Bayesian Seismic Refraction Inversion for Critical Zone Science and Near‐Surface Applications

Huang, M. H.; Hudson‐Rasmussen, Berit; Burdick, S.; Lekić, V.; Nelson, M. D.; Fauria, Kristen E.; Schmerr, N. C.

doi:10.1029/2020gc009172

Cited by 16 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…With increasing depth, fractures become rare and isolated, separated by meters‐thick layers of fresh bedrock. The weathered profile is thickest at ridgetops, and thins toward the channels, where fresh bedrock can be found within centimeters of the surface (Huang et al., 2021; Pedrazas et al., 2021). Figure 3 depicts the subsurface weathering profile in cross‐section view across the largest study hillslope.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bedrock Vadose Zone Storage Dynamics Under Extreme Drought: Consequences for Plant Water Availability, Recharge, and Runoff

Hahm

Dralle

Sanders

et al. 2022

Water Resources Research

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Bedrock vadose zone water storage (i.e., rock moisture) dynamics are rarely observed but potentially key to understanding drought responses. Exploiting a borehole network at a Mediterranean blue oak savanna site—Rancho Venada—we document how water storage capacity in deeply weathered bedrock profiles regulates woody plant water availability and groundwater recharge. The site is in the Northern California Coast Range within steeply dipping turbidites. In a wet year (water year 2019; 647 mm of precipitation), rock moisture was quickly replenished to a characteristic storage capacity, recharging groundwater that emerged at springs to generate streamflow. In the subsequent rainless summer growing season, rock moisture was depleted by about 93 mm. In two drought years that followed (212 and 121 mm of precipitation) the total amount of rock moisture gained each winter was about 54 and 20 mm, respectively, and declines were documented exceeding these amounts, resulting in progressively lower rock moisture content. Oaks, which are rooted into bedrock, demonstrated signs of water stress in drought, including reduced transpiration rates and extremely low water potentials. In the 2020–2021 drought, precipitation did not exceed storage capacity, resulting in variable belowground water storage, increased plant water stress, and no recharge or runoff. Rock moisture deficits (rather than soil moisture deficits) explain these responses.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bedrock Vadose Zone Storage Dynamics Under Extreme Drought: Consequences for Plant Water Availability, Recharge, and Runoff

Hahm

Dralle

Sanders

et al. 2022

Water Resources Research

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“…First arrival times were picked and data modeled to determine the subsurface velocities using Geogiggas DW TOMO™ codes. DW TOMO is commonly used in the geophysical community (Glas and others, 2019; Claes and others, 2021; Huang and others, 2021). Geogiga's DW TOMO begins with an initial velocity model and iteratively performs inversions reducing the model's misfit to the observed arrival time.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of first arrival seismic tomography in a glaciated basin: implications for paleo-ice stream development

2022

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Ice streams are sites of ice-sheet drainage and together with other processes, such as calving, have an impact on deglaciation rates and ice-sheet mass balance. Proglacial lake deposits provide records of ice-sheet deglaciation and have the potential to supplement other paleoclimate records. Oneida Lake, northeastern USA, contains a thick proglacial lake sequence that buries evidence of ice streaming and a paleo-calving margin that developed during retreat of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Previous high-resolution digital elevation models identified the Oneida Ice Stream from glacial landforms northwest of the lake. In this study, we utilize seismic refractions from a multichannel seismic (MCS) reflection dataset to estimate the thickness of glacial deposits using seismic tomography. With this method we constrain the depth to top of Paleozoic strata, especially in areas where the reflection data yielded poor outcomes and validate our reflection data in regions of good coverage. We demonstrate that where long offset seismic data are available, the first-arrival tomography method is useful in studies of formerly glaciated basins. Our study identifies a ~108 m thick sedimentary section and potentially long paleoclimate record in Oneida Lake, and identifies a paleotopographic low that likely encouraged formation of the Oneida Ice Stream.

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“…The interpreted transitional depths in subsurface structure are an approximation due to model structure and limitations (i.e., ray path coverage, smoothing factors, and cell size), but combined with ground-truthed observations of boreholes excavated materials provide a useful approach to identify seismically significant shifts in CZ structure. For more details on post-processing of the seismic velocity model, refer to Huang et al (2021). From our resulting velocity models described above, we calculated the vertical velocity gradient, defined as the change of P-wave seismic velocity with depth.…”

Section: Seismic Refractionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Symmetry in hillslope steepness and saprolite thickness between hillslopes with opposing aspects, HydroShare, http://www.hydroshare.org/resource/9a9897aa0bb14d20ab4189b98a8439f6. The THB rj‐MCMC software for active source seismic refraction inversion is available in Zenodo (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4590999; Huang et al., 2021).…”

Section: Data Availability Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Symmetry in Hillslope Steepness and Saprolite Thickness Between Hillslopes With Opposing Aspects

et al. 2023

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The structure of the critical zone (CZ) is a product of feedbacks among hydrologic, climatic, biotic, and chemical processes. Past research within snow‐dominated systems has shown that aspect‐dependent solar radiation inputs can produce striking differences in vegetation composition, topography, and soil depth between opposing hillslopes. However, far fewer studies have evaluated the role of microclimates on CZ development within rain‐dominated systems, especially below the soil and into weathered bedrock. To address this need, we characterized the CZ of a north‐facing and south‐facing slope within a first‐order headwater catchment located in central coast California. We combined terrain analysis of vegetation distribution and topography with soil pit characterization, geophysical surveys and hydrologic measurements between slope‐aspects. We documented denser vegetation and higher shallow soil moisture on north facing slopes, which matched previously documented observations in snow‐dominated sites. However, average topographic gradients were 24° and saprolite thickness was approximately 6 m across both hillslopes, which did not match common observations from the literature that showed widespread asymmetry in snow‐dominated systems. These results suggest that dominant processes for CZ evolution are not necessarily transferable across regions. Thus, there is a continued need to expand CZ research, especially in rain‐dominated and water‐limited systems. Here, we present two non‐exclusive mechanistic hypotheses that may explain these unexpected similarities in slope and saprolite thickness between hillslopes with opposing aspects.

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Bayesian Seismic Refraction Inversion for Critical Zone Science and Near‐Surface Applications

Cited by 16 publications

References 47 publications

Bedrock Vadose Zone Storage Dynamics Under Extreme Drought: Consequences for Plant Water Availability, Recharge, and Runoff

Bedrock Vadose Zone Storage Dynamics Under Extreme Drought: Consequences for Plant Water Availability, Recharge, and Runoff

Application of first arrival seismic tomography in a glaciated basin: implications for paleo-ice stream development

Symmetry in Hillslope Steepness and Saprolite Thickness Between Hillslopes With Opposing Aspects

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