ARCHIVE - EES Division Highlights/Accomplishments 2003

Archive

December 22, 2004

Seismological Society of America Publishes EES Scientistsf Paper on Faulting
James Rutledge and Scott Phillips (both of the Geophysics Group, EES-11) with Mike Mayerhofer of Pinnacle Technologies, recently published a paper titled "Faulting induced by forced fluid injection and fluid flow forced by faulting: An interpretation of hydraulic-fracture microseismicity, Carthage Cotton Valley gas field, Texas" in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. The paper details features of hydraulic-fracture induced seismicity, some of which look very similar to natural seismicity occurring along creeping faults. Paper citation: Bull. Seism. Soc. Am., Vol 94, No. 5, pp. 1817-1830, October, 2004.

EES Participates in IAEAfs Moisture Isotopes in the Biosphere and Atmosphere Program
EES-2's Ecohydrology team was invited to participate in the International Atomic Energy Association's Moisture Isotopes in the Biosphere and Atmosphere program (IAEA-MIBA). The MIBA program is focused on improving the quantification and understanding of the isotopic composition of water pools in the biosphere and atmosphere across the globe. Thirteen sites were chosen in North America to represent important biomes contributing to the continental isotopic budget of CO2 and water vapor. Data collected from each site will be used to constrain the regional, continental, and global carbon and water budgets. MIBA conducts laboratory analyses of water samples collected bi-monthly from each site and is funded to continue for at least five years. LANL's site is a pinon-juniper woodland located at TA-51. LANL was selected to participate in part because of its unique, real-time isotopic analysis of ecosystem carbon fluxes at TA-51 via EES-2fs Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy Facility. Among the collaborative benefits to LANL will be the ability to partition ecosystem CO2 fluxes into above- and below-ground components on a daily basis for years; a capability never before achieved for periods longer than a few days. For further information, contact Nate McDowell at (505) 665-2909.

LANL Instruments Selected the 2009 Mars Science Mission
Two of the eight instruments aboard NASA'S planned Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Rover, scheduled for launch in 2009, include Los Alamos National Laboratory technology. The Los Alamos laser unit, named ChemCam, uses laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), to measure the mineral content of the target samples. ChemCam works by firing an intense pulse of laser light at a surface from as far as 10 meters away. Dave Vaniman, a geologist in EES-6, is involved in the project.

The second instrument, CheMin, is an x-ray diffraction/x-ray fluorescence instrument for mineralogical analysis. Principal investigator for CheMin is David Blake of NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.  Partnering with him are LANL geologists Steve Chipera and David Vaniman, of the Earth and Environmental Sciences Division. CheMin will identify and quantify all minerals in complex samples such as basalts, evaporates, and soils, one of the principle objectives of Mars Science Laboratory. LANL was the recipient of an R&D 100 Award for CheMin in 1999.

For images and additional information on the ChemCam project, go to: http://libs.lanl.gov/

For images and additional information on CheMin, go to: http://chemin.lanl.gov/

December 15, 2004

EES Scientists Published in AGUfs Journal of Geophysical Research | Solid Earth
Xiaoning (David) Yang, Steven R. Taylor and Howard J. Patton, all of the Geophysics group (EES-11) at Los Alamos National Laboratory recently published a paper in the American Geophysical Unionfs Journal of Geophysical Research - Solid Earth. The paper titled gThe 20-sec Rayleigh-wave attenuation tomography for central and southeastern Asiah details the results of an amplitude-measuring procedure designed by the authors, which showed much-reduced scatter with consistent average attenuation estimates for the area. For the full paper, reference: Yang, Xiaoning; Taylor, Steven R.; Patton, Howard J., gThe 20-s Rayleigh wave attenuation tomography for central and southeastern Asiah J. Geophys. Res., Vol. 109, No. B12, B12304, 09 December 2004

EES Scientists Present at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America
More than 15 papers published by EES Scientists were presented at the 2004 annual meeting of the Geological Society of America (GSA) in Denver, Colorado on November 7-10. Established in 1888, the GSA provides access to elements that are essential to the professional growth of earth scientists at all levels of expertise and from all sectors: academic, government, business, and industry.  In addition to the talks, several posters were given at the 2004 meeting titled gGeoscience in a Changing World.h

For more information on the 2004 meeting, visit: http://www.geosociety.org/meetings/2004/

Japans Federation of Electric Power Companies Tours Yucca Mountain Repository
On December 14th, Bruce Reinert of EES-7 at Las Vegas briefed a group of public affairs representatives from the Federation of Electric Power Companies (FEPC) of Japan. The FEPC of Japan toured the repository to study the program for adaptation to their nuclear power industry. The Japanese currently reprocess spent nuclear fuel, but anticipate the need for a repository much like Yucca Mountain. Briefings at Yucca Mountain included an overview of geology, results of testing activities and repository layout.

EES Student Wins $30,000 Scholarship at National Competition
Kevin Claytor, a senior at Los Alamos High School and co-op student in EES-11, took 4th prize (and a $30,000 scholarship) for an individual science project in the finals for the highly prestigious 2004-2005 Siemens Westinghouse Competition in Math, Science, and Technology, in Washington DC. The Siemens Westinghouse Competition is the nation's premier high school science competition. Results from the 2004-2005 competition were announced December 6 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington. To earn his opportunity to go to the national competition, Kevin finished first in the Southwest regional competition (which brought him a $4,000 scholarship) at UT Austin in November. A total of 1,213 students entered projects in this year's competition, as individuals or as teams. Kevin's project was a study of laser-induced acoustic excitation of samples for non-destructive evaluation (NDE). To carry out his project, Kevin purchased a class IV laser from eBay and did many of his experiments in his garage. Here at the Laboratory, Kevin works on acoustics and nonlinear elasticity studies with Jim TenCate (EES-11), Paul Johnson (EES-11), and Tim Darling (MST-10).

December 8, 2004

Brunish Serves on GPS Environmental Monitory Subsystems Review Panel
Wendee Brunish, EES-11, served on the GPS Environmental Monitoring Subsystems Review Panel. The panel spent two days (December 1-2, 2004) reviewing the work of the CXD team in ISR division and making recommendations. The panel was convened at the request of Tom Carey, the CXD Project Leader. The panel's recommendations addressed the space environment monitoring instruments and ways to make the data more useful and accessible, how to deliver and package products, how to develop hiring and infrastructure plans, and how to market to new customers, including NASA, NOAA, and other non-defense agencies.

EES Scientists Submit Report to the Interagency Geotechnical Assessment Team
Aviva Sussman (EES-6) and Richard G Warren (EES-11) wrote a report entitled: Petrography and Microstructures associated with the Grants Bombing Site, NM. The report is being sent to the Interagency Geotechnical Assessment Team (IGAT) in an effort to get LANL more involved and with IGAT's objectives and to get funding. The IGAT provides support to STRATCOM and others in the form of site-specific and regional geological characterizations.

United States Transport Council Tours Yucca Mountian Repository
On December 1st, Bruce Reinert of EES-7 at Las Vegas briefed a group of 27 representatives from the United States Transport Council. The United States Transport Council is a group representing utilities, transportation and container organizations. This was an advanced schedule/fact finding trip to review the Caliente Railroad corridor to Yucca Mountain and inspect the proposed locations of the railroad and waste handling buildings at the entrance to the underground. Briefings at Yucca Mountain included an overview of geology, results of testing activities and repository layout.

December 1, 2004

EES-9's GIS Team Map featured in October-December ArcUser Online Publication
Map authors Chris Echohawk, Thomas Riggs, Doug Walther, and Marc Witkowski of the Earth and Environment Sciences Division and Diana Hollis of LANL's security division, developed a methodology using clock diagrams to represent time dependent data on maps, in a meaningful and concise manner. Clock diagrams are an elegant and inventive solution to displaying complex temporal data within a spatial or map based context. The diagrams allow the map reader to identify both temporal and spatial trends when analyzing and interpreting data.

See the October-December ArcUser Online Publication for the full story, at http://www.esri.com/news/arcuser/1104/temporal.html

EES Represents LANL at IEA Greenhouse Gas/BP Monitoring Workshop
EES-6fs Julianna Fessenden represented LANL at the IEA Greenhouse Gas/BP Monitoring Workshop in Santa Cruz, CA, November 8-9, 2004. LANL is a member of the Southwest and Big Sky regional partnerships.  Measurement, Monitoring, and Verification (MMV) technologies where highlighted at this meeting and Los Alamos National Laboratory can be a large participant in this area.

EES Participates in DOE internal review of Nevada Test Site Underground Test Area Project studies.
On November 18th, Andrew Wolfsberg of EES-6 teamed with Greg Ruskauff of Stoller-Navaro Joint Venture in presenting the Pahute Mesa Corrective Action Unit groundwater flow model to a team of reviewers from DOE, LLNL, USGS, DRI, Bechtel Nevada, and LANL (Paul Reimus of C-INC). This model is based on LANL's FEHM groundwater flow and transport code and will be published in 2005. It will form the platform for conducting radionuclide migration studies aimed at determining the contaminant boundary required for Corrective Action Unit closure.

On November 19th, Carl Gable of EES-6 teamed with Stoller Navaro Joint Venture hydrologists and Bechtel Nevada geologists for a similar review meeting for the newly started Frenchman Flat Corrective Action Unit groundwater flow model. This time, Wolfsberg sat on the other side of the table with reviewers from the other organizations.  The purpose of this meeting was to develop lines of communication with the reviewers and to solicit recommendations on technical issues identified during the initiation of the new study.

EES Division Staff Member Named to Science Advisory Board Advisory Panel
Dr. June Fabryka-Martin of EES-6 was recently named to a key Advisory Panel for the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Science Advisory Board. The Advisory Panel, known as the Council for Regulatory Environmental Modeling (CREM) Guidance Advisory Panel, will provide advice on issues related to EPA's Interim Guidance on Environmental Models as well as the development of a models knowledge base. The interim guidance is meant to outline best practices in the development, evaluation and use of environmental models that inform the decision-making process, while the knowledge base is a web-accessible inventory of environmental models intended to promote transparency in the data, algorithms, assumptions, and uncertainties underlying models and to enable developers and analysts to more easily identify information needs.  The Panel will hold its first meeting in February 2005.

EES Conducts Briefings of Yucca Mountain Repository
On November 15th Bruce Reinert of the Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES) Division briefed 12 representatives from the Westinghouse Owners Group, which represents part of the Westinghouse nuclear power plant group.

On November 16th Bruce Reinert of the Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES) Division presented an overview of the Yucca Mountain Repository to 14 members of the Nevada Coalition (VIP's in Nevada). 

On November 17th Bruce Reinert and Dick Kovach of the Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES) Division presented an overview of the Yucca Mountain Repository to HazMat Explo Conference attendees.

On November 18th, Bruce Reinert of the Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES) Division briefed 16 conference participants of the International Facility Management Association (facility managers for their companies, several from DOE facilities, who are interested in YMP facilities).

Briefings at Yucca Mountain included an overview of geology, results of testing activities and repository layout.

November 24,2004

EES Holds Bi-Annual FEHM Workshop
George Zyvoloski and Zora Dash of EES-6 organized a FEHM workshop that was held in Los Alamos Sept 13-16.  This workshop was designed to give experienced groundwater researchers experience in using the FEHM computer code; the groundwater simulator used in major Los Alamos programs including Yucca Mountain, NTS, and ER. This yearfs lecturers included George Zyvoloski, Bruce Robinson, and Carl Gable of EES-6, Bill Arnold of Sandia National Laboratory, and John Doherty of Watermark Computing (Australia). This gsold outh class of 28 attendees included professors and graduate students from several universities, researchers from major consulting firms, groundwater professionals, and five USGS groundwater modelers and software developers.  The group contained foreign researchers from Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines, Australia, and China.

EES Scientist Gives Talk on Radioactive Dispersive Devices to EPA
Naomi Becker of the Earth and Environmental Sciences Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory gave an invited talk on Radioactive Dispersive Devices (RDD) to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) On-Scene Coordinators Readiness Training Program titled "National Approach to Response", on November 17th in Phoenix, AZ. The On-Scene Coordinators Readiness Training Program consists of a group of EPA professionals from all the different national regions who are responsible for directing, coordinating, and interpreting data associated with early-time response in the event of a RDD incident. The presentation material reviewed radioactive dispersive devices (RDDs), its definition, possible radionuclides that might be used in RDDs, and activity levels of commercially available sources that could be used in an RDD.  Historical RDD analogs were discussed, such as the Baker Test in Operation Crossroads, the radioactive release in Goiania and Chernobyl. Issues associated with RDDs were discussed, such as political effects, psychological effects, and problems associated with radiological decontamination, especially confounding factors.  Current and recent Los Alamos research was discussed in the areas of radioactive decontamination, decision support modeling, and dispersion modeling.

EES Represents LANL at DOE Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships Annual Program Review
EES-9fs GISLab team leader Paul Rich represented LANL at the DOE Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships Annual Program Review in Pittsburgh, PA, November 16-17, 2004. LANL is a member of the Southwest and Big Sky regional partnerships.

EES Participates in Interagency Geotechnical Assessment Team Meeting
David Coblentz and Ward Hawkins of EES-11 attended the Defense Threat Reduction Agency's, Interagency Geotechnical Assessment Team (IGAT) meeting on 18-19 November 2004 at ARA in Alexandria, VA. The IGAT supports STRATCOM and others agencies by providing regional and site-specific geological characterizations.  Information provided by the IGAT is critical for the development of 3d models used in the high fidelity numerical modeling of shock wave propagation through the earth.

November 17, 2004

EESf Microdrilling Operations Making Good Ground
In an effort to further improve microdrilling technology and in a collaborative effort with LBL and RMOTC, the EES-11 microdrilling team mobilized in late September to the National Petroleum Reserve #3, Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center (RMOTC) in central Wyoming. Two seismic monitoring holes were drilled. The first hole was drilled to 600' with a diameter of 2-5/8" and a 2-3/8" steel casing run in the hole by RMOTC and LANL and was cemented in place as required by the Wyoming Oil & Gas Commission.  A 1-7/8" diameter hole was then drilled to 800', where 1-1/4" nom. ID PVC pipe was run to surface and cemented in place.  The cement inside the PVC pipe was displaced with water to within 20' of bottom. The water will be unloaded and the LBL RMOTC team will install arrays of geophones and hydrophones in the PVC to monitor seismicity from micro-sized instrumentation holes that straddle a fault that penetrates a reservoir in Tea Pot Dome Field where CO2 will be injected. Seismic instrumentation will be deployed to establish background before injection and again after CO2 is stored. On the second well, the EES-11 microdrilling team drilled a 2-5/8" diameter hole drilled to 400' and 2-3/8" OD steel casing was run and cemented. At that time, the quality of the PVC pipe that was used to complete the first well came into question and drilling of the second well was suspended until that issue could be resolved.  With the winter drilling conditions likely for the rest of fall the second well will likely be completed as part of a spring drilling campaign in May 2005.

EESfs Brunish Contributes to Tunnel Target Defeat Research
Wendee Brunish of the Geophysics Group, EES-11, and Dave Steedman of the System Engineering and Integration Group, D-3, attended a meeting of the Tunnel Target Defeat (TTD) Advanced Concepts Technology Development (ACTD) Planning Tools Working Group, held in Alexandria, Virginia, on November 9, 2004. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the high-fidelity calculations that the ACTD participants (including LANL, LLNL and SNL) will be performing to provide better defeat assessments for the United States Strategic Command. Brunish presented the status of LANL's Geotechnical Assessment Methodology for Underground Targets (GAMUT), which will be used to develop 3-D geologic models of complex targets in areas of interest as input for the high-fidelity codes.

EES Student Awarded Top Siemens Westinghouse Science Prize
Kevin Claytor, a Los Alamos high school summer student in the Earth and Environmental Sciences Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory was recently awarded a silver medal in the individual category at the Southwestern Regional Finals of the 2004-05 Siemens Westinghouse Competition in Math, Science, and Technology at the University of Texas in Austin.  In addition to the silver medal, Claytor was awarded a $3,000 scholarship for research using laser-drive sound waves to determine whatfs inside objects without destroying them.  "Mr. Claytor has demonstrated great scientific initiative and ingenuity," said judge Todd Ditmore, associate professor of physics at UT-Austin. "Literally working in his garage with a home-built system, Mr. Claytor discovered it is possible to use laser-drive sound waves to characterize the interior of something without destroying it."  Claytor also recently placed third in physics in the 2004 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair and received special awards from the Society of Exploration Geophysicists and the American Association of Physics Teachers. He plans to study physics and biophysics in college. His mentors on the project were his father, Thomas Claytor, and James Ten Cate, LANL Mentor.   Claytor's victory qualifies him to compete for the $100,000 Grand Prize at the national finals at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, D.C., Dec. 3-6. (eAround Northern New Mexicof, 2004, Albuquerque Journal.com, 14th Nov.)

LANL Joins Western North America InSAR Consortium
 

Los Alamos National Laboratory has become members of the Western North America InSAR (WInSAR) consortium. WInSAR is a collection of universities and public agencies created to manage the acquisition and archiving of spaceborne InSAR data over western North America for their mutual benefit.  The major objectives are to 1) promote the use and development of spaceborne Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) technologies for scientific investigations, including seismic and magmatic processes, plate boundary deformation, land subsidence/inflation due to fluid withdrawl/injection, and topographic mapping.  Acquire SAR imagery in western North America, archive and catalog the data, and disseminate it for use by member organizations; 2) provide value-added InSAR products and software for use by the scientific community; 3) advocate the open exchange of SAR data by seeking to enlarge the number of member organizations; 4) Solicit funds and promote programs and space missions to meet these objectives.  LANL's involvement in WInSAR is now especially important as US researchers work with NASA to fund, develop and launch its own half billion dollar SAR satellite hopefully by 2010.  Reference the full Nature article at: http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v432/n7013/full/432006b_fs.html. LANL's affiliation is a result of the participation of Andrew Newman (EES) and Chris Jeffery (ISR) at the recent InSAR community workshop in Oxnard, CA.

International Conference on  Fission  Partitioning & Transmutation Visits Yucca Mountain
On November 8th, Bruce Reinert of the Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES) Division hosted 16 representatives from the International Conference on  Fission  Partitioning & Transmutationon a tour of the Yucca Mountain Repository. Included were representatives from Nuclear research entities from Europe, Spain, France, Japan, and others across the world. 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.

November 10, 2004

Stoller Navaro Joint Venture and Bechtel Nevada Collaborators Join UGTA Scientists on Tour of NTS
On Tuesday, October 26, EES-6 scientists on the Nevada Test Site (NTS) Underground Test Area Project (UGTA) toured the test site with collaborators from Bechtel Nevada and Stoller Navaro Joint Venture.  EES-6 team members on the tour included Giday Woldegabriel, Ed Kwicklis, Sharad Kelkar, Carl Gable, Naomi Becker, and Andy Wolfsberg.  The purpose of the tour was to expose modelers to the specific rock types, scale of occurrence, and spatial distributions at the test site that are of importance in the prediction of radionuclide migration in groundwater as well as to foster increased discussion between geologists and modelers. The tour preceded the FY05 kickoff meeting for the entire UGTA project in Las Vegas on October 27, with  participation from LANL, LLNL, DRI, USGS, Bechtel Nevada, Stoller Navaro Joint Venture, DOE, and the state of Nevada.

November 3, 2004

AFTAC Requests briefing from Los Alamos Scientists on Seismic Data
Scott Phillips and Howard Patton of EES-11 traveled to the Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC) at Patrick Air Force Base in Cocoa Beach, Florida to give a presentation before the Seismic Review Panel (SRP) on October 26th and 27th. The presentation concerned the use of seismic coda waves for precise estimation of source magnitude. The SRP is a panel of experts that make recommendations to AFTAC on operational implementation of new seismic methods. The presentation was well received by the SRP.

LANL's Test Readiness Team Tours the Nevada Test Site
Rick Warren of the Geophysics group (EES-11) stationed in Nevada at Los Alamos led a tour of the Nevada Test Site for members of Los Alamos' Test Readiness Team: Wendee Brunish, Chris Bradley, Ted Carney, and Ken Wohletz of EES-11, and Aviva Sussman of EES-6. Sites visited included the Sedan Crater, Climax Stock, the ICECAP rack, Yucca Mountain, Frenchman Flat, Syncline Ridge, and the Horn Silver Mine. The purpose of the tour was to study areas of either geologic or operational interest to the Test Readiness Program.

EES Scientists Participate in the Laboratory Women's Forum
Tina Behr-Andres, Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES) Division's Deputy Division Leader, along with Wendee Brunish of EES-11 and Aviva Sussman of EES-6, attended the Laboratory Women's Forum held at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) on October 26 and 27, 2004. There were over 150 participants representing Los Alamos National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories in California and New Mexico, as well as LBNL. The purpose of the forum was to discuss ways to make the Labs more successful in attracting and retaining women scientists and engineers. Statistical trends indicate that women will represent an increasing fraction of the Science and Technology (S&T) workforce in the future, and employers will have to recruit women in order to remain at the forefront in S&T fields. Strategies to consider include family friendly policies, a welcoming work environment, and mentoring and leadership development for women.

Foreign Nuclear Waste Management Groups Tour Yucca Mountain Repository
On October 25th, Bruce Reinert of the Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES) Division hosted 13 representatives of the Swedish Nuclear Fuel & Waste Management Company on a tour of the Yucca Mountain Repository. A separate tour was also given by Dick Kovach of EES Division on October 28th for five Hungarian Radioactive Waste Management Officials. Both groups are working to solve the nuclear reactor waste problem for their respective countries - be it low, medium, or high-level waste. 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.

AREVA tours Yucca Mountain
Several representatives from France's AREVA Group - the result of a three-way merger between CEA-Industrie, COMEGA, and FRAMATOME - were given a tour of the Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada last week. AREVA was formed in 2001 to combine the French Government?s interests in several nuclear power and information technology businesses. Tours of Yucca Mountain consist of a general briefing of the tunnel/repository layout and experiments (both completed and ongoing). This occurs underground in an excavation off the main tunnel. This Alcove has been customized for tours, including maps/displays and is about 160 meters (175 yards) underground.

For more information on AREVA, visit:
http://www.areva.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=arevagroup_en/home

EES Climate Research Featured in DOE Pulse
Geochemistry Team Leader, Manvendra Dubey, of the Hydrology, Geochemistry, & Geology group in Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES) Division at LANL was featured in this week's DOE Pulse publication. Dubey is working as part of the Aerosol Climate Team to understand the processes and couplings across the air-plantsoil-water interface by integrating computer modeling with laboratory measurements and field observations. He is also the climate focus leader for the Laboratory's Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics. The Aerosol Climate Team includes Thom Rahn, Rainer Bleck, Jon Reisner, Bill Porch, Andy Wyszogrodzki, and Scott Smith of EES, as well as numerous collaborators from ISR, C, and T Divisions at LANL.

See the feature story at:
http://www.ornl.gov/info/news/pulse/pulse_v162_04.htm

Earth and Environmental Sciences Division's SAGE School Has Begun
SAGE - Summer of Applied Geophysical Experience - is well on it?s way this year. Scott Baldridge of EES-11 is one of the primary leaders/teachers at SAGE, which is funded by LANL IGPP, DOE, and the National Science Foundation. Other faculty come from UC Riverside, Purdue University, University of Texas at Dallas, and San Diego State University. SAGE is a unique educational program designed to introduce students in geophysics and related fields to "hands on" geophysical exploration and research. The program emphasizes both teaching of field methods and research related to a variety of basic and applied problems.

The program attracts leading undergraduate and graduate students from throughout the world to learn about the application of geophysical tools to real-world problems. The program is housed at the College of Santa Fe. It was the Recipient of the Special Commendation Award of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists in 2000, "in recognition of meritorious service rendered the scientific community, the Earth sciences, and exploration geophysics."

Visit the SAGE Web page at:
http://www.ees1.lanl.gov/SAGE/

EES Collaborations With Romanian Institute for Nuclear Research
EES-6, the Hydrology, Geochemistry, and Geology group, is continuing its collaboration with the Romanian Institute for Nuclear Research (ICN). The ICN is using FEHM to calculate the performance of their proposed low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste repository. EES-6 group members are providing assistance for their modeling of liquid-phase, gas-phase and colloidal contaminant transport.

EES Scientists Published in Defense Research Review
Bob Roussel-Dupr? and Laurie Triplett?s (both of the Atmospheric, Climate, & Environmental Dynamics group in EES Division) journal article appeared in the most recent Defense Research Review. While the publication date is last summer, the printed issue only came out in June 2004. DRR is a peer-reviewed classified journal and is published between Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratory, and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Official reference: Roussel-Dupr?, R. A. and Triplett, L. A. (2003) "Los Alamos GEMP Calculations vs VELA VHF Measurements (U), Defense Research Review," Defense Research Review, 11(2); also Los Alamos Report # LA-13869-MS (SRD).

October 27, 2004

EES Scientists Discuss Volcanic Hazards at Yucca Mountain
Frank Perry, Allen Cogbill, Don Krier, Gordon Keating and Greg Valentine from EES-9, EES-11, and EES-6 attended and presented several talks at a Yucca Mountain Project volcanic hazards workshop in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 3-day workshop is the first of four scheduled in the next 18 months to facilitate an expert-elicitation panel of 10 volcanologists and geophysicists in assessing the probability and uncertainty of a future volcano intersecting the proposed high-level radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain. The first workshop dealt with data needs for the expert elicitation and focused on a high-resolution, helicopter-borne aeromagnetic survey designed by EES scientists that encompassed almost 900 square kilometers surrounding Yucca Mountain. The purpose of the survey was to detect the presence of volcanoes buried in alluvial-filled basins surrounding Yucca Mountain, which have the potential of impacting assessments of the probability of volcanic intersection of the proposed repository. Frank Perry from EES-9 made three presentations that covered the volcanic history of the region, preliminary interpretation of the aeromagnetic data, and plans for drilling and analytical work to characterize buried volcanoes. Allen Cogbill from EES-11 presented details of the aeromagnetic survey and a preliminary interpretation of the data. Don Krier from EES-6 presented an overview of the eruptive characteristics of volcanoes from the Yucca Mountain region. The next workshop is scheduled for February 2005 and will focus on alternative volcanological and tectonic models that impact probability models.

Czech Republic Officials Tour Yucca Mountain Repository
Bruce Reinert of the Earth and Environmental Sciences Division hosted 17 representatives of the Czech Republic Civic Safety Committee on October 12, 2004, on a tour of the Yucca Mountain Repository. Included were the Mayor of the Dukovany Municipality, the Mayor and Vice Mayor of the Raouchovany Municipality, the Mayor of the Studenec Municipality as well as many other high ranking officials from around the Czech Republic accompanied by journalists and cameramen. 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.

Foreign Press Centers Get True Glimpse of Yucca Mountain Repository
Dick Kovach of the Earth and Environmental Sciences Division hosted 16 representatives of the Foreign Press Centers on October 14, 2004, on a tour of the Yucca Mountain Repository. The United States Department of State has Foreign Press Centers in Washington, D.C., New York and Los Angeles. The Foreign Press Centers support U.S. policies by helping foreign media cover the U.S. Their goal is to promote the depth, accuracy, and balance of foreign reporting from the U.S., by providing direct access to authoritative American information sources.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.

October 20, 2004

LANL's Geophysics Team Participates in International Meeting of SEG
The seventy-fourth annual international meeting and exposition of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) was held in Denver, Colorado on October 10-15, 2004. Members of the Geophysics group (EES-11) at Los Alamos National Laboratory presented three technical papers as well as attended multiple working meetings. Leigh House and James Rutledge co-chaired a technical session titled gPassive Seismic.h Michael Fehler, Group Leader for EES-11, attended a meeting of the Society's Development and Production (D&P) committee. The committee is charged with organizing the D&P summer research workshop in 2005, titled "Attenuation: what can be gained from seismic loss?" Fehler also participated as a member of the Society's Research committee in their semi-annual meeting organizing an annual summer research workshop and workshops held after the annual meeting. He, along with Charlotte Rowe, also organized an afternoon workshop for the "More Than Cloud" project. This project is focused on developing new methodologies for evaluating seismicity induced by hydraulic injections.

Leigh House, Lianjie Huang, and Michael Fehler attended a working group meeting to develop a new plan for a large-scale seismic modeling effort. The goal is to develop numerical data to be used to investigate the capabilities of imaging and characterization schemes to reliably image subsurface reservoirs and infer rock properties that are relevant to reservoir characterization. House was one of the co-organizers of this working group.

Dr. ReVelle Dissects Bolides in the Meteoritics and Planetary Science Journal
Dr. Douglas ReVelle of Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES) Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory recently co-authored a paper titled, gEntry Dynamics and Acoustics/Infrasonic/Seismic Analysis for the Neuschwanstein Meteorite Fall,h which was published in the October issue of the University of Arizonafs Meteoritics and Planetary Science (MAPS) Journal. The paper discusses analyses of the Neuschwanstein bolide over Southeastern lower Germany in the Bavarian Alps using infrasound, seismic, satellite and/or ground based optical camera and radiometer monitoring systems including near-IR wavelengths. The Neuschwanstein bolide entered Earthfs atmosphere on April 6, 2002. A second article also co-authored by ReVelle will appear in Novemberfs issue of MAPS detailing a similar analysis of the Park Forest Chicago bolide that nearly collided with Earthfs surface on March 9, 2003.

For the entire publication, refer to:  D.O. REVELLE, P.G. BROWN, and P. SPURNY.  "Entry dynamics and acoustics/infrasonic/seismic analysis for the Neuschwanstein meteorite fall". Meteoritics & Planetary Science 39, Nr10, 1605-1626 (2004).

October 13, 2004

LANL Scientistsf Magnesium Sulfate Salt Research Published in Nature
In a paper published in the October 7 issue of the scientific journal Nature, a team of Los Alamos researchers lead by EESf David Vaniman describe the exposure of magnesium sulfate salts to various temperature, pressure, and humidity conditions in order to understand their possible hydration states under martian surface conditions.  The researchers discovered that the crystalline structure and water content of the salts are dependent on time-humidity history and that magnesium sulfate salts could retain sufficient water to explain at least a portion of the NASA Odyssey observations, which revealed surprisingly high abundances of near-surface hydrogen on Mars.  The team also included Dave Bish, Steve Chipera, and Bill Carey of LANLfs EES Division, William Feldman of LANLfs ISR Division, and Claire Fialips from the University of Illinois. The research was supported by a NASA Mars Fundamental Research Program Grant and through a Los Alamos Laboratory-Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project, headed by Los Alamos scientist Herbert Funsten, to expand our knowledge of water on Mars.

To read the full article, reference:

Vaniman D.T., Bish D.L., Chipera S.J., Fialips C.I., Carey J.W., and Feldman W.C. (2004) Magnesium sulphate salts and the history of water on Mars.  Nature 431, 663-665.

EESf Carl Gable Asked to Serve on Executive Committee for CIG
Carl Gable of Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES) Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory has been asked to serve on the Executive Committee for the Computational Infrastructure for Geodynamics (CIG).  With a grant from the National Science Foundation, CIG started on September 1, 2004, and is a membership-governed organization that supports and promotes Earth science by developing and maintaining software for computational geophysics and related fields. Under the management of Caltech, CIG will house a small core team of dedicated software architects and engineers whose work will be guided by scientific objectives formulated by the geodynamics community.  For more information on CIG, visit: http://www.geodynamics.org/.

EESfs Peter Roberts Participates in DOE/OBES Geosciences Symposium
Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES) Divisionfs Peter Roberts participated in a Symposium "Flow and Transport: Characterization and Modeling from Pore to Reservoir Scale," which was hosted by the Department of Energyfs Office of Basic Energy Sciences (OBES) Geosciences Program in late September. The symposium was in Gaithersburg, Maryland and participants were mainly principal investigators (PI) of BES-funded projects related to flow and transport, as well as guest scientists which provided comments and feedback to BES Program Manager Nick Woodward. Roberts presented recent results of experimental work done in collaboration with co-PI Amr Abdel-Fattah of C-INC, who also attended. Roberts' talk was titled "Coupling of Dynamic Stress to Porous Fluid Flow and Colloid Behavior: Experimental Observations from sub-Pore to Core Scales". Results showed that high-frequency (.5 to 5 MHz) acoustic waves and low-frequency (1 to 100 Hz) mechanical stress are both capable of changing the transport behavior of natural and artificial colloidal particles in porous media. This phenomenon could have implications for increased oil production, improved groundwater remediation, and better understanding of colloid-facilitated contaminant transport at Yucca Mountain.

October 6, 2004

EESf Lichtner Joins Collaborative CEKA Effort
The National Science Foundation has awarded a team of Penn State researchers $6.7 million to establish a new Center for Environmental Kinetics Analysis, better known as CEKA. CEKA will bring together chemists, geochemists, biochemists, soil scientists and engineers to measure and synthesize kinetic data for environmental systems and to promote modeling of the temporal evolution of such systems. The group will jointly try to answer the question, "How fast do pollutants and natural salts react with minerals in soils and aquifers?" The center will emphasize the problem of how to answer this question using laboratory or computer experiments and then how to scale the answer to natural systems. CEKA hypothesizes that training students to think about environmental problems at several scales of analysis will promote better approaches for analysis of environmental systems.

The CEKA team consists of a diverse congregation of Penn State scientists and will be joined by DOE scientists including Peter Lichtner of Earth and Environmental Sciences Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Carl Steefel and Glenn Waychunas of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and John Zachara of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Also Included is Ryan Mathur of the geology department at Juniata College. All of these researchers will host Penn State students in their laboratories.

EES Presents at Annual Seismic Research Review
The annual Seismic Research Review meeting of the Ground Based Nuclear Monitoring Research and Engineering program (GNEM R&E) was held September 21 through September 23, 2004 in Orlando, Florida. Researchers from the NNSA Laboratories (LANL, LLNL, PNNL. SNL) and researchers from academia and industry who are funded by DOE, DTRA, and the Air Force met to present and discuss their research. The theme of this yearfs meeting was Trends in Nuclear Explosion Monitoring. LANL researchers authored or co-authored 14 posters and presentations.

Attendees from Los Alamos included Julio Aguilar-Chang, Diane Baker, Mike Begnaud, C. L. Edwards, Hans Hartse, Howard Patton, Scott Phillips, George Randall, Marie Renwald, Charlotte Rowe, Jim Rutledge, Lee Steck, Richard Stead, Steve Taylor, and David Yang of EES-11, Doug Revelle and Rod Whitaker of EES-2, Terry Wallace, EES Division Leader, and Marv Wetovsky of IM-1.

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