Seismological Laboratory

University of Nevada

Reno, Nevada

Strategic Plan

Prepared by John Anderson¹, Associate Director

August 26, 1997

Mission Statement.

The Seismological Laboratory was approved by the Nevada Board of Regents at their meeting of February 15, 1974 as a separate research division of the University of Nevada. It is organized as a statewide research laboratory, with its Director reporting to the Dean of the Mackay School of Mines.

The objectives of the Seismological Laboratory, as approved by the Board of Regents, are to:

1. Operate a network of seismic stations in the Nevada region;

2. Analyze the data obtained with the Nevada seismic network;

3. Compile data on historic and current earthquake activity in and around the State of Nevada;

4. Serve as a repository of information and exchange of information on earthquake activity in Nevada and adjoining states;

5. Provide for education of the public in matters related to seismicity and earthquake risk in the Nevada region;

6. Carry out grant- and contract- supported research on earthquake problems of national importance;

7. Consider such other kindred scientific and economic questions as in the judgment of the Board of Regents shall be deemed of value to the people of the State.

Seismological Laboratory Situation Statement

In August, 1997, the Seismological Laboratory consists of 10 Ph.D. level scientists, one seismic engineer, 12 support staff, and 11 graduate students. Our funds from State of Nevada came to $10,274 plus salaries for the seismic engineer, one secretary, one research assistant, and partial salaries for three faculty (Brune, director; Anderson; Louie). External research grants were providing support at a rate of about $2.1 million per year. In 1996, we authored or co-authored at least 15 research papers in reviewed journals and made at least 33 presentations at scientific meetings.

Our faculty and program is recognized internationally, as evidenced by various honors for the faculty and significant numbers of unsolicited inquiries for graduate and postdoctoral studies which are received every month. Most significant of the recent honors would be the awarding of the Medal of the Seismological Society of America to the present director, Prof. Brune.

Our greatest research strengths are in network seismology, tectonics, earthquake source physics, earthquake hazard research, exploration seismology, and theoretical seismic wave propagation.

However, we have never obtained adequate funding to fully achieve all of the goals established by the Board of Regents. It is abundantly clear that the funds we have available from the State of Nevada are completely insufficient to establish and operate a complete network of seismic instruments throughout the Nevada region. As a consequence, the seismic network that we have established is distributed according to the interests of various Federal agencies who have provided funding. Our network covers the western Nevada region best, including the population center around Reno and Carson City. Coverage in Las Vegas and eastern Nevada, however, remains sparse and inadequate by modern standards.

Seismological Laboratory Goals, as of August 1997

Instrumentation goals. Develop adequate support to allow for long-term operation and maintenance of critical instrumentation systems, for preliminary, routine aspects of data analysis, and for support to make the data available to research scientists and students. This commitment to instrumentation contributes to several of the scientific objectives held by members of the Seismological Laboratory and would advance the ability of the Seismological Laboratory to accomplish our service mission to the citizens of Nevada. The irregular occurrence of earthquakes means that instrumentation loses much of its value if there is not a long term commitment to its maintenance and operation.

Seismic Network. We seek to develop a seismic network throughout the western Basin and Range province capable of addressing how seismicity and seismic deformation is distributed throughout the state.

The state-of-the-art stations consist of broad-band digital stations, such as the stations we recently installed with support of the Keck Foundation, supplemented with low gain channels that record strong ground motions simultaneously. The station distribution should be relatively uniform and cover the Basin and Range province from the Sierra Nevada mountains east to the eastern border of Nevada. In the south, the network should extend to the southern Owens Valley in California and to south of Las Vegas in Nevada. In the north, it should cover the northeastern corner of California and extend to the Utah border, possibly with some stations extending north into Oregon and Idaho.

Strong Motion Network. We seek to develop an additional network of instruments which will remain on scale to record the strongest shaking that occurs during major earthquakes in Nevada. These are needed to understand the physics of strong earthquakes in Nevada, which may have fundamental physical differences from strong earthquakes in other regions (e.g. California) and to explain damage and allow for safer design of buildings in the future.

Strong motion instruments are less expensive than the sophisticated instruments described above, and are needed in greater numbers. We propose that we should seek to obtain at least two strong motion records within 5 km of the fault for any magnitude 7 or greater earthquake that might occur within the western Great Basin. One of these records should be on the hanging wall, and the other on the foot wall, of the fault. Furthermore, we propose that we should seek to obtain at least one strong motion record from every community with population over 1000 if it is shaken by an earthquake, and that we should obtain one strong motion record for every 10,000 residents in urban areas subjected to a strong earthquake. Finally, for strong earthquakes (M>6) in less populated regions, we should obtain at least one record from within a distance of 50 km from the fault.

Portable Seismometers. We seek the capability to respond with up to 20 temporary instruments on short notice following large Nevada earthquakes. Between emergencies instruments would support short term research goals including studies of site response, basin response, and subsurface structure.

Global Positioning Systems. A global positioning network would allow us to monitor details of the deformation of the earth throughout Nevada, resulting in an understanding the complex tectonic driving causing the earthquakes in the region. We seek a network of GPS stations, giving real time data, collocated with sophisticated seismic stations.

Research Goals. Our research objectives are consistent both with our mission as one of the premier research laboratories in seismology in the United States, and with our mission to serve the needs of Nevada’s citizens in understanding and living with seismic hazards. The following paragraphs are undoubtedly incomplete and are revised and updated almost daily as our research efforts make new discoveries, but they show some perspective of what problems we see as important at this time.

Basin and Range Province research. We seek to develop a thorough understanding of the all the geophysical processes that are active in the Basin and Range province. The scope of our research includes both the physics of earthquakes, and the physical processes that cause the earthquakes.

Unlike California, where tectonic patterns are relatively straightforward, the Basin and Range province is not well understood. We still have only a rudimentary understanding of the frequency, distribution, and mechanisms of earthquakes, and their spatial and temporal patterns. There are more fundamental research problems also: 1) fate of the subducted Farallon slab beneath the Basin and Range; 2) the transition to other tectonic styles at the southern and northern limits (the northern limit, northwest of Reno, is particularly enigmatic); 3) whether there are active metamorphic core complexes within our network (as geologists have proposed) and how they are represented in the seismic record and on geophysical surveys; 4) can one formulate a “master model” that would show how everything works together.

The seismic network, portable seismometers, and GPS programs all provide data that are fundamental to understanding the tectonics in the Basin and Range.

Earthquake Physics and Seismic Hazards research. We seek to advance the general understanding of the physics of earthquakes and their resultant ground motions. Earthquakes are a very complicated physical phenomenon. We seek to understand the physics of source processes through both laboratory experiments, to provide insight, and field observations, which are of course irreplaceable. We also seek to more deeply understand and model the seismic wave field that results from earthquakes, both from the perspective of the scientist seeking to understand the phenomenon and the engineer seeking to translate this understanding into products that are useful for society. Because these processes are universal, we seek to maintain and possibly expand our international research efforts related to these problems.

Our present scope of earthquake physics and seismic hazards research includes studies in Mexico, Japan, Turkey, India, eastern North America, and California as well as Nevada. Indeed, this international scope is exceptionally beneficial for Nevada as there are some aspects of the hazard that are universal at the same time that some aspects are specific to the local region. We seek to maintain, and possibly expand, our international research with a focus on fundamental understanding of seismic hazards, more than on solution of local problems, but with an awareness that solutions to problems elsewhere can help immensely in finding solutions to problems in Nevada. Our present emphasis is on 1) prediction of strong ground motions if a fault identified by a geologist should break, through a thorough understanding and modeling of the physics of every aspect of the problem; 2) understanding site effects and basin effects; 3) understanding the significance of precariously balanced rocks in seismically active areas; 4) understanding the differences in the fundamental physics of earthquake motions in thrust, normal, and strike-slip environments; 5) calibration and testing of probabilistic seismic hazard models; 6) identifying and characterizing crustal fault structures with new seismic imaging techniques; 7) geological and geophysical studies of fault activity at scarp outcrops; and 8) understanding the physics behind the generation and transmission of high frequency seismic energy from the source to the receiver.

The seismic network, strong motion network, portable seismometers, and GPS programs all provide data that are fundamental to understanding the seismic hazards in the Basin and Range.

Neotectonics research. Neotectonics, the study of active faults, is now an essential part of every state-of-the-art seismic hazard analysis. Thus, in order to properly serve the citizens of Nevada, the Seismological Laboratory would like to augment its present personnel with a neotectonic geologist.

When the Seismological Laboratory was founded, the field of neotectonics was barely being formed and its significance for seismic hazards was not fully appreciated. At present, in contrast, it is essential. For instance, recent seismic hazard maps prepared by us and by the U. S. Geological Survey use preliminary estimates of earthquake occurrence rates on active faults based on a first-cut analysis of their activity rates. Nevada has over 500 faults capable of producing magnitude 7 earthquakes. The initial goal is to study those that are most significant to the population centers; this will take several years of research efforts by several people, and become a continuing need to keep up with the growing population. This objective is entirely consistent with the objectives as approved by the Regents. Specifically, neotectonics studies previous earthquakes on active faults, finding their dates and frequencies of recurrence, and thus it is essential for the objective of compiling earthquake activity rates.

Geothermal Energy research. We believe seismic exploration methods will play a critical role in reducing the present high economic risk of the geothermal energy development process. Fundamental advances in understanding the seismic characteristics of geothermal resources are needed to advance this process, and we see our location and capabilities as placing us in an ideal situation to make significant contributions.

The eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountains is a region with numerous hot springs and geothermal resources. Furthermore, the heat-flow high in north-central Nevada represents an enormous source of presently untapped energy. The Steamboat Springs geothermal area south of Reno is a source of small earthquakes. In general, efficient exploitation of geothermal energy requires efficient methods to determine promising areas for development.

Volcanic Hazards research at Mammoth Lakes, California. Advance the understanding of volcanic hazards and seismic phenomena related to volcanic activity.

Our existing seismic instrumentation is significantly more sophisticated than equipment used by the US Geological Survey to monitor this active volcanic area. In particular, volcanic activity elsewhere is known to generate low-frequency signals that are only recorded by high-dynamic-range instruments such as ours. This equips us to make observations that may make significant contributions to understanding the region.

Exploration Seismology. Seismic exploration is often seen as a tool to achieve a wide variety of research ends. In the Seismological Laboratory, we have applied it on all scales from deep-crustal structural sounding to the characterization of fault breaks just several meters deep. We would like to continue to advance the state-of-the-art in seismic exploration, as both a fundamental contribution to the earth sciences, and to extend the range of practical applications of seismic exploration techniques. These theoretical and technological developments will take place in partnership with private industry as well as with support from Federal research grants.

Service Goals. A major reason for the creation and continued support of the Seismological Laboratory within the University of Nevada System is the need of the citizens of Nevada for information on living with the earthquake hazards we all face. We seek to improve the service we offer our citizens in every area. Principal areas of services we provide are: 1) Information about Nevada earthquakes - we need to greatly shorten response time and increase the information that we can provide without compromising the reliability of the data we release; 2) Presentations to schools, civic groups, governmental units, and others on earthquake hazards; 3) Help with instructional and display instrumentation; 4) Answering questions that Nevadan’s care about. Considering the present level of interest in Nevada, we believe we could keep two full-time persons occupied in this area alone: one in northern Nevada and one in Las Vegas.

Objectives.

To accomplish the goals described above, we have identified several realizable objectives.

Endowments: To properly fund the instrumentation program, we believe the best procedure is to capitalize the cost of maintenance and normal operation at the same time the equipment is purchased. Our estimate is that a contribution to an endowment fund, dedicated to equipment maintenance and operation, of an amount equal to the cost of the equipment is about right to pay for maintenance and operation, over the indefinite future. We also need an endowment for discretionary use. We often invite speakers and have no procedure to pay for their meals, for instance, and development of an endowment would provide for this present shortcoming.

Technicians. All of the instrumentation projects described above require both engineering and technician capabilities. While the engineering is provided by Wally Nicks with state support, the technicians must always be kept on a tenuous, year-to-year basis due to the nature of Federal funding. Recognizing the uncertainties of Federal funding, which are growing over time due to the present, appropriate determination to balance the budget, our success would be much more assured with the addition of a state-funded technician. A sufficient endowment would be an alternative, but even if that is provided for all new equipment continued maintenance of the existing seismic network would not be assured.

Neotectonic Seismologist. As described above, neotectonics is now essential for the mission of the Seismological Laboratory, and we seek at least the 50% appointment of a Ph.D. level person (specifically, Steve Wesnousky) within the lab to fulfill that objective.

Safety Net for Research Faculty. Research faculty, including research professors of all ranks (assistant, associate, full) and administrative faculty who have served UNR successfully over several years, and who have been essential to the successful winning and completion of research contracts, deserve some level of economic security in the event of temporary interruption of their research funding. At present this is done informally within the Seismological Laboratory, but these scientists benefit the entire UNR system and ought to have some commitment from higher levels consistent with the assurances they receive at other major research universities.

Research Assistants. The Seismo Lab could efficiently use two RA’s to fulfill its mission to the citizens of Nevada in locating and studying regional earthquakes.

Better data management. Additional resources are needed to make our large volumes of seismic data more easily accessible to our own researchers and to prepare that data for submittal to the IRIS archive, which could then handle further data distribution. Continue our leadership in development of the EARTHWORM system, a partnership with the USGS that will guarantee real-time data exchange and interoperability with other seismic networks in the western U. S.

Obtain sufficient resources. Our present capabilities and the fields of science we presently service extend significantly beyond our present primary sources of funds. We need to explore the ways our objectives can be meshed with objectives of other funding sources including: the environmental and engineering industries, NASA, the U. S. Departments of Energy and Education, AFOSR, NOSR, COE, Sierra Pacific, PG&E, and other utilities, Union Pacific and other railroads, media and insurance industries, and Nevada state agencies. We should seek to take maximum advantage of the Nevada matching fund pool in the purchase of equipment.

Obtain sufficient space. Our most significant space needs at the present time are for a large work space that can be used for equipment construction and fabrication and staging for field deployment, for consolidation of some widely scattered offices so that the people in those offices are less isolated, office space for visiting scientists, and office space for anticipated increases in graduate geophysics student enrollments.

Join Regional Efforts. We are presently active in the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) and the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center (PEER). A regional effort focused on the Basin and Range province would be justified by the scientific objectives and by the national perceptions of the seismic hazards of the citizens living within the region.

Undergraduate Education. We would like to more effectively involve undergraduate students in the research we carry out. Undergraduate honors students could find abundant topics for their senior thesis among the scientists in the Seismo Lab, and could at the same time contribute significantly to the goals of the lab.

Graduate Education. We see a sufficient job market for students with an MS in Seismology to justify a significant increase in our enrollment at that level. As with undergraduate students, M.S. students could find abundant topics for their senior thesis among the scientists in the Seismo Lab, and could at the same time contribute significantly to the goals of the lab. At present, enrollments in the Geophysics M.S. program are constrained by limits to State-funded assistantships and of external research funds. There is no shortage of qualified applicants to the degree program.

Reach out to more members of the community. Specifically, the Seismological Laboratory needs to reach out more to the environmental and engineering industries.