Date of Award

2017

Document Type

Open Access Master's Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Geology (MS)

Administrative Home Department

Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences

Advisor 1

Gregory P. Waite

Committee Member 1

Alessandro Tibaldi

Committee Member 2

Simon A. Carn

Abstract

The application of ambient noise analysis to active volcanic systems represents a recent technique to model seismic structure without distinct sources. All the existing methods are based on the fact that surface waves are dispersive and most of them require a large number of available days and inter-station distances larger than 2-3 wavelengths. We apply multiple techniques to seismic data recorded during a temporary deployment of 19 seismic stations in January 2015 at Pacaya volcano, Guatemala, a dataset with some distinct differences from those typically used for ambient noise analysis. Despite having less than a week of data and relatively close inter-station spacing, we find a good agreement between the approaches. In particular, we find that the SPAC method (Aki, 1957) is applicable not only for a seismic array, but also for single pairs of stations. It may be particularly favorable in those conditions characterized by small set of data and small inter-station distances. We also noted linear relationship between phase velocity and inter-station distance might suggest a contribution of body/scattered waves within the surface waves and it is probably due to the seismic station configuration in proximity of the Pacaya vent.

Download

Share

COinS