geophysics
Colorado School of Mines
Summer 2012
geophysics
ophysics
GREETINGS
Summer 2012
Colorado School of Mines
4
Gary Olhoeft
7
Faculty & Friends
8
Graduate Students
12
CWP
14
RCP
16
CGEM
18
Hydrogeophysics
19
Edwin Nissen
20
Planetary Lab
22
Distinguished Science
24
Colorado is Special
25
Date an Earth Scientist
26
Student Life
28
Why Geophysics?
32
Field Camp
34
Study Abroad
37
Senior Design
38
Internships
44 Class of 2011
47
AGU
From the Department Head
Wa r m g re e t i ngs f ro m t he
D e p a r t me n t of G e o phys ic s!
We are glad our departmental magazine
(it’s gotten too large to call it a
newsletter anymore!) has found its
way into your hands . The diverse
articles and photos are a small sample
of the many people and activities that
enriched our year in Geophysics .
For us, it’s all about people! So we
celebrate the life and career of Gar y
Olhoeft , who just retired after 17 years
on the CSM facult y. We are grateful
to add Tim Collett (USGS) to our
adjunct / aff iliate facult y. And we
look for ward to welcoming earthquake
seismologist Ed Nissen, who joins
our facult y in August . Meanwhile,
we have a search under way for a new
facult y member with broad expertise in
electromagnetics .
We are bursting at the seams in the
Green Center. In the past 4 -5 years
our student enrollment in Geophysics
has doubled from about 50 undergrads
and 50 graduate students to 100 of
each . And we continue to welcome
large numbers of visiting scholars,
who collaborate with our facult y and
research groups . So, we are out of
space . We are also at the end of the
ser vice life of the roof on the Green
Center, so we look for ward to a new
On the cover
Seniors Meghan Helper and Kendra Johnson and graduate student, Lillian Comegys, take a break from
stringing geophones at Geophysics field camp, Neal Hot Springs, Vale, Oregon, summer 2011.
2
building one day soon!
In Fall , we received a thoughtful ,
upbeat review of our department by
the External Visiting Committee,
which included Rutt Bridges
(Transform Soft ware and Ser vices),
Richard Degner (Global Geophysical
Ser vices), Perr y Eaton (Newmont
Mining Corp.), Erec Isaacson
(ConocoPhillips), Jerr y Harris
(Stanford Universit y), Alan Levander
(Rice Universit y), and Jill McCarthy
(USGS). We are grateful for this
enormous contribution by these
distinguished colleagues .
Our f ield camp cont inue s to be the
ca ps tone e x perience and highlight
for mos t undergradua te s . La s t
summer we were joined by Boi se St .
Universit y (under the leadership
of Ka sper van Wijk) and Imperial
College , London (under the direc t ion
of Helmut Jakubowicz), a s we
a pplied a va s t array of geophysical
technique s to the charac teriza t ion
of the geothermal sys tem a t Neal
Hot Springs , Oregon . In summer
2012 , we were gue s t s of Pagosa
Springs , Colorado, where we will
conduc ted a similar f ield e xerci se
accompanied by Imperial College
s tudent s and facult y. We are
gra teful for the many cont ribut ions
of e x per t i se and re source s tha t
make thi s camp a succe s s year after year. In par t icular, we
thank Sercel , for the ne w se i smic
recording sys tem (thank you ,
George Wood!), CGGVeri ta s , for the
vibrose i s sys tems and cre w, and Mr.
and Mrs . Richard Degner for the ir
f inancial suppor t .
Enjoy!
Look for Us at SEG!
T he De par t me nt of Geophysic s Alu mni Lu ncheon
at SEG La s Vega s 2012 will be held on Tue sda y,
Nove mber 6 , 11:30 a m . For more infor mat ion , plea se
se e Michelle S zobod y at the CSM booth , #2402, in the Shoreline s A se ct ion
Thank you to BP a nd Shel l for prov id i ng f u nd i ng for t he
2012 G e ophysics m a ga z i ne a nd t o a l l of ou r s p on sor s for t hei r
cont i nue d suppor t of t he de pa r t me nt!
( ht t p://ge o physic s.mine s.e d u /GEO - D e pa r t me nt- S u p p or t)
3
GREETINGS
of the e xhibit hall , or contact her at m s zobod y @ mine s.e du .
DRINK ING FROM A FIREHOSE
A Tribute to Gar y Olhoef t
GARY OLHOEFT
Gar y Olhoeft retired from the facult y this past
year. His retirement marks the end of an era
in which ever y undergraduate was initiated
into the Geophysical Engineering program by
taking “Gar y’s course” -- GPGN210 Materials
of the Ear th. W hen Gar y retired, we also
retired Gar y’s signat ure course. It’s a bit like
retiring the jersey (numerals) of the perennial
MVP on a spor ts team. How do you f ill the
shoes of someone whose labs have titles such
as “Bubble in Straw 1”, “Bubble in Straw 2”,
and “Poisson’s Ratio of a Marshmallow”?
St udents described Gar y as the “man of 1000
viewgraphs.” They were captivated by his
lect ures, fascinated by the breadth and depth
of his k nowledge, impressed by his intellect ual
quick ness, and over whelmed by tr ying to take
notes while drin king in new infor mation f rom
a f irehose.
Gar y joined the CSM facult y in 1994. He brought to CSM a wealth of experience
from his prior work with NASA and the USGS, along with some unique vacuum
chambers and other experimental devices. He loved to teach and found it hard to say
“no” when, in addition to his regular load, his graduate st udents asked him to teach
courses on a wide variet y of
ad hoc topics. W hen st udents
evaluated his teaching they
always remarked on the unique
and valuable experience of
having been in his class,
noting that he “really made
them thin k for themselves.”
In addition to the technical
subject matter, he insisted that
st udents lear n the right way to
keep lab and f ield notebooks,
appreciate professional ethics,
and recognize that you can’t
believe ever y thing you read in
technical jour nals.
4
We miss Gar y and wish him all the best. His contributions to the Depar tment and the
geophysics communit y, and his impact on the minds and the lives of his st udents, will
never be forgotten.
Among the innumerable anecdotes concer ning Gar y are these: –
*
In Hawaii all the students had to hike 1.5 miles over an active lava tube to reach
our f ield site. It was about 90 degrees and humid. We were wearing long trousers,
long-sleeved shirts, and gloves to protect us. We were all carr ying gear (I carried
the EM-31). It was a ver y diff icult hike over the razor sharp lava f lows. Just as we
arrived at our site, Gar y came f lying in on a helicopter (due to his medical condition)
wearing his big white cowboy hat, grinning with his little kid smile. It was great he
could join us.
*
“Detective Gar y” helped the
G
Golden
police catch a robber. This
u
unsuspecting
individual made the
u
unfortunate
choice of tr ying to rob
G y’s house. Of course, Gar y’s was
Gar
n ordinar y house. It was equipped
no
w
with
Gar y’s custom state-of-the-art
s
securit
y camera system, including
n
night
vision capabilit y. The robber
f
forced
open the garage door and
t
tried
to roll in under it, only to be
s
stopped
by a bigger version of Gar y’s
o ice – a mountain of boxes, books,
off
a
and
equipment all stacked to the
r
roof.
Dejected, the robber left and
d
drove
right by Gar y’s cameras that
c
captured
the details of his vehicle.
David Stillman, PhD 2006
5
GARY OLHOEFT
*
One of my favorite Gar y
s
stories
happened in Summer ‘98.
A
Abraham
Emond and I were doing a
g
ground
penetrating radar sur vey at
D
Dinosaur
Ridge. Our goal was to
detect negative Iguanodontid tracks bulging out on the underside of the upper layer of
Dakota sandstone. These slabs are prett y steep…maybe 50 degrees or more in places
and quite high. High enough to need ropes. A rope for us, and a rope for the radar
equipment. I think the orders were, ‘ let Erin fall, save the GPR.’ Not really. Anyway
we worked for several days doing radar lines ever y 20 cm across the entire slab, with
Gar y yelling up at us not to move so fast ‘cause any sudden moves would result in
a loss of data’. Not an easy feat. Anyway, we needed the ropes set up at the top to
secure us and hold the radar system…so ever y morning Gar y would climb up the slab
(UNROPED) in his COWBOY BOOTS, set up the anchor and rope, then lower himself
down! Remarkable. I still shake my head in disbelief.
Erin Wallin, PhD 2008
GARY OLHOEFT
*
I remember my f irst classes with Gar y as a sophomore. He was really
intimidating at f irst, and you could tell he was sharp. He could tell if anyone was
talking about something they didn’t actually k now about, and would call them on it by
staring at them until they talked themselves into a hole. He taught us it was okay if
you didn’t k now things, as long as you admit it and go out and learn about it. Later on
in the semester, he opened up to us with several great anecdotes about the scientif ic
method or his research. The class and labs were hard; Gar y expected a lot of us: keep
good notes, design your own experiments, build them with your own hands, challenge
yourself and others! But even though it was hard, it was ver y rewarding. I think we all
learned a lot from him.
One of my favorite labs from Gar y
was the myster y bag lab. He would
f ill a paper bag with an assortment
of items (some easy, some hard),
and we would have to f igure out
what was in the bag as an analog
to f iguring out what’s inside the
earth using geophysics. First, we
weren’t allowed to touch the bag,
then we could gently disturb the
bag (shaking, lifting), and then we
could go to town and feel around
the outside of the bag and isolate
individual objects. Each time, we’ d
take a guess at what was inside,
and why we thought so. At the end,
we were allowed to see how close
our guesses were, and inevitably we
were totally wrong. It taught us to
think critically about what we can/
can’t measure, how much we rely on
our senses to understand the world,
and why uncertaint y and the effect
cience in general) is an important subject
of preconceptions in geophysics (and science
subject. This
was one of my favorite labs to TA as well.
Gar y, thank you for sharing your k nowledge and wisdom with all of us. You have
taught us so many things that you can’t just read from a textbook . Thank you for
devoting so much time and effort into our learning. I am a better scientist because of
you.
Alicia Hotovec, BS 2007, MS 2009
6
Congratulations...
...to Professor Roel Snieder on being
nnamed Honorar y Member, SEG. Roel
is also now Chair of Geophysicists
W
Without Borders and was recently
aappointed Chief of the Genesee Fire
R
Rescue Department in Golden.
...to Professor Ilya Tsvank in on being
elected Fellow, Institute of Physics (IOP).
In Remembrance...
Geophysics Emeritus Professor and former Department Head, George Keller, passed away on
April 24th in Evergreen, Colorado.
During his career, Dr. Keller was employed by the U.S. Geological Survey (1952-1963) as well as
Colorado School of Mines (1960-1993).
At Mines, Dr. Keller’s principal areas of interest were in the development and application of
electrical geophysical methods to explore for mineral and energy resources. He served as head of
the Department of Geophysics from 1974 to 1983. He retired from teaching in 1993.
A memorial service was held on May 12th at Mother Cabrini Shrine in Golden.
In Remembrance...
We are grateful to Phil for providing funding used to
p
purchase
new computers for our Linux lab. Our sincerest
condolences go out to Phil’s family.
7
FACULTY & FRIENDS
Philip Linwood Lawrence passed away July 9th. He was born in New Bedford,
Massachusetts on March 27, 1923. Phil served in World War II in the 759th Field
Artillery Battalion and graduated with a degree in
Geological Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines
in 1949. Phil worked for Mobil Oil as a geophysicist
f
from
1949 until his retirement. After he retired, Phil was
actively involved in many organizations; his favorites were
Zane Grey’s West Society and Numismatics International.
P
Phil
was a proud and devoted graduate of the Colorado
School of Mines in Golden, Colorado and remained close to
the school his entire life.
Graduate Students Flock to Geophysics
Fall 2011 saw a new rec o r d for the lar g es t nu mber of new gr aduate s tudents
admit ted to the Geophys ics depar tment - 24 - pr opelling the total nu mber of
Geophys ics gr aduate s tudents to 10 0. S o me of their s tor ies are pr of iled in the
following pages and are as diverse as the plac es fr om whic h they hail.
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Mat t hew W isniewski, MS Student , Cent e r f o r Rock Abuse
G raduating with a Bachelor of Science in Geophysical Engineer ing f rom the Colorado School
of Mines has provided me some really cool oppor t u nities. My f irst job af ter g raduating was
work ing for an airbor ne geophysics company. My time was mixed bet ween work ing in
ou r base off ice and t ravelling to work on an acquisition team. I n the off ice I was involved
in var ious aspects of the su r veys including su r vey layout, dat a processing, and even
inter pret ation. Field time was a mix of per for ming qualit y cont rol of dat a and work ing with
acquisition equipment; f ield work was
exciting as new issues of ten ar ise and
need to be handled promptly. On my
last f ield assig n ment I was able to
ser ve as crew chief which added the
handling of su r vey logistics to my
duties. My f ield assig n ments took me
to Saudi A rabia and G reenland, places
I other wise would have probably never
had the oppor t u nit y to see. Following
this I moved to New Zealand where
I worked with a small geophysical
consulting company t ravelling
th roughout the cou nt r y per for ming
var ious su r veys. It was a really
g reat job assig n ment that involved a nu mber of different geophysical tech niques and var ied
applications. For example, we per for med a ref raction micro -t remor su r vey to character ize
the area where a large storage building was to be placed. I n another su r vey we used g rou nd
penet rating radar to look for bu r ied st r uct u res f rom a histor ic Maor i ( people indigenous
to New Zealand) set tlement. I was also involved in a couple of g ravit y su r veys aimed at
character izing the area arou nd geother mal f ields. I n addition to multiple tech niques, these
jobs provided me the oppor t u nit y to work alongside people f rom var ious f ields including
pilots, air plane mechanics, tech nicians, geotech nical engineers, d r illers, and others. I have
ret u r ned to Colorado School of Mines because I am still excited about the f ield of geophysics
and k now that there is much more I still want to lear n. With my work backg rou nd I thin k I
will be able to look at the presented mater ial and u nderst and it in a new way by relating it to
my work exper ience. I am par ticularly interested in geother mal exploration as I thin k this
will be an impor t ant application in the f ut u re, and I am hoping to per for m research work and
a thesis in this area. In addition, I am also excited to lear n more about the many other areas
of research happening in the depar t ment.
8
Ke lsey Schilt z , MS Student , Re se r voir Characte r ization Pr oject
I’m ju s t b eg i n n i ng my r e s e a r ch wh ich w i l l fo c u s o n c o nve r t e d
wave a n alysis of he av y oi l sa nd s at Nexe n’s L ong L a ke, A lbe r t a .
I’m or ig i n al ly f rom Mont a n a but re ceive d my u nde rg r a du at e
deg r e e f rom R ice Un ive r sit y i n Hou st on. Hou st on get s a ba d
r ap; a f t e r fou r ye a r s , it h a s a s p e ci a l pla c e i n my h e a r t . T h i s
i s go o d b e c a u se a s a ge o physic i s t i n t he oi l a nd g a s i nd u s t r y,
I w i l l m o s t l i kely b e s p e nd i ng a sig n i f ic a nt p or t ion of my l i fe
t he r e. I neve r pla n ne d on goi ng i nt o Ge ophysics, or scie nce at
a l l for t h a t m at t e r, but a n i nt ro d u c t or y e a r t h s c ie n c e cla s s w it h
a g r e at profe s sor spa rke d my i nt e re st i n t he t opic. I g r av it at e d
t owa r d G e o physic s b e c a u se I t hou g ht t he a bi l it y of s e i s m ic t o
i m age t he subsu r fa ce wa s awe some (a nd be cau se I don’t have much of a n eye for ge olog y)
y).
I cho s e C olor a d o S cho ol of M i n e s , a nd m o r e s p e ci f ic a l ly RC P, b e c a u se of t he g roup’s
r e put at io n a nd d i r e c t t ie s w it h i nd u s t r y. I d o n’t t h i n k I f u l ly r e a l i z e d u nt i l I a r r ive d ,
howeve r, t he ex t r e mely h ig h c a l ib e r of t he f a c u lt y a nd r e s e a r che r s h e r e. A lt hou g h I
a d m it it is sl ig ht ly i nt i m id at i ng, I fe el so for t u n at e t o have t he opp or t u n it y t o le a r n f rom
some of t he most br i l l ia nt a nd re sp e c t e d p e ople i n t he f ield . A not he r hu ge d r aw for me
wa s Color a do. I love t he we at he r he re, t he sm al l-t ow n at mosphe re w it h t he prox i m it y
of a la rge cit y, a nd t he a c t ive l i fe st yle. Si nce com i ng he re, I have st a r t e d t r y i ng new
t h i ngs l i ke yoga , f i sh i ng, h i k i ng, a nd i n t he w i nt e r, I’m lo ok i ng for wa rd t o sk i i ng. I a m
e njoy i ng eve r y t h i ng I a m le a r n i ng a nd lo ok i ng for wa rd t o t he next t wo ye a r s.
Jieyi Zhou, PhD Student, Hydrogeophysics and Porous Media
9
GRADUATE STUDENTS
I a m f rom Hu n a n P rov i nce, sout he a st of C h i n a , a ve r y be aut i f u l pla c e. I st ud ie d a c ou st ics
a s a n u nde rg r a du at e at Na nji ng Un ive r sit y,
i n one of t he most gla morou s cit ie s i n
C h i n a . Ac ou st ics is t he physics of sou nd ,
a nd I l i ke t he c oncise a nd pre cise be aut y of
phy sics a nd m at he m a t ics. I h ave a l s o b e e n
i nt e r e s t e d i n ge olog y si n c e I wa s a ch i ld .
T he e a r t h i s s o m a g ic a l a nd a p p e a l i ng, l i ke
a k a leido s c op e, at t r a c t i ng p e ople t o ex plor e.
I bel ieve ge ophysic s ca n le a d t o a bet t e r
a nd de e p e r u nde r st a nd i ng of t he e a r t h.
T h at is why I ca me t o M i ne s, wh ich ha s a
g r e at re put at ion i n ex plor at ion ge ophysics.
T hou g h my ex a c t r e s e a r ch i nt e r e s t i s yet
t o be de cide d , I hop e I ca n u nde r st a nd wh at it is l i ke u nde r ou r fe et a nd wh at is goi ng on
t he r e. T he r e a r e m a ny t h i ngs I love about Color a do, e s p e cial ly t he mou nt a i n s, t he t r e e s
a nd t he snow. I have t r ie d h i k i ng but not yet sk i i ng. I a m lo ok i ng for wa rd t o it . .
Anya Reitz, MS Student, Center for Gravity, Electrical and Magnetic Studies
I'm one of t he less excit i ng i n t h is f resh crop of g r a du ate st udent s; i n stea d of ga r ner i ng
ood les of life exper ience bet ween deg rees, I opted to st ay r ig ht where I wa s a nd f u r t her my
educat ion i n a fa m ilia r env i ron ment. I received my u nderg r a du ate deg ree i n Geophysics
here at M i nes i n May 2011, a nd li ked it so much t he idea of st ay i ng on for a not her t wo
yea r s d id n't fa ze me. O r ig i nally, I hail f rom Texa s. As t he d aug hter of t wo explor at ion
geolog ist s, it's ext remely i mprobable t hat I'd never be exposed to Hou ston. St ill, I've
been i n Golden, Color a do for t h ree f u ll yea r s now, a nd
I'd li ke to pretend I come f rom here. T hat's what my
d r iver's licen se says, a ny way.My resea rch i nterest s a re
ver y broa d , t houg h I tend to st ick towa rd s t he nonseism ic side of t h i ngs i n aca dem ia. I have been k now n
to work on seism ic project s du r i ng su m mer i nter n sh ips,
i nclud i ng Ci ma rex Energ y Co i n dow ntow n Denver i n
t he su m mer of 2011. I a m work i ng for Apache i n t he
su m mer of 2012. Cu r rently, t he focu s of my ma ster's
t hesis resea rch is borehole g r av it y g r a d iomet r y a nd
it's applicat ion i n reser voi r mon itor i ng. I'd be ly i ng if
I said I d id n't fall i nto t he potent ial side of geophysics
becau se of my fa sci nat ion w it h color f u l maps. I love my
af f iliat ion w it h CGEM.
I look for wa rd to t hese next 2(?) yea r s here i n Golden. I
hope t hey a re ju st a s g reat a s t he la st t h ree!
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Esteban Diaz Pant in, MS Student , Cent e r f o r Wave Phenomena
Si nce t he t i me I wa s a ge ophysical e ng i ne e r i ng st ude nt at t he Un ive r sid a d Si món Bol íva r
I have k now n about CSM. It is ve r y fa mou s abroa d be cau se of Seism ic Un*x. A l so, I
he a rd st or ie s about CSM f rom my g r a nd fat he r about h i s favor it e brot he r who st ud ie d he re
i n t he e a rly 1950 's.
A f t e r obt a i n i ng my e ng i ne e r i ng deg r e e I joi ne d t he seism ic
i nd u s t r y. I h a d t he o p p or t u n it y t o wor k f ro m 2D t i m e d at a
seism ic pro c e s si ng t o 3D de pt h i m ag i ng /model bu i ld i ng
p r oje c t s. L at e r I h a d t he ch a nc e t o wor k i n a r e s e a r ch g roup
w it h ve r y t a le nt e d a nd ex p e r ie nce d p e ople. A f t e r t h at I k new
wh at I wa nt e d t o do i n Ge ophysics. T he de cision t o apply
t o M i n e s , a nd p a r t ic u la rly t o C W P, c ou ld n ot h ave b e e n a ny
e a sie r. It wa s t he re s e a r ch ce nt e r w it h wh ich I sh a r e d m o s t
of my i nt e r e s t s. I a m r e a l ly h a p py wor k i ng w it h p e o ple who
have be e n pione e r s i n m a ny a s p e ct s of seism ic ex plor at ion.
I n C W P, I a m o n t he I-Te a m , u nd e r t he s u p e r v i sion of D r.
Pau l Sava . I pla n t o cont i nue work i ng i n velo cit y model bu i ld i ng. So fa r t he ex p e r ie nce
ha s be e n g r e at! Golde n is a ve r y n ice t ow n , a nd t he p e o ple at C SM a r e ve r y f r ie n d ly.
L o ok i ng b a ck , I k now I m a d e t he b e s t choic e!
10
Andrew Munoz , MS Student , Cent e r f o r Wave Phenomena
I a m a n at ive Tex a n a nd g r a d u at e d f ro m Tex a s A&M
U
Un ive r sit y i n t he s p r i ng of 2010 w it h a B. S. i n G e o physic s.
A f t e r I g r a d u at e d , I e nt e r e d i nt o a long i nt e r n sh ip w it h
New f ield Explor at ion , du r i ng wh ich I le a r ne d about m a ny
N
ooi l a nd g a s i nd u s t r y p r a c t ic e s a nd p r oble m s. I a p pl ie d t o
g r a d u at e s cho ol s al l ove r t he Un it e d St at e s , but whe n I f i r st
v i sit e d M i ne s, I k new I wa s home. I met w it h al l of t he CW P
pprofe s sor s a nd wa s wa r m ly welc ome d i nt o t he prog r a m.
D r. Dave Hale a nd I m a de a g r e at con ne c t ion , a nd held
m a ny si m i la r i nt e re st s i n re se a r ch a nd l i fe st yle; he wa s a
n at u r a l pick for a n a dv i sor. A s a Ma st e r s st ude nt , I wou ld
l i ke t o fo cu s o n i mp rov i ng t he i nef f icie nt p r a c t ice s a nd
i n a c cu r at e a s su mpt ion s seism ic i nt e r p ret e r s u se i n oi l a nd
gga s ex plor at ion. I hop e t o u se my t i me at M i ne s t o m a ke a
releva
ntt i mpa ctt e s p e cial
l
i l lly relat
l e d t o proble m s w it h wel l log a nd seism ic d at a i nt eg r at ion.
O ut side of s cho ol , I e njoy t he m a ny out do o r a c t iv it ie s C olor a d o h a s t o of fe r, a nd I h ave
d i r e ct e d m os t of my f r e e t i me t o r u n n i ng, h i k i ng a nd v i sit i ng p a rk s.
Luiz Marcelo Ribeiro Martins, MS Student, Reservoir Characterization Project
11
GRADUATE STUDENTS
I g r a d u at e d i n Ge olog y i n 1999 f rom t he Un ive r sid a d e Fe d e r a l d e O u ro P r et o ( U FOP),
i n t he St a t e of M i n a s G e r a i s , Br a z i l. Two ye a r s l a t e r, I obt a i ne d a s p e ci a l i z at io n d eg r e e
i n Pet roleu m Eng i ne e r i ng at Un ive r sid a de de Ca mpi n a s ( U N ICA M P) i n t he St at e of Sã o
Pau lo. Bet we e n 20 02 a nd 20 0 4, I worke d a s a
f ield m a n a ge r for a d r i l l i ng m i n i ng compa ny i n
t he c ou nt r y side of t he St a t e of M i n a s G e r a i s.
Si
S n c e Feb r u a r y 20 0 4, I h ave b e e n wor k i ng a s a
ge
g ophysicist at Pet rob r a s, m a i n ly de al i ng w it h
r eg ion a l s ei s m ic i nt e r p r e t at ion .
At
A t he b eg i n n i ng of my c a r e e r a t Pet rob r a s , I
t o ok s e ve r a l i nt e r n a l c ou r s e s t h a t a l lowe d m e t o
have
a bet t e r u nde r st a nd i ng of ge ophysics appl ie d
h
t o p et roleu m ex plor at ion. I n 20 09 I at t e nde d t he
Un
U ive r sit y of Hou st on , for a t wo mont h cou r se on
p r a c t ic a l a nd t he or e t ic a l a s p e c t s of G e o physic s.
I n p a r a l lel , I h ave b e e n wor k i ng w it h t he r eg io n a l
seism
ic i nt e r p ret at ion t e a m of Pet rob r a s for
s
t he e a st e r n Br a z i l ia n coa st ba si n s. My m a i n
goal is t o work i n RC P, whe r e I bel ieve t he r e i s a n ap p ro p r iat e e nv i ro n me nt t o d e al w it h
mu lt id iscipl i n a r y p et roleu m ex plor at ion t e ch nolog ie s.
CSM ha s e d ucat e d a nu mb e r of ge oscie nt i st s work i ng for Pet rob r a s. T hey al l ag re e t h at
CSM of fe r s a n i nt el le c t u al ly st i mu lat i ng e nv i ron me nt for p e r son al a nd t e ch n ical g row t h .
Mor e ove r, G olde n i s a p e r fe c t pla c e t o l ive h e a lt hy a nd h a p py, a nd si n c e I a r r ive d h e r e
I’ve be e n so wel l t r e at e d . RC P st ude nt s a nd st af f a r e always helpi ng a nd supp or t i ng me!
Center for Wave Phenomena
Seismic Hazard: Weakening of the Near Surface in Japan After the
2011 Tohoku-Oki Earthquake
Nori Nakata, PhD Student & Professor Roel Snieder
The Tohoku- Oki earthquake (MW9.0)
on 11 March 2011 is one of the largest
earthquakes in recent times, and the
resulting tsunami caused much damage
in Japan including its nuclear reactors .
This unprecedented earthquake has
weakened the soil in the near surface
throughout northeastern Japan .
CWP
We analyzed ear thquake data f rom 1
Januar y 2011 to 26 May 2011 recorded
by KiK-net, the st rong-motion net work
operated by NIED in Japan, to measure
shear-wave velocities. Each station has
t wo seismographs at the surface and
the bot tom of a borehole, a few hund red
meters deep. By applying seismic
interferomet r y to these t wo sensors, in
which we deconvolve the seismog ram
at a top receiver with that at a bot tom
receiver, we ret r ieved the shear wave
propagating f rom the bot tom sensor to
the top sensor at each station and thus
deter mined the shear-wave velocit y in
the upper few hund red meters of the
subsurface under each KiK-net station.
Using velocities of all available stations
(blue dots on the maps), we create shearwave velocit y maps before (1 Jan. 10 Mar. 2011) and af ter (12 Mar. - 26
May 2011) the Tohok u- Oki ear thquake
(“Before” and “Af ter” maps in the
f ig ure). By subt racting the “Before”
velocit y f rom the “Af ter” velocit y, we
obtain the map of the relative velocit y
change af ter the Tohok u- Oki ear thquake
(“Difference” in the f ig ure).
As show n in the f ig ure, the shear-wave
velocit y was reduced by about 5% af ter
the Tohok u- Oki ear thquake over an
12
Shear-wave velocities before and after the Tohoku-Oki
earthquake and its difference.
area in nor theaster n Japan about 1,200 k m wide.
The shear-wave velocit y is related to the shear
modulus, which measures the st rength of the soil;
hence the reduction of the shear-wave velocit y
over nor theaster n Japan implies that the Tohok uOki ear thquake reduced the shear st rength of the
near surface th roughout nor theaster n Japan.
Seeing Earth’s Hidden Secrets
Tongning Yang, PhD Candidate
One important goal in exploration geophysics is to discover
natural resources, like oil, gas or other minerals. We achieve
this goal by processing data acquired from various geophysical
methods to inter pretable images of the subsurface. These
images are similar in character to the ones obtained in medical
imaging and depend on the type of data used for analysis. For
instance, with ref lected seismic data we can obtain an image of
the subsurface representing the geologic str uctures as contrasts
of acoustic properties which are related to the lithology of the
subsurface and to the f luids present in the rocks. This process is known as seismic imaging and
is one of the most computationally intensive geophysical techniques.
One key element in seismic imaging is the velocity, or speed of seismic waves, in the subsurface.
This information is necessary to relocate the ref lections observed on the surface to their correct
position in the subsurface. The accuracy of the subsurface seismic image is strongly dependent
on this velocity reconstr uction. The image is significantly improved and shows amazing details
of the geologic str ucture, like layering and faulting which can guide oil and gas exploration.
My current research focuses on the technique known as wavefield tomography, one of the most
advanced for velocity model building and one that receives a lot of attention in the geophysical
community. A key demand of this methodology is to quickly simulate accurate seismic wavefields
in complex geologic models, which is extremely computationally demanding. My research is
facilitated by the High Performance Computing infrastr ucture provided by CSM through the
Golden Energy Computing Organization (http://geco.mines.edu). CWP is one of the top users of
computing resources on the available clusters. I am fortunate to have the opportunity to develop
both my geophysical and computational skills and make an impact on such an important field.
“Seismology of Azimuthally Anisotropic Media and
Seismic Fracture Characterization”
This book is published by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) as part of the “Geophycal
References Series’’ and is available as an eBook or in print edition from the SEG Digital Library at http://
library.seg.org/ebooks/seg.geophysical_ references_ series/177e.
13
CWP
In their new book, Professor Ilya Tsvank in and his colleague, Vladimir Grechka of Shell,
present a systematic analysis of seismic signat ures
for azimuthally anisotropic media and describes
anisotropic inversion / processing methods for wideazimuth ref lection data and VSP (ver tical seismic
prof iling) sur veys. The main focus is on kinematic
parameter-estimation techniques operating with
P-waves as well as with the combination of PP and PS
(mode-conver ted) data. The par t devoted to prestack
amplit udes includes azimuthal AVO (amplit ude
variation with offset) analysis and a concise treatment
of attenuation coeff icients, which are highly sensitive
to the presence of anisotropy. Discussion of fract ure
characterization is based on moder n effective
media theories and illustrates both the potential and
limitations of seismic methods. Field-data examples highlight the improvements achieved by
accounting for anisotropy in seismic processing, imaging, and fract ure detection.
Reservoir Characterization Project
“In Pursuit of New Ideas”
Ahmad Ihsan Ramdani
T he H ist or y of RCP d at e s ba ck t o t he m id - 80’s. I n 1985 D r. Tom D av is for me d
t he Re s e r voi r C h a r a ct e r i z at ion P roje c t ( RC P), a r e s e a rch g roup i n t he G e ophysic s
De pa r t me nt whose m ission is to develop a nd apply mu lt icompone nt seismolog y
a nd a ss o ciat e d t e ch nolog ie s t o mod el a nd
ch a r a cte r i ze complex rese r voi r s. Nu me rou s
f ield i nve st igat ion s, new conce pt s, new
t e ch nolog ie s , a nd mu lt i- d is cipl i n a r y
i nt eg r at ion a re fa c t or s t h at h ave c ont i nuou sly
evolve d w it h i n RCP for more t h a n 26
ye a r s. RCP’s Ph a se I r e s e a rch st a r t e d w it h
f r a ct u r e d r e s e r voi r ch a r a ct e r i z at ion i n
Si lo Field , Wyom i ng. I n 2011, Ph a se X I V
re se a rch i nclude d t i me -lapse mu lt icomp one nt
st ud ie s for CO2 i nje ct ion mon itor i ng i n
Del h i Field , L ou isia n a; a he av y oi l rese r voi r
ch a r a ct e r i z at ion st u d y i n L ong L a ke
Field , A lbe r t a , Ca na d a; sh ale oi l rese r voi r
ch a r a ct e r i z at ion i n t he Ba k ke n Sh a le; a nd a
sh ale ga s rese r voi r ch a r a cte r i zat ion st udy i n
t he Mont ney Sh ale, Ca na d a .
C u r re nt ly, 27 st u d e nt s a re wor k i ng i n RCP a nd t hey c ome f rom d i f fe re nt
a ca de m ic ba ckg rou nd s a nd c u lt u re s. Most of t he st u d e nt s a re f rom t he G e ophysic s
De pa r t me nt , but t he re a re st udent s f rom t he Geolog y a nd Pet roleu m Eng i ne e r i ng
d e p a r t me nt s a s wel l. T he st u d e nt s a re d ist r ibut e d i nt o d i f fe re nt g roup s /t e a m s
ba s e d on t hei r r e s e a rch i nt e r e st s. T he re a re c u r re nt ly f ive a ct ive g roup s i n RCP.
RCP
Del h i Te a m is t he tea m t h at is work i ng on t i me -lapse mu lt icompone nt for CO2
i nje c t ion mon itor i ng i n D el h i Field , L ou isia n a . T h is te a m wor k s w it h one of
t he best t i me -lapse, mu lt icompone nt seism ic d at a set s eve r recorded by RCP.
C u r rently, t h is tea m is fo cu si ng on del i ne at i ng CO2 m ig r at ion f low pat h s
cont rolled by t he complex f luv ial- delt aic set t i ng of t he rese r voi r.
Postle Te a m is work i ng on t i me -la pse mu lt icompone nt mon itor i ng of Wate rA lt e r n at i ng- G a s ( WAG) i nje c t ion i n Postle Field , Ok la hom a . T he r e s e r voi r
i nte r val is t he Mor row A sa nd st one. T h is rese r voi r is below seism ic resolut ion
a nd sei sm ic d at a we re hy pot hesi z e d to be i mpr a ct ic a l to ma p a nd mon itor t he
rese r voi r. Howeve r, w it h t he t i me -lapse mu lt icompone nt d at a a c qu i red at Postle,
RCP h a s b e e n a ble t o m a p t he Mor row A s a nd st one a nd mon it or t he ch a nge s i n t he
rese r voi r due to WAG i nje ct ion.
14
I n a dd it ion t o t he En h a nce d
O i l Re c ove r y ( EOR) D el h i a nd
Postle Te a m s, RCP also ha s t h ree
Unconvent ion al Re se r voi r Te a m s.
T he Pouce Coupe Te a m is work i ng
on re se r voi r ch a r a ct e r i z at ion for
Sh a le G a s i n t he Mont ney Sh a le,
Pouce Coupe Field , Ca na d a . T he
Ba k ken Te a m is work i ng on rese r voi r
ch a r a ct e r i z at ion for Sh a le O i l i n t he
Ba k ke n Sh ale, Ba n ne r Field , Nor t h
Da kot a . Bot h of t hese tea m s a re
work i ng on u nconvent ion al sh ale plays
by conduct i ng i nteg r at ed ge ophysical,
ge olog ica l a nd ge omecha n ical st u d ie s
ut il i z i ng logs, cores, a nd t h i n sect ion s
w it h a z i mut hal a n isot ropic a n alysis
f rom mu lt icomp one nt seism ic d at a .
O u r He av y O i l Te a m i s t he t e a m
wor k i ng on he av y oi l ch a r a ct e r i z at ion
i n L ong L a ke Field , A lb e r t a ,
Ca na d a . T h is tea m is work i ng on
t he ge ome ch a n ic a l ef fe c t s of st e a m
i nje ct ion i n t he he av y oi l rese r voi r.
Nove mb e r 10 t h a nd 11t h , 2011 we re
t wo of t he bu sie st d ays for RCP. A l l
of t he RCP st udent s pa r t icipat ed
i n a spon sor s me et i ng. T hey ma de
p r e s e nt at ion s a nd p o st e r s t o show
t hei r c u r re nt r e s e a rch p r og r e s s t o t he
spon sor s. I n a dd it ion , t he spon sor s
also gave present at ion s a nd ma de
p o st e r s i n wh ich t he i nt e r a c t ion
bet ween st udent s a nd spon sor s wa s
e st abl i she d . T he st u d e nt s v iew t hei r
r e se a rch a s a pa r t of t hei r a ca de m ic
prog ress, wh ile t he spon sor s v iew
st u d e nt s’ r e s e a rch a s a “ t e st i ng
g rou nd” for new t e ch nolog ie s a nd
new idea s a nd to see whet he r t hey
a re appl icable or not. From t h is
relat ion sh ip, a good d ialog ue bet ween
spon sor s a nd st udent s is a n essent ial
c omp one nt of RCP.
“I n P u r su it of New Idea s” is t he new
RCP t ag l i ne a nd i s r ef le c t e d i n ou r
new logo. RCP a spi r e s t o c re at e a n
e nv i r on me nt t h at w i l l s p aw n c re at iv it y
a nd i m ag i n at ion. RCP w i ll cont i nue
t o b e a worldw ide e nt it y t h at i s
recog n i z ed for c reat i ng value t h roug h
i n novat ive resea rch a nd educat ion.
T he t e ch nolog ie s t h at RCP h a s b e e n
developi ng for t he pa st 26 ye a r s a re
cu r rently bei ng appl ie d i n va r iou s
pa r t s of t he world. A nd a s t he t agl i ne
s ays, RCP w i l l ke e p pu r su i ng new a nd
i n novat ive ide a s.
RCP
15
Center for Gravity, Electrical and Magnetic Studies
GEM Beijing 2011: The SEG -CGS Workshop on
Gravity, Electrical and Magnetic Methods and
Their Applications
CGEM
Xiong Li, Fugro Gravity & Magnetic Ser vices &
Yaoguo Li, Colorado School of Mines
EM Beijing 2011,
organized by SEG
and CGS (the Chinese
Geophysical Societ y), was
held in the newly opened
Inter national Conference
Center at China Universit y
of Geosciences (CUGB) in
Beijing on 10 –13 October
2011. The workshop was
a great success than ks to
G
China implies a st rong
demand on nat ural
resources. Rapid and
massive const r uction
in China also raises
geotech nical and
environ mental challenges
daily. Gravit y, elect r ical,
elect romag netic, and
mag netic methods are
effective tools for explor ing
com mon tech nologies and
methodologies. Sensors,
acquisition tech niques, and
processing and inter pretation
methods are com mon. By
br inging together this
collection of applications,
geophysicists can enjoy
and lear n f rom related
applications of the same
tech nolog y.
cont r ibutions of the t wo
professional societies (Jian
Guo of CGS in par ticular),
local host (Xiaohong Meng
in par ticular), authors,
par ticipants, sponsors, and
many volunteers.
nat ural resources (oil and
gas, minerals, geother mal
energ y) as well as
tackling geotech nical and
environ mental problems.
Although these different
applications are diverse,
they are all based on
CGS was the par t ner when
SEG held its f irst conferences
in China in the 1980s. SEG
now has an inter national
off ice in China and the t wo
societies were delighted to
work together again af ter
(continued on page 46)
Sustainable development in
16
Learning of Life and Geophysics in Brazil
Cericia Martinez and Jiajia Sun
Sandy beaches, sprawling forests, and a veritable cornucopia of geophysics. These are just a few
of our favorite things...about Brazil! Whoever said ‘all work and no play’ was not familiar with
the duties of a geophysicist. For us, our work and play were one and the same on a trip to Rio de
Janeiro and the nearby state of Minas Gerais.
In August, we had the opportunity to attend
and present at the 12th International Congress
of the Brazilian Geophysical Society in Rio
de Janeiro. While in the area, we visited the
Quadrilátero Ferrífero, or Iron Quadrangle,
which is an area of historic and significant
mineral resources in Minas Gerais. During
this two-pronged trip, we were able to sample
the local culture and see some of the wondrous
scenery and that served as a backdrop to
our geophysical adventures. Drinking fresh
coconut juice, watching the sunset from Sugar
Loaf Mountain, and learning to samba were
just a few of the perils we were obliged to
enjoy. One of our fondest memories is Jiajia
splashing against the tide in an attempt to
recover his sandal from the Atlantic Ocean. While that was a rookie mistake of walking along the
beach with shoes on, it made for an excellent photographic sequence exhibiting how something can
be ‘just out of reach’. Needless to say, we both walked away with an appreciation of the deceptive
calm ebb-and-f low of Copacabana’s oceanfront. We also learned that Brazil is a hotspot for both
breathtaking scenery and geophysics. In a weeklong conference, we were introduced to the many
geophysical applications our Southern friends are faced with. We took note of the numerous
geophysical applications and work being done to solve real world problems in Brazil. On a
continent where mineral abundance is the norm and oil reserves have proven substantial, the utility
of geophysics is in efficient characterization and production. The practical discussions we were
able to have with our new Brazilian friends sent us
home with multiple research areas to explore.
17
CGEM
After Rio, we visited Minas Gerais for a tour of the
mining region. Just as Colorado can be described
by blue skies, the region around Belo Horizonte in
Minas Gerais can be summed up with two words:
red soil. It seemed like you could look in any
direction and see evidence of iron formation simply
by observing the color of the ground. We gained an
understanding of the need for airborne geophysics
while exploring the densely forested region. In
traipsing around iron formation overrun with
foliage, an army of Brazilian bees gave us practical
experience in the hazards of ground geophysics.
Luckily, we walked away with only a few stings and did not encounter any slithering reptiles or
other creatures that we were warned about. Altogether, we left Brazil with a deeper appreciation
for applied geophysics problems, for Brazil’s environmental beauty and dangers, and for the
interweaved ramifications of doing geophysics in such a beautifully treacherous environment.
HYDROGEOPHYSICS
T h e s e c o n d i n t e r n a t i o n al w o r k s h o p o n
in d u ce d p ola r i zat ion wa s orga ni ze d
a t t h e C olor a d o S c h o ol o f Min e s b y
An d r é Re v il f ro m Mo n d a y, O c t o b e r
31 to Nove mbe r 3, 2011.
I nd uc e d
p ola r i z at ion is a non-i nt r u sive ge ophysical
m e t ho d u se d t o i m a ge t he s u b s u r f a c e.
A lt hou g h h i st or ic al ly develop e d t o det e ct
o r e b o d ie s , t he i nd u c e d p ol a r i z at io n
m e t ho d h a s m o r e r e c e nt ly e me rge d a s
a n excit i ng t e ch nolog y i n t he f ield of
hyd roge ophysics a nd bioge ophysics.
I n pa r t ic u la r, l it e r at u re ove r t he la st
de ca de h a s conclu sively de mon st r at e d
t he u n iq ue p ot e nt ia l of t he i nduce d
p ola r i z at ion met hod a s a ge ophysical
i m ag i ng t o ol for ch a r a c t e r i z i ng hyd r au l ic
prop e r t ie s a nd mon it or i ng bioge o che m ic al
t r a n sfor m at ion s i n t he subsu r fa ce (e.g.,
for t he re me d iat ion of cont a m i n at e d soi l s).
T he se r e c e nt d e velop m e nt s h ave b e e n i n
p a r t d r ive n by c on side r able i mp rove me nt s
i n t he se n sit iv it y of t he i n st r u me nt at ion ,
m a c roscopic model i ng a nd t omog r aphy
t e ch n ique s a nd t he u nde r st a nd i ng of t he
m ic roscopic or ig i n of i nduce d p ola r i z at ion
18
a t t he p or e s c a le level s. Howeve r,
t he r e is st i l l a gap i n ou r f u nd a me nt a l
u nde r st a nd i ng of i nduce d p ola r i z at ion
m e ch a n i s m s a nd a u n i f ie d t he or y i s s t i l l
m i ssi ng. Con se q ue nt ly, t he f u l l p ot e nt ial
of t he i nduce d p ola r i z at ion met hod a s
a non-i nva sive subsu r fa ce i m ag i ng t o ol
ha s not be e n ex ploit e d . O ne f u nd a me nt a l
proble m is t h at va r iou s p ola r i z at ion
me ch a n ism s ex ist a nd m ay ove rlap i n t he
f r e q ue ncy r a nge of labor at or y a nd f ield
me a s u r e me nt s. Si xt y- one re se a r che r s
f rom 16 n at ion al it ie s reg i st e r e d for t h is
work shop, wh ich compr i se d 27 or al
pre se nt at ion s a nd 19 p o st e r s orga n i ze d i n
fou r s e s sion s c ove r i ng t he or y, l a b o r at or y
a nd f ield me a s u r e me nt s , t omog r aphy, a nd
d at a i nt e r p ret at ion. T he la st d ay i nclude d
f ield t e st i ng of a t i me - dom ai n i nduce d
p ola r i z at ion t o ol at M i ne s f ield by Ja me s
L o Co co of Mou nt Sopr is I n st r u me nt s.
T h is work shop wa s m a de p o ssible t h a n k s
t o t he ge ne rou s sp on sor sh ip of Tom
L a Feh r, t he f u nd i ng prov ide d by DOE ,
a nd t he orga n i z at ion al help prov ide d by
SPACE .
And r é Re v i l
G ia nt E a r t hqua
q ke s in Outer Mongolia
M
Mongolia
is a land of extremes. Its northern
rreaches contain icy tundra, including the northern
hhemisphere’s most southerly permafrost, while in
tthe south, the fierce Gobi is Earth’s most northerly
ddesert. In between lies seemingly endless grassland
iinterspersed with windswept mountains and
ppristine lakes. Mongolia’s population of less than
tthree million live in an area six times larger than
Colorado, making it the most sparsely populated
C
ccountry in the world. Life for many of these people
hhas changed little from the time of Genghis Khan,
whose fearsome cavalry swept across Asia and
w
iinto Europe 800 years ago, though thankfully
Mongolians are a much friendlier bunch these
M
ddays. For earthquake geologists like me, Mongolia
is known
kno n for other ssuperlatives.
perlati es In the early
earl part
par of the
Twentieth Century, it experienced a series of immense
earthquakes, including the largest ever measured on
Earth’s continents. Continental earthquakes are rather
different than those occurring in the oceans, being
spread over wide regions rather than along narrow
plate boundaries. Again, Mongolia is an extreme case:
its fault-lines, and the mountain ranges that grow along
them, are caused by collision between India and Tibet,
2000 miles to the south; Mongolia lies at the northern
edge of what is the widest plate boundary zone in the
world. My research here has focused on mapping the
faults on which these powerful earthquakes occur,
calculating how frequently these events occur, and
determining how long the faults have been active.
Fortunately, Mongolia’s cold, semi-arid climate and
its low population density mean that the landscape
preserves clues about these questions. Much of the
information can be obtained from the comfort of
an office, using the latest high-resolution satellite
images, but targeted fieldwork is still essential
in order to collect rock samples for dating in the
laboratory. This is also fortunate, as Mongolia is
one of the most fascinating places that you could
hope to visit.
F r o m t o p: R u p t u r e s f r o m t h e h u ge B u l n a y e a r t h q u a k e
o f 19 05 r e s e m b l i n g a g i a n t m o l e - t r a c k a c r o s s t h e
l a n d s c a p e; i n q u i s i t i v e l o c a l s; c a m p s i t e
recently hired by the Geophysics depart ment to teach and conduct
research in the area of earthquake seismolog y. His expertise is in
IInterferomet ric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR), neotectonics,
and geochronolog y. A g raduate of the Universit y of Oxford in 2008,
he has held post- doctoral positions at the Universit y of Cambridge
and, most recently, the Arizona State Universit y School of Earth
and Space Exploration. He is using his expertise in imager y,
ggeolog y and age dating to elucidate past movement on earthquake
ffaults. Dr. Nissen was hired as part of the depart ment's recent
collaboration with the USGS to advance the study of geohazards.
19
EDWIN NISSEN
Dr. Edwin Nissen was
Planetary Geophysics Lab
News a nd Note s f r om t he
Pl a net a r y Ge ophysics L ab
It’s been a busy year for the Planetary
Geophysics Lab. Kelsey Zabrusky, who
began her thesis work in the Fall of 2009
after receiving her Bachelor’s degree in
geology from CSM, successfully defended
Isherwood, an
undergraduate research
assistant who graduated
from the Geophysics
Department in
December. Ryan’s
research focused on Olympus Mons, the tallest
volcano on Mars. His aim was to investigate
how the topography around
Olympus Mons
changed as the planet deformed in response
to the load of the volcano, and compare that to
measures of the “paleo-topography”. This is
revealing new information about the history of
this volcano and volcanism on Mars in general.
He presented this work in a poster at the 2011
Lunar and Planetary Science Conference together
with Lauren Jozwiak, a summer intern who
worked with the group in 2010.
PLANETARY LAB
For the rest of us in the group, life goes on
as usual as we continue working on our own
research. Brian Davis continues to explore the
geophysical implications of sedimentary erosion
at Valles Marineris, the largest canyon system in
the solar system. His work regarding the f lexural
response of the lithosphere due to this erosion
her Master’s thesis in the Spring of 2011 and
became the first student to graduate
from the planetary geophysics lab. Her
thesis focused on the controversial
climate transition on Mars between the
Noachian and Hesperian epochs when
the climate shifted from warm and wet
to cold and dry. Using a combination
of spectroscopic and morphological
analyses, Kelsey was able to better
constrain the timing and length of this
transition than had previously been
determined. This research earned
her the Dwornik award for the best
student presentation at the 2011 Lunar
and Planetary Science Conference. Kelsey
will definitely be missed in the Planetary
Geophysics Lab, but we wish her the best of
luck in her future endeavors as a geological
consultant with Gustavson Associates.
The group also said goodbye to Ryan
20
Gravity anomalies over Valles Marineris on Mars
earned him the first-place award at the CSM
Graduate Student Research Fair, and he is now
working to understand how this f lexure affects
the regional stresses in the lithosphere.
the hydrological and atmospheric properties
of Titan to model the subsurface f low and
formation of lakes.
Ezgi Karasozen continues her research on
understanding the formation mechanism
of the South Tharsis Ridge Belt (STRB) on
Mars. The STRB is among the oldest tectonic
features associated with the huge volcanic
province Tharsis. Therefore, it may provide
key information on Tharsis’ early evolution
and the ancient tectonic history of Mars.
Previous studies interpreted these ridges as
compressional features, but she has noted a
striking resemblance between the South Tharsis
Ridge Belt and the extensional Basin and
Lakes on Titan revealed by Cassini radar (Jaumann
et al., 2009)
New to the group is David Horvath who began
work on modeling the subsurface hydrological
system on Titan. Similar to Earth, Titan is one
of the few bodies in the Solar System where
bodies of liquid are observed on the surface.
Methane, which is usually in the gaseous
state here on Earth, is in the form of a liquid
on Titan and takes part in a hydrocarbonbased hydrological cycle. Meanwhile water on
Titan is in the form of a solid due to the cold
temperatures, and acts as the “bedrock” and
“soil”. Although the liquids in the hydrological
cycles of Earth and Titan are very different,
observations have shown that they result in
very similar systems of rivers, streams, and
lakes. Like the Earth, f low of liquids beneath
the surface is expected to play an important
part in the hydrology of Titan. Dave is using
Range province of the southwestern United
States. She is evaluating both extensional
and compressional hypotheses for the
origin of the ridges using a variety
of approaches. When the shape, size,
spacing and symmetry of the ridges
are considered, the Basin and Range
province is the best analogue for the
South Tharsis Ridge Belt, supporting an
extensional origin. She will continue to
study the formation of this unique ridge
belt and its implications for early Mars.
Yaser Kattoum spends his time
researching the internal structure of
Orientale - the best-preserved multi-ring impact
basin on the Moon.
(continued on page 47)
21
PLANETARY LAB
The topography of the south Tharsis ridge belt on
Mars, and the basin and range province on Earth
Topography of the Orientale impact basin on the Moon
   

The popular geodynamic conjectures that
whole-mantle circulation, including plumes
from deep mantle, drives tectonic plates,
and that plate tectonics has operated since
early in Earth history, are extrapolated from
1960s geochemical speculations that Earth’s
fractionation is less than half finished: lower
mantle is still mostly “primitive”, upper mantle
is slowly depleting, and continental crust is
growing. GP Distinguished Senior Scientist
Warren Hamilton is among the small minority
that reaches diametrically opposite conclusions
from geophysical, geologic, petrologic,
mineral-physics, geochemical, isotopic, and
solar-system data.
Main accretion was so rapid that Earth reached
most of its final size by about 4.48 Ga. Earlyaccretion mechanism, including possible major
heating by impacts and a Moon-forming megaimpact, is poorly constrained, but heating
by short- and long-lived radioactive isotopes
was probably alone adequate to account for
accretion-concurrent differentiation into core,
strongly depleted mantle, and thick global
mafic protocrust. The extremely refractory
uniform magnesian olivine that dominates
cratonic upper mantle dates from this era.
Less-refractory components of the global
upper-mantle sample—rocks bearing pyroxene
and garnet, and also water and CO 2 —could
not have remained within that high-temperature
residue or cumulate, and record progressive
refertilization from the top throughout
subsequent Earth history. The since-vanished
mafic source for the voluminous tonalite
and allied low-potassium granitic rocks that
dominate preserved Archean crust, down to its
base against extremely depleted mantle, was the
protocrust, incremental melting of which began
before 4.40 Ga. Densified residual protocrust
delaminated, sank, bodily and metasomatically
enriched upper mantle, and increased access
of mantle heat to, and thereby recycling of,
remaining protocrust and increasingly thick
derivative overlying granitoids. Mafic and
ultramafic Archean supracrustal rocks record
melts from both protocrust and re-enriched
mantle after ~3.7 Ga, and existence of a
hydrosphere, as opposed to a hot and very dense
supercritical atmosphere of H 2 O and CO 2 , is
unproved before that time. Surviving Archean
cratons owe their stabilization and preservation
to loss of all subjacent protocrust, and hence
the source of more tonalite, by 2.5 or 2.3 Ga,
but protocrust-based processes continued
elsewhere, with diminishing intensity, through
early and middle Proterozoic time, when orogens
were built mostly on pre-existing Archean
granitic crust that, with voluminous clastic
metasediments, was recycled into the potassic
granites that typify those collapsinggeosyncline orogens.
There is no structural, geologic, or petrologic
DISTINGUISHED SCIENCE
FIGURE 1. A rc hean upper- c r ust al development,
whic h rec ords response to long - c ontinued lowerc r ust al mobilit y unlike any thing in subsequent Ear th
histor y, is illustrated by this magnetic map of the
nor thwest par t of the Super ior Craton, Manitoba and
O nt ar io, Canada, as integrated with other geophysic al
and geologic dat a. Tonalitic lower c r ust rose slowly
into over lying volc anic and sediment ar y strat a as
large diapir ic and remobilized batholiths, shown in
least- modif ied for m as the ~ 5 0x10 0 km ovoids in
the southeast quar ter of the map, bet ween which
the denser suprac r ust als sank. Simult aneously, the
lower c r ust per vasively nar rowed SSW- N N E and
ex tended W NW, with a r ight- lateral c omponent,
smear ing out the ver tic al - tec tonic features in the
var iably dec oupled and more br it tle upper c r ust.
The A rc hean c r ust of the c raton margin
was
thinned ex tensionally ear ly in Paleoproterozoic
time, but c ontinues beneath, and shows through,
the Trans - Hudson orogen. Shaded - relief map of
the c r ust al (high -frequency) c omponent of tot al
magnetic f ield, by G eologic al Sur vey of Canada.
22
FIGURE 2.
Polymetamorphic sheath-folded Archean
basement, exposed by deep erosion through central
par t of Paleoproterozoic Limpopo Orogen, Limpopo
River, South Africa. Zircon geochronology from this
vicinity indicates cr ystallization of par tial melts, from
still older Archean crust, ~3.3 Ga, fur ther plutonism
and high- grade deformation ca. 2.6 Ga, deep burial by
Proterozoic supracrustal rocks, and final plutonism and
deformation ~2.0 Ga. Proterozoic supracrustals lap on
to Archean cratons on both sides of the orogen, and
other regions of Archean basement within the orogen are
known. Photograph by Hamilton. Popular interpretations
never theless assign both Limpopo and Trans- Hudson
Proterozoic orogens to oceanic plate-tectonic processes.
evidence for either seaf loor spreading or subduction
before about 1.0 Ga, when a transitional regime
began. Lithospheric oceans may have developed
where there had been minimal generation of
granitoids from protocrust. Popular assumptions
of earlier Proterozoic and Archean plate tectonics
are based on misapplications of ratios of trace
elements in rocks strikingly unlike purported
modern plate-related analogues both individually
and in their petrologic, stratigraphic, and structural
associations. Not until about 0.5 Ga was the upper
mantle sufficiently re-enriched in low-melting
and volatile components to enable fully-modern
plate tectonics. Subduction continues downward
fertilization and recycling of upper mantle with lowmelting and volatile materials, enabling mobility
and mantle magmatism despite planetary cooling
as radioactivity wanes. Plate motions are selforganizing, and are driven by subduction that rights
the density inversion produced by top-down cooling
that forms oceanic lithosphere from asthenosphere.
All plate boundaries migrate. That plate
circulation is confined to upper mantle,
above the profound seismic discontinuity
and thermodynamic phase barrier about
650 km deep, is shown by well-constrained
seismic tomography. Penetration of the “650"
purportedly illustrated by some tomography
represents inappropriate modeling of nonconstraining earthquake waves. Fluid-dynamic
models purported to depict whole-mantle
circulation combine irrelevant ideal Newtonian
incompressible-liquid behavior with properties
chosen, with disregard for mineral physics,
because they enable desired pictorial results—
and those results resemble nothing in actual
plate kinematics. The possible extent of lowpressure syn-accretion depleting fractionation
of what is now the lower mantle is unclear, but
its sluggish circulation does not cross the “650".
Warren’s latest published iteration of this fourdimensional contrarian model was in Lithos in
2011. Updates here have resulted in part from
discussions of planetary formation with Anne
Hofmeister and Robert Criss.
DISTINGUISHED SCIENCE
FIGURE 3. Seismic - tomographic depic tions of pur por ted
slabs subduc ted below the 6 5 0 - km disc ontinuit y are
ar tifac ts of mis - assignment to the lower mantle of travel
advanc es gained by subduc tion -zone ear thquake waves that
exit obliquely downward through anisotropic high -veloc it y
slabs in the upper mantle. Represent ative evidenc e for this
is provided by the 3 - D geometr y of rec orded ear ly- ar r iving
SS raypaths, whic h at these teleseismic dist anc es traver se
the mid - lower mantle on eac h side of their Ear th - sur fac e
ref lec tion. Their time advanc es (blue lines) are not assigned
proper ly to the sourc e regions bec ause of lack of rec orded
c rossf ire. O f ten - c ited depic tions of a slab deep beneath the
Gulf of M exic o and southeaster n United St ates, for example,
represent mis - assignment of upper- mantle time advanc es
gained in the A ndean slab. Map by Jeroen Ritsema. Reliable
tomography shows slabs to be laid down on the “ 6 5 0 ".
(Pur por ted tomographic depic tions of deep - mantle plumes
represent ar bitrar y assignment to the lower mantle of relative
slowness of through - the - c ore waves that r ise steeply beneath
some islands and are unc onstrained by c rossf ire; the general
method has been disavowed by its inventor s, but its f lawed
produc ts are still widely c ited by plumologists. Reliable
tomography shows “ hotspots” to be c onf ined to upper mantle.)
23
Colorado is Special
Dave Hale, Professor
My wife Laura and I moved to
Colorado f rom Califor nia in
1988. It took us an entire year
to stop com menting on ever y
interesting cloud we saw in a sk y
that seemed to us to *def ine*
the color blue. Many years later,
we are still discover ing what
a special place is home to the
Colorado School of Mines.
Our son Kevin was bor n in
Colorado. He grew up here. He
rarely says any thing at all about
the clouds. It's just the sk y. So
when he graduated f rom high
school last spr ing, and before he
lef t for college, we decided to
walk f rom Denver to Durango, a distance of about 485 miles on the Colorado Trail.
COLORADO IS SPECIAL
We lef t Denver on July 3 and ar r ived in
Durango on the mor ning of July 27. Along
the way we lear ned that somewhere bet ween
t wo and th ree miles per hour is t r uly the
r ight pace to see and appreciate Colorado.
We walked ever y day, although some days
not far, as we were slowed dow n by large
snowf ields that remained af ter an unusually
cool May and June. As for any t r ip of this
sor t, we hoped for enough challenges and
lessons to make the exper ience memorable.
We were not disappointed.
We used a GPS locator about t wice per day
so that Laura (mom) and Daw n Umpleby
(thin k mom for *ever yone* in Geophysics)
would k now where we were. W hen I ret ur ned
to Mines, I found the map Daw n used to
t rack our progress pin ned to my off ice door,
with locations marked for ever y day we were
on the t rail. It's still there, reminding me that
I must take another long walk.
Th ree to four weeks is a long time to unplug
f rom the rest of the world, to not check
email, to not work, to rarely see anyone
except other hikers. I encourage Mines
st udents to take that time, to appreciate
Colorado and the years they spend here in
some special way. Books and research and
careers can wait a few weeks.
From top: Dave think ing about the clouds; We
like snow in Colorado, but where is the trail?;
W ho wants to walk back to Denver? ( We met
someone who did.)
24
Date an Earth Scientist
Colton Kohnke, GP Sophomore
Based on “Date a Girl Who Reads” by Rosemarie Urquico in response to “You Should Date An Illiterate Girl” by Charles Warnke
but to her that could be the blink of an eye. And
always change for the better.
Fail her. Because an Earth Scientist knows that
the world works in cycles. She'll know that you
might just be going through a phase, that you
can again become the man she loved. That life is
meant to have a f lood or two. The geology will
be different when you two work it out, but it will
be more fertile in the f lood plain because of the
f lood.
If you find an Earth Scientist, keep her close.
When she wakes up at 2 AM clutching her
laptop and crying about a shallow magnitude 8.8
earthquake in Seattle, make her a cup of tea and
comfort her. You might lose her to the volcanism,
seismicity, and magnetic fields of the universe,
but she will always come back to you. She'll talk
as if the systems have personality, because for the
moment, they do.
You'll propose to her in the middle of an
earthquake. Or on top of an active volcano.
Or during the launch of a new remote sensing
satellite. Or casually on a hike to the summit
of Mount St. Helens , on the anniversary of its
eruption.
Together you two will have children with strange
names such as Inge Lehmann, Mary Anning,
and Li Shizhen. They'll have a taste for rocks,
especially the mud-stones. You'll introduce
them to geomagnetic reversals, banded iron
formations and plate tectonics, perhaps all in the
same day. You'll both cry when they decide to
study Petroleum Engineering over Geophysics
or Geological Engineering. You'll walk through
your old age together, and she'll quote Steno's
stratigraphic principles, because to her they are
more romantic than any poem or sonnet.
Date an Earth Scientist because you deserve it.
You deserve a girl that can take you around the
world, under the surface of the Earth and to the
farthest planets. If you only give her schist and
granite, then you're better off alone because this
girl deserves diamond. If you want the world and
the worlds beyond it, date an Earth Scientist.
http://www.delhi-university.co.in/blog/wp-content/
uploads/2010/06/earth-science.gif
25
DATE AN EARTH SCIENTIST
Date an Earth Scientist. Date a girl who spends
her money on gemstones not because they
are pretty, but because she loves the intense
underground processes which create them.
Date a girl who has problems with closet space
because of all the rocks she's collected on her
travels. Date a girl who has a list of geological
sites she wants to visit and tucks it in her
hardhat.
Find her in the field. You'll be able to tell her
apart because she'll be scribbling furiously in
her field notebook and abusing rocks with her
rock hammer. You'll see her licking the rocks
to test the difference between NaCl and KCl.
That's how you spot a geologist. They really
can't resist licking a good rock.
She'll be the one at the coffee shop constantly
refreshing the USGS earthquake website to see
if any faults have ruptured while waiting for
her order. If you overhear her order, it will have
more caffeine than any human should consume
in one sitting because she spent the last three
nights modeling an interesting fault zone. Buy
her another cup.
Talk to her about William Gilbert and
geomagnetism. Let her know what you think
of William Smith's accomplishments. Ask her
to explain Alfred Wegner's ideas about plate
tectonics. Let her describe Bowen's reaction
series and paint the picture of formation
conditions of her favorite rocks. Let her tell you
of her dream to travel to Mars and experience
first hand the processes of other planets.
It's easy to date an Earth Scientist. Give
her books on forensic geophysics, seaf loor
spreading, magnetism and remote sensing. Buy
her new waterproof field notebooks, compasses,
rock hammers, magnets and magnifying lenses.
She'll keep the old ones because they have
character, like the rocks, but she'll appreciate
the gesture.
Let her know that you understand the rocks.
That they speak to her and tell her stories of
transgression and regression, of extinction and
specialization. Always change like the rocks,
they remain constant except over geologic time,
O ne of t he g re a t e s t t h i ng s a bo u t C o l o r a d o S c hoo l of Mi ne s i s t he p e o p l e .
A l most eve r yone he re f it s t he re cip e of f u n , a dve nt u rou s, d a r i ng, wh i le m a i nt a i n i ng
t he p e r fe c t spla sh of i n ne r ne rd! Ju st about eve r y we ek a g roup of u s go e s out t o do
somet h i ng out- of-t he - ord i n a r y. For ex a mple, we have wat che d t he Mo scow Nut c r a cke r
Ba l let i n De nve r, e njoye d dow nt ow n De nve r, we nt t o a conce r t , wat che d a sk i r a ce a nd
sk ie d a bit ou r selve s, e njoye d a l ive - orche st r at e d re nd it ion of t he f i r st ( but si le nt) hor ror
m ov ie , s wa m i n t he lo c a l Cr e ek i n l a t e O c t ob e r t o p r ove we c ou ld h a n d le t he c old , h i ke d
up a snow y mou nt a i n at su n set t o e njoy t he st a r s, at t e mpt e d wat e r- p olo, at t e mpt e d t o
b a l l r o o m d a n c e a nd t a ngo, e pic a l ly f a i le d a H a lo t ou r n a m e nt , g a z e d a t t he Pa r a d e of
Lig ht s , l i s t e ne d t o a s p e e ch f ro m M a r t i n Lut he r K i ng’s s p e e chw r it e r / c o n f id a nt e, a nd
s o much , much more! T he cla s se s a r e i nt e re s t i ng a nd ch al le ng i ng, t he a r e a s e re n e a nd
i nv it i ng, but it is t he p e ople t h at a r e he re t h at m a ke me happy t o cal l M i ne s home.
STUDENT LIFE
E l i z a b e t h Pe t t i nge r, G P S o p h o m o r e
26
STUDENT LIFE
27
Why Geophysics?
The unde rgraduat e s on the f ollowing
pa ge s de sc r ibe why they cho se G e o p hysic s as t he i r maj o r.
Explaining Geophysics
Stevie Newbill, GP Sophomore
Just before Ch r ist mas, I had the oppor t unit y to sit dow n and talk
to one of my close f r iend's f ive-year-old nephew. He asked me,
“what are you going to be when you grow up?” I told him that I'm
major ing in geophysics, and that I wasn't quite sure what I was going
to do, but probably something with groundwater. This was the same
response I had found myself giving time af ter time, to relatives,
for mer teachers, even my ow n siblings. A nd then I remembered that
I was talking to a 5-year-old, and that this rehearsed explanation
was not something I had ever wanted to hear when I was f ive. I wanted to hear about people
becoming f ire f ighters and ast ronauts, going off to join the circus, or becoming a professional
football player. Not something called a 'geophysicist', going to work with water that we can't
even see. So how do you explain to a kid why it is that this is exactly what you want to do
now? How do you descr ibe a fascination with mag netometers and seismic inter pretation? Then
suddenly I remembered a PowerPoint I had seen in class, one that compared medical imaging
to geophysical imaging, and at that point I understood my subject bet ter then ever before.
“I want to be an ear th doctor,” I told him. “oh h h,” he said, “I did n't k now that the ear th
needed doctors.” So I explained to him about how the ear th is always moving around,
shedding off its cr ust like a skin in one place, while growing larger somewhere else. It is just
layer af ter layer of one large being. I told him about how sometimes there are people who
need to k now what is happening inside the ear th. People who need maps of what is under their
feet that they can not see. So, just like your doctors use big machines to see the inside of you,
I will use mine to see the inside of our planet.
Li fe in t h e G eophysic s Depar t ment
WHY GEOPHYSICS?
Gabe Mar t inez , G P Junior
Beginning in the sophomore year, geophysics students begin
hammering out their major related courses. At a small engineering
school, the Geophysics department continues with that same theme
in being a small and tight unit. Unlike other majors, the Geophysics
department offers one section of each major related course each
semester. Because the department offers only one section of each
class, geophysics students get to know their peers very well. Having
ience
the same students in each class of the day offers a unique college experience.
This experience can be felt in many different ways. With the same students in each class
you form a bond with every person. The mood in most classes is typically very jubilant as
the students have spent so much time together and have grown very close. The closeness is
demonstrated very well in the learning process. Instead of having just the professor to clarify
information, suddenly you have a classroom full of resources. In one class you may be asking a
peer a question, and the next class period you may be answering a question to the same student.
The closeness of the department is also demonstrated by the instructors who have a genuine
interest in the success of their students and create an environment which fosters learning.
28
Why Geophysics?
Mohammed Almanaa, GP Junior
During high school years, I was interested in many different things that
are totally unrelated to each other. I once wanted to be a veterinarian due
to the fact that animals have been a big thing in my life ever since I was
a kid. Then I was inf luenced by the TV series “Grey’s Anatomy,” so I
wanted to be a surgeon. However, after a trip to a medical college with my
high school, I clearly knew that I was not born to be a surgeon. When I
was introduced to some geology courses in my junior year, I noticed that
there was something about this field that strongly fascinated me.
Luckily, I was one of a few students who were accepted to a two-month program called SPS, Summer
Program Special, at the Arabian American Oil Company. This opportunity enabled me to discover
more about fields of study that are related to geology. We used to go to field trips to different places
like inshore and offshore oil rigs and sometimes to places where oil rigs are remotely controlled and
all the data that is received from the field is analyzed.
After finishing SPS, I researched the variety of majors that I had been introduced to, such as
Petroleum Engineering, Geology, and Geophysics. I did not exactly know what I wanted to be until I
read about all the majors and developed a clear idea of what it takes to be a successful professional in
each one.
Among all of them, only one seemed almost perfectly suited for me. Besides my great interest in
studying the earth, I have always been interested in physics. Physics was my second favorite subject
after mathematics because of the way that it explains how things work. Therefore, Geophysics
appeared to be the ideal major for a promising career. In addition, it is well known that the more a
person loves what they do, the more they thrive. The fact that Geophysics is a combination of two of
my favorite subjects makes me feel that I can be a successful professional in the long run. Moreover,
one of the incentives that made me choose Geophysics over the other majors is that ARAMCO, my
sponsoring company, is a petroleum-based company, so my major is highly valuable to them.
Leadership in Geophysics
David Huffington, GP Sophomore
29
WHY GEOPHYSICS?
All companies looking for candidates want someone with
leadership qualities. They don’t need to look farther than
any student in the geophysics department. For myself, I
am currently a peer mentor for the school and the co-rush
chair for Sigma Alpha Epsilon. But as I look around in
my geophysics classes it seems that most of the students
are in an executive position in their respective clubs. The
students in geophysics all seem to be well balanced. Any
employer could see the leadership traits that each student possesses.
Leadership does not just come from the students, but the professors are superb at showing the
students what a leader looks like. It starts with the department head, Dr. Terry Young. He focuses
on the students first and makes sure that they get a quality education. Dr. Young cares for all of
the students along with the entire faculty in the department. Another person that I have gotten to
know in these past couple of months is my advisor, Dr. Yaoguo Li. In our meeting regarding this
semester he was able to take some time out of his hectic day to discuss what I was thinking about
doing. He is genuinely interested in helping the students get the best experience possible in the
undergraduate program. Overall the leadership from the faculty is emulated by the students which
leads to a department that is boasting of top-tier students. Any potential employer need not look
farther than at the Colorado School of Mines.
So Many Career Possibilities
Michael Dunham, GP Sophomore
I was born and raised on the Western slope of
Colorado. Both of my parents were single parents for
quite some time, so money has always been an issue.
Growing up I learned that if I wanted something I had
to work for it. I have been working since I was 14 .
WHY GEOPHYSICS?
Why did I choose
Geophysics? For
a majority of
my time in high
school, I actually
wanted to do
computer science.
It was not until
my junior year
that I decided I
like computers
as a hobby, but I could not do it the rest of my life.
So once I got admitted into CSM I started looking
at majors. I had always been fond of earth sciences,
and Geophysics caught my eye. I really love how
Geophysics has so many different career possibilities
– I can get one Bachelor ’s Degree and have multiple
career opportunities! I also find it very fascinating that
geophysical methods can show what the subsurface
“looks like” without being able to see it with the naked
eye. Another aspect that grasped my admiration is how
geophysical applications are used to locate geothermal
energy. Renewable energy is something that I am very
passionate about and I know that in the near future,
renewable energies are sources the world is going to
need to turn to.
Why did I choose Colorado School of Mines? My goal
throughout high school was to become an engineer.
I had done research and heard that CSM is a wellfocused and prestigious school for engineering. I
applied for early admission and a couple months later
I found out that my application was denied because
my ACT score was too low. I told my Calculus II
teacher about it, and she called the school to ask them
to reconsider. I got a letter two weeks later saying I
was accepted. My cumulative GPA here at CSM is 3.94
with a 4.0 for the first year. This was unbelievable to
me and came to show that test scores and numbers do
not always represent potential. One thing is certain, if
not for my Calculus teacher in high school, I certainly
would not be writing this article right now. Thank
you Anne Swanson, for giving me a chance for future
success and opening a door to my dreams.
30
Advanced Engineering
Math
Elena Dutcher, GP
Sophomore
Until college, math was the only
subject I ever enjoyed lear ning
about. I wasn’t interested in
w r iting, or chemist r y, or foreig n
lang uages, and def initely not
physical education. It made
sense to me that at the Colorado
School of Mines, the only f it ting
major would be a deg ree in
applied mathematics. My f irst
semester at Mines, I continued
with this belief af ter t ak ing
N H V and Chemist r y I and other
int roductor y cou rses we are all
required to t ake. Ever y thing
changed once I en rolled in the
geophysics section of Advanced
Engineer ing Mathematics.
Af ter hear ing about the
mathematical applications
to research in the f ield of
geophysics, I was hooked.
Advanced Engineer ing
Mathematics int roduced me to the
applications of geophysics that
had the same appeal as my classes
devoted to only math, such as
par tial differential equations and
linear algebra. Af ter realizing
that I
could
use my
passion
for math
combined
with my
interest
in nat u ral
resou rces
th rough
the geophysics depar t ment, I
declared my major and have
enjoyed ever y day since.
Being One of t h e Few
Liz Maag, GP Junior
Steven Plescia,
GP Sophomore
Geophysics is a
major t hat of fer s a mu lt it ude of ca reer s t hat
a re bot h f u n a nd challeng i ng. Seismolog y
is one d iscipli ne t hat especially rock s.
Seismolog y st ud ies ea r t hqu a kes a nd
t he waves t hat t r avel t h roug h t he ea r t h.
Ea r t hqu a kes con sist of fou r pr i ma r y wave
t y pes: p -waves, s-waves, R aleig h waves a nd
L ove waves. Despite t he na mes, t hese waves
ca n prov ide sha k i ng forces t hat ca n cau se
t he la nd to su nder a nd bu ild i ngs to collapse.
W hat I f i nd most i nterest i ng about
ea r t hqu a kes t houg h is t hat t hey a re
completely a nd ut terly u npred ict able. T he
on ly wa r n i ng people i n a n ea r t hqu a ke
have is t he p -wave. P-waves a r r ive
f i r st a nd gener ally con sist of a much
wea ker sha k i ng force t ha n t he rest of t he
ea r t hqu a ke. P-waves however on ly g ive
t he u n luck y v ict i m s a couple of second s
of wa r n i ng at most. Beyond t hat, you a re
completely u npre pa red. Even foreshock s,
smaller ea r t hqu a kes t hat occu r before t he
major qu a ke, prov ide no reliable d at a a s
to when a ma ssive ea r t hqu a ke w ill occu r.
Foreshock s a nd af ter shock s on ly get t hei r
na me f rom bei ng ch ronolog ically before
or af ter t he mai n event. Foreshock s ca n
reach mag n it ude seven or h ig her a s long a s
t he mai n event is la rger li ke i n t he recent
Japa n ea r t hqu a ke. Wit h no way to pred ict
ea r t hqu a kes, geophysicist s a re forced to
st udy ea r t hqu a kes a nd f i nd ways to m it igate
t he d a mage.
Ca n you i mag i ne deali ng w it h a force t hat
ca n level a cit y a nd come at a ny t i me? We
do. Geophysicist s con st a ntly t a ke on t he
biggest challenges faci ng t he world tod ay.
T h i n k you have what it t a kes to solve t hem?
31
WHY GEOPHYSICS?
Bei ng a nu mber or ju st a na me on
someone’s list is not somet h i ng I have ever
been i nterested i n. W hen look i ng i nto my
f ut u re I k new I wa nted to do somet h i ng i n
Geophysics but t he over all quest ion wa s
where to go for it? A f ter a lit tle resea rch
a nd a few college tou r s, CSM soon beca me
my f i r st choice. I wa nted t he small school
at mosphere but I never reali zed how g reat
it wou ld be u nt il I met my Geophysics
cla ss. T here a re ju st fewer t ha n 30 of u s
ju n ior s a nd no mat ter how d if ferent we all
may be, we’ve for med t h is wonder f u l lit tle
g roup. T h roug h ou r met hod s cla sses t h is
pa st yea r we have lea r ned to work toget her
a nd it’s a ma z i ng meet i ng people f rom
all wal k s of life t hat have a n i nterest i n
somet h i ng ma ny wou ld say is ver y obscu re.
W hen
most of
u s have
k now n
each
ot her for
about 2
yea r s a nd
a re able
to sit i n
a room
toget her, st udy, laug h, a nd ju st be t here
for one a not her, you k now you a re pa r t
of somet h i ng more t ha n ju st a deg ree
prog r a m. I ha d t he oppor t u n it y to g r a du ate
ea rly but when look i ng at t he people
a rou nd me a nd t he oppor t u n it ies out side of
cla sses; I ha d no i nterest i n t r y i ng to get
a hea d ju st for t he sa ke of get t i ng a hea d. I
wa nted to be a pa r t of somet h i ng a nd t he
f r iend s I have ma de here a nd t he f u n we
have ha d ha s been well wor t h it. I ca n’t
i mag i ne bei ng one of t he ma ny at CSM
who go t h roug h cla sses ever y semester i n
silence, not k now i ng even t he per son t hey
a re sit t i ng next to. I feel ver y for t u nate to
be one of t he few i n cla sses where I k now
professor s wa nt me to succeed a nd where
my cla ssmates a re here for me a nd I t hem.
Why
Geophysics
Rocks (and
Occasionally
Rolls)
Field Camp 2011
Meghan Helper, GP Senior
It is a t r a d it ion at t he Color a do
Scho ol of M i ne s t o complet e
a f ield s e s sion at t he e nd of a
st ude nt’s ju n ior ye a r. L a st su m me r,
t he cu r r e nt se n ior s i n ge ophysics
fol lowe d i n t he fo ot st e p s of
c ou nt le s s s t u d e nt s b efor e t he m ,
exce pt t h at la st ye a r’s f ield ca mp
ha d a new a nd excit i ng t w ist. For
m a ny ye a r s , t he ge ophysics f ield
c a mp t r avele d t o sout he r n C olor a do
t o ex plo r e a nd ch a r a c t e r i z e t he
ge ot he r m al syst e m s i n Bue n a
Vi s t a , Pon ch a Sp r i ng s , o r Pa go s a
Sp r i ng s. L a st ye a r’s f ield ca mp, howeve r,
jou r n e ye d h a l f way a c r o s s t he c ou nt r y,
t a k i ng i n t he ge olog y a long t he way, t o Va le,
O r ego n . At Ne a l Hot Sp r i ng s , US G e ot h e r m a l
i s c u r r e nt ly c o n st r u c t i ng a ge ot h e r m a l
p owe r pla nt. T he f i r st st op i n t he st ude nt s’
a dve nt u r e, wa s t o pick up some f r ie nd s f rom
a c r o s s t he o c e a n: s t u d e nt s f ro m t he I mp e r ia l
Col lege of L ondon. O nce t he st ude nt s
re a che d O r egon , Boise Sat e Un ive r sit y
ge ophysics st ude nt s joi ne d t he CSM a nd
ICL st ude nt s. D u r i ng t he f i r st t wo d ays t he
st u de nt s a c q u a i nt e d t he m selve s w it h t he lo c a l
ge olog y. O ve r t he next t wo we ek s g r av it y,
m a g net ics, ele c t rom ag net ics, seism ic, pale o m a g ne t ics , ele c t r ic a l , s el f p ot e nt i a l , GPS ,
FIELD CAMP
a nd m a g ne t ot el lu r ic s u r ve y s we r e
p e r for me d ove r a nd a rou nd t he Ne al
Hot Sp r i ng s u r fa c e ex p r e s sio n . T he
d ay s we r e f i l le d w it h h a r d wor k but
du r i ng t he eve n i ng t he st ude nt s a nd
t e a che r s cut lo ose at t he Sa ge Br u sh
Sa lo on t h at g r a ciou sly fe d t he m du r i ng
t hei r st ay i n O r egon , or t e r ror i z e d t he
b owl i ng a l ley i n O nt a r io, O r ego n . But ,
a l a s , a l l go o d t h i ng s mu s t e nd , a nd
t he CSM a nd ICL st ude nt s ret u r ne d
t o C olor a d o t o p r o c e s s t he d at a .
T he st ude nt s sp e nt t wo more we ek s
p r o c e s si ng, a n a ly z i ng, a nd w r it i ng
a r e p or t f ro m t he d at a c ol le c t e d i n
O r egon. T he d at a cor r elat e d wel l
b e t we e n m e t ho d s a nd of fe r e d a
32
comprehe n sive de sc r ipt ion of t he
ge ot he r m al syst e m at Ne al Hot Sp r i ng.
At t he e nd of t he t wo we ek s t he st ude nt s
p r e se nt e d t he r e s u lt s t o f a c u lt y, s t a f f ,
p e ople f rom i ndu st r y a nd t he ge ne r a l
pu bl ic. T he e nt i r e t e ch n ic a l r e p or t
c a n b e fou nd o n t he D e p a r t m e nt of
G e o physic s web p a ge: ht t p://ge ophy sics.
m i ne s.e d u /GEO -Field - C a mp .
FIELD CAMP
33
S t u d y A b r o a d - Tw o P e r s p e c t i v e s
O n e ge n e r a lly d e f in e s “st u d y a b r o a d ” f ro m t h e i r o w n p e r s p e c t i v e . T h e G e o p h y sic s
d e p a r t m e n t i s for t u n a t e t o h a v e A m e r i c a n s t u d e n t s t ra ve lli ng t o o t h e r c o u n t r i e s a s we ll
a s s t u d e n t s f ro m o t h e r c o u n t r i e s c a lli ng Min e s t h e i r h o m e a wa y f ro m h o m e .
M c B ride Foreign A re a Study 2 0 1 1 : South Af rica
Patricia Littman, Chelsea Newgord, and G ordon Osterman
During the summer of 2011 we traveled to South Africa with eleven other students as part of
the McBride Honors Program. The entire semester prior to the summer trip was spent studying
and preparing for the experience that we would have in South Africa. Once we arrived, we had a
whirlwind of cultural, scientific, and historical sites to see that all built on our knowledge from
the past semester. We spent 24 days visiting locations ranging from township slums in Cape Town
and Johannesburg to prosperous diamond and
platinum mines in the countryside. We visited the
isolated and destitute country of Lesotho in the
Drakensberg Mountains and the exquisite Kruger
National Park. Each of these places provided a
unique and memorable South African experience;
however, we also spent time giving back to the
South African community.
STUDY ABROAD
In the final leg of our journey, we stopped in a
small village outside Kruger National Park for
four days to build a playground for a small school
for mentally and physically disabled students.
This school, named God’s Will Disabled School,
has approximately thirty students with ages
ranging from two to forty years old. The students
are supported by the rural community and are
taught by a volunteer principal named Levit. The
playground was designed in conjunction with
the EPICS program to provide both physical and
mental stimulation to these students. With the
help of EPICS students from the winning team
we purchased all materials and completely built
the playground in the allotted time. The playground now consists of a seesaw, swing set, music and
shapes wall, talking tube, wagon, climbing ramp and fireman’s pole. We felt incredibly welcomed by
the community and we hope that the school will benefit from the playground for many years to come.
Before leaving the village, Levit mentioned that the village lacked a consistent, direct water supply,
instead requiring it to be trucked in from distant water sources. This not only creates economic
hardships, but health hazards for the community. As geophysics students, we were in a unique
position to help them. Since we got back, we have been working on a project in which we would
return to the village with a suite of geophysical instruments to try and locate accessible groundwater
for the community. So far this project has been very challenging from a logistical standpoint and has
required collaboration with several professors, some from South Africa. Hopefully, completing this
project will provide immense educational benefits to all the students involved, increase academic ties
between Mines and universities abroad and most importantly, locate water for those in need.
34
G olden, Need I Say More?
Joan Jansen (JJ), GP/GE Exchange Student
When I started this adventure I didn't know what to
expect. All my knowledge of America was based on
the American movies I had seen. I found that, not
unexpectedly, they do not represent the average American
I have met. Americans are very nice and helpful. When
I first arrived in Denver, they warned me that the blue
shuttle would be way too expensive, so I should go by
bus to Golden. I took their advice and went on my bus
adventure. A guy that I asked for the right bus was very
nice and managed to get me on the right bus. I did have to wait for about 45 minutes before the bus
arrived, but at least it was free, because the machine wasn't working. Somewhere in Denver I had to
transfer to another bus, and after riding that bus for about 5 minutes I had to transfer to another bus
again. I still wasn't sure where I had to get off in Golden, so I asked the help of someone passing
me on the street. Not only did he do his very best to find the exact stop, but he also gave me his
bus ticket. Also, bus drivers were very willing and happy to help me, which I am not used to; in
the Netherlands bus drivers are usually very cranky. Anyway, it took me about 4 hours to travel to
Golden from the airport, but it was definitely cheaper than the blue shuttle, because it didn't cost me
aanything!
O
One of the things I love about Golden is the 'wildlife'. In
tthe Netherlands we may see the occasional bunny, but
nno more than that. In Golden I have seen deer, badgers,
ssquirrels, and even a lynx! That last one scared me a bit,
eespecially because neither of us was aware of the other
uuntil I was only a meter away from him. We both jumped
bbut the lynx recovered before I did, and looked at me with
eeyes that said: walk away now, or you’re mine! So I thought
iit wise to slowly back away and leave him to his business.
W
While here I have met many amazing people, from all over
tthe world. To me that is one of the best things about Mines.
Not only have I been able to experience the
th hospitality of the Americans, but Mines is a pleasant
mix of all cultures, which are all appreciated and encouraged to be shared. That makes this a trip of
many firsts to me. From the first time I ate Nerds, to the my first Thanksgiving, and the first time I
had a job related to my study (thank you, Jeff!), or the first time I had Iranian food, or the first time
I danced the Tango. Some things I loved better than others, but my mother always told me I had to
try everything, and Golden offered a lot of opportunities
to do just that.
STUDY ABROAD
One of my teachers once told me that diversity in
someone’s academic background is what makes someone
a good scientist. I think Mines will do that for me. The
system and way of teaching is so different here, that it
has given me a different perspective on things I was so
sure I knew before. I really have enjoyed my time here,
it is an experience to never forget. I know it won’t be the
last Golden has seen of me as I am coming back to do a
graduate study here (of course the many days of sunshinee
aren't exactly stopping me either.) !
35
Caving in Irel and
Beth Behrens, GP Senior
STUDY ABROAD
W ho k ne w I r ela nd h a d c ave s? I d id n’t . A nd who k ne w UC D ( Un ive r sit y C ol lege D u bl i n)
wou ld h ave a c av i ng clu b? I d id n’t , but wa s ve r y exc it e d whe n t h i s wa s d i s c ove r e d .
He re’s a n ex a mple of a t y pical cav i ng t r ip: Fr id ay eve n i ng eve r ybody he a d s t o t he she d
t o pick up t he i r ge a r (u nde r su it , ove r s u it , wel l ie s , h el met , l ig ht , b elt , a nd p o s si bly a
wet s u it). A f t e r loa d i ng t he ve r y sm al l ca r s w it h eve r yone’s ge a r, eve r yone pi le s i n . It’s
u s u a l ly a t wo t o fou r hou r d r ive t o t he cav i ng de st i n at ion a ccom mod at ion s w it h a st op at
a ch ip p e r (fa st food re st au r a nt) for s u p p e r. Eve r yon e s o ci al i z e s u nt i l t he we e m o r n i ng
hou r s, a nd a ga me of Tw ist e r m ig ht eve n be st a r t e d up. It is eve nt u al ly de cide d t h at
sle e p wou ld be be nef icial for t he next d ay’s a dve nt u r e s , a nd eve r yone he a d s t o be d .
T he next mor n i ng’s wa ke up cal l m ig ht be some lovely he av y met a l mu sic or a ve r y loud
bel l t h at wa s d i sc ove r e d along w it h t he C h r i s t m a s d e co r at io n s (wh ich we re, of cou r s e ,
put up r ig ht af t e r t hei r
d i s c ove r y). A f t e r a
t r a d it ion a l b r e a k fa st
of c e r e a l , t oa st , a nd
t e a it is de cide d wh ich
g roup s a r e goi ng t o
wh ich c ave s. I f you’r e
luck y e nou g h t o go t o
Pol l n a gol lu m , you’l l
h ave t o we a r a wet s u it
b e c a u se t he r e a r e fou r
u nde rg rou nd la ke s t o
s w i m t h r ou g h . I f you’r e
luck y e nou g h t o go t o
Sh a n non , you’l l h ave
t o b r i ng a lo ng t he SRT
(Si ng le Rop e Te ch n iq u e)
ge a r b e c a u se t he r e i s a
30 m pit ch t o get dow n
i nt o t he c ave. I f you’r e
luck y e nou g h t o go t o
Joh n T ho m a s you’l l h ave
a f u n t i me cle a n i ng you r
ge a r b e c a u se you w i l l
l it e r a l ly be rol l i ng a rou nd i n mu d i n t h at cave. You m ay do t wo cave s on Sat u rd ay if you
w i sh , but eit he r way you w i l l be t r e at e d t o t he most del iciou s home cooke d la sag n a or
s p a g h e t t i you’ve e ve r h a d . C av i ng r e a l ly a mp s u p t he a p p et it e. Sat u r d ay n ig ht u s u a l ly
i nvolve s more so cial i z i ng t h a n Fr id ay a nd m aybe some t able t r ave r si ng or leg w r e stl i ng
or wh at eve r ot he r c r a z y comp et it ion s one come s up w it h .
Su nd ay mor n i ng is much l i ke Sat u rd ay mor n i ng, but a l it t le more laid ba ck .
Un for t u n at ely, you’l l on ly get t o do one cave on Su nd ay (u n le s s you go cl if f ju mpi ng
i n st e a d) before he a d i ng home. T he n come s t he n ice, rela x i ng ca r r ide home whe r e you’re
a l lowe d some wel l de se r ve d sle e p.
36
Senior Design
Matthew Fackler, GP Senior
In the summer of 2011, Jim Plutt, an alumnus of CSM, contacted the Geophysics department
requesting assistance with records of their cemetery. Lake George is a small town in Colorado and
the graves in their cemetery were not all properly
marked. By comparing an old map of the grave
locations to the present day site, there were
obviously some graves which had no apparent
surface markings to represent their existence. For
the purpose of having proper records, as well as
to avoid putting new graves in the location of old
ones, the grave locations needed to be known.
Geophysics was chosen as the best method to
locate these graves since it would allow their
discovery in a non-invasive manner.
In the fall of 2011, Nicholas Kramer and I took
on the project of finding these unmarked graves
as a senior design project. We made several trips
to the site for the purpose of data acquisition.
The acquisition consisted of GPR, magnetics,
electromagnetics, and electrical resistivity surveys. By using multiple methods, we will be able to
find correlations between the data sets, ultimately allowing us to confidently make interpretations
as to the locations of the unmarked graves. We also spent a good deal of the fall processing our
data, and we finished the processing and interpretation this spring. With this work complete, the
location of the unmarked graves in the Lake George Cemetery will be precisely known.
After the completion of our project, there will still be work to be done. Our survey covers only a
portion of the cemetery, requiring future surveys of the site. In addition, there are other cemeteries
to be surveyed near Lake George. This will likely provide a steady source of senior design projects
for years to come.
SENIOR DESIGN
37
Geophysics Students Experience Internships in
Golden and Around the World
Sh a ke Map
Ke ndra John son, GP Se nior
INTERNSHIPS
Since spr ing of 2011, I have been working
for the U.S. Geological Sur vey (USGS)
at the Geologic Hazards Science Center
here in Golden, CO. My main role is to
aid in completing the ShakeMap Atlas
2.0, which is a collective st udy of over
5,000 histor ical ear thquakes all around
the world which occur red since 1973, and
are considered most damaging or most
potentially damaging. The time I have spent
at the USGS has taught me more than I ever
expected about geophysics, including the
topics of ear thquakes, data processing, and
st udying science as a team.
Th roughout my education at Colorado
School of Mines, I have lear ned that
ever y thing about science is far more
complicated than I initially expected;
ear thquake seismolog y is no exception.
The number of parameters affecting the
consequences of an ear thquake seems
inf inite. My work on the Atlas has show n
me that ear thquake mag nit ude, the
com monly understood system that rates
an ear thquake’s energ y release, does not
always have as high an impact on human
consequences as the tectonic environ ment,
age of faulting surface geolog y, proximit y
to the epicenter, and prepared ness for
the relevant seismic hazard among other
factors. I have also lear ned that ear thquakes
are an ever yday occur rence, despite how
only those that expose civilizations to
intense shaking are widely publicized.
Working with ShakeMap has helped me
to grow a great appreciation for the ar t
of computer science. W hile the computer
science courses I have taken at Mines
have included practical applications
of program ming to data processing,
ShakeMap has highlighted the incredible
38
convenience and power possessed by a scr ipt.
ShakeMap has the capabilit y to take small f iles
containing infor mation about an ear thquake,
and sometimes data f iles descr ibing the
ear thquake's behavior at geographical points,
and produce maps that predict how the ground
moved, and the intensit y of the shaking
perceived at the surface, all in a mat ter of
minutes. W hat I f ind even more incredible
is that these maps are produced im mediately
following an ear thquake, despite its location,
with no human inst r uction, all based on sig nals
f rom global seismometers. The advanced
tech nolog y of today gives humans a much
greater chance of understanding the nat ural
world.
I constantly f ind myself impressed with
the collective k nowledge of the USGS, in
par ticular the National Ear thquake Infor mation
Center ( NEIC) and Prompt
Assessment of Global
Ear thquakes for Response
(PAGER) team, whom I
obser ve directly, and who
use ShakeMap products
reg ularly. Ever yone
involved has a different
background; there are
seismologists, geophysicists,
civil engineers, computer
scientists, and more, and
each makes an impor tant
cont r ibution to the team.
The team encompasses a
var iet y of eth nicities and
ages, and each member
has a specialt y that makes
him or her impor tant to
the team. Of ten, only one
person has even an in kling
of an idea of the prominence
of a theor y, sof t ware, or
other wise, and the success
of the team therefore relies
on the combined specialties
of ever yone. This t r uth has
been emphasized in many
of my classes f rom middle
school th rough Mines, but
exper iencing it f irst hand
has caused me to really
believe it.
Shakemap image courtesy of USGS
Ja ke Utle y, GP S ophomore
T h is la st yea r I have been i nter n i ng w it h Zonge Geophysics,
a f i r m w it h a br a nch i n La kewood t hat ha s a re put at ion of
bei ng one of t he few who don’t d ip t hei r ha nd s i n pet roleu m.
T hey pr ide t hem selves i n bei ng a pa r t of t he 10% who do
ever y t h i ng else such a s seism ic, g rou ndwater, a nd ma ny
ot her t h i ngs. T h is su m mer I ha d t he oppor t u n it y to ju mp
on t he t r ai n over i n La kewood a nd help t hem a rou nd t he
of f ice a nd event u ally i n t he f ield to i mprove myself a s a
geophysical eng i neer. My su m mer mont hs were mai n ly spent
i n my ow n cubical ed it i ng re por t s a nd doi ng mappi ng. By
t he end of t he su m mer I ha d become fai rly acqu ai nted w it h
t he Oa sis a nd Su r fer mappi ng prog r a m s af ter creat i ng over
60 0 maps i n Oa sis, a nd ed it i ng nea rly 50 i n Su r fer. T h is
wou ld be t he equ ivalent of creat i ng or ed it i ng t he sa me
nu mber of pa r t s i n a Solid Work s prog r a m a s a mecha n ical
eng i neer. I wa s ver y excited to have t he oppor t u n it y to get
a hea d on prog r a m s t hat I cou ld be potent ially u si ng i n t he
f ut u re maybe at t he sa me f i r m or somewhere else. My job
wa sn’t ju st sit t i ng i n a chai r, I also helped one of t hei r lea d
eng i neer s mod if y ma ny pieces of equ ipment t hat were u sed
i n t he f ield week af ter week. I d id n’t necessa r ily have t he
tech nolog ical backg rou nd to i mprove it s accu r acy, but I
wou ld i mprove t he ea se of u se i n t he f ield by eit her ma k i ng
it more com for t able, or reduci ng hu ma n i nter ference. My
work i n t he f ut u re, if I cont i nue my employ ment, w ill
mai n ly be f ield work; r u n n i ng a nd oper at i ng mach i nes t hat
I cou ld also be mod if y i ng for ef f iciency. Wit h football
at CSM on my schedu le a s well, my t i me ha sn’t been so
forg iv i ng a s to let me get back t h is fall, but I pla n to stop i n
a few t i mes t h is spr i ng a nd possibly hea d back f u ll-t i me t h is
su m mer. I nter n sh ips i n you r f ield of work a re key to not
on ly you r work i ng abilit ies, but also you r con f idence to do
t he job r ig ht i n t he f ut u re.
39
INTERNSHIPS
My time at the USGS has
inspired me to continue my
education in the f ield of
ear thquake seismolog y. My
involvement in ShakeMap
has increased my cur iosit y
in the dy namics of the
Ear th, and show n me how
mat ure a science ear thquake
seismolog y is and yet how
much room it has to grow.
The oppor t unit y I have
to exper ience real-life
workplace and research has
been ver y benef icial to my
at tit ude toward both school,
and my f ut ure.
Rollin’ with Zonge Geophysics
Not a De sk Job
Kyle He s e r, GP S ophomore
W hen you ask most college st udents about their inter nship exper iences, responses are usually
along the lines of “I got to sit at a desk and sor t paper work and make coffee for a couple
weeks, but it’ll look good on my resumé.” It’s not of ten you hear “I spent eight weeks in
the Nevada deser t for four teen hours a day, six days a week.” This is exactly how I’ve spent
half of each of my past t wo sum mers employed by Navar ro-Intera, a company that perfor ms
environ mental character ization and remediation ser vices (ECRS) at the Nevada National
Secur it y Site. N NSS, located in Mercur y, Nevada, was the location of 1,021 nuclear test
detonations bet ween 1951 and 1992. In 1992,
a morator ium was sig ned with the U.S.S.R.
ceasing all test detonations. From this time until
the present, N NSS has been the site of many
national secur it y programs and environ mental
remediation effor ts.
In sum mers 2010 and 2011, I worked as an
inter n with the geophysics remediation program,
focusing on groundwater analysis. Th rough
utilization of monitor ing infor mation within
groundwater wells, the size of a par ticular
reser voir could be deter mined, as well as the
concent rations of any radioactive mater ials or
heav y metals and the rate of water movement.
I also had similar exper iences with ground
surface sampling of soils border ing detonation sites; focusing pr imar ily on deter mining
contamination levels within the soil. With this infor mation, the Depar t ment of Energ y is
at tempting to facilitate environ mental clean-up as preparation for a com munit y on previously
unin habitable land. W hile sig nif icant progress has been made, and contamination levels are
well below EPA standards in many areas, there is still a long way to go with this remediation.
I hope to remain a par t of this exciting and educational exper ience.
Our Internship at Schlumberger Cambridge Research (SCR )
INTERNSHIPS
Filippo Broggini & Clement Fleury, PhD St udents, CWP
On Monday, nobody wants to go to work. But at Schlumberger Cambr idge Research the
begin ning of the week has a “bet ter taste”. Employees k now that they can star t the week with
an amazing crème br ulée, a French desser t prepared by the chef of SCR cafeter ia! This is just
one of the many things that made this inter nship a wonderf ul exper ience.
We spent the last sum mer at SCR as st udent inter ns in the Geophysics group. There, we
worked on projects related to surface wave interferomet r y and reverse-time seismic imaging.
At SCR there’s a great at mosphere that fosters
interaction among all the employees. Ever ybody always
has time to answer a question and there’s always a
chance to exchange some words while sipping a coffee
dur ing a break. A nd Fr iday soccer was the best way to
star t the weekend!
SCR is located in the wonderf ul cit y of Cambr idge, with
its famous and well renow ned universit y. In our spare
time we visited the cit y and went on a punting t r ip over
the r iver Cam. This was a great sum mer for us and we
came back to Golden with new ideas and new f r iends.
40
F rom Caraca s to Anchorage
Andrea Vega, MS St udent, Reser voir Character i zat ion P roject
I come from Caracas, a ver y chaotic but beautif ul tropical city; f ull of people, trees, birds,
green mountains. Last summer I inter ned for BP Exploration Alaska. Anchorage is 50 degrees
Nor th of Caracas, and is f ull of bears and
moose, lakes, glaciers, and ear thquakes.
During my inter nship with BP I worked with
seismic time-lapse data, logs, drilling and
production data at Milne Point, an oil f ield
adjacent to Pr udhoe Bay. The project involved
integration of multiple data for the evaluation
of health, safety and environmental (HSE)
risks. During the 3 month period of my project
I had the chance to show what I’ve lear ned at
CSM and in RCP. It t ur ned out well as I was
the winner of BP’s technical contest (Techno
Fest) as the best technical work among the
inter ns. The day of my f inal presentation
the room was crowded with people standing
around tr ying to f it in. I felt ver y proud of myself and ver y gratef ul for the oppor t unity to be
there. I saw the great value of the faculties and research groups in our geophysics depar tment.
I succeeded! Summer in Anchorage was an amazing experience: kayaking, hiking to glaciers,
shooting, grilling salmon and halibut, watching the sunset at midnight and being awakened by
ear thquakes! I have accepted a f ull-time offer from BP and I’ll be moving to Anchorage next
August. I’m looking for ward to seeing the Aurora Borealis in the winter.
Inter n ship in D.C. with ENSCO GeoSig Divi sion
Thoma s Rapst ine, GP Junior
41
INTERNSHIPS
Last sum mer I had the oppor t unit y to work at ENSCO Inc. in Spr ingf ield, VA with the
Advanced Projects Applications, GeoSig division. I had the pr ivilege to work with amazing
equipment while wr iting code for data acquisition and processing. Ty pically there was a
cer tain wave sig nal propagating th rough the ground that had to be recorded and analyzed. The
projects I assisted with were all geophysics related and exposed me to the “ups” and “dow ns”
of waves, to say the least. Dur ing the inter nship I had to lear n M ATLA B and LabView on
the f ly for wr iting code for data acquisition and processing, but it was well wor th the effor t
since I am using those skills in my classes this semester and will likely use them in the
f ut ure. Also, in case you are as geographically challenged as I am, Spr ingf ield is basically
the southwester n por tion of Washington D.C., which
allowed me to r um mage around the nation’s capital for
the entire sum mer. D.C. ended up being the biggest
cit y I have ever set foot in; there was always something
to see or exper ience. Ever y thing but the t raff ic was
incredible. Dur ing the inter nship I had the oppor t unit y
to work with br illiant ENSCO engineers f rom multiple
f ields of interest and lear ned how a team of engineers
can f unction together to accomplish a project. The
exper ience, f r iends and contacts I gained this past
sum mer are invaluable in my education and solidif ied
my decision become a Geophysicist.
Internship with
Cimarex Energy
Ashley Fish, MS Student,
INTERNSHIPS
Center for Wave Phenomena
Ci m a rex Ene rg y is t he def i n it ion of h ig h o c t a ne! Two ye a r s ago I bega n my jou r ney
w it h Ci m a rex Ene rg y a s a n i nt e r n on t he
G e o physic a l A n a ly si s Te a m i n D e nve r.
O n t he ve r y f i r st d ay of my i nt e r n sh ip,
t he V P of Explor at ion sat dow n w it h me
a nd ex plai ne d t h at my i nt e r n sh ip proje c t
wa s a n i nt eg r a l p a r t of t he c o m p a ny
de cision-m a k i ng pro c e s s. He ex pla i ne d
t h a t t he r e s u lt s of
my p r oje c t wou ld ,
ide a l ly, i nc r e a se t hei r
c on f ide nc e whe n
d r i l l i ng wel l s. T h i s
con f ide nce, it t u r n s
out , c ou ld b e t he
d i f fe r e nc e b et we e n
a m i l l ion d ol la r lo s s
a nd mu lt i m i l l ion
dol la r p rof it ... I
bel ieve t h at d ay t he
ba r wa s set h ig h .
T he c ou r s e of my
i nt e r n sh ip wa s
i nt el le c t u a l ly
ch a l le ng i ng, t o s ay
t he le a st . But , I d id
not “go it alone”.
Ac c om p a n ie d w it h
t he h ig h - o c t a ne
g r e et i ng t he f i r st
d ay on t he job, I wa s
welc ome d wa r m ly
a nd wa s pre se nt e d w it h a me nt or who
wou ld g u ide me t h roug h t he e c ce nt r icit ie s
of ge ophysics a nd i ndu st r y. O ne - on- one
t ut or i ng a nd i n st r uct ion f rom my me nt or
a nd ot he r t e a m me mb e r s help e d me develop
t he ne ce ssa r y t o ol s a nd scie nce ba ckg rou nd
t o s u c c e s sf u l ly t a ke o n t he obje c t ive s of my
i nt e r n sh ip.
O ve r t he c ou r s e of t wo ye a r s , I wa s
p r e se nt e d o p p or t u n it ie s t o wor k w it h
42
d i f fe r e nt i nd u s t r y ex p e r t s w it h i n
Ci m a rex Ene rg y. T hey t aug ht me
va lu able sk i l ls r a ng i ng f rom t he f ield s
of p et rophysical for m at ion evalu at ion ,
comput e r prog r a m m i ng a nd i n -hou se
s of t wa re d evelop me nt , re s e r voi r
e ng i ne e r i ng, d r i l l i ng, product ion , ge olog ic
i nt e r p ret at ion , p et roleu m e c onom ics,
so cial a nd e nv i ron me nt a l i mpa ct s of
p et roleu m ex plor at ion a nd product ion , al l
t he way t o ex plor at ion a nd ge ophysical
d at a a c q u i sit ion a nd i m a g i ng. I n f a c t ,
Ci m a r ex p r ov ide d t he o p p or t u n it y for t he
i nt e r n s t o le a r n a b out a l l t he se a s p e c t s of
i ndu st r y, not on ly i n t he of f ice, but i n t he
f ield . D u r i ng t he c ou r s e of my i nt e r n sh ip,
Ci m a rex se nt me on t wo e d ucat ion a l
f ield -t r ip s. To my
su r p r i se, t he cor p or at e
jet wa s ou r mode of
t r a n s p or t at ion t o a nd
f rom t he f ield- sit e s!
I felt l i ke a p r i nc e s s ,
f ly i ng i n cla s s!
O nc e on sit e,
Ci m a r ex e mploye e s
t o ok u s t h rou g h
t he f u l l s p e c t r u m
f rom ex plor at ion t o
p r o d u c t io n . We r o d e
v ibroseis , ex plor e d
a d r i l l i ng r ig, a nd
le a r ne d about wel l
pu m p s a nd p r o d u c t io n .
D u r i ng t he conclu sion
of one of t he f ield
t r ip s , t he C h ief
G e ophysicist de cide d
t o ex p o se u s i nt e r n s
t o some of t he lo cal
c u lt u r e... T he U FO
Mu s e u m! To my s u r p r i s e , t he r e wa s a
d i splay w it h i n t he mu seu m t h at u se d
Ge ophysics a s ev ide nce t h at t he r e wa s a
U FO c r a sh sit e i n t he a r e a .
Beyond le a r n i ng about i ndu st r y pr a c t ice s
a nd lo c a l c u lt u r e s , Ci m a r ex a f for d e d m e
t he opp or t u n it y t o forge st rong net work s
a nd new f r ie nd sh ip s. A not he r ge ophysical
i nt e r n a nd CSM g r a d u at e st ude nt , A nya
Reit z , a nd I p a r t icip at e d i n t he De nve r
My Experience in Geophysics
Travis Pitcher, GP Senior
I de cide d t o come i nt o t he f ield of ge ophysics for a d i f fe r e nt
r e a so n t h a n m o s t . G row i ng u p, I a lway s a s pi r e d t o b e a
jou r n a l i st. I wa nt e d t he big cor ne r of f ice at t he New York Ti me s,
a nd t o some d ay be E d it or-i n- C h ief of a la rge pu bl ic at ion. T he
work , t r avel , a nd ge ne r a l l i fe st yle a s so ciat e d w it h such a job
app e ale d t o me i n a n excit i ng way. But whe n it ca me t i me for me
t o a p ply t o d i f fe r e nt u n ive r sit ie s , t he job m a r ke t for a n a s pi r i ng
you ng w r it e r wa s not wh at you cou ld cal l prom isi ng. So, g ive n
my love of t he out do o r s , a nd a n i nt e r e s t i n phy sics , I cho s e t o
st udy ge ophysics on a wh i m . It se e me d l i ke more of a n ob scu r e
f ield t h at not m a ny p e ople st ud ie d , a nd t he job f ront lo oke d
fa nt a st ic! T h at is how I e nde d up at M i ne s.
Ne a rly fou r ye a r s
lat e r, I a m ve r y
ple a se d w it h my
de cision t o come
t o t he C olor a d o
Scho ol of M i ne s t o
st udy ge ophysics.
Si nce I a r r ive d
a t M i n e s , I h ave
g row n t o love t he
q u iet a t mo s phe r e
of G olde n , t he
r el at ively s m a l l
si z e of ou r
de pa r t me nt ,
a nd t he re sou r ce s t h at a r e avai lable i n t he a r e a . I m me d iat ely
fol low i ng my f r e sh m a n ye a r, I wa s h i re d by t he Un it e d St at e s
Ge olog ic al Su r vey a s a n Eng i ne e r i ng Te ch n icia n on t he
Adva nce d Nat ion al Seism ic Syst e m Ba ckbone t a sk . My job is
t o m a i nt a i n t he ~10 0 seism ic st at ion s i n t he net work , wh ich
r e q u i r e s sig n i f ic a nt t r avel t o ve r y i nt e r e s t i ng lo c a t io n s. I n t he
t h r e e ye a r s I h ave h a d t h i s job, I h ave le a r n e d c ou nt le s s t h i ng s
a b out ge o physic s , p ol ic y, a nd l i fe i n ge n e r a l. I h ave t r avele d
t he c ou nt r y, b e e n i nt ro d u c e d t o h ig h - p r of i le s c ie nt i s t s , wor ke d
on m a ny d i f fe r e nt t a sk s, a nd appl ie d ge ophysics i n d i f fe r e nt
sit u at ion s. But most i mp or t a ntly, I comple me nt e d my e d ucat ion
w it h r e a l-world ex p e r ie nc e.
My i nt e r n sh ip h a s b e e n va lu a ble i n s o m a ny way s. T he wor k i s
excit i ng, t he p e ople a r e fa sci n at i ng, a nd t he re su lt s produce d at
t he e nd of t he d ay a r e always ex t r a ord i n a r y. T he combi n at ion
of wor k a lo ng w it h my s cho olwor k h a s p r ov ide d m e a ve r y
t horou g h , e n r ich i ng e d ucat ion. I ca n not t h i n k of a ny t h i ng I
wou ld r at he r b e d oi ng!
43
INTERNSHIPS
Bi ke t o Work
D ay. We wor e ou r
Ci m a r ex bi ke je r se ys
w it h p r ide! Of t e n
t i me s t he “g i rls”
wou ld h ave a lu n ch
d at e a nd go t o t he
Tue s d ay Fo o d Tr u ck
d ay i n t he Civ ic
Ce nt e r Pa rk or Boba
Te a o n 16t h St r e e t
Mal l. A bu nch of t he
Ci m a rex g i rl s eve n
joi ne d t oget he r a nd
r a n i n t he Mu d Ru n
for bre a st ca nce r la st
fa l l.
Ci m a r ex Ene rg y
is one of t he most
wa r m a nd welc om i ng
c o m p a n ie s I h ave
eve r e nc ou nt e r e d .
From t he f i r st d ay
I st a r t e d work i ng
for Ci m a r ex ,
my t e a m m at e s ,
c owor ke r s , me nt or s ,
a nd b o s s e s h ave
m a de me fe el
welc ome a nd a pa r t
of t he Ci m a r ex
fa m i ly. T he
c om p a ny 's ove r a l l
at mos phe r e is ve r y
conducive t o a
p r o d u c t ive, he a lt hy
e nv i ron me nt . T he
de m a nd for h ig h
q u a l it y p e r fo r m a n c e
i s g r e at a nd t he
pressure to do
you r b e s t wor k i s
a lway s p r e s e nt .
Ci m a r ex i s , w it hout
a doubt , a h ig h o c t a ne c omp a ny.
Wor k i ng for Ci m a r ex
E n e rg y h a s b e e n a n
a b s olut e ple a s u r e
a nd del ig ht f u l
ex p e r ie nc e!
GEOPHYSICS GRADUATES
Spring 2011
Doctor of Philosophy (Geophysics)
Werner Michael Heigl pictured with
Dr. Max Peeters
Master of Science (Geophysics)
Ali H. Araji
Christopher Englesma
Rafael Pinto Ortiz
Professional Master (Petroleum Reservoir Systems)
Kihong Kwon
Meirzhan Mukushev
Bachelor of Science (Geophysical Engineering)
Rashed Al Ghenaim
Abdulla Al-Kobaisi
Banks Beasley
Qamar Bu-Khamseen
CLASS OF 2011
Catherine Cox
Ashley Fish
Alex House
Brent Putman
Anya Reitz
Dustyn Sale
44
Michael Pollachek
GEOPHYSICS GRADUATES
Fall 2011
Doctor of Philosophy (Geophysics)
Brianne Douthit Hamm (with Dr. Terry Young)
Doctor of Philosophy (Petroleum Engineering)
Ayyoub Heris (with Dr. Tom Davis)
Master of Science (Geophysics)
Julio Frigerio
Alejandro Maldonado Pena
Fernando Martinez
Sidra Shahid
Nier Ribeiro
Jeff Shoffner
Nataly Zerpa
Professional Master (Petroleum Reservoir Sys.)
Sam McManus
Master of Science
(Geology)
Kelsey Zabrusky
Master of Science
(Hydrology)
Arianne Dean
Andrew Hill
Ryan Isherwood
Cameron Keese
Essau Worthy-Blackwell
45
CLASS OF 2011
Bachelor of Science (Geophysical Engineering)
GEM Beijing 2011 (continued from page 16)
a long hiatus. For these reasons, it was
believed that a workshop in China jointly
organized by SEG and CGS would be
an important and timely event. This
expectation was borne out.
GEM BEIJING 2011
The workshop attracted 250 delegates,
including 70 f rom outside China, who
represented 17 count r ies: Aust ralia,
Canada, China, Den mark, Ethiopia, France,
Ger many, India, Iran, Kuwait, Malaysia,
Per u, Romania, Saudi A rabia, Spain,
United Kingdom, and the United States.
The delegates are employed by inst r ument
manufact urers, universities, national
geological sur veys, oil and gas companies,
mining companies, and ser vice cont ractors.
The workshop provided an excellent for um
for geophysicists f rom China and overseas
to interact and net work.
The number of abst racts submit ted greatly
exceeded the initial expectation; 24 poster
and 73 oral presentations were accepted.
Two-thirds of the speakers in the oral
sessions came f rom outside China. As a
result, there were t wo concur rent sessions
for both oral and poster presentations. We
are par ticularly than kf ul to the members of
the Tech nical Program Com mit tee and other
exper ts who reviewed and edited abst racts.
Their unself ish and meticulous effor t
sig nif icantly improved many presentations.
Topics that were add ressed ranged f rom
inst r umentation, f ield sur veys, data
processing, numer ical modeling, inversion
and inter pretation in gravit y, elect r ical,
elect romag netic and mag netic methods,
to a var iet y of case histor ies.There were
many impressive presentations. SEG
kindly sponsored the presentation of t wo
Honorar y Lect ures, “Integrating well log,
seismic, and CSEM data for reser voir
character ization” by Lucy MacGregor and
“Building on 3D geological k nowledge
th rough gravit y and mag netic modeling
workf lows at regional to local scales” by
Richard Lane. Four invited presentations
were given by exper ts well k now n in
their areas: “Airbor ne elect romag netic
46
sur veys: A quantitative tool for groundwater
management ” by Jared D. Abraham, James
C. Can nia, and Burke J. Minsley of the U.S.
Geological Sur vey; “How to get t wice as much
exploration value f rom aeromag netic sur veys”
by David Isles and Leigh Ran kin of Aust ralia;
“Joint multi-geophysical inversion: Effective
model integration, challenges and directions
for f ut ure research” by Max Meju of Pet ronas;
and “The new development t rends of the
airbor ne geophysical tech nolog y in China” by
Shengqing Xiong of China Geological Sur vey.
A highlight was the banquet night.
Complementing the delicious food were
many t raditional Chinese perfor ming ar ts:
eth nic dance, folk music, Beijing opera,
a magic show, Kung Fu tea, rolling lamps
(acrobatics), Sichuan opera face-changing, and
f ire breathers. It was an evening of f un and
relaxation in the midst of intense scientif ic
and tech nological discourse.
The workshop also successf ully engaged and
involved local geophysics st udents th rough
direct par ticipation and volunteer work. In
par ticular, ten members of the SEG St udent
Chapter at CUGB ser ved as volunteers at the
workshop. These st udent volunteers, wear ing
green shir ts, provided much-needed logistical
suppor t in many different aspects dur ing
the workshop. W hile ser ving as volunteers,
they also had ample oppor t unities to listen to
tech nical presentations. Their cont r ibution to
the success of this workshop was ext remely
valuable and greatly appreciated.
SEG’s Digital Librar y recently launched the Global
Meeting Abstracts catalog. GEM Beijing 2011
is one of the f irst SEG events in addition to the
Annual Meeting to use this as a repositor y of the
abstracts. Some PPT f iles or their PDF versions
will also be available from the catalog. All
available f iles of this work shop can be found under
“Global Meeting Abstracts” at: http://librar y.seg.
org. Photos from this work shop can be viewed on
the work shop Web page hosted at Colorado School
of Mines at: http://geophysics.mines.edu/cgem/
gem2011.ht ml. This article is reprinted from the
Januar y 2012 edition of The Leading Edge with
permission from the SEG. .
AGU.....More than Just Geophysics
Patricia Littman, GP Senior
If you are unsure about what career path to choose af ter
graduating f rom Mines with a geophysics degree, but you don’t
thin k you want to enter indust r y just yet, then the an nual AGU
Fall Meeting is the place for you to visit. Upon enter ing the
enor mous Moscone Center in dow ntow n San Franciso, it is
im mediately apparent that geophysics is much more than what we
could possibly lear n in four years, and in fact, the possibilities
are endless. There are hund reds of lect ures and posters discussing
ever y for m that geophysics can take including bio-geoscience,
glaciolog y, at mospher ic science, space physics, and applications of geoscience to policy just
to name a few of the f ields that fellow geophysicists have gone into. If you have absolutely no
idea what direction you would like to go af ter get ting your degree f rom CSM, the AGU Fall
Meeting is the best f ive days one could ask for to f ig ure it out. Yes it may not be the t y pical
conference that most CSM facult y and st udents f rom the Geophysics Depar t ment at tend,
however, there are countless Mines alums f rom both the Geophysics Depar t ment and beyond
that at tend ever y year. Fur ther more, if it is decided early on the AGU is a conference that
you want to visit, there are a var iet y of scholarships to help undergraduate st udents at tend
the conference for lit tle or no cost. I had a fantastic time at this conference and would highly
recom mend that any st udent, regardless of your post graduation interests, consider at tending
it as well. There is so much that can be lear ned in just 5 days when thousands of geophysicists
f rom all over the world congregate in one great Cit y!
Pla ne t a r y G e o p hy s i c s La b (c o n t i nue d f r o m p a ge 21)
Je f f And r e w s - Ha nn a cont i nue s h i s
re s e a r ch o n a va r iet y of t opics. O ne pr oje c t
is ai me d at i nve st igat i ng t he la rge - scale
ge o d y n a m ic p r o c e s s e s r e s p o n sible for t he
for m at ion of Va l le s Ma r i ne r i s on Ma r s.
I n ot he r work , he is t r y i ng t o u nde r st a nd
t he la rge g r av it y a nom al ie s ob se r ve d ove r
i mpa ct ba si n s on t he Mo on. At t he sa me
t i me, work cont i nue s ai me d at u nde r st a nd i ng
g rou ndwat e r f low pat t e r n s on Ma r s , a nd
t he for m at ion of t he se d i me nt a r y de p o sit s
ob s e r ve d by b ot h t he c u r r e nt O p p or t u n it y
rove r a nd t he up com i ng C u r iosit y rove r.
T he r e is a lot of excit i ng re se a r ch bei ng
done on i n t he lab on a va r iet y of t opics.
T he c o m mo n t h r e a d r u n n i ng t h r ou g h a l l of
ou r work is t he goal of u nde r st a nd i ng t he
physic al pro c e s se s at work on t he pla net s i n
ou r Sola r Syst e m . O n a f u nd a me nt a l level,
pla net s a r e si mple pla c e s… m at t e r ob eys t he
laws of physics a nd st u f f happ e n s. We work
t o u nde r st a nd t he con ne c t ion bet we e n wh at
we se e on t he pla net s a nd t he u nde rly i ng
p r o c e s s e s r e s p o n sible.
47
AGU / PLANETARY
At ~ 9 0 0 k m i n d ia me t e r, O r ie nt a le
c o n si s t s of t h r e e c o n c e nt r ic r i ng s
e nci rcl i ng t he ce nt e r of t he ba si n. T hou g h
seve r a l t he or ie s have at t e mpt e d t o ex plai n
t he for m a t ion of t he r i ng s , t h i s r e m a i n s
a n u n a n swe r e d que st ion. O ne prom isi ng
t he or y s ug ge st s t h a t t he out e r r i ng for me d
t h roug h nor m al fau lt i ng, a s m at e r ial
i n side t he r i ng slu mp e d i nwa rd s t owa rd s
t he b a si n c e nt e r. Ya s e r’s r e s e a r ch i s
t e st i ng t h is t he or y t o se e if t he sig n at u r e s
of t he nor m al fau lt s ca n be ide nt i f ie d
t h roug h g r av it y g r a d iomet r y. Usi ng 3D
g r av it y for wa rd models of t he ba si n , h i s
r e s e a r ch h a s show n t h a t g r av it y d at a
f ro m O r ie nt a le c a n b e s t b e m at ch e d by
t wo nor m al fau lt s. H i s re se a r ch ai m s t o
con st r ai n t he ge omet r y of t he se r i ng s
fau lt s a nd t he i nt e r n al st r uct u r e of t he
ba si n , a nd t hu s t o prov ide i mp or t a nt
i n for m at ion on t he for m at ion of t he r i ng s
a rou nd ba si n s i n ge ne r a l.
Department of Geophysics
Colorado School of Mines
Golden, CO 80401-1887
Nonprofit Organization
U.S. Postage Paid
Golden, Colorado
Permit No. 7
Geophysicists: The Jacks of All Trades Jarred Eppeheimer, GP Sophomore
When I was in high school, I had a math teacher who would joke with her students about
the “purity” of various studies. For example, physics involves applications of mathematics,
so that, in turn, makes chemistry less pure than physics. Obviously her point was to argue that
mathematics is the purest field of study, since it is not derived from any other field. For some
reason, this observation has stuck with me over the years, and I recently found myself gauging
how pure different majors are. What should I conclude about Geophysics?
As all students and established geophysicists know, there is no one subject that we must be
the most knowledgeable in. Rather, we must be proficient in many: geology, physics, mathematics,
and computer sciences to name a few. While an individual’s level of expertise in each area varies
depending on how they apply their geophysical engineering degree, this realization has led
me to classify the modern geophysicist as a Jack or Jill of all trades. As the completed saying
would imply, does this mean that geophysicists are the masters of no trade? I suppose that would
depend on the individual, but it is an interesting thought to consider. Nevertheless, I would much
rather think of myself as a Jack of all trades than an impure scientist.
Source:http://xkcd.com/435/)