robust, and easy-to-build seismometer—called the TC1 —to measure seismic displacements in the vertical direction. Its components are easy to obtain and assemble, yet the …

Consolidation And Suspension Of Mud From Lake Lery And Relevance To Wetland Restoration In Louisiana, Edward L. Lo

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Geophysical Investigations Of The Seattle Fault Zone In Western Washington And A Geothermal System At Mount Princeton, Colorado, Andrew Patrick Lamb

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

We use an array of existing and modified geophysical techniques to investigate the active Seattle thrust fault zone in western Washington and a geothermal system at Mt. Princeton Colorado. Through the integration of different geophysical methods, we can extend our observations of the surface geology to beneath the subsurface, thereby giving us a greater understanding of the structures and their kinematic interplay.

We find geophysical evidence through the use of potential field and seismic data for the Seattle fault zone extending further to the west than previously thought. We also find evidence that the Seattle fault zone may be linked …

Integrated Geophysical Exploration Of A Known Geothermal Resource: Neal Hot Springs, Clinton Ryan Colwell

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

I present an integrated geophysical characterization of the Neal Hot Springs geothermal system in eastern Oregon. This newly established 23 MW geothermal production site is located in a region of complex geology and intersecting faults associated with two major extensional systems; the Oregon-Idaho Graben and the western Snake River Plain. The intersection of two dominant fault orientations, coupled with a high geothermal gradient from relatively thin continental crust and radioactive decay from a shallow granitic body, produces the pathways and heat needed for deep water circulation at Neal Hot Springs. New geologic mapping, geochemistry, and measurements from several boreholes in …

Glacier Slip And Seismicity Induced By Surface Melt, Peter L. Moore, J. Paul Winberry, Neal R. Iverson, Knut A. Christianson, Sridhar Anandakrishnan, Miriam Jackson, Mark E. Mathison, Denis Cohen

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Many of the key processes governing fast glacier flow involve interaction between a glacier and its basal hydrological system, which is hidden from direct observation. Passive seismic monitoring has shown promise as a tool for remotely monitoring basal processes, but lack of glacier-bed access prevents clear understanding of the relationships between subglacial processes and corresponding seismic emissions. Here we describe direct measurements of basal hydrology, sliding, and broadband seismicity made in a unique subglacial facility in Norway during the onset of two summer melt seasons. In the most pronounced of these episodes, rapid delivery of surface meltwater to the bed …

Hydraulic Conductivity Imaging From 3-D Transient Hydraulic Tomography At Several Pumping/Observation Densities, Michael Cardiff, Warren Barrash, Peter K. Kitanidis

CGISS Publications and Presentations

3-D Hydraulic tomography (3-D HT) is a method for aquifer characterization whereby the 3-D spatial distribution of aquifer flow parameters (primarily hydraulic conductivity, K) is estimated by joint inversion of head change data from multiple partially penetrating pumping tests. While performance of 3-D HT has been studied extensively in numerical experiments, few field studies have demonstrated the real-world performance of 3-D HT. Here we report on a 3-D transient hydraulic tomography (3-D THT) field experiment at the Boise Hydrogeophysical Research Site which is different from prior approaches in that it represents a “baseline” analysis of 3-D THT performance using …

A Detailed Seabed Signature From Hurricane Sandy Revealed In Bedforms And Scour, Arthur Trembanis, Carter Duval, Jonathan Beaudoin, Val E. Schmidt, Doug Miller, Larry A. Mayer

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

On 30 October 2012, Hurricane Sandy made landfall near Brigantine New Jersey bringing widespread erosion and damage to the coastline. We have obtained a unique set of high-resolution before and after storm measurements of seabed morphology and in situhydrodynamic conditions (waves and currents) capturing the impact of the storm at an inner continental shelf field site known as the “Redbird reef”. Understanding the signature of this storm event is important for identifying the impacts of such events and for understanding the role that such events have in the transport of sediment and marine debris on the inner continental shelf. …

Geogram 2013, David J. Keeling Editor, Wku Department Of Geography And Geology

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Publications

No abstract provided.

Single And Multi-Date Landsat Classifications Of Basalt To Support Soil Survey Efforts, Jessica J. Mitchell, Rupesh Shrestha, Carol A. Moore-Ellison, Nancy F. Glenn

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Basalt outcrops are significant features in the Western United States and consistently present challenges to Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) soil mapping efforts. Current soil survey methods to estimate basalt outcrops involve field transects and are impractical for mapping regionally extensive areas. The purpose of this research was to investigate remote sensing methods to effectively determine the presence of basalt rock outcrops. Five Landsat 5 TM scenes (path 39, row 29) over the year 2007 growing season were processed and analyzed to detect and quantify basalt outcrops across the Clark Area Soil Survey, ID, USA (4,570 km²). The …

Characterization Of Fractures Subjected To Normal And Shear Stress, Min-Kwang Choi

Open Access Dissertations

Results from a series of laboratory experiments to determine fracture specific stiffness, for a fracture subjected to shear and normal stress, are presented and analyzed. The experimental work focuses on the determination of relations between normal and shear fracture specific stiffness and between spatial distribution of fracture specific stiffness and fluid flow through the fracture

The ratio of shear to normal fracture specific stiffness is experimentally investigated on a fracture subjected to shear as well as normal stress. Synthetic fractures made of gypsum and lucite were prepared with different fracture surface conditions: either well-mated or non-mated. For well-mated fracture surfaces, …

Megathrust Splay Faults At The Focus Of The Prince William Sound Asperity, Alaska, Lee M. Liberty, Shaun P. Finn, Peter J. Haeussler, Thomas L. Pratt, Andrew Peterson

CGISS Publications and Presentations

[1] High-resolution sparker and crustal-scale air gun seismic reflection data, coupled with repeat bathymetric surveys, document a region of repeated coseismic uplift on the portion of the Alaska subduction zone that ruptured in 1964. This area defines the western limit of Prince William Sound. Differencing of vintage and modern bathymetric surveys shows that the region of greatest uplift related to the 1964 Great Alaska earthquake was focused along a series of subparallel faults beneath Prince William Sound and the adjacent Gulf of Alaska shelf. Bathymetric differencing indicates that 12 m of coseismic uplift occurred along two faults that reached the …

The Formation Of Distal Impact Ejecta, Brandon C. Johnson

Open Access Dissertations

Here we present two models for the dynamics of ejection and formation of distal impact ejecta. The first model focuses on the most highly shocked material that forms a massive expanding vapor plume or fireball. In this model molten droplets or spherules condense from the vapor. We model the expanding vapor plume using a one dimensional Lagrangian hydrocode. The condensation of droplets is treated by directly coupling the equations for homogeneous nucleation and growth with our hydrocode. The second model is focused on less energetic material ejected as part of the excavation flow. Using the iSALE hydrocode, we determine the …

Holocene Fire Occurrence And Alluvial Responses At The Leading Edge Of Pinyon–Juniper Migration In The Northern Great Basin, Usa, Kerrie N. Weppner, Jennifer L. Pierce, Julio L. Betancourt

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Fire and vegetation records at the City of Rocks National Reserve (CIRO), south-central Idaho, display the interaction of changing climate, fire and vegetation along the migrating front of single-leaf pinyon (Pinus monophylla) and Utah juniper (Juniperus osteosperma). Radiocarbon dating of alluvial charcoal reconstructed local fire occurrence and geomorphic response, and fossil woodrat (Neotoma) middens revealed pinyon and juniper arrivals. Fire peaks occurred ~10,700–9500, 7200–6700, 2400–2000, 850–700, and 550–400 cal yr BP, whereas ~9500–7200, 6700–4700 and ~1500–1000 cal yr BP are fire-free. Wetter climates and denser vegetation fueled episodic fires and debris flows during the …

Using Svd For Improved Interferometric Green's Function Retrieval, Gabriela Melo, Alison Malcolm, Dylan Mikesell, Kasper Van Wijk

CGISS Publications and Presentations

Seismic interferometry (SI) is a technique used to estimate the Green’s function (GF) between two receiver locations, as if there were a source at one of the receiver locations. However, in many applications, the requirements to recover the exact GF are not satisfied and SI yields a poor estimate of the GF. For these non-ideal cases, we improve the interferometric GFs, by applying singular value decomposition (SVD) to the cross-correlations before stacking. The SVD approach preserves energy that is stationary in the cross-correlations, which is the energy that contributes most to the GF recovery, and attenuates non-stationary energy, which leads …

Aquifer Heterogeneity Characterization With Oscillatory Pumping: Sensitivity Analysis And Imaging Potential, M. Cardiff, T. Bakhos, P. K. Kitanidis, W. Barrash

CGISS Publications and Presentations

[1] Periodic pumping tests, in which a fluid is extracted during half a period, then reinjected, have been used historically to estimate effective aquifer properties. In this work, we suggest a modified approach to periodic pumping test analysis in which one uses several periodic pumping signals of different frequencies as stimulation, and responses are analyzed through inverse modeling using a “steady-periodic” model formulation. We refer to this strategy as multifrequency oscillatory hydraulic imaging. Oscillating pumping tests have several advantages that have been noted, including no net water extraction during testing and robust signal measurement through signal processing. Through numerical experiments, …

Integrated Geophysical Investigation Of The St. James Fault Complex: A Case Study, Robert W. Jacob, Jeremy B. Byler, Mary Beth Gray

Faculty Journal Articles

We noninvasively detected the characteristics and location of a regional fault in an area of poor bedrock exposure complicated by karst weathering features in the subsurface. Because this regional fault is associated with sinkhole formation, its location is important for hazard avoidance. The bedrock lithologies on either side of the fault trace are similar; hence, we chose an approach that capitalized on the complementary strengths of very low frequency (VLF) electromagnetic, resistivity, and gravity methods. VLF proved most useful as a first-order reconnaissance tool, allowing us to define a narrow target area for further geophysical exploration. Fault-related epikarst was delineated …

Faulty Measurements And Shaky Tools: An Exploration Into Hazus And The Seismic Vulnerabilities Of Portland, Or, Brittany Ann Brannon

Dissertations and Theses

Events or forces of nature with catastrophic consequences, or "natural disasters," have increased in both frequency and force due to climate change and increased urbanization in climate-sensitive areas. To create capacity to face these dangers, an entity must first quantify the threat and translate scientific knowledge on nature into comprehensible estimates of cost and loss. These estimates equip those at risk with knowledge to enact policy, formulate mitigation plans, raise awareness, and promote preparedness in light of potential destruction. Hazards-United States, or Hazus, is one such tool created by the federal government to estimate loss from a variety of threats, …

Depth To Bedrock Estimations Using The H/V Spectral Ratio In The San Joaquin Valley, Tyler A. Morelli

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

Basin depth is a fundamental parameter in many types of geologic studies such as resource exploration and regional tectonic mapping. The Horizontal-to-Vertical Spectral Ratio (“H/V”) method has been successfully applied to estimating of basin depths up to several hundred meters. In this study the H/V method is applied to the deep basins on the western side of the San Joaquin Valley to determine the thickness of the sedimentary layers and depth to bedrock. Microtremor data from Earthscope Seismic Array stations are ideal to test the accuracy of the H/V method on deeper basins because the data is of high-quality and …

High-Resolution Δ13CCarb Chemostratigraphy From Latest Guadalupian Through Earliest Triassic In South China And Iran, Vladimir Davydov

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Large carbon cycle perturbations are associated with the end-Permian mass extinction and subsequent recovery, but Late Permian (Lopingian) carbon cycle dynamics prior to the mass extinction event remain poorly documented. Here we present a high-resolution δ¹³C_carb chemostratigraphic framework from latest Guadalupian to earliest Triassic time, calibrated with high-resolution conodont biostratigraphy and high-precision geochronology. We observe two large negative excursions in δ¹³C_carb, the first in uppermost Guadalupian strata and the second at the end of the Changhsingian stage, and between these events distinctive excursions from the middle Wuchiapingian to the early Changhsingian. The end-Changhsingian …