Project Info

Environmental Seismology – Using Geophysical Tools to Study Surface Processes

Danica Roth | droth@mines.edu

Many active Earth surface processes, such as landslides or sediment transport in flooding rivers can be challenging, costly and potentially dangerous to monitor. But rivers, landslides and even gophers moving soil on hills (“bioturbation”) all transfer energy to the ground in the form of elastic or seismic waves. Traditionally considered “noise” by earthquake seismologists, these seismic signals contain valuable information about the processes that generated them and the ground through which they travel. By decoding these signals, we can use this information to characterize and study these processes. This MURF project will take advantage of existing seismic data recorded near rivers in Switzerland and Taiwan, but allows for several research options depending on student interests. Possible options include but are not limited to: i) characterizing seismic wave attenuation properties in river beds and other geomorphically active field settings and over individual sediment transport or mass movement events to assess site evolution, ii) using wave polarity analysis to identify the specific sources of seismic signals (can we pinpoint waterfalls?), iii) characterizing the signals of water turbulence and sediment transport, iv) linking seismic amplitudes to rates of erosion and sediment transport.

More Information

  • Roth, D. L., Finnegan, N. J., Brodsky, E. E., Cook, K. L., Stark, C. P., & Wang, H. W. (2014). Migration of a coarse fluvial sediment pulse detected by hysteresis in bedload generated seismic waves. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 404, 144-153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2014.07.019
  • Roth, D. L., Brodsky, E. E., Finnegan, N. J., Rickenmann, D., Turowski, J. M., & Badoux, A. (2016). Bed load sediment transport inferred from seismic signals near a river. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 121(4), 725-747. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JF003782
  • Roth, D. L., Finnegan, N. J., Brodsky, E. E., Rickenmann, D., Turowski, J. M., Badoux, A., & Gimbert, F. (2017). Bed load transport and boundary roughness changes as competing causes of hysteresis in the relationship between river discharge and seismic amplitude recorded near a steep mountain stream. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 122(5), 1182-1200. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JF004062

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Student Preparation

Qualifications

Required: prior experience with basic computer programming in Matlab, strong quantitative skills (math, physics, geophysics), ability to conduct field work, good communication skills.

Preference will be given to students who have previous familiarity with OR strong interest in developing skills in any of the following: seismic data collection, processing and analysis, active source seismology, seismic inversion, spectral analysis, environmental processes and signals, fluid dynamics, sediment transport.

Time Commitment

15-20 hours/week

Skills/Techniques Gained

The techniques and skills used in this project are somewhat flexible and will depend on student interests and goals, but in addition to seismic data processing and analysis, they could involve active source seismology, inverse modeling, remote sensing, digital topographic data collection and mapping, field work, and simple computer programming in Matlab and/or Python.

Learning Outcomes:

  • student will know how to find, navigate, work with and manage seismic, spatial and hydrological databases and datasets
  • student will be able to apply basic seismic data processing and analysis procedures, as well as some more advanced analysis methods depending on interest
  • student will be able to apply basic principles and techniques to co-register and compare spatial datasets in GIS
  • student will develop a basic conceptual framework for understanding and critically assessing connections between surface processes (e.g., floods, sediment transport, meteorological events, etc.) and the energy they transmit as seismic signals.

Depending on student interest and performance, this project may also lead to student co-authorship on scientific publications and presentation at scientific conferences.