Fall 2007

Observational Earthquake Seismology (Geophysics 524)

Dr. Susan Bilek
Geophysics Program
Department of Earth and Environmental Science
Socorro, New Mexico

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This graduate course is designed to give students an opportunity to make basic seismologic observations and interpretations using real earthquake data. We will cover a range of topics, from the types of signals earthquakes produce to using these signals to learn about the structure of the Earth and the earthquake process itself. Lectures and data analysis exercises make up the meat of this course. For more details, see the syllabus.

Fall 2007 Syllabus (pdf)

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Announcements

8/19/2007: Note the change in scheduled meeting time -- we will now meet 8-9:15 am in MSEC 187.

9/19/2007: The PASSCAL visit will be on Sept. 27th. Please meet up at PASSCAL at 8 am.

9/19/2007: There will be no class on 10/02, Exercise 2 will be extended, due on Sept 27 (give to Kim or put in my mailbox), and the student presentations for section 1 will be moved to 10/11. These dates are revised on the schedule below.

 

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Required Text

An Introduction to Seismology, Earthquakes, and Earth Structure, by Seth Stein and Michael Wysession, Blackwell Publishing, 2003 (available at NMT bookstore)

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Lecture Outlines

8/21 - Class Introduction

8/23 - Stress and Strain S&W 2.1-2.3

8/28 - Seismic Waves and Ray Theory S&W 2.4-2.6; 3.4

8/30 - Surface Waves and Normal Modes S&W 2.7-2.9

9/04 - Instrumentation S&W 6.2-6.4

9/06 - Instrumentation S&W 6.6

9/11 - Seismogram Interpretation S&W 3.5-3.5.2

9/13 - Seismogram Interpretation and Earthquake Location S&W 7.1-7.2

9/18 - Seismogram Interpretation and Earthquake Location S&W 7.1-7.2

9/20 - Earth Structure - Tomography and Attenuation S&W 7.3; 3.7

9/25 - Earth Structure - Crust S&W 3.2.4

9/27 - PASSCAL visit

10/02 - No class

10/04 - Earth Structure - Mantle and Core S&W 3.5.2-3.5.4; 3.6; 3.8.3-3.8.5

10/09 - Earth Structure - Mantle and Core S&W 3.5.2-3.5.4; 3.6; 3.8.3-3.8.5

10/11 - Student Presentations - Instrumentation or Structure Topics

10/16 - Earthquake Source - Focal Mechanisms S&W 4.1-4.2

10/18 - NO CLASS

10/23 - Earthquake Source - Moment Tensors S&W 4.4

10/25 - Earthquake Source - Geodesy S&W 4.5

10/30 - Earthquake Source - Source parameters S&W 4.6

11/01 - Earthquake Source - Source parameters S&W 4.6

11/06 - Earthquake Source - Rupture modeling S&W 4.3

11/08 - Earthquake Source - Rupture modeling S&W 4.3

11/13 - Earthquake Source - Earthquake Statistics S&W 4.7

11/15 - Student Presentations - Earthquake Source Topics

11/20 - Seismotectonics S&W 5.3-5.4

11/22 - NO CLASS - THANKSGIVING

11/27 - Seismotectonics S&W 5.5-5.6

11/29 - Seismotectonics S&W 5.7

12/04 - Student Presentations - Seismotectonics Topics

12/06 - Class Wrap-up

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Presentation Topics

Each student will be required to present a review of an observation or technique important in the field of seismology. These can be recent or "classic" observations or techniques. You will be responsible for getting approval for your topic (earlier is better), reading the literature that relates to your topic, providing a presenting a 20 minute summary to the class, and writing a summary due on your presentation day.

Examples of topics and paper suggestions are here

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Exercises

Exercise 1 - Due 9/11

Exercise 2 - Due 9/25

Exercise 3 - Due 10/11

Exercise 4 - Due 10/23

Exercise 5 - Due 11/06

Exercise 6 - Due 11/20

Exercise 7 - Due 12/06

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