A Seismological Study of the Las Vegas Basin, Nevada: Investigating Basin Depth and Shear Velocity Structure
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UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations 1-1-2005 A seismological study of the Las Vegas basin, Nevada: Investigating basin depth and shear velocity structure Darlene J McEwan University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/rtds Repository Citation McEwan, Darlene J, "A seismological study of the Las Vegas basin, Nevada: Investigating basin depth and shear velocity structure" (2005). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 1886. http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/l65y-4koz This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A SEISMOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE LAS VEGAS BASIN, NY INVESTIGATING BASIN DEPTH AND SHEAR VELOCITY STRUCTURE by Darlene J. MeEwan Bachelor of Science State University of New York at Buffalo 2002 A thesis suhmitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Science Degree in Geoscience Department of Geoscience College of Sciences Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas December 2005 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 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Thesis Approval The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas SEPTEMBER 8 ___________ 20JÎ5 _ The Thesis prepared by _______________________ DARLENE J . MCEWAN E n titled A SETSMOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE LAS VEGAS B A SIN . NV_________ INVESTIGATING BASIN DEPTH AND SHEAR VELOCITY STRUCTURE is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of m a s t e r o f SCIENCE DEGREE IN GEOSCIENCE Examination Committee Chair {SV^i2’ Examinutt ee M ember Dean of the Graduate College Examimiion Committee Member Examination Committee Member Graduate College Faculty Representative 11 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT A Seistnological Study of the Las Vegas Basin, NV Investigating Shear Velocity Structure and Basin Depth by Darlene J. McEwan Dr. Catherine M. Snelson, Examination Committee Chair Assistant Professor of Geoscience University of Nevada, Las Vegas This study examines the earthquake data recorded in Las Vegas, Nevada by the Las Vegas Valley Broadband array. Teleseismic P-wave arrivals were used to calculate travel time delays at basin sites relative to a hard-rock site. Delays up to 0.45 s were observed within the basin and correspond to thicknesses up to 1.52 km based on an average P-wave velocity of 4.37 km/s. Basin depths are shallower than expected and attributed to the upper unconsolidated basin fill. Regional earthquakes were used to calculate Rayleigh wave interstation group velocities along basin paths. Interstation group velocities range from 0.25 km/s to 2.14 km/s over periods of 1.3 s to 4.0 s. Shear velocities, calculated through inversion, range from 0.28 km/s to 2.85 km/s for the basin sediments and are attributed to the clays and unconsolidated materials within the upper basin. The shallow shear velocities determined through this method correlate well with geotechnical surveys and offer greater depth of penetration making this method a non-invasive means for calculating shear velocity at the hasin scale. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT................................................................................................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES...................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES...................................................................................................................... viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................1 CHAPTER TWO GEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND...................................................... 7 CHAPTER THREE GEOPHYSICAL BACKGROUND.................................................15 Site Response Studies ............................................................................................................15 Basin Geometry Studies.........................................................................................................17 Shallow Shear Velocity Studies ........................................................................................... 18 CHAPTER FOUR LAS VEGAS VALLEY BROADBAND ARRAY........................19 Locations .................................................................................................................................. 19 Instrumentation and Array Installation ...............................................................................20 Data Availability.................................................................................................................... 21 CHAPTER FIVE DATA ....................................................................................................25 Teleseismic Data.................................................................................................................... 25 Regional Data ..........................................................................................................................27 CHAPTER SIX METHODS...........................................................................................39 P-wave Travel Time Delay Methods.................................................................................. 39 Interstation Group Velocity Methods .................................................................................41 CHAPTER SEVEN RESULTS............................................................................................. 51 P-wave Travel Time Delay Results.................................................................................... 51 Interstation Group Velocity Results .................................................................................... 54 CHAPTER EIGHT INTERPRETATIONS........................................................................ 89 P-wave Travel Time Delay Interpretations............................................. 89 Interstation Group Velocity Interpretations ....................................................................... 93 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER NINE DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS...........................................103 P-wave Travel Time Delay Discussion.............................................................................103 Interstation Group Velocity Discussion ............................................................................105 Summary................................................................................................................................108 APPENDIX ...............................................................................................................on CD-ROM Appendix A Teleseismic Earthquake List for the LVVBBl ............................................ Appendix B Unfiltered and Filtered Seismograms for Teleseismic Earthquakes ......... Appendix C Regional Earthquake List for the LVVBBl .................................................. Appendix D Regional Earthquake List for the LVVBB2 .................................................. Appendix E Travel Time Residuals to SGS ....................................................................... Appendix F Back-azimuth and Residual Plots ................................................................... Appendix G Travel Time Residuals to F02 ......................................................................... Appendix H Unfiltered and Filtered Seismograms for Regional Earthquakes .............. REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................