Toward Development of a Long Rupture History of the Northern Imperial Fault in Mesquite Basin, Imperial Valley, Southern California Rebecca Tsang M.S. Candidate Advisor Dr. Thomas Rockwell ABSTRACT The Imperial fault is a 70-km long, northwest-striking, dextral fault located in the Salton Trough, which along with the San Jacinto and Elsinore faults, are considered part of the San Andreas fault system and accommodate a significant proportion of the North American-Pacific plate-boundary...

Estimation of Lateral Variations of the Mohorovičić Discontinuity Using 2D Modeling of Receiver Functions Rumi Takedatsu Advisor Dr. Kim Bak Olsen ABSTRACT We have used 2D finite difference modeling to examine the efficacy of estimating a relatively abrupt offset (>~35o) in Moho depth with a slant-stacking technique (Zhu and Kanamori 2000) from radial 0-2Hz P-wave receiver functions (RFs) at a single or a few closely-spaced stations. In particular, we have examined the advantage...

Timing And Style Of Miocene Deformation, Indian Pass And Picacho State Recreation Area, SE California, U.S.A. Krista Muela Advisor Dr. Gary Girty ABSTRACT The Chocolate Mountains anticlinorium is a complex structure extending from the San Andreas fault on the west to south-central Arizona on the east. It is well exposed between Indian Pass and Picacho State Recreation Area, SE California, where Neogene rocks reveal a complex record of Paleogene to early Miocene extension followed by...

Stratigraphy and petrologic evolution of the Oligocene-Miocene Comondú Group near Bahia Concepcion and Loreto, Baja California Sur, México Nicholas Godinez Advisor Dr. David Kimbrough ABSTRACT The Comondú Group of Baja California Sur, Mexico comprises extensive Oligocene to middle Miocene forearc basin and volcanic arc deposits that formed immediately prior to plate boundary reorganization and rifting that opened the Gulf of California. This study contributes new whole rock X-ray...

Geophysical imaging of the San Andreas Fault damage zone near Little Rock, California Esteban Bowles-Martinez Advisor Dr. Thomas Rockwell ABSTRACT New gravity, DC resistivity, and seismic refraction data image the damage zone surrounding the San Andreas Fault (SAF) near Little Rock, California. Analysis of these new data shows a decrease in electrical resistivity and seismic velocity in granitoids near the fault, which is interpreted as increased damage, with more damage on the...

Weathering characteristics within the zone of precariously balanced rocks in Southern California: a probabilistic approach to analyzing corestone-saprock development Crystal Replogle Advisor Dr. Gary Girty ABSTRACT The development of dilatational volumetric strain in saprock from plutonic corestone near strike-slip faults, such as the Elsinore and San Jacinto faults in southern California, may be related to ground shaking during earthquakes. The saprock formation process has previously...

No evidence for seawater-derived crustal contamination at Loihi Seamount from trace metal abundances and oxygen isotope ratios Carrie Welker Advisor Dr. Aaron Pietruszka ABSTRACT Loihi Seamount is the youngest Hawaiian volcano. It towers ~3 km above the seafloor to within ~1 km of sea level. A previous study found elevated (234U/238U) ratios in sixteen Loihi volcanic glass samples. The expected value of (234U/238U) in primary magmas derived from the mantle is 1.000, but seawater's...

3D Petrel Geomodeling: Proposal for Redevelopment of a Hydrocarbon Reservoir Daniel Torn Advisor Dr. Gary Girty ABSTRACT Occidental Petroleum Corporation purchased the Black Mamba Oil Field from Vintage Petroleum Inc. in 2005. The Black Mamba Oil Field consists of two lithologically similar oil-producing reservoirs called the Phacodies and Pequena. These two reservoirs have not been redeveloped for over 30 years until recently. Oxy conducted recompletions of various wells in the...

Investigating compositional variation in Cabrillo Formation conglomerate volcanic clasts, San Diego County, California William Munson Advisor Dr. David Kimbrough ABSTRACT Conglomerate clasts of the Campanian-Maastrichtian Cabrillo Formation, part of the Rosario Group, have been interpreted as locally derived forearc basin detritus shed from the adjacent Peninsular Ranges batholith (PRB) magmatic arc which ranges in age from ~140-85 Ma. Rosario Group sandstone compositions, detrital...

Using texture and geochemical data to assess the stratigraphic relationships between the Marcus Wash and Rojo Grande units, Picacho State Recreation Area, SE California Tim Pelbath Advisor Dr. Gary Girty ABSTRACT The Picacho State Recreation Area (PSRA), located in the lower Colorado River region SE California, contains a thick sequence of Tertiary volcanics. Based on published work, Miocene volcanic rocks have been subdivided, from lowest to highest, into the following 6 mappable...