Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Publication Date

Summer 7-15-2018

Abstract

The southern Albuquerque basin is a complex area of high extension, multiple orogenies, and ongoing uplift from a midcrustal magma body in which geophysical coverage is sparse. In this thesis, I capitalize on recent innovations in dense-array processing techniques to create virtual source reflection profiles from five teleseismic events during the deployment of the Sevilleta array. The Sevilleta array consisted of ~800 vertical component nodes with ~300 m spacing deployed for 10 days in February of 2015. Virtual source reflection profiles are created by using the free surface of the earth as a virtual seismic source, yielding profiles that mimic active source seismic surveys. From the seventeen virtual source reflection profiles created, I am able to resolve mapped and buried geologic structures throughout much of the southern Albuquerque and northern Socorro basins. Furthermore, I present a unique case of teleseismic P-wave to Rayleigh wave conversion, which is a dominating feature along the western margin of the two basins. The dense instrument spacing makes it possible to detect these arrivals, which likely occur due to the strong impedance contrast between the rift basin sediments and bounding basement-cored fault blocks.

Degree Name

Earth and Planetary Sciences

Level of Degree

Masters

Department Name

Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences

First Committee Member (Chair)

Lindsay Lowe Worthington

Second Committee Member

Brandon Schmandt

Third Committee Member

Mousumi Roy

Language

English

Keywords

teleseismic imaging, passive array, subsurface imaging, seismology

Document Type

Thesis

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