Liam Kenefic

December 16th, 2017

AGU has finally arrived (and at this point gone). I had been looking forward to AGU for months now. It was an opportunity to share my work, and see my fellow interns again, most of which I hadn’t seen since May when the internship orientation ended. I had spent many hours working on my poster. Unfortunately, most of these hours were very last minute and during my finals, so that was a cause for stress. But I got everything done in the nick of time. At UNH we can present our poster before AGU and receive comments and feedback on it so we can make improvements. This is held on Thursday. I needed my final draft printed on Friday. Although there were not too many edits from the review, it was still a cause for slight anxiety. Luckily I got everything finished on time and was ready to go Saturday morning.

I got to New Orleans a day earlier than most of the people. My flight left at 05:30 on Saturday so I didn’t sleep the night before, because of this I was probably a zombie all day in New Orleans, but that’s ok. Although I spent a good amount of time wandering around New Orleans, I stayed relatively close to the hotel and didn't do much outside of eating dinner. I stayed in the hotel the other interns were going to be in for the night because I didn’t want to have to go through the trouble of moving all my stuff around. Turns out that this hotel was fancy, like super fancy. At least for me. It had a huge Christmas tree in the lobby which was massive and super nice. There is a ballroom somewhere in the hotel, as well as a gym (Sadly I did not use either). Anyways, I spent the first night on the 25th floor. My window looked over the city, so I got a very impressive view, one that I was very happy with.

The next day I packed everything up and brought it downstairs for holding so that I could check in with it but not be forced to carry it around all day. I then met up with Claire who was actually here the same night I was! We wandered around and went to Café du Monde. Had a little money issue but it was all resolved. We then met up with Jimmy, another intern who had arrived. We wandered around a bit more, got lunch. At this point in time, and forward, I only vaguely remember who I was with and what I was doing. A group of us went to the conference center with Alumni Mentor Brady. Here I got my lanyards and we explored the conference center a bit. 

  

After this, we headed back to the hotel and I am pretty sure met up with some more IRIS interns and meandered around the city, looking for a place to eat. This meal was probably the last large meal I had in New Orleans until Wednesday night.

"Success is where preparation and opportunity meet" -Bobby Unser

Photo 1: View out of the hotel room

Photo 2: Inside the Conference Center

Photo 3: Outside the Convention Center

July 27th, 2017

This week represents my last week of running codes and data manipulation. Following this, I will focus my attention toward making images and maps for the AGU presentation. My hope is to have the majority of these done before I leave as well as have an idea of how the poster will look. I figured that it would be easiest to complete this while still with my advisor and mentor. 

Anyhoozers, let's do a little reflecting yeah? This has been a very unique experience. Although I have done a lot of research before, never have I participated in research so dedicated to seismology. My two closest related research experiences were in relation to shear zones and to glacial motion. However, there are similarities between all three. They solely involved computer work, at least on my end. Which is kind of a bummer. As much as I love geology and its related fields of geophysics and seismology, I love being in the field. I admit that sitting in front of a computer for 8-11 hours a day got old fast and made me antsy. Although I am extremely interested in the outcome of the study and find the motivation for it to be important, I do wish it included more fieldwork. 

This doesn’t mean that my time at NMT working on my project wasn’t enjoyable or constructive for my life. As mentioned, I am really interested in the project. I have learned more about seismology and geophysics than I have in my past three years of college! (Like, what?) It has also introduced me to a project and research focus that I am genuinely interested in. My time here has also made me realize how much I value fieldwork. So even though the project I was working on might not have been the perfect thing for me, I learned a lot about a research field, about myself, and about why my aspirations are really becoming. The internship itself has introduced me to an amazing group of people. This not only includes my advisor and mentor, but also other grad students and of course my fellow interns. I do wish I had gotten to spend more time with the other interns. I count myself lucky to be close enough to the other New Mexico placed interns to have been able to spend a weekend with them, at the Grand Canyon non-the-less. It was then that I learned a lot more about them than I did during orientation. I look forward to my meeting with them at AGU.

This internship might have taught me more about myself than anything else. Don’t get me wrong, I like seismology and the research that can be done within it, but my time here brought into focus how heavy seismology is with coding and computer time, two things which, in all reality, are things I don’t want to do for the rest of my career. The internship brought back my desire for fieldwork, and my curiosity for geomorphology. It reminded me that my two favorite geology classes were Structural Geology and Geomorphology. And it made me think back to the research I have done with fieldwork and how much I enjoyed it, in relation to the earth sciences or not. 

I admit I have never taken a class in seismology nor geophysics. This was my first introduction to it. For over 4 years I have wanted to be involved in geophysics or seismology, yet this was the first time experiencing such subjects. Thus, I am ever thankful to IRIS and my advisor Sue Bilek and mentor Emily Morton for introducing me to the subject with an amazing research project. I am also thankful for the other IRIS interns for helping me out with definitions and such, and for making orientation as enjoyable as it was. I have gained incredible insight about my future and I have acquired numerous people I can go to for questions about not only seismology, but also about a career in the earth sciences, and the ins and outs of graduate school. Just with my time in New Zealand, this is an experience I will never forget. 

 

"The most important lessons a person can learn are who they are, and where they want to go. And these are almost always changing."

July 25th, 2017

There are many places in the world I wish to go. But there are none that I have wanted to go to longer than the Grand Canyon. Before I even knew the fields of geophysics or seismology existed, and even before I was interested in the sciences as a career, it has been a dream, and goal, of mine to get to the Grand Canyon. After maybe 15 years of waiting, my dream has finally become a reality. With fellow IRIS interns Claire Doody, Jimmy Atterholt, and Jonah Bartrand, I was able to see the Grand Canyon. As much as I wish I could take credit for the idea, this was an idea brought up by Claire as a birthday thing for her. All of the New Mexico interns were close enough together to allow us the opportunity to get to the Grand Canyon. And I think we all jumped on the idea pretty fast. 

Let's start on Friday. On Friday, we IRIS interns were given a tour of ASL and some of the research there. We also got to participate in a BBQ, which was quite nice as its free food! Our day was earlier delayed slightly by an unexploded artillery shell found in the road blocking our path, but that was taken care of in maybe an hour. After our tour and BBQ the four of us headed up Northwest to a campground we were staying at for the night. I always enjoy camping so it was a nice change from my bed in Socorro. 

We got up around 4:45 to pack up our gear and head to the Grand Canyon to see the sunrise. This was as epic and majestic as it sounds. 

 

We then started our trek downward (but not without some amusing interactions between Jonah and an Elk)

We were planning to hike down from the top of the South Kaibab Trail to Skeleton Point, which is 3 miles in traveled distance, including a 2000 foot elevation drop. Although it was steep at times, the majority of this hike was switchbacks and long slow descending trails. On our way down we met some other hikers and walked with them for a little bit before splitting off and moving on ahead. 

We soon got to Skeleton Point with relative ease. It was only about 0930 when we reached the point so we decided to keep going. I mean, that's never a bad idea right? Keep hiking down into the Grand Canyon on a hot day with no clouds and no water stations on the current trail. (LOL). So on we trekked, further into the canyon. Along the way, we reached an area of dense switchbacks. Although the back and forth is not the most interesting thing to walk on, it was made interesting by the two teams of mules that passed us.

After the mules went by we continued on our way and onto the river terrace or bench or whatever you wanna call that big flat area. We hiked along here for a short while until we reached a place called the Tip Off, which we subsequently forgot the name of and called it a number of names ranging from "The Tipping Point" to "Top off". The Tip off is 4.4 miles from the rim and below it by almost 3,300 feet. There was some shade here so we stopped there for a short while to rest.

We discussed what to do next. We were probably close to moving back up the mountain when I spotted an area we had seen on the rim (I take the blame for this next part). I, for some reason, convinced the group to continue downward to the location, a point that overlooked the Colorado river. So on we went, further down into the canyon for about half a mile. After only maybe 10 minutes we got to the overlook where we enjoyed the view for maybe 15-20 minutes, while taking lots of photos. 

  

We then started hiking up the canyon. This was harder than I had thought. We stopped once before getting back up to the Tip Off. We decided to eat lunch here and remained there for 45 minutes or so. At this point in time, we realized we had a slight issue. It was the hottest part of the day and a few of us were low on water. We decided as a group we couldn't make it back up the South Kaibab Trail with the amount of water we had. The option that remained was to walk along Tonto Trail and then up the Bright Angel Trail. The Tonto Trail moves along a terrace for about 4.6 miles before getting to Indian Garden, a small campground with a nice little stream and Ranger Station. This section of the trail was the most grueling. We were in high heat and had almost no shade. The water we had left began to dwindle to a point where rationing took place. With a potential for dehydration and exhaustion, it was important to get to the Indian Garden campground soon. Obviously, we all made it there. And we had some amazing views along the way.

  

But it certainly wasn't easy...

At the Indian Garden Campground, after many hours on the Tonto Trail, we refilled our water and rested for a little over an hour. The stream at the camp ground was a lovely place to sit in, or roll in as I did (made sure every part of my body and clothes were soaked). After helping a family we took off again this time with the sun set within the canyon walls.

With no direct sunlight, things in the heat and water area were much better and easier, however, this next part of the hike was all uphill at a decent steepness... for 4.8 miles. There was an elevation difference of 3000 feet from the rim to where we were at the Indian Garden Campground. 

So up we went! As we went up we saw many impressive views. Not only of deeper in the canyon but of the impressive canyon walls we were hiking next to.

  

I appreciated every stop we made on the way up, for a few reasons: 1) I got take a breather and recollect myself. 2) Because I got to look out over the canyon and just kinda bask in its epicness. Each stop slowly transitioned from sitting down to laying down in the dirt.

 

From here on out, we slowly made our way to the top of the canyon. It soon became dark, so Jonah and I turned on our head torches. We continued on like this until we reached the top of the canyon. We did stop a few times to enjoy the stars and the milky way. It's not every day you can see the milky way so clearly, so we took advantage of that.

Once reaching the top of the canyon, I laid down on a bench. My legs were shaking from exhaustion. We were told we could get a ride from a Park Ranger we passed earlier, but we managed to snag one of the last buses that took us back to where we had parked the car. Unfortunately, I left my head torch at the bus station, so to whoever finds that kinda expensive black diamond headtorch, you're welcome.

Overall we walked just under 15 miles in the Grand Canyon. We entered the canyon at around 0800 and left it at around 2130. It was possibly the most memorable and best 13 and a half hours of my life. As the title says: I lived a dream.

"In every walk in nature one receives more than he seeks" -John Muir (American-Scottish Author)

 

Image 1: Sunrise over the Grand Canyon

Image 2: Looking northwest over the Grand Canyon at sunrise

Image 3: Jonah and an Elk competing over water

Image 4: Hiking down the South Kaibab Trail with our new friends

Image 5: Pack mules pass us on our way down to the terrace

Image 6: View from the Tip Off

Image 7: Me "hanging" off the edge of a "cliff" overlooking the Colorado river

Image 8: Jimmy, myself, and Jonah (left to right) with the Grand Canyon and Colorado river behind us

Image 9: Claire, myself, and Jonah (left to right) with the Grand Canyon and Colorado river behind us

Image 10: Looking at the canyon wall along the Tonto Trail

Image 11: Looking into a smaller section of the canyon along the Tonto Trail

Image 12: Looking over the terrace into the center of the Grand Canyon along the Tonto Trail

Image 13: Claire and I not doing so good after our Tonto crossing

Image 14: The sun setting at the Indian Garden Campground

Image 15: Looking into the canyon a bit onto the Bright Angel Trail, just above the Indian Garden Campground

Image 16: Looking into the canyon from about 1.5 miles up the Bright Angel Trail from the Indian Garden Campground

Image 17: Looking up the canyon wall along the Bright Angel Trail

Image 18: Resting along the Bright Angel Trail (before we started laying down instead of sitting)

Image 19: Using the headtorch to walk along the trail in the dark

(Image creds to Claire Doody for images 8 and 9)

July 19th, 2017

My time at New Mexico Tech (NMT) is slowly starting to shorten. I have written the amount of days left on my board and each day it gets smaller. I honestly should get rid of it as its starting to give me anxiety about where I am in the project...

The number of days left for me to be at NMT is not the only thing that is running down. On August 2nd the AGU abstract is due. With only 14 days left until the AGU abstract is due, I have begun writing it. My first attempt pretty much got torn to shreds... rip. However, this is why we have first attempts! I hope to use the feedback that I got on the first draft to write a much improved second draft. I also need to add a title. Ill think of something eventually. I plan on submitting the abstract well before its due date as apparently that's when most of the abstracts are submitted and the AGU website can become slow. I have heard "horror stories" of students trying to turn it in the day its due and either just barely getting it in on time or missing it because the website was so slow or crashed. I don't want to miss the opportunity to hand mine in. 

Below is the current draft of my Abstract

 

Understanding plate boundaries is an important objective in seismology and geophysics.  Knowledge of plate interface conditions can increase our understanding of potential great earthquake behavior It is well known that subduction zones create the largest earthquakes in the world, like the 9.5 magnitude Valdivia earthquake in 1960, or the more recent 9.1 magnitude Tōhoku earthquake in 2011, both of which are in the top five largest earthquakes ever recorded. However, off the coast of the Pacific Norwest region of the U.S., the Cascadia subduction zone (CSZ) is relatively quiet and modern instruments have never recorded earthquakes of this size.

The last great CSZ earthquake, a magnitude 8.7-9.2, occurred in 1700 and is constrained by written reports of the resultant tsunami in Japan and dating drowned forests in America.  Previous studies have suggested that the plate is most likely segmented along-strike, however, variations in frictional conditions in the CSZ fault zone are not well known. Geodetic modeling indicates that the locked seismogenic zone is likely completely offshore, which may be too far from land seismometers to adequately detect related seismicity. Ocean bottom seismometers, as part of the Cascadian Initiative Amphibious Network, were installed on the seismogenic zone and plate interface to better detect such possible seismicity. These seismometers are crucial for this research as they return much better data and may contain more earthquakes.

Using a subspace detection method, this study looks to find new seismogenic zone earthquakes. Template events that make up the subspace are chosen from events in existing catalogs that occurred along the plate interface. Corresponding waveforms are windowed on the nearby Cascadia Initiative ocean bottom seismometers and coastal land seismometers for scanning. The presence of repeating event clusters will indicate persistent seismic patches, likely corresponding to areas of stronger coupling. This will ultimately improve the understanding of CSZ fault zone heterogeneity. Preliminary results gathered indicate a potential of up to 26 new events between the August 2, 2013 and July 1, 2014 for a single target cluster.  Current work includes detection of the full margin.

 

Tada! All it needs now is to go through the grinder yet again. Isn't writing fun?

 

"Almost everyone will make a good first impression, but only a few will make a good lasting impression" -Sonya Parker

July 15th, 2017

This post comes a few weeks tardy but... better late than never right? 

When the internship first began, we got a little sheet where we looked at our current "skills". It was basically a self-assessment sheet that we filled out to see where we were. We were asked about our ability to recognize and understand research problems, our knowledge of our field and related areas, using software to collect data, analyze and evaluate research results, summarize, document, report, and reflect on progress, and finally working independently and interdependently. 
Obviously, not having started the project and being new to the field of seismology, I ranked myself pretty low on a lot of things. For example, Communicating knowledgeably about my research area and using software to retrieve and use data are two things I was not confident with before the start of work. However, there were a good many skills, like maintaining a research blog, monitor progress, and work cooperatively that I ranked myself high on due to many many previous years of working on research with a team.

Recently I have done a reassessment. I first tried it without looking at my previous placements. I then adjusted what was necessary based on what I had written on the original self-assessment. In the new self-assessment, I did not place any skills in the lowest category. Most of my skills I placed right in the middle, the "Adequate" category. I did place one skill, "Maintaining and using a research log or record of research activity." in the 'Proficient" category.

All of these skills are important for research in a science field, hence why they are on the self-assessment sheet. There are a few that stand out as very critical to research and knowledge of one's field. That would be being able to "communicate knowledgeably about your research area and [be able to] discuss topics in a scholarly way with academic colleagues". I find this incredibly important for a number of reasons.

First, if you can communicate about your field and research at or above the level of those around you in your field, then you are well knowledged in your field, which is astronomically important. Without well rounded and in-depth knowledge of your field, it can be incredibly hard to be participating actively in conversations and research.

Second, being able to communicate and discuss with others your research or their research is key to developing strategies for research completion. It is also important because new ideas can spark from conversations, and if you are unable to hold a conversation at such a level then there might be some missed breakthroughs or debates. People learn from each other, thus it is important to be able to teach someone and be taught. 

Third, the world is a big place. There are a lot of different people with different mindsets and different levels of understanding to particular fields of study. Being able to discuss your work or your field to someone who is not familiar with it is a good thing to be able to do. It demonstrates that you have a deeper understanding and do not need to rely on fancy words that only experts in your field would know. Also, sharing information with the public can be helpful for you or your research. For much of research, drawing attention to your work is important for funding and support. There is also nothing wrong with teaching a fellow person about your work. They become more knowledgeable and the more people who know about your research, the better (in most cases... obviously those secret research projects should stay secret).

For me personally, this is a skill that I need to develop more. Although I may be knowledgeable elsewhere at this moment, seismology is a new area of research for me. To help me gain knowledge of this field and be able to communicate effectively with others, I have taken the time to read books on seismology and extra research papers relating to my research. I also plan on pursuing a class that utilizes seismology. It is one thing to learn it, and another to use it.

"Yeah I've got skills..." -That guy from YouTube

July 14th, 2017

I'm not sure what week we are in now. 7? 6? Either way, I have made good progress on my work. Unfortunately, I have had to make changes to the end goal of my work. Originally I was to locate new events that I discovered. However, due to the amount of time I have left, I will be unable to this. A sad sad day. However, this is to benefit the eventual outcome of the project and to help in my poster presentation at AGU. If I was to locate events I would only get through a few of them. On a poster, saying "I located 2 events..." isn't gonna make it great. Instead, I will focus on discovering new events. This is better for a few reasons. It would be more impressive if I said: "I found 20 or 30 new events.". And it will also aid in the following research. Here's how: I am currently going through a good number of seismic stations looking through their data finding new events. The more stations I go through the more I will see the same event, making it easier to locate in the future. Generally, just with satellites/GPS, you need three detections of the same event to locate it (triangulation). So although it is a bummer that I will not be locating any events. I am happy that my new path will benefit the overall project more.

As I mentioned above I am currently going through looking for new events in the data. I have already had the computer run through the data and pick out what it thinks are events using the subspace detection method I talked about in a previous blog post (if you need a refresher, it's is basically cross correlation but it can use multiple templates and not just one, to improve findings). However, even with this method, the computer still finds noise. What needs to be done now is handpicking the detections (or potential events). That is what I am doing. I go through each detection and tell the computer to keep it as an event or remove it. As one might expect, the vast majority of the detections are not actual events. Here is where the title of this blog comes from. To remove the detection that is not an event I follow these steps: I type "q" to exit the seismogram showing the detection, then in the terminal window that is running the code I type "n" to tell the computer it is not an event, and then finally I hit "return" so a new detection appears. Repeat. Repeat thousands and thousands of times. There are about 600-1000 events per month of data, 12 months of data per station, 3 stations per event, and 15 events. That's 324,000 to 540,000 detections that I will be hitting "q n return" for most of. Needless to say, I have memorized the hand motion. It's like playing the Piano, except you only press the three keys, you only hear clicking with no music coming out.

Below is an event that I found in the thousands of detections. As you can see it is only the verticle component. The horizontal components get removed from the directory I am working in but stay in their original directory so we can use them to locate the event later. 
Below the event that I found is the template event. A template event is a known event that the computer uses to find detections. It is also the event that I look at when deciding if the detection is actually an event. The template events consist of verticle and horizontal components but for the sake of comparison, I am only showing the verticle component. 

"Change is the end result of all true learning." - Leo Bascaglia

Image 1: Found event with amplitude on the y-axis and time on the x-axis.  Details in the upper right.

Image 2: Template event with amplitude on the y-axis and time on the x-axis. Details in the upper right.

June 24th, 2017

Wow! This past week was hot. And when I say hot I mean it. Each day this week squeaked its way above 100 degrees F. Coming from the northeast of the United States, this is not something I am used to. I have learned a good few things from the heat: Always carry a full water bottle, have a sun hat, and make trips to the store or to work when it is cool. Walking around outside midday is not an enjoyable experience. Walking the 6 minutes back to my apartment during the middle of the day drains the energy from my being and can even give me a sunburn if I am not careful. I have resorted to leaving work when the sun is not trying to burn and melt me at the same time.

 

As I move along with work in my nice not scorching hot computer room, I am finding time to work with GMT. So far I have created a map of my study sight, colored it, and gave it a timestamp… I’m going places people. I am currently in the midst of trying to add plate boundaries to my map. I am hoping that if I can create my own map using modified code from a simple New Mexico State map, I will be better able to make other maps on my own. Learning by doing and looking through the help commands, and sometimes Google, is the way I have chosen.

 

Besides working through GMT I have begun looking at actual seismograms. Previously I was having the computer do it for me. It was going through months of data and attempting to find new small events. When the computer thinks it had found an event it saved 30 seconds of the event. I am now going through the events the computer found to pick out the real events. Often the computer will find a pattern that may look like an event to the code, but to the human eye it can clearly be seen not to be an event. Although this step is tedious, it’s also fun and a good learning experience for identifying key characteristics of an event. (Event = Earthquake)

 

As always, I am having many codes running on many different computers. I am now the proud user of seven computers in the computer cluster. They are the seven that turn on. The only downside to using every computer in the room is the awkward moment when a grad student comes in trying to use them (sorry NMT grad students). Many of the students also keep trying to restart the computers with my codes running, which will obviously stop the code. A few times I have had to explain to students why they should ask me first before quitting out of my code that runs for 2-3 hours and then restarting the computer.  I guess its what I get for using all the working computers in the lab (but hey, when I have over a 350 codes that need to be run, each taking multiple hours, and have to be run one at a time, I feel like I should be able to use multiple computers).

"Yeah no I dont go outside, heck I dont even walk to my car! I work from home when its this hot" -Grad student at NMT

June 24th, 2017

An elevator speech. I took it literally. Luckily for those in my building no one came in while I was in there except for a graduate student. Luckily for him he was only going one floor down. I never got to give me elevator speech in the elevator so I gave up after a half hour of sitting alone in an elevator. The only person to hear my speech multiple times was myself and a friend back at home. I don’t know how much they cared, but at least they sat silently for 57 seconds and listened to me. Thanks? I honestly should have just done that in the first place. I am pretty sure if I had met any professors that way they might not want to talk to me again. I mean… if I was met with a strange 20 year old in an elevator randomly talking about something I would be a little weirded out. So maybe it’s a good thing only that one grad student came in. Now only one person in the building thinks I’m weird.

 

At first, while waiting in the elevator I admit I felt a bit nervous, mostly for the reasons stated above. But after the grad student came and left I felt better. Maybe it was because I realized I didn’t have to give my speech if I didn’t want to, or maybe because I had repeated it to myself over and over again. I didn’t feel too nervous talking about it after that, but it was definitely weird trying to talk about a project that is using new(ish) methods and has been on going for multiple years, in under 60 seconds. Once I got the hang of it I pretty much knew the script. It changed each time slightly and eventually got a little longer. The more I repeated myself, I feel like I started to encompass more and more of the research. I broadened my background story and future goals, while only gaining a few seconds. I also was able to use fewer words and slow my speech. This is unsurprising as practicing presentations can often lead to more encompassing words and better sentences that are simpler but get to the point in just as much detail. There is a reduction in “uuhh” and “so…”, lending more time to actually talking about the important stuff: the research. Just as we reread papers, “representing” speeches is useful for improvement in presentation style and content.

 

"Better to remain silant and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt" -Abraham Lincoln     (You telling me...)

June 15th, 2017

As week 3 progress, its time to talk a little more in-depth about the project I am working on. As mentioned in the project description, I am working with data from seismometers at and around the Cascadian subduction zone. These seismometers are part of the Cascadia Initiative amphibious seismic network, U.S. National Seismic Network, and University of Washington/Pacific Northwest Regional Seismic Network. One of the more important set of seismometers I am taking data from are ones part of the Cascadia Initiative amphibious seismic network. This network contains seismometers that rest on the ocean bottom. This set of seismometers is important because they cover the shallow portion of the Cascadia subduction zone margin and the area around it providing better and important data. These seismometers are also the only seismometers to have been so near the seismogenic zone (where earthquakes occur). Before the ocean bottom seismometers installation, the closest seismometers to the seismogenic/locked zone were on land. However this seismogenic/locked zone is offshore and because of this the land seismometers might not be able to record smaller earthquakes occurring in the zone. And these are exactly what I am looking for. 

The Cascadian subduction zone is in a partially to mostly locked state. However, non-volcanic tremor has recently been discovered in the area indicating some plate movement, albeit extremely slowly. Very few small earthquakes (Magnitudes <4) seem to occur in clusters along different locations of the locked zone. Because the Cascadian subduction zone shows a lack of extreme earthquake events like most subduction zones do, these small-scale earthquake events are extremely important to better understand the dynamics and characteristics of the margin. Previous research has shown that there is partial locking and could potentially be in sections with slow slip between. With the locating of new earthquakes, we can better identify where these zones of slip are. This project was begun before I arrived and data analysis for the years 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 are already in progress.

Now to the nitty gritty, if it wasn’t nitty gritty enough. What do I do? Good question. So far I have been doing a fair amount of reading for starters. This helps me build a good background about the project I have jumped headlong into. Besides reading I have also been doing a lot of computer work. I first downloaded raw 2013 data from IRIS that came from some 20 odd stations that were part of the above listed networks. This large dataset, although looked at before, has not been investigated the way that I am now going through the data set. Usually one would look for large events, however, in my case, I am looking through the data to find events that are so small they are often lost in the noise. Next I organized and filtered the data and pulled out needed data for the next step. This next step would be running a subspace detector, in the form of a C script, through the first week of every month at every station. The subspace detector method takes previously identified earthquakes and compares them to the station data for the week. It then gives out something similar to a correlation value, or threshold value, that is high enough to remove noise, but low enough so that we can match to “new” earthquakes (earthquakes that have not been identified). This threshold value allows us to see what the noise level could be for the month, making it easier to define what the code should look for, or not look for when searching for new events. In the future I will use the threshold I get from the week data to search through month data and find new events. I will then attempt to locate these events so that we can then see if they occur at or near the same locations as previous years data that was collected before my arrival. If so, this builds evidence for the location of local slip in a predominantly locked margin[. It will also aid in learning the fault zone conditions and how they change across the margin and seismogenic zone, which could potentially give us clues about what the next big earthquake will look like and maybe even when it could occur.

 

"Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world" -Louis Pasteur

June 10th, 2017

As I type this, I watch the Golden State Warriors lose their chance to be the only team in basketball history to not lose a playoff game. A sad day. Better luck in game 4 GS! I'll be watching! (Gosh this is so upsetting)

Any hoozers, we have finished week 1 of the internship. I am surprised at how much I learned not only about the project but about myself within the first week. I really enjoy the topic and goal of my research to the point where I am becoming impatient to see the results... and its only week 1! Argh! However, I have come to the realization that even if I like my work... if I am not required to get up for work at 8, then I probably won't. Luckily, I have also started a habit of staying late so I don't die of heat exhaustion going home. So, in the end, it evens out. 

With respect to my actual work, there have been a few hiccups, but nothing big. Mostly it just involves me downloading more data as a consequence. The only time this can be a problem is when its already 2:30 and I need to download more data but it takes 3 hours for the data to download. Do I do it and stay late? Save it for tomorrow? Conflict. Thankfully that's the only conflict. Everybody at NMT is very nice and generous and many people are coming in to say hi and meet me, which is cool. 

The heat is the one thing that I dislike. It's waaaaay to hot to be outside between the hours of 12:00 and 18:00. I left work today at 16:30 and on my five-minute walk home my throat became very dry, I became pretty fatigued, and I got sunburnt. All in five minutes. I also have to stop walking around campus barefoot ( a habit I picked up in New Zealand). The pavement is like a stove top and cooked my feet today. I spent most of my time looking weird hopping around on the paths trying to find grass (less hot and more kind to the feet) and running from tree to tree to stay in the shade. I bet the locals had a fun time at least.

On a bright note, I have found a solution to many a problems. I got a gym pass! Woo! This means that I can go to work whenever and when I feel like I want to be done but it's still about 100 degrees outside I can make my way to the gym instead of either staying at work to wait out the heat, or go home and got toasted. Then I can hide in the heat from the gym. Win win! Another good thing I learned is that summer classes begin next week. This means there will be more of a population on campus, and most importantly, the dining hall will be open. I don't think I can go a full summer eating my two PB&J sandwiches and a s'mores poptart for lunch (it's cheap and easy... don't judge). I also ran out of food. So it would be nice to save some and not use it all on lunches.

As I move forward here in New Mexico I remind myself that although I am here to work and experience an internship in seismology and learn, I also must do things for myself and enjoy my time here. Walking in the evenings and going to the gym is a start. I would like to learn the town more so that I can become more involved. Currently, I spend most of my evening trapped in my apartment. Maybe it would be good to change that eh?

So to recap, there are a few things I learned:

1) The Warriors sucked in game 4 :(

2) Wear shoes while outside.

3) Go to the dining hall once in a while.

4) When shopping, shop more. Running out of food and milk was rather unfortunate.

5) Even if a mistake is made, it's a simple fix and nothing to get worked up about.

6) I have no idea when trash day is, and this is gonna be a problem soon.

7) Having fun is and enjoying your time can be as important as learning.

(sorry for the lack of photos. Don't really have any associated photos)

 

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever" -Mahatma Gandhi

June 8th, 2017

Work has officially started. Yup. I learned a lot more about my project on the first day and am now at a state where I feel like I could comfortable explain it. This was partially because I read 3 associated papers (one written by the grad student I am working with and my advisor), and because I was able to talk about the project and get a better background. As I start my work there are a few things I would like to accomplish. 

First, I would like to learn the campus and town. The New Mexico Tech campus is decently small so I believe this shouldn't be too hard to do. The town is also pretty small. I would investigate it, but it gets waaaay to hot for me during the middle of the day so I hide in my apartment. I am not a very big fan of 95+ degree weather. I have come to the conclusion that any exploring must be done early in the morning before it gets too hot. Unfortunately, it gets "too hot" at around noon. Therefore, all my exploring and grocery shopping are done starting either at 19:00 or 07:00 on Saturday or Sunday. I usually go back to bed after (in either scenario). However, going out at those times provides a good opportunity to see some shnazy lighting.

 

Second, I would like to meet and talk to the other professors and grad students. So far I have talked to a few other grad students outside of my team, and a few professors. This school is a very good school for geophysics and seismology and I should definitely take advantage of such an opportunity. I truly believe it is a gift to be here and a part of this program.

Third, I would like to practice and increase my skills using LINUX and SAC. My work involves using these two systems, and if I could better understand them it would certainly benefit my work in respect to speed and how much I am understanding. There is a difference between knowing what the code does, and how the code works. I would like to cross the bridge from "what the code does" to "how the code works".

Fourth, I would like to learn more about seismology and geophysics. I have access to multiple books which I plan on reading through after I finish work for the day (I have already started! Woo!). There are also some webinars that I may be able to go to, so I plan on attending those if possible.

Fifth, I would like to become better at reading through scientific literature. This is beneficial in many ways. It can not only improve my reading skills but also my writing skills as well. I may also learn how to better work through a paper and get the key points. The field I am looking to go into has me reading stacks and stack of scientific literature just to get there. Practice makes perfect as they say! 

Sixth, I would like to customize my workspace a bit. I mean... what's the fun in working when your space is the same as all the other spaces (which have no one at them), besides the clutter?

Seventh, I need to get a gym membership. They open at 08:00 and close at 17:00 but I am always working and so I miss my chance. One day...

 

(Apologies for the lack of photos! My computer is being rude and won't let me upload photos. Eighth thing I would like to accomplish: tell my computer to be more nice and shape up.)   It listened. 

"Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today" -Malcolm X

 

Photo 1: "The Past, The Present, and The Future" statue

Photo 2: The view of M mountain and a sunset from my street

Photo 3: An accurate representation of me trying to be an expert coder

([url=http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=4342686]http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=4342686[/url]) (always gotta give them creds!)

Photo 4: My work area. With my 1 decorative item: A squishy Albert Einstein that I stole from the white board

Photo 5: The computer lab I spend most of my time in (with the squishy Albert Einstein on the board before I took him)

June 6th, 2017

Flying back in time we see little me becoming interested in the earth sciences. But it wasnt until sophomore year of highschool I had finally made my decision to follow the path of a geologist geophysicist geologist seismologist geophysicist... geophysical field researcher? Yeah, it has been one heck of a ride since then. Multiple internships and jobs have swung my preference for what I have wanted to do with my life multiple times. In a way, I am still figuring it out. But I know that there is one thing that is absolutely necessary, and that is to be out in the field doing research for part of my job. This past week we spent two days in the field doing research and then another two days looking (and exploring) the geology of New Mexico. Those were the highlights of my time here so far.

  

Probably one of the most memorable things done here was visiting San Lorenzo Canyon. This canyon is stunning and a spectacular place to spend the day. I wish we had arrived much earlier than we did!

    

While there the interns pretty much scattered. I'll admit I was the first one to jump on the rocks and see how high I could get ( I was also the first intern out of a van so I had that helping me). After a few turnarounds, and lots of pictures, a group of us made it to the top on one side of the canyon. The view from here was absolutely stunning and unforgettable. After taking in the scenery for much to short of a time we tumbled (we actually walked... very slowly and carefully) down the canyon. Only to run, yes literally run, to the other side so we could climb up yet again.

After some backtracking and more photo taking we were once again at the top of the canyon, this time on the other side. Unfortunately, we couldn't stay up there for long as we had to come down for dinner. After dinner we had a nice campfire and would later sing many songs! 

 

But even still, the view was more amazing than most of the views I saw while in New Zealand. I always thought I would hate the brown, dusty land of the southwest. But in reality, I fell in love with it.

"If it weren't for the rocks in its bed, the stream would have no song." -Carl Perkins

 

Photo 1: Me using a sledge hammer to create seismic waves

Photo 2: Me standing infront of a really cool angular deformity

Photo 3: Inside San Lorenzo canyon at our camp spot

Photo 4: Interns spell "IRIS" with their shadow

Photo 5: Looking beyond San Lorenzo canyon

Photo 6: San Lorenzo canyon with interns (myself included) being quite happy with their location

Photo 7: Inside San Lorenzo canyon from a lookout point

Photo 8: The bonfire that we ate dinner and socialized around

Photo 9: Panorama of part of the San Lorenzo canyon from the top

(Photo creds to Brady Flinchum for photos 1 and 2, and to Claire Richardson for photo 6)

May 31st, 2017

We all arrived to Socorro, New Mexico on the 28th of May. Coming in with the last group was a little daunting at first but it soon became easy to talk to the fellow interns; some icebreakers may have made said transition a little easier (hard for me to say as I hate icebrekers).

We started our "classes" or introduction to seismology and its concepts the next day in the beautiful PASCALL building. Never having taken any courses about seismology it was a bit of a running start admittedly but it was also enjoyable. I learned a lot of information that is very important to my work and my potential career.

 

 

 

 

This day also included outside field work which, although hot and long, was very enjoyable. Field research is always something that I can enjoy.

The following days included more class room lectures, programing time, meeting grad students, and (luckily) field research (with a cat! ❤️). 

 ❤️❤️

Although I have been confused on most of what we have learned I feel that I am gaining knowledge about the subject of seismology. I have really been enjoying myself here, in part to the wonderful interns here. All the other interns are amazing people and incredibly smart! I can learn so much from them! It is amazing how quickly a group of 16 can become so close.

 

Although at first catious of just about everything, I have become comfortable with my surroundings and with the people. It is sad to say goodbye to them. But I know I will see them again in a few months for AGU. I look forward to it!

"Believe you can, and you're halfway there" -Theodore Roosevelt 

 

Photo 1: New Mexico Tech sign outside of the Bureau of Geology

Photo 2: Group presentations on Passive-Source Seismic Techniques

Photo 3: Me holding the cat Mowgli (yes from The Jungle Book) while in the field

Photo 4: Interns prepping for a hike through Quebradas

Photo 5: Interns infront of the Magdalena telescope at Magdalena Ridge Observatory

Photo 6: Panorama of the view we had on the Magdalena Mountains on the Timber Peak trail

(Photo creds to Brady Flinchum for photos 2-6)