We request the completion of the MSM Center of Excellence in Geological and Geophysical Field Mapping, established in 1996 with $35,000 granted by the Keck Foundation. A progress report on the previous funding follows the request below.

Geophysical Field Mapping Equipment Needs Remaining
for high-resolution tectonic, engineering, groundwater, and earthquake fault studies.

4	Bison #2463-2 24-channel CDP seismic cables, 10 m takeouts	   8,800
	w/ swamp connectors	
	
50	Bison #1436-6stg 10 m seismic geophone groups, 6 phones per	  22,500
	group, 100 Hz frequency w/ swamp cases and connectors

1	Trimble 28724-00 GPS Total Station package with two		  44,550
	Geodetic Surveyor dual-frequency, millimeter accuracy
	receivers (model 4000 SSI) having memory, real-time kinematic,
	and P-code capabilities; two external dual-frequency antennas,
	and real-time software; purchased through and committed in
	the University NAVSTAR Consortium.
	
1	Geostuff 48-channel seismic roll-along switch + adapter cables	   5,800

1	Bison #1407 Remote radio trigger for seismic recorder		   5,000
	
1	Bison #1417-3 Elastic Wave Generator source, trailer-mounted	  19,500
	
1	Innovative Transducers 48-channel marine seismic streamer cable	  25,000
									-------
	Total 1997-1998 Request						$131,150

Equipment Justification

Together with simple sledgehammer, explosive, or rented weight-drop energy sources already available, these items will allow the faculty and students of the Center to investigate seismic response properties in areas of earthquake risk; the stratigraphy, neotectonic style, and history of active earthquake faults; the hydraulic properties of groundwater reservoirs and waste cleanup sites; the settings of mineral and petroleum deposits; the mechanical properties of in-situ rock masses; and the locations of cavities and lost underground mine works. Including the Elastic Wave Generator source and the marine multichannel streamer cable in this facility would eliminate the need to rent a source or contract for blasting services for most of the projects using this equipment, and would allow engineering and neotectonic investigations to be done very efficiently in the many lakes occupying faulted valleys in the western Great Basin. Designed for shallow investigations at extremely high resolution, this facility would allow Mackay School of Mines faculty to use their existing field experience with School equipment dedicated to instructing students in Geology, Geophysics, Geological Engineering, Mining Engineering, Hydrogeology, and Civil Engineering.

Rapid advances in the use and application of satellite-borne earth resource technologies provide new opportunities for enhancing the capabilities in several research and educational areas at MSM. Collaborative Global Positioning System (GPS) activities at MSM have included joint research, instructional, and educational activities between the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, the Seismological Laboratory, the Department of Geological Sciences, the Center for Neotectonic Studies, the U. S. Geological Survey and a number of other university and governmental research groups. The Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology has served as a nationally recognized center for research on crustal strain for a number of years and presently operates the in-house GPS equipment. Although our GPS equipment was state-of-the-art when purchased in 1989, it is presently outdated by current technological standards.

Principal areas of research have focused on crustal movements associated with groundwater-related land subsidence and active tectonics. Funded research utilizing our GPS capabilities has totaled more than $700,000 since 1989. These projects included the establishment of baseline networks in Las Vegas Valley to monitor groundwater-induced land subsidence and in northern Nevada to monitor contemporary tectonic strain. We presently have a three-year $387,000 proposal pending with NASA for a pilot study to test the application of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry techniques to the detection of land subsidence by ground-truthing with GPS.

Seismic Reflection Equipment Usage

The proposed equipment would be applicable to studies at scales ranging from one meter to a few kilometers.

Current projects that now have to struggle to borrow, rent, or contract for seismic profiling equipment could undertake more extensive work at less cost. Examples include:

• A project supervised by R. Schweickert and funded by the DOE and Oxbow Geothermal, Inc. is using problematic, decades-old reflection data to characterize bedrock fracture patterns. If a seismic profiling facility existed at the Mackay School of Mines, this project would likely undertake some 1 km scale surveys to improve reflection coverage at the range front on the west side of Dixie Valley. Louie, Wesnousky, and Caskey have proposed such a study to the NSF Tectonics program.

• A California geotechnical firm is developing an industry consortium directed toward improving seismic imaging and tomography applications to mineral resource location and development. The consortium will promote research in seismic imaging by Louie and his students at UNR via grant support to the UNR Foundation. With a seismic profiling facility, the School could directly test proposed imaging strategies at contibutors' sites. This consortium, managed by William Lettis & Assoc., has donated to the University the ProMAX seismic processing software system developed by Landmark Graphics Corp. This $30,000 donation gives the Mackay School of Mines the latest capabilities in seismic reflection processing and analysis. The ProMAX package will operate on machines in the Mapping, Modeling, and Visualization Lab also addressed in this proposal.

• Hydrologic Sciences program faculty and students are conducting studies of the relations between the diffusion of contaminant plumes and aquifer heterogeneity. Having a seismic profiling facility would allow the Wheatcraft to revolutionize such studies by applying the heterogeneity found from very small-scale reflection experiments to aquifer flow modeling. A Hydrogeology M.S. student, Ken Mela, has just completed a field study of heterogeneity within a diatomite quarry bench, having had to borrow the high-frequency sensors and cables from another institution. His work has led to both a presentation at a national scientific conference as well as an interdisciplinary NSF proposal.

• In Seismology Louie and his students are developing seismic imaging techniques to trace the geometry of earthquake faults in the upper crust, to better assess their seismic potential. National consortia have funded large-scale seismic profiles across the San Andreas fault in So. Calif., and with a MSM reflection facility could fund more detailed studies establishing the identity of imaged features in the crust at kilometer scales by tying them to surface fault outcrops at the meter scale. Louie could also join efforts by the Southern Calif. Earthquake Center to characterize active blind thrust faults by reflection profiling of Quaternary deposits above the thrusts. The NSF has also funded Louie to study the depositional and tectonic history of small basins east of Death Valley, Calif., to constrain the history of extreme Cenozoic extension in that region. The periodic ability to employ seismic profiling equipment was crucial to the success of this project in April 1996 to better define the slip rate on a fault near Las Vegas. Although Keck had recently funded the purchase of the 48-channel seismograph, the project had to rent the high-frequency cables and sensors.

• In Seismology Anderson and his students and co-investigators have SCEC and NSF funding to study strong-motion site response and soil nonlinearity in So. Calif. and western Nevada. Their results are very dependent on detailed characterizations of basin and soil rigidity. The proposed seismic profiling facility would easily adapt to S-wave techniques that would give Anderson a better basis for earthquake hazard modeling. A project newly funded by the USGS National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) will employ the newly acquired 48-channel recorder to assess strong-motion site characteristics in the Reno, Carson, and Las Vegas urban areas. Acquisition of a weight-drop source would make possible characterization to depths of hundreds of meters rather than tens of meters.

• In Geophysics Karlin and his students are profiling lakes in the Puget Sound area in an NSF-funded project to assess fault displacements and seismic potential. Given a MSM-based seismic facility having the proposed marine capabilities, Karlin and Wesnousky could extend such studies to lakes in the eastern Sierran Front (e.g.: Almanor, Pyramid, Tahoe, Walker).

• In Geological Engineering Watters employs small-scale seismometer arrays to monitor the failure of landslides and avalanches via their acoustic emissions. The proposed seismic facility would replace 30-year-old, outdated equipment with a system adaptable to real-time monitoring and remote data transmission, crucial for complete studies of the slope failure cycle.

• In Mining Engineering Daemen is studying the response of rocks and concretes to the heating and deformation accompanying buried nuclear wastes, funded by DOE. He would benefit from the demonstrated capabilities of seismic profiling to assess bulk rock-mass properties, and to locate and characterize fractures.

GPS Equipment Usage

Collaborative GPS activities at MSM have included joint research, instructional, and educational activities between the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, the Seismological Laboratory, the Department of Geological Sciences, the Center for Neotectonic Studies, the U. S. Geological Survey and a number of other university and governmental research groups. Selected examples of collaborative studies include: grant-supported research assistantship for MSM hydrology graduate student Steve Jacobson, field support for MSM graduate student studies on tectonic deformation of Lahontan shorelines, and structure and gravity studies of the Washoe Valley area; field studies by the UNR Biodiversity Department; participation in the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) High Accuracy Reference Network (HARN) for monitoring tectonic activity in the western US; participation in the San Andreas GPS network; collaboration with the University of Texas at Austin on a comparison of Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) with GPS, and field support for geomorphic studies of the Carson River area by Leeds University graduate students.

Although our GPS equipment was state-of-the-art when purchased in 1989 (and was the first GPS equipment within the State of Nevada), it is presently outdated by current technological standards. New satellite transmissions utilizing the P-code technology have since been employed allowing greater precision with shorter observation time. The Clark County, Las Vegas Valley Water District, and Nevada Department of Transportation surveyor groups presently use this more advanced GPS technology, as well as some Nevada geotechnical consulting firms. Our existing equipment cannot be upgraded due to differences in design and must be replaced by new models of receivers.

The Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology has served as a nationally recognized center for research on crustal strain for a number of years and presently operates the in-house GPS equipment (Trimble 4000 SST receivers). Our expertise includes network design and layout, instrument deployment and operation, data processing, and strain calculations and interpretations. Principal areas of research have focused on crustal movements associated with groundwater-related land subsidence and active tectonics. Funded research utilizing our GPS capabilities has totaled more than $700,000 since 1989. These projects included the establishment of baseline networks in Las Vegas Valley to monitor groundwater-induced land subsidence and in northern Nevada to monitor contemporary tectonic strain. In the Las Vegas area, these projects have been supported by funding provided from the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the Las Vegas Valley Water District, and a consortium of city, county, state, and federal agencies. In northern Nevada, crustal strain studies have been supported by the U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Hazard Reduction (NEHRP) Program. We presently have a three-year $387,000 proposal pending with NASA for a pilot study to test the application of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry techniques to the detection of land subsidence by ground-truthing with GPS. This project, if funded, would be conducted collaboratively with the Southern Nevada Water Authority and the U. S. Geological Survey Hydrology Research Group in Sacramento.

Due to the rapidly evolving technology in the application of GPS instrumentation to crustal deformation studies, and given the growing number of new research opportunities, it is essential that this original 8-year-old GPS equipment be upgraded (replaced) in order for us to remain competitive for external research funds that are equipment-specific and to provide new state-of-the-art equipment for educational and public service uses.

This equipment can be purchased either directly from Trimble Navigation (as was done with the existing equipment) or through the University NAVSTAR Consortium (UNAVCO). If purchased through UNAVCO, the equipment package will cost $20,000 less, but it must be made available, subject to negotiated scheduling, to other participating university research groups in UNAVCO. In addition to the purchase price discount, however, the UNAVCO participation includes free availability of additional receivers (which are nearly always required for large network campaigns), maintenance, insurance, and upgrades. Because of these additional benefits, we recommend that the instruments be purchased through UNAVCO.

Research faculty within NBMG presently have the expertise to operate and maintain GPS equipment and to perform the required time-intensive data processing. We would propose to serve as the in-house MSM personnel responsible for the continuing operation and maintenance of the equipment, providing for the continued, collaborative use by other MSM faculty and students.

Keck Interim Report portion for the MSM
Center of Excellence in Geological and Geophysical Mapping

1. Narrative description of progress to date:

2. Further progress expected within the next six months:

3. Problems encountered or unanticipated developments with project/program:

4. Financial report on expenditure of grant funds:

5. Other support solicited/received:

The following proposals submitted to federal agencies describe this facility as essential for the porposed work, and seek funds for its maintenance as well.

          Proposal   Sponsor    Title                  Term          Amount
          Date
          -------------------------------------------------------------------
          4/11/96    USGS-      Seismic hazards in     1/97-12/98   $120392
          FUNDED     NEHRP      the vicinity of Las
                                Vegas and Reno
                                (Louie, Zeng,
                                Feng, and Anderson)

          6/1/96     NSF-Geoph  Geophysical con-       1/97-12/98   $79357
          NOT FUNDED            straints on Tertiary
                                and Quaternary tec-
                                tonics between Death
                                Valley, Calif. and
                                Las Vegas, Nevada
                                (Louie)

          12/1/96    NSF-Tect   Geophysical test of    9/97-8/98   $91313
          IN REVIEW             low-angle dip on the               for 3
                                seismogenic Dixie                  PIs
                                Valley fault, Nevada
                                (Louie, Wesnousky,
				Caskey)

          12/1/96    NSF-       Estimating spatial     6/97-5/99   $104383
          IN REVIEW  HydroSci   variability from                   for 2
                                high-resolution                    PIs
                                seismic surveying
                                for flow and tran-
                                sport prediction
                                (Louie, Wheatcraft)

6. Please comment on the impact this grant has had for your institution.

7. In hindsight, would you have structured this grant differently, and if so, how?

8. Related activities:

The following publications make mention of results obtained in the April experiment, and by similar preceding experiments: