ARCHIVE - EES Division Highlights/Accomplishments 2003

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September 29, 2004

LANL Becomes Member of UNAVCO, Inc.
Los Alamos National Laboratory, through the Institute of Geoplanetary and Planetary Physics (IGPP) sponsorship, became a full member of UNAVCO, Inc. on September 17, 2004.  UNAVCO is a non-profit membership-governed organization that supports and promotes Earth Science by advancing high-precision geodetic and strain techniques, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR).  To member institutions, UNAVCO is helpful through logistic and instrument support for GPS-geodetic projects as well as act as a data resource and archive.  They maintain a large pool of high-resolution GPS equipment for such projects, offer support of field engineers, and have staff available for proposal preparation.  They act as a GPS data resource and archive and supply software support for quality checking and initial processing of data.  They additionally supply scientific products including global GPS velocities, strain fields and geoid calculations useful for a wide range of projects.  Andrew Newman of Earth and Environmental Sciences Division (EES-9) will serve as the initial UNAVCO representative for Los Alamos.

EESf Sussman Participates in IGAT Program in Support of DTRA
During the week of September 20, 2004, Aviva Sussman of the Hydrology, Geochemistry, and Geology Group (EES-6) at Los Alamos National Laboratory, participated in an effort to collect ground truth information about the Grants Bombing sites by performing geotechnical characterization and other field collections such as spectrometry, thermal analysis, schmidt hammer testing and fracture analysis.  The site was used for a series of weapons penetration tests in the early 1950's.

The effort was part of the Interagency Geotechnical Assessment Team (IGAT) program to support the Defense Threat Reduction Agency's (DTRA) Hard Target Research and Analysis Center (HTRAC).  Other participants included geologists from Sandia National Laboratories, as well as DTRA contractor personnel from Applied Research Associates.  Sussman is working with the EES-11 Geodynamics and National Security team on the Test Readiness Program, as well as the hard target defeat effort.

EESf Geodynamics Team Participates in Test Readiness Program
On September 20 through 21, Chris Bradley from the EES-11 Geodynamics Team traveled to the Nevada Test Site to attend a planning meeting for the Sub-critical Experiments Krakatau and Unicorn.  Both of these experiments will involve the exposure of plutonium to explosively generated shock waves in order to determine the equation of state (EOS) for plutonium.  Additional meetings were held to assess the progress in establishing the EOS for nuclear test stemming materials for the Test Readiness program.

NWTRB Tours Yucca Mountain Repository
Bruce Reinert of the Earth and Environmental Sciences Division hosted nine representatives of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB) on September 22, 2004, on a tour of the Yucca Mountain Repository. The NWTRB is an independent agency of the U.S. Government and its sole purpose is to provide independent scientific and technical oversight of the U.S. program for management and disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel from civilian nuclear power plants. Tours at Yucca Mountain are given in an alcove approximately 160 meters underground and include a briefing on the repository layout, an overview of geology, and results of testing activities.

September 22, 2004

EES Division Scientist, Hans Ziock, Awarded Patent
Los Alamos scientists Klaus S. Lackner, and Hans Ziock of Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES-6), and Douglas P. Harrison from Baton Rouge, LA, were issued U.S. Patent 6,790,430on September 14, 2004 for Hydrogen Production from Carbonaceous Material. This invention relates to methods and apparatus for generation of electricity from carbon containing fuels. More specifically, the present invention relates to hydrogen production and related energy production by gasification of coal.

EESf Charlotte Rowe Awarded AGU Refereeing Citation
Charlotte Rowe of the Geophysics Group (EES-11) at Los Alamos National Laboratory was recently given an "Editors' Citation for Excellence in Refereeing: 2002" by the Geophysical Research Letters. She was commended for consistently providing constructive and thoughtful reviews for the peer-reviewed journal. In addition to reviewing papers for several journals, Rowe is an Associate Editor for the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. She is also a guest Editor for a special issue of the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America on the Denali fault earthquake that occurred in Alaska in 2002. This issue, which will contain papers about many geophysical, geological, and engineering aspects of this large earthquake, will be published in early 2005.

Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES) Scientists Participate in EarthScope Workshop
Los Alamos National Laboratoryfs Andy Newman (EES-9), David Coblentz (EES-11), W. Scott Baldridge (EES-11), and Michael Fehler (EES-11) attended the Rocky Mountain EarthScope workshop held at Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge and Long Term Ecological Research Facility, Socorro County, New Mexico on September 15-18, 2004. The workshop was sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to assess the research that can be conducted in the Rocky Mountain region as part of the $250 million Major Research Equipment effort that is being funded by NSF. More than 40 participants from several universities and laboratories attended the workshop. David Coblentz made a presentation about geodynamic modeling and relating statistics of topography to underlying geology. Andy Newman spoke on geodetic monitoring, including monitoring a magma body that has been located beneath central New Mexico, referred to as the Socorro Magma Body. Scott Baldridge gave a talk about work done by the Summer of Applied Geophysical Experience program in Northern New Mexico. Also included in the workshop were presentations by Sandia researchers about how DOE Laboratories can participate in EarthScope. Andy Newman made a presentation about how Los Alamos could be involved in the effort.

September 15, 2004

EES Conducts Experiments to Help Determine Cause of NASAfs Genesis Capsule Crash
Dr. Doug ReVelle with field technicians Tom Sandoval and Mel Garcia of the Atmospheric, Climate, and Environmental Dynamics Group in EES Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory, fielded an infrasound array in Wendover, Nevada on the morning of September 8, 2004.  The experiment was conducted at Wendover Airport where the Enola Gay loaded the LANL "Fat Boy" to be launched against Japan in 1945. They successfully detected infrasound from the entry of the NASA Genesis capsule that crashed into Dugway Proving Grounds without opening its two sets of parachutes.  The excellent infrasound data may help play a role in determining what happened during the entry after three years in space detecting solar flare tracks. Preliminary data indicated a wavetrain lasting about two minutes with 10-20 Pa amplitudes (Newtons/m^2) with dominant frequencies of 1-10 Hz. The signal started with a very impulsive event from the decay of the entry bow shock wave (traveling at Mach 18-30 or entry speeds from 6-11 km/s) after traveling from some 60 km altitude to the ground with reverberations and signals from other altitudes as well.

Rowe Published in Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research
Charlotte Rowe of the Geophysics Group in the Earth and Environmental Sciences Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory, recently published a paper titled "Dome Growth Behavior at Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat, Revealed by Relocation of Volcanic Swarm Events, 1995-1996" in the Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal research. In the paper, Rowe and her collaborators apply a new approach for reliably locating earthquakes to the Soufriere Hills volcano. They provide new results showing the events occur in a very small depth range, contrary to earlier conclusions. They deduce that their results lend support to a dynamic model of cyclic plug extrusion in the conduit that feeds magma to the surface of the volcano.

Fehler Serves as Member of Departmental Review Committee for NMSU
Michael Fehler, Group Leader for EES-11 at Los Alamos National Laboratory, participated as a member of the Departmental Review Committee for the Physics Department of New Mexico State University. The committee met on September 9-10 in Las Cruces, NM and heard presentations by members of the department who are working in the areas of nuclear physics, materials science, and geophysics. They also met with the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Associate Dean of the College of Business, the Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Vice Provost for Research to discuss committee findings about the department and to make recommendations. Also participating from Los Alamos was Alan Hurd from LANSCE.  Fehler has served on this committee for three years.

EES Team Participates in Clathrates Study
Los Alamos National Laboratory is conducting a $4 Million, three-year project examining clathrates. These cage-like structures formed from water molecules are being studied as a potential energy source that could address global warming issues. A standard estimate is that the energy contained in methane hydrates is about twice as much as all other gas, oil, and coal combined. Under a combination of high pressure and low temperature, clathrates trap gas molecules of methane in permafrost and on the floor of the ocean along continental shelves. EES-6 scientists, Rajesh Pawar, Ionnis Tsimpanogiannis, Qinjun Kang, Peter Lichtner, and George Zyvoloski are participating in a second thrust, led by Don Hickmott of the Earth and Environmental Sciences Division and Lawrence Pratt of the Theoretical Division, the data from neutron diffraction of the molecules is used as parameters to understand how methane hydrates can be stabilized and transported under the natural conditions of the ocean floor.  The Los Alamos Monitor recently featured an article on the study in the September 7, 2004 issue titled gFire and Ice: LANLfs Quest for Energy.

September 1, 2004

EES Hosts Workshop on Arid and Semiarid Ecohydrology
On June 29th and 30th, Brent Newman (EES-2) led a workshop on the Ecohydrology of Arid and Semiarid Environments in Albuquerque.  The workshop was funded by the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Sciences, Inc. (CUAHSI), which was established by the National Science Foundation as a way of redefining hydrological research in the U.S.  One of the main goals of CUAHSI is the development of large, river basin scale, hydrological observatories.  For example, the Rio Grande is being proposed as one of the observatories.  The goal of the Albuquerque workshop was to discuss the importance of ecohydrology relative to current water supply and water quality problems, and the role of ecohydrology in future hydrologic research.  A "vision" paper about the importance of an ecohydrological perspective in arid and semiarid environments is being written by the workshop participants.  Five ecologists and five hydrologists from various universities and Los Alamos were involved with the workshop and vision paper.  EES participants also included Dave Breshears and Nate McDowell.  Fourteen CUAHSI Vision papers will be published and each paper will focus on a specific aspect of hydrological research.  The papers are intended to help direct U.S. hydrologic research priorities for the coming decade. The vision papers are scheduled for publication in 2005.  There will also be a series of web seminars (including one on arid & semiarid ecohydrology) this fall.

EES Hosts Workshop on Community Finite Element Models (CFEM) for Fault Systems and Tectonic Studies at LANL
On August 16-18, Carl Gable of Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES) Division hosted the third Annual CFEM workshop.  It was the second to be held at Los Alamos and was attended by thirty researchers from universities, national laboratories and government agencies.  The workshop, which is sponsored by the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC), NASA, and LANLfs Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP), served as a venue to discuss progress in numerical modeling of lithospheric deformation, benchmarking existing codes, and defining the challenges that need to be met for future software development.  Particular attention was placed on issues associated with meshing of complex domains, computational frameworks, solution methods well adapted to MPI environments, and to the definition of rigorous benchmarks.  Daily activities were partitioned between formal presentations/discussions and informal time for hands-on tinkering with algorithms. Activities included presentations by John Shaw, Harvard Univ. on the state of the Community Fault Block Model (CBM) for Southern California, tutorials on the GeoFEST (Geophysical Finite Element Simulation Tool) by Jay Parker, JPL and Greg Lyzenga, Harvey Mudd, and a tutorial on Lithomop by Charles Williams, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Brad Hager, MIT, lead the benchmarking activities. Gable presented tutorials in the use of LaGriT for mesh generation. LaGriT has been adopted by the SCEC community as the tool for meshing the Southern California CBM.

During a wrap-up session, feedback from participants indicated that they would like to have another workshop at LANL next year and they would like to extend the workshop from three days to five days. This was taken as a vote of confidence from the community that the workshop was a success.

British Parliament tours Yucca Mountain Repository
On August 24th, Bruce Reinert of EES Division hosted four representatives from the British Parliament as well as two Nirex representatives on a tour of the Yucca Mountain Repository site.  Nirex is a company working to develop safe and environmentally responsible solutions for the management of radioactive waste in the United Kingdom.  They were given a briefing of the repository layout and experiments in a special excavation approximately 160 meters underground.  The briefing included an overview of geology and results of testing activities.

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