Shallow Seismic Modeling of the Hydrothermal Plumbing System Beneath Old Faithful Geyser in the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park
Abstract
In November 2016, a 2-D and 3-D seismic survey was performed around Old Faithful Geyser in the southeastern portion of the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park. The survey consisted of 521 3-component seismic receiver locations including 39 receivers on a ~1km NE-SW trending line crossing Old Faithful Geyser. A 5.4kg sledgehammer striking a metal plate was our source with a dominant frequency of ~40Hz. Our 2-D line crosses Old Faithful in a NE-SW direction with station spacing at 25-30m with ~100m spacing on either side of Old Faithful and a total length of 1024m. Our 3-D seismic grid is an array of 521 receivers and 343 shots covering an area of ~4km2 with an average station spacing of 22m. We create tomographic profiles and velocity models in 2-D to visualize the subsurface structure surrounding Old Faithful in an attempt to visualize the main reservoir body of OFG. We recover a low velocity anomaly SW of Old Faithful which may be a reservoir feeding into the plumbing system. Our receivers were deployed at any given location for at least 1 or 2 days making this data set viable for passive source modeling as well. We explore the effectiveness of using the H/V ratio to study the subsurface at Old Faithful. This study provides new insight into the subsurface structure of Old Faithful Geyser and the southern portion of The Upper Geyser Basin.
Subject Area
Geophysics|Hydrologic sciences|Geology
Recommended Citation
Caylor, Jordan Rigdon, "Shallow Seismic Modeling of the Hydrothermal Plumbing System Beneath Old Faithful Geyser in the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park" (2020). ETD Collection for University of Texas, El Paso. AAI27999612.
https://scholarworks.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI27999612