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SAGE 1999
From Portland, Maine, to San Diego, California,
a group of 23 undergraduate and graduate students representing 20 institutions
from the United States,
Mexico, and Ireland attended SAGE 1999. After the lecture
program, students worked on two separate but related projects.
The first was a
continuation of work begun last year involving imaging of subsurface
sedimentary units and buried faults in the Rio Grande rift near Santa
Fe, New Mexico. New data from 1999 were integrated with data from 1998,
providing students with the opportunity to merge their data into a
broader picture. The techniques used for this project were seismic
refraction/
reflection (using a Vibroseis source), gravity, and electromagnetics
methods. This project was undertaken in coordination with the
New Mexico Office of the State Engineer and the Santa Fe County hydrologist.
The research goal, in part, was to help constrain hydrologic models
in
the water-starved and rapidly developing area south of Santa Fe. Students,
many of whom have an interest in hydrological applications in geophysics,
acquired experience with an important applied problem.
Secondly, a small-scale survey, using seismic refraction, ground-penetrating
radar, total-field magnetics, and electrical resistivity was undertaken
to study a buried and capped waste-disposal trench at the Los Alamos
National Laboratory. This study completed a project on which SAGE worked
several years previously. Preliminary results were provided to the
Environmental Restoration project at Los Alamos, which is actively
investigating this
site for possible remediation. The SAGE investigation helped established
the feasibility of using  geophysical techniques for environmental applications,
providing students with experience in a field in which many are likely
to be employed. As in previous years, many of the SAGE students declared
an interest in environmental geophysics.
Prof. John Ferguson of the University of
Texas, Dallas (center), one of the SAGE faculty, and students
from SAGE 1998
install geophones at a Materials Disposal Area at the Los Alamos
National Laboratory. The geophones (objects with spikes attached to cables)
receive seismic signal generated by a slide-hammer seismic source and
transmit the signals to a computer located nearby. Initial data
processing occurs on site. Geophones were inserted through a
paved surface, which required chopping small holes through the pavement
using a pickaxe. The plank (not standard equipment) was used
to drive the geophones into the ground. Although the site was
surveyed for radioactivity and found safe before work began, booties
and gloves were required as an added precaution against contamination. A
radiation Technician was present on site at all times during the field
work, and monitored for radioactivity. SAGE has found that
seismic refraction techniques are extremely useful for locating buried
waste
trenches and for precisely determining the dimensions and cap thicknesses Students
Attending SAGE 1999 |
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