Events
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UTIG Seminar Series: Rob Porritt (UTIG)September, 22 2017Time: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AMLocation: PRC ROC Room 1.603 Watch Live Title: Towards multi-scale seismic imaging of the crust and mantle. Abstract: Passive-source seismic imaging provides valuable constraints on Earth’s layered structure, relative thermal and compositional anomalies, and deformation and flow field. These constraints are derived from several increasingly well standardized and innovative imaging methods and a growing pool of passive seismic deployments, such as the IRIS GSN, USArray, and Wavefields projects. Here, I present a tour of recent results focusing on Texas, the Gulf Coast, the Eastern North American Margin, and abroad. In Texas, the Llano Uplift and Ouachita-Marathon Front are recognized in continental-scale body-wave and surface-wave imaging. Their underlying mantle structure suggests these surficial features are linked to ongoing mantle processes. Along the Gulf Coast, imaging the entire crustal column has been difficult with passive methods due to the thick low velocity sediments. However, emerging receiver function results indicate a mid-crustal base to the sediments at ~15-20 km depth and locally over-thickened crust in several areas. Ambient noise results for the Eastern North American Margin indicate a structural transition across the passive margin, coincident with gravity and magnetic anomalies. This relatively smooth and simple structure is in marked contrast with the active margin in the Banda arc where the Indian Ocean Plate and Australian Plate collide with the young Banda Plate; this margin is characterized by over-thrusting of shelf deposits and exhumation of subduction assemblages in Timor Leste and eastern Indonesia. The subducting plate in this incidence is shallow in the collisional zone and then dives steeply under the Banda Sea. The fate of this slab is uncertain below the 670km discontinuity, but the interplay of slabs and the mantle transition zone remains an important area of research. This uncertainty is particularly relevant in the Izu-Bonin islands where a M8 class earthquake occurred at 682 km depth. Long period receiver function evidence suggests the base of the slab in this region reaches 690 km depth; while this does maintain that slabs are required for deep earthquakes, it forces questions about how the transition zone can be pushed 20 km deeper than its nominal base. This tour highlights the efficacy of passive seismic tools to fundamental earth science questions. As more data becomes available and new tools are developed, our understanding will improve and new questions will emerge. Learn more about Rob Porritt UTIG Host: Thorsten Becker |
Schlumberger Info SessionSeptember, 25 2017Time: 5:15 PM - 6:15 PMLocation: JGB 3.222 |
Alumni Reception during SEG in HoustonSeptember, 26 2017Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PMLocation: Xochi, 1777 Walker Street, Suite A, downtown Houston |
Hilcorp Energy Info SessionSeptember, 26 2017Time: 5:15 PM - 6:15 PMLocation: JGB 3.222 |
Anadarko Petroleum Info SessionSeptember, 27 2017Time: 5:15 PM - 6:15 PMLocation: JGB 3.222 |
UTIG Brown Bag Talk: Lily JacksonSeptember, 27 2017Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PMLocation: PRC ROC Room 1.603 Informal weekly presentations by UTIG students, researchers. Bring your lunch! |
DeFord Lecture: Mark RichardsSeptember, 28 2017Time: 4:00 PM - 5:00 PMLocation: JGB 2.324 |
UTIG Seminar Series: Jingyi \"Ann\" Chen (UT Austin)September, 29 2017Time: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AMLocation: PRC ROC Room 1.603 Watch Live Title: On the Use of Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) for Monitoring the Dynamics of the Changing Earth Abstract: Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) techniques have already become central tools in the crustal deformation community; more recently, advances in InSAR have led to new applications including the analysis of the atmosphere, biosphere, cryosphere, and hydrosphere, as well as their mutual interactions. In this talk, we will discuss two recent advances in InSAR-based earth system applications. The first example is on the use of InSAR for characterizing groundwater levels and aquifer storage properties in confined aquifers over large agricultural basins such as the San Luis Valley, Colorado. With an improved image processing strategy, we revealed the 20-year trends in the temporal and spatial variability of the SLV confined aquifer system by combining L-band and C-band InSAR data from multiple satellite missions. We found very little change in the elastic aquifer storage properties with time, introducing the concept that calibration with a new well in an area would allow for the use of historical InSAR data to obtain head measurements before the time of well constructions. The second example focuses on the use of InSAR for permafrost research. Because the same mass of liquid water takes up less volume than ice, the surface settles as the active layer thaws in summer, with the opposite occurring in the fall. Based on this observation, an Active Layer Thickness (ALT) retrieval algorithm known as ReSALT has been developed and successfully applied to estimate ALT near Prudhoe Bay and Barrow, Alaska, with an uncertainty of ~ 10 cm using InSAR surface deformation data. Given that ReSALT estimates in hilly terrains tend to display a large bias with probing measurements, we have worked with L-band ALOS data near Toolik Lake, Alaska, to identify the dominate error sources in this scenario. Our Toolik results suggest that the InSAR-based ALT retrieval algorithm needs to take into account the impact of topography on the active layer water storage distribution. In addition, we discovered that InSAR observations could be utilized to better characterize the active layer thaw-freeze cycle. We believe that this finding highlights the critical role that InSAR data may play in better understanding the hydrologic state of permafrost terrain in the Arctic. Learn more about Jingyi \"Ann\" Chen UTIG Host: Ginny Catania |
ExxonMobil Geosciences Info SessionOctober, 02 2017Time: 5:15 PM - 6:15 PMLocation: JGB 3.222 |
UTIG Brown Bag Talk: David TrossmanOctober, 04 2017Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PMLocation: PRC ROC Room 1.603 Informal weekly presentations by UTIG students, researchers. Bring your lunch! |
DeFord Lecture: Thomas CarrOctober, 05 2017Time: 4:00 PM - 5:00 PMLocation: JGB 2.324 |
UTIG Seminar Series: Jaap Nienhuis (Florida State University)October, 06 2017Time: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AMLocation: PRC ROC Room 1.603 Watch Live Title: Predicting delta morphology and delta change on a global scale Abstract: Coastal deltaic change is expected to be one of the major Earth-surface hazards of the 21st century. We have quantified the effect of waves, tides, and fluvial sediment supply on delta morphology, and use this theory with global wave, tide, and fluvial sediment data to make morphologic predictions for Earth\'s deltas (n ~ 20000). For these deltas, we predict future changes in response to river damming, land-use changes, and climate change and find that many deltas with human-induced decreases in fluvial sediment loads will experience wave reworking into barrier islands or tide reworking into alluvial estuaries. Other deltas are projected to experience increased fluvial sediment flux, and, in some cases these growing deltas could transition to river-dominated morphologies. Our analysis provides opportunities for the inclusion of river deltas into Earth system and climate models, and for paleoenvironmental reconstructions based on delta sedimentology. Learn more about Jaap Nienhuis UTIG Host: John Goff |
Friends and Alumni Network Board MeetingOctober, 06 2017Time: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PMLocation: Jackson Geological Sciences Building at UT Austin |
DeFord Lecture: David GochisOctober, 12 2017Time: 4:00 PM - 5:00 PMLocation: JGB 2.324 |
UTIG Seminar Series: Duncan Young (UTIG)October, 13 2017Time: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AMLocation: PRC ROC Room 1.603 Watch live Learn more about Duncan Young UTIG Host: Don Blankenship |
UTIG Brown Bag Talk: Nicholas HaymanOctober, 18 2017Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PMLocation: PRC ROC Room 1.603 Informal weekly presentations by UTIG students, researchers. Bring your lunch! |
DeFord Lecture: Amy HardbergerOctober, 19 2017Time: 4:00 PM - 5:00 PMLocation: JGB 2.324 |
UTIG Seminar Series: Michelle Tigchelaar (University of Washington)October, 20 2017Time: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AMLocation: PRC ROC Room 1.603 Watch live: http://bit.ly/2hfVWub Learn more about Michelle Tigchelaar: http://michelletigchelaar.weebly.com/ UTIG Host: Pedro Di Nezio |
