Seminars

UCSB On-campus

 

October 31, 2001

Rotation of the inner core by John Vidale, University of California, Los Angeles.

 

November 1, 2001

Investigation of the rupture process of the 1999 Chi-Chi, Taiwan earthquake by Chen Ji, Caltech University.

 

November 3, 2001

Earthquakes in Southern California: Parents' Day talk, UCSB, by Ralph Archuleta

 

November 13, 2001

Deposition and erosion beyond the continental edge: 3D seismic, equilibrium profiles, and phase diagrams for turbidity current characterization by Julio Friedman, University of Maryland.

 

November 28, 2001

A discussion on climate record research in North Western China by Pan Baotian, Lanzhou University, China.

 

December 3, 2001

Faulting, flow and the strength of the lithosphere by James Jackson, Bullard Laboratories, Cambridge University, United Kingdom.

 

December 5, 2001

Landscape disequilibrium on 1,000-10,000 year scales, Marsyandi River, Nepal by Beth Pratt, University of California, Santa Barbara.

 

January 23, 2002

Sources and Sinks of Energy in Faulting: Dynamic Modeling of the 1979, Imperial Valley Earthquake: Physics/MRL Seminar, UCSB,  by Ralph Archuleta

 

February 25, 2002

Coupled Surface processes and tectonics in large hot orogens: Melting, crustal channel flows and the Denudational Extrusion of the greater Himalayan sequence by Chris Beaumont, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada.

 

February 26, 2002

Origin of Orogens by Chris Beaumont, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada.

 

February 26, 2002

Mountains, landscapes, and climate: Interactions between tectonics and surface processes by Chris Beaumont, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada.

 

February 27, 2002

Discussion on previous talks of February 25-26, 2002 lead by Chris Beaumont, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada.

 

February 28, 2002

Vignettes from: Cordilleran orogens, thin-skinned fold-and-thrust belts, salt tectonics, rifted continental margins, mantle lithosphere interactions during orogenesis by Chris Beaumont, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada.

 

April 23, 2002

Universal nucleation length for slip-weakening rupture instability under non-uniform fault loading by Koji Uenishi and James R. Rice, Harvard University.

 

May 15, 2002

Large miocene craters and active faults offshore of southern California by Craig Nicholson, Journal Club at University of California, Santa Barbara.

 

May 17, 2002

Climate, tetonics, and topographic evolution of the Washington Cascades by Todd Ehlers, Caltech University.

 

May 22, 2002

Wave propagation in Spherical Geometry by Professor Heiner Igel, Institut fuer Allgemeine und Angewandte Geophysik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen, Munich, Germany.

 

 

Off Campus-Invited Lectures

 

Inversion of rupture dynamics parameters, UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico, by Kim Bak Olsen in July 2001.

 

Intracontinental mountain building in the Tien Shan, University of California, Los Angeles, by Douglas Burbank, November 15, 2001.

 

Rheology, buoyancy, seismicity, and H₂O content of oceanic crust, Pennsylvania State University by Bradley Hacker.

 

Intraslab earthquakes and dehydration, USGS-University of Washington, Juan de Fuca Slab Earthquake Science and Hazards  Appraisal Workshop by Bradley Hacker.

 

Intermediate-depth earthquakes and dehydration, Japan Marine Science & Technology Center (JAMSTEC), Japan, by Bradley Hacker.

 

Sources and Sinks of Seismic Radiation In Dynamic Models of Earthquakes,

Slovak Academy of Science, Bratislava, Slovakia, by Ralph Archuleta, March 20, 2002.

 

Constraints on Slip Weakening Friction from Radiated Seismic Energy: Chambery, France, by Ralph Archuleta, May 18, 2001

 

Sources and Sinks of Energy in Faulting: Dynamic Modeling of the 1979, Imperial Valley Earthquake: Physics/MRL Seminar, UCSB,  by Ralph Archuleta, Jan. 23, 2002

 

Sources and Sinks of Seismic Radiation from Dynamic Models of Earthquakes: Dept. of Geological Sciences, University of California, Riverside, by Ralph Archuleta, Feb. 9, 2002

 

Physics of the Earthquake Source: Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia, by Ralph Archuleta, April 5, 2001

 

Faulting Dynamics and Radiated Seismic Energy: Laboratoire Geophysique et Interne Tectonophysique, University Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France, by Ralph Archuleta, March 15, 2001.

 

Slip Weakening Friction and Radiated Seismic Energy: Department of Earth Sciences, Oxford University, by Ralph Archuleta, May 11, 2001

 

A Preliminary Finite Fault Rupture Model fro the 1999 Chi Chi, Taiwan, M 7.6 Earthquake from Inversion of Data Using 3-D Green's Functions: Laboratoire Geophysique et Interne Tectonophysique, University Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France, by Ralph Archuleta, June 15, 2001.

Rapid tectonic evolution of a young ocean basin: The Gulf of California, Mexico: University of Wisconsin (Madison) by Mike Oskin, April 8, 2002

 

Fault system behavior:  A view from the Quaternary tectonic record of southern California: University of Wisconsin (Madison) by Mike Oskin, April 9, 2002

 

Breaking the crust, California-style: Rapid tectonic evolution of the Gulf of California rift: University of California (Davis), by Mike Oskin, April 15, 2002

 

Fault system behavior: A view from the Quaternary tectonic record of southern California: University of California (Davis), by Mike Oskin, April 16, 2002

 

A new model for intermediate-depth earthquakes and phase changes in subducting slabs, Goldschmidt Conference by Bradley Hacker.

 

Intermediate-Depth Earthquakes in Subducting Slabs are Linked to Metamorphic Dehydration Reactions, AGU Annual Meeting, San Francisco, by Bradley Hacker.

 

Dr. Cathy Busby was the Spring, 2002 American Association of Petroleum Geologists Distinguished Lecturer. She traveled to >15 colleges and universities to give lectures.

 

Outside Advisory/Planning Committees

 

Professor Tanya Atwater was one of six individuals to receive the prestigious National Science Foundation Director’s Award for Distinguished Teaching Scholarship. This is the highest honor given by the NSF for excellence in both teaching and research. Her animated teaching film, "Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics" received the highest recommendation from the Journal of Geological Education and has been used in classrooms from the elementary to college level.

 

Douglas Burbank was a member of the GEO-Plate Boundary Observatory committee that organized the GEO-PBO workshop that resulted in a white paper:

The Plate Boundary Observatory: Results of the First Workshop on Geological Research, PBO Geology Committee (D Burbank, K Hudnut, R Ryerson, C Rubin, D Schwartz, B Wernicke, and S Wesnousky)

 

Douglas Burbank took part in National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Solid Earth Science Working Group (SESWG) which produced the SENH 20-year plan:

Living on a Restless Planet (http://solidearth.jpl.nasa.gov/report.html)

 

Brad Hacker served on the Mineralogical Society of America selection committee for the Dana Medal and is a member of Geodesist search committee.

 

David Lea was awarded Guggenheim Fellowship. Lea, a professor of geological sciences who specializes in prehistoric oceans and climates, will use his fellowship to continue his research into how atmospheric carbon dioxide levels affect climate change.

 

Bruce P. Luyendyk was elected a fellow of the American Geophysical Union.

 

Ralph Archuleta was awarded the “Commemorative Medal for 100 Years of Seismology

in Slovakia” for cooperation with Slovak seismologists. The medal was given by the Geophysical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava.

 

Craig Nicholson was named co-leader of the Borderlands Working Group in conjunction with the Southern California Earthquake Center.

 

Workshops

 

November 13, 2001 Research initiatives on the Santa Barbara-Ventura Basin held at UCSB

The workshop addressed the following research issues: source-to-sink exemplar, climate-erosion-sediment transport-depositional interactions, interactions of growing folds with active depositional and erosional systems and climate-fire-sediment flux and the short-term depositional record.

 

February  22-24, 2002 Nepal workshop held at UCSB

Interaction of tectonics, erosion, and climate along a transect from Tibet to the Himalayan foreland. Organized by Prof. Burbank of the Institute for Crustal Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara.

 

July 18-19, 2002 Keck Symposium held at UCSB,

Friction, Fracture, and Earthquake Physics organized by Ralph Archuleta and Jean Carlson of the Institute for Crustal Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara. The Keck Program for Interdisciplinary Studies in Materials Physics and Seismology at UCSB is aimed at developing a better understanding of the Physics and Materials Science underlying: Friction, Fracture, and Earthquake Physics.  The program is nearing the end of its third year; the symposium is aimed at identifying new opportunities for collaboration and progress in these. The symposium brought together a group of physicists, engineers, materials scientists, and seismologists for a series of lectures and informal discussions aimed at identifying new opportunities to develop connections between theoretical, numerical, and experimental advances in our fundamental understanding of friction, fracture, and deformation, and seismological applications of these results.

 

Research Experience for Graduates

 

Thirty-one graduate students are involved in research administered through ICS.  These students are involved in field research both locally and internationally. Many have presented their research with talks or posters at professional meetings: e.g., American Geophysical Union, Geological Society of America, Seismological Society of America, annual Southern California Earthquake Center.  In addition to the abstracts presented, ICS graduate students are also involved as co-authors on articles in referred journals.

 

Dr. Olsen supervised Dr. Carey Marcinkovich during his final graduate studies at UCSB on implementing Perfectly Matched Layers (PML) absorbing boundary conditions in Olsen’s 3D wave propagation code. The new boundary conditions significantly reduce the amounts of undesired grid reflections compared to traditional methods.  Moreover, the computational efficiency and storage requirements of PML, compared to a traditional method, are reduced due to the need for only narrow absorbing regions. The method is expected to become a new standard in future numerical wave propagation and rupture dynamics simulations.

Marcinkovich, C., and K. B. Olsen (2002).  On the Implementation of Perfectly Matched Layers in a 3D Fourth-Order Velocity-Stress Finite-Difference Scheme, Journal Geophysics. Res., in review

 

Beth Pratt, working with Dr. Burbank, is using cosmogenic nuclide exposure-age dating to reconstruct the record of river incision in the central Himalaya. She has discovered that, despite the sustained bedrock incision by rivers over the past 100,000 years, there are major pulses of sedimentation that inundate the river valleys with sediment and create massive river terraces.  These gradational episodes appear to be driven by increases in the strength of the Asian monsoon.

 

 

Graduate student researcher Beth Pratt (in foreground) with Nepalese family.  Undergraduate student researcher Michelle Garde can be seen in the background.

 

Nepalese village in the vicinity of field research site. Graduate student researcher Beth Pratt is taking a picture of a young boy with the digital camera. He was delighted to see himself.

 

 

Amber Johnstone and Alison Duvall spent June and July 2001 and 2002, respectively in central Nepal attempting to calibrate the changes in water and sediment fluxes that are driven by the summer monsoon. Along with grad student Manny Gabet, they developed routines for sediment and water sampling, trained Nepalese assistants in data collection procedures, and hiked up to >18,000 feet!

 

Manny Gabet, during the past two summers, spent a month in Nepal, working at field sites stretched along the awe-inspiring Marsyangdi River.  His work in Nepal mainly consisted of training local Nepali to collect and filter river water samples for sediment and chemical analyses.  The goal of this project is to understand the links between climate, tectonics, and erosion.  With the sediment data that is collected on a daily basis, he can calculate a minimum rate of erosion from the contributing watersheds.  These erosion rates can then be compared to long-term rates calculated by other means (e.g. fission-track dating) and also to uplift rates.

 

Ken Davis spent two months on the South Island of New Zealand studying scaling and displacement geometries in thrust faults. Working with Dr. Burbank and a UCSB undergraduate, he used differential GPS and geologic mapping to survey a suite of faults spanning a 50-km swath on the eastern flanks of the Southern Alps.

 

Kurt Knipmeyer is working the behavior and properties of sheared concentrated suspensions of hard-sphere particles in a Newtonian fluid.  The flow properties of systems near the concentration at which viscosity diverges will be investigated with a specific focus on the phenomenon of jamming.

 

Anthony Foglia is working on a project in which he will use a new "rate-and-state" theory of plastic deformation to study seismic wave propagation through compacted soils.  This new theory has been developed over the last several years by Langer and coworkers for the study of deformation and fracture in amorphous solids.

 

David Root is working with Brad Hacker on the “Exhumation of ultrahigh-pressure rocks in the Scandinavian Caledonides” and “Phase transformations and their effects on the thermal, petrological, and seismological structure of subducting oceanic lithosphere.”

 

Laura Rademacher has focused her graduate studies on important questions in aqueous geochemistry: the chemical evolution of shallow groundwater and quantification of chemical weathering rates along different hydrologic pathways in catchments.  With her field-based result, she hopes to gain better insights into the physical and chemical mechanisms of weathering.  This is an important topic because weathering rates are fundamental in determining acid deposition neutralization and affect many global geochemical cycles including carbon dioxide.  The initial results of her research were recently published in a special issue of Chemical Geology.  This paper presents a new method of determining the chemical evolution of groundwater in a forested catchment using springs.  It builds on the classic weathering study of Garrels and Mackenzie (1967) that is found in most aqueous geochemistry text books by providing a chronology for the chemical changes and thus allowing weathering rates to be calculated.

 

Research Experience for Undergraduates

 

Sixteen undergraduate students are involved in research administered through ICS.

Seven undergraduate students are involved in administrative work through ICS.

 

The Institute administered three National Science Foundation sponsored Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU). Research Experiences for Undergraduates grants fund travel costs and stipends for undergraduates while engaged in research:

·     Professor Luyendyk has secured an REU for six undergraduates to gain experience with a marine geology and geophysical investigation in the eastern Ross Sea. This undergraduate research experience takes place in Antarctica aboard the RVIB Nathaniel Palmer, the cruise will last for twenty eight days and Professor Luyendyk’s team will attempt to acquire single-channel and multi channel seismic, piston cores, multibeam and deep towed chirp sonar and side scan sonar.

·     Jessica Duggan participated in Professor Burbank's research project on Scaling and Displacement for Thrust Fault in New Zealand. Jessica assisted Professor Burbank and Graduate Student Researcher Ken Davis with field research in the Southern Alps of New Zealand.  She studied changes in fault scarp morphology along a thrust front and used a differential GPS survey tool to make detailed 3-D images of the fault. She proved her skill as a field geologist and her contribution to the project was invaluable. 

·     Michelle Garde participated in Professor's Burbank's research project on Geomorphic-Geodynamic Coupling at the Orogen Scale: A Himalayan Transect in Central Nepal. She assisted Graduate Student Researcher Beth Pratt for eight weeks with stratigraphic analysis, glacial geologic mapping, and cosmogenic radionuclide sample collection as well as how to operate a laser range finder, hand-held GPS, and inclinometer.  During the last few weeks she developed a stratigraphic study of her own giving her the opportunity to apply her sedimentary and geomorphic knowledge to determine the genesis of the deposits and whether they display the same climate forcing mechanism found other regions.

 

 

 

Cover photo: 7,8000-Mile Field Trip   Nepal’s Annapurna mountain range in the Himalayas was junior Michelle Garde’s research lab for eight weeks in spring 2002. Garde (left, in back) was field assistant to Beth Pratt (left, foreground), graduate student working under the supervision of Douglas Burbank, geology professor and director of the Institute for Crustal Studies.  Burbank is leading an eight-university team studying inter actions between climate, erosion, and mountain building in the world’s highest mountains. Garde also did her own research, which produced “valuable information on the history of a colossal, 5000-year-old landslide and rates of erosion in this mountainous region,” according to Burbank. (The family in this photo was herding sheep near Tibet where the researchers were camping.)

 

 

 

Carrie Glavich and Kristen Whitney worked for the Portable Broadband Instrument and the Santa Barbara Array, which has nine operational stations throughout the city of Santa Barbara.

 

SCEC sponsored undergraduate Marie C. Ammerman.  Marie Ammerman’s project entitled; “Inconclusive Evidence for Fault Zone Trapped Waves on the Bullion Fault” included analyzing data from aftershocks recorded by stations in the Bullion Wash Array.

 

 

Public Service Activities

 

The Press

 

Santa Barbara Newspress on April 25, 2002 announced that Professor Bruce P. Luyendyk was elected a fellow of the American Geophysical Union.

 

Sunken Island Is Found Off California, The Associated Press, New York Times, Jan 22, 2002, Ed Keller.

http://fouch101.asu.edu/links/Sunken Island Is Found Off California.htm

 

Ancient Lost Isle Found Off Santa Barbara, CA, SB News Press, Oct 15, 2001, Ed Keller.

http://www.100megsfree4.com/farshores/aisle.htm

 

Schools

 

Outreach Listing:

The Academic Outreach Office in the College of Letters and Science Educational Resources Catalog for K-12 Schools.

Title: Earthquake Presentation

Presenter: Variable/ Institute for Crustal Studies (ICS)

Description: Institute for Crustal Studies researchers will give presentations on earthquakes to schools in the local area. Depending on the class size, presentations can be made in the classroom or at UCSB. Students will learn about different types of earthquakes and will have the opportunity to record their own earthquake. A limited number of presentations are available each year. Scheduling: For more information or to schedule a presentation, contact Giulia Brofferio, ICS, 893-8281, giulia@crustal.ucsb.edu. Intended Grade Level: All

 

March 1, 2002

Mr. Warren's fourth grade class from Ellwood Elementary School visited the institute and learned about the various types of faults and wave that comprise earthquakes.  The hands on interactive presentation included information about various seismometers and other equipment used to study and record seismic activity. Students generated their own seismic recording.

Mark Warren’s class jumps it up to create the seismogram shown below.

 

The seismogram produced by Mark Warren’s 4^th graders jumping as a class.

 

July 25, 26 and September 25, 2001

The Geology Department’s Chuck Anderson made outreach presentations using the Institute’s resources and materials to demonstrate basic concepts of seismology and fault characteristics,

 

Geology Graduate Student Researcher Beth Pratt has organized Isla Vista Elementary School children to correspond with Nepalese school children. She also solicits donations from local merchants to bring to Nepalese children on her field visits to that area.

 

 

Other Media Activities

 

Jamison Steidl was interviewed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science for their segment Science Update. On December 14, 2001 his interview “Quake Shaking” aired.  In addition, the show was posted on their webpage, http://www.scienceupdate.com/dec01.html#011214.