Biogenic coastal deposits; Isla del Carmen, Gulf of California, Mexico Jorge Ledesma Vazquez UABC Ensenada Coastal sedimentary deposits including beach and dunes within the south-central region of the Gulf of California show a high percentage of biogenic components, up to 84%, derived from the fragmentation of organisms that, among other oceanographic factors, reflect wave energy and effect of seasonal winds. Our report shows that due to high-energy waves, coastal deposits on points or...

Comets: Implications for the Earth Gary Peterson San Diego State University Geological Sciences -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Comets originated in the earliest history of the Solar System. An early high energy stage pushed the volatile constituents (mostly water) and dust out and away from Sun and into the outermost Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud. Billions of comets, possible up to a trillion, formed and reside there in stable orbits....

Implementation of the Helgeson-Kirkham-Flowers Model to Study Reservoir Temperature Evolution during CO2 Injection Christopher Binter M.S. Candidate Department of Geological Sciences San Diego State University Advisor Dr. Kathryn Thorbjarnarson -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ABSTRACT A comprehensive one-dimensional numerical heat transfer module has been implemented into an existing reactive transport modeling application to study...

Summary: Transitioning to a sustainable low-carbon energy system poses one of the great challenges of the 21st century. The Energy Innovation Series brings leaders from government, law, finance, industry, and academia to discuss key aspects of this challenge and some of the innovative approaches and solutions being fashioned across a range of sectors. During academic year 2012-13, the series will focus on the changing energy mix in the United States and abroad, the implications of shale gas...

Summary: The electric power system is currently composed of generators with large spinning masses whose speeds are tightly coupled together. These masses offer a store of rotational kinetic energy that naturally gives inertia to the average speed of the system. This inertia offers a first line of defense that is tapped during sudden power imbalances. Installing a large fleet of wind farms will result in hours of the year when many traditional generators are turned off. The result may be a...

Finding More Water in San Diego or How to Get Blood from a Turnip: The Story of the San Diego Hydrogeology Project Wes Danskin Research Hydrologist USGS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Many parts of the world have an increasing population, and a commensurate need for more water. But how to increase the supply when hydrogeologic information is limited? The USGS San Diego Hydrogeology project faced this quandary in 2001. What to do...