Sin-Mei Wu - FIELDWORK

As a Geophysics Ph.D. student at the University of Utah, I was lucky to have the first-hand experience on seismic data acquisition in the field for my own doctoral research. It was an extremely rewarding opportunity that we can better understand the natural systems using our own data collected onsite!

Field experiments are hard (experienced temperatures from -27 to 40 degrees C; -17 to 105 degrees F), but each of them is definitely an unique and memorable experience, not to mention the fantastic scenery that can only be seen from the fields!

SEISMIC NODES

The seismic instrument (node) is a three-component ground velocity recorder (right). The node is portable, handy, and very versatile. So that it allows quick and dense campaign-style array deployments, which enable high spatiotemporal resolution studies. In addition, as the installation is environmentally-friendly (simply sitting on the ground of spike-in the soil), it creates opportunities on studying the protective areas. Below I introduce a few deployments that were within distinct environments and had different targets of interest.

UPPER GEYSER BASIN, YELLOWSTONE

Including the iconic Old Faithful Geyser, Upper Geyser Basin (UGB) in Yellowstone hosts the highest concentration of hydrothermal systems (geysers, springs, fumaroles) in the world. Resulting from the heat and pressure built-up beneath the surface, hydrothermal features are extremely dynamic and the high boiling temperature at the surface (~93 degrees C) is hazardous to human/wildlife.

To understand the nature of the hydrothermal systems, the University of Utah in collaboration with Yellowstone National Park Service to conduct a series of deployments (normally) after the park closure in November. Same as (or more strict than) the tourists, we had extra precaution about the wearing and the protocol during the fieldwork. Every place we went in the park was assisted or accompanied by a Park associate, to make sure we finish the work safely and successfully within the extreme environment.

Yellowstone's weather in winter is very unpredictable. Cold temperature and snow storm are the classic starters, stuck truck is something unwelcome, and the buried (white) nodes by (white) snow will definitely cost you hours of digging. Despite that, it is truly heaven to place yourself within a steaming but white-covered surrounding (and tons of geyser eruptions!).

HENGILL, ICELAND

Iceland, this nordic country is no stranger to high-temperature geothermal resources from the ubiquitous magmatic sources. In Hengill, SW Iceland, the geothermal energy has been harnessed since the 1990s, providing the heated water and electricity for the majority of the energy needs. The Hengill geothermal field in Iceland is the next target site under the Iceland Deep Drilling Project (IDDP, https://iddp.is), whose aim is to find deep geothermal resources that meet supercritical conditions. To understand the details of subsurface structure, seismic field experiments led by ETH Zurich, GFZ, and NORSAR employed a 500-node dense array, a ~45 station densified backbone siesmic network, and two tens-of-kilometers-long fiber optic cables in Hengill.

The nature in Iceland is beyond beauty. The prominent divergence of the plate tectonics interacting with glaciers and volcanoes has built incredible landscapes across the entire country. What's more? During our field campaign in summer of 2021, we were able to catch up the active Fagradalsfjall volcano eruption! The red-orange-ish glow mapped in the mid-night sky was unforgettable!

Interested in the project? Check it out here: https://doi.org/10.1785/0220220073

Do you know our dense array captured shock waves from meteoroid ablation? Check this out! https://doi.org/10.1785/0220220236

CASCADIA, OREGON

To be added.

RIDGECREST, CALIFORNIA

To be added.

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