Geophysics and Seismology:
Projects

Monitoring Nuclear Weapons Treaties: Evaluation of Key Technologies

A range of treaties and agreements limit nuclear testing. But not all countries follow the rules. How can we keep track of what the "bad guys" are up to? Nuclear test monitoring.

Nuclear test monitoring technologies fall into four general groups: geophysical, ground-based visual, overflight, and radiological. We are evaluating technologies in each group to fully understand their capabilities and relevance to specific monitoring needs. This activity will distill decades of experience with nuclear test monitoring and provide key insight into specific technologies' strengths and weaknesses.

Getting You More Gasoline: Microhole Drilling and Instrumentation Technology

No one really wants to tear up the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge in search of oil. But the U.S. appetite for gas and oil grows larger every year. New petroleum sources are needed, but current drilling techniques are costly and environmentally destructive.

We are exploring microhole drilling as a less expensive, less destructive way to search for oil and collect other supsurface information. In related work, we are making and testing seismic sensors that can be placed in microholes. We are also investigating shallow oil production through microholes.

Finding the Fuels: Seismic Imaging

We develop and improve seismic imaging techniques that help us see below the earth's surface. Simple, quick, ray-based imaging has been the imaging tool of choice for many years. We are improving ray-based methods and developing new wave-based methods that provide richer, more accurate images of supsurface structure and properties.

Seismic images from a conventional ray-based imaging method (Fig. 1A, top), and from a new wave-based imaging method (Fig. 1B, bottom). The image produced using the wave-based method more accurately shows the shape and positions of two boundaries of a salt body.

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Keeping an Eye on Earthquakes: Geological Elements of the Lab's Seismic Hazards Program

Fault lines criss-cross much of the U.S., posing a silent but menacing threat: earthquakes. Caused by fault-line movement, earthquakes can inflict significant damage on apartments, homes, business, and DOE labs.

To evaluate the potential for fault-line movement, our team of geologists conducts detailed site-specific investigations at DOE nuclear facilities. For most facilities, our goal is to identify faults with as little as 30 cm of vertical displacement in the last million years. We have developed a method of field-data acquisition and analysis called "high-precision geologic mapping" that helps us identify these faults.

Fig. 1. Shaded relief map with detail of Rio Grande rift boundary faults (red) and outline of Los Alamos National Laboratory (blue). (Inset) Seismic Hazards Team geologists examine a fault exposed in a 5-m-deep paleoseismic trench

Developing Earthquake-Proof Buildings: Nonlinear Elastic Wave Studies

A bell will ring when you strike it. In similar fashion, a sediment layer on the earth's surface will "ring" during an earthquake. But what happens to the buildings sitting on that sediment layer?

To answer this question and address larger issues in stockpile stewardship, we are studying the dynamic nonlinear elasticity of earth materials. Merging geophysics and materials science, we seek to understand the elastic behavior of rocks and related materials (such as building materials) and predict their behavior under stress states (such as earthquakes).