Project Info
*Slipping and sliding: hydrologic impacts of the Slumgullion Slide on lake delta formation
Brandon Dugan
dugan@mines.edu
The Slumgullion slide is a slow moving earthflow that created the natural earth dam that created Lake San Cristobal near Lake City, CO. The impressive feature was declared a National Natural Landmark, and also provides an excellent natural laboratory to study the interplay of climate, vegetation, wave dynamics, and delta evolution. A detailed study of the slide can inform assessments of how the slide changed the landscape hydrologically and geomorphologically.
The faculty leads for this project have a strong history of interdisciplinary training and experience leading and participating in interdisciplinary projects. We will employ the following approach to promote collaboration across disciplines that is inclusive of all participants. (1) We will make sure that everybody involved is clearly engaged in the overall goals of the Slumgullion research project. (2) Each group member will lead an independent, but tangible, aspect of the research that will be explicitly linked to the overall project goals. (3) All participants in the project will interact in multiple aspects of the research so they can experience the geology, geophysics, and hydrology aspects of the research. (4) Regular project meetings will have rotating leadership giving each person a chance to lead project meetings. Additionally all participants will have many opportunities to present their research to the group.
More Information:
Grand Challenge: Not applicable
Coe, J. A., et al., 2003, Seasonal movement of the Slumgullion landslide determined from Global Positioning System surveys and field instrumentation, July 1998–March 2002, Eng. Geol., 68, 67– 101, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0013‐7952(02)00199‐0.
Gomberg, J., Schulz, W., Bodin, P., Kean, J., 2011, Seismic and geodetic signatures of fault slip at the Slumgullion landslide natural laboratory, Journal of Geophysical Research, 116, B09404, https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2011JB008304.
Varnes, D.J., Savage, W.Z., 1996, The Slumgullion Earth flow: a large-scale natural laboratory, U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 2130, https://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/b2130/cover.htm.
Primary Contacts:
Lesli Wood, Professor, Geology and Geological Engineering (lwood@mines.edu)
Paul Santi, Professor, Geology and Geological Engineering (psanti@mines.edu)
Jeff Shragge, Associate Professor, Geophysics (jshragge@mines.edu)
Brandon Dugan, Associate Professor, Geophysics (dugan@mines.edu)
Student Preparation
Qualifications
The student should have basic geological and geophysical knowledge. Experience with field work, geophysical data processing, hydrological property characterization, and/or geotechnical soil studies would be beneficial.
TIME COMMITMENT (HRS/WK)
5-10 hrs/week
SKILLS/TECHNIQUES GAINED
The student will gain knowledge on earth flow mechanics, delta formation, stream and lake hydrology, geological and geophysical survey design. Students may also gain skills collecting field data (e.g., seismic survey, geotechnical coring), laboratory geotechnical experiments, and data processing and integration. Students will get an opportunity to use structure from motion analysis to understand active processes in the lake created by the slide. Students will also gain experience working across the boundaries of multiple fields.
MENTORING PLAN
We will have a multi-level mentoring approach in the research group that will include faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students. We also anticipate mentoring opportunities with the USGS Hazards Center and the Colorado Geological Survey as they are also actively participating in landslide hazards research in Colorado.
The research group will have meetings every other week to discuss research progress. Meeting leadership and presentation will rotate through the group. In addition to presenting results, we will give feedback to students on their presentations. Students will also have additional, individual meetings with one of the faculty/postdoc leads for more focussed discussion. If desired, the student can also contribute to grant proposal writing to advance this project and thus will receive mentoring on scientific writing and project development.
PREFERRED STUDENT STATUS
Junior
Senior