Caverns Measureless to Man: Interdisciplinary Planetary Science & Technology Analog Research Underwater Laser Scanner Survey (Quintana Roo, Mexico) by Stephen Alexander Daire A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the USC Graduate School University of Southern California In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science (Geographic Information Science and Technology) May 2019 Copyright © 2019 by Stephen Daire “History is just a 25,000-year dash from the trees to the starship; and while it’s going on its wild and woolly but it’s only like that, and then you’re in the starship.” – Terence McKenna. Table of Contents List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ iv List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. xi Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... xii List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................... xiii Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ xvi Chapter 1 Planetary Sciences, Cave Survey, & Human Evolution................................................. 1 1.1. Topic & Area of Interest: Exploration & Survey ....................................................................12 1.2. Incentives, Orientation, Motivation, & Significance ..............................................................23 1.3. Hypothesis, Goal, Design, Phases, & Questions ....................................................................29 1.3.1. Objectives ............................................................................................................................30 1.3.2. GIST PSTAR Thesis Blueprint ............................................................................................32 Chapter 2 Related Works .............................................................................................................. 33 2.1. Exploration, Research, & Development in Planetary Sciences ..............................................39 2.1.1. Quantum: Spectrometry, & Biology - Scientific Synesthesia, & Holographic VRLs .........43 Chapter 3 Data & Methods ........................................................................................................... 51 3.1. Conceptual Framework ...........................................................................................................52 3.2. Schedule, Timeline, & Workflows .........................................................................................54 3.3. Research Design......................................................................................................................62 3.3.1. Goals & Objectives ..............................................................................................................63 3.3.2. Phenomena & Sampling ......................................................................................................64 3.3.3. Research Apparatus: Survey, Speleonation, & 3D GIST ....................................................64 3.3.4. Variables: Definition & Measures .......................................................................................80 3.4. Data Requirements & Sources ................................................................................................81 i 3.4.1. Datasets & Qualities ............................................................................................................82 3.4.2. Origins & Physical Congruencies ........................................................................................82 3.4.3. Data-dictionary & Entity-Relationship Diagram .................................................................82 3.4.4. Limitations ...........................................................................................................................83 3.5. Procedures & Analysis ............................................................................................................88 3.5.1. Model Development & Analog PSTAR Operations Narrative ............................................89 3.5.2. Expected Outcome ...............................................................................................................90 3.5.3. Equations, Weighting, & Schemes ......................................................................................97 3.5.4. Modus Operandi...................................................................................................................99 3.5.5. Analytic Assumptions ........................................................................................................100 Chapter 4 Results ........................................................................................................................ 101 4.1. Methods Evaluation ..............................................................................................................102 4.2. Facts ......................................................................................................................................137 4.3. Evidence ................................................................................................................................150 4.4. Findings & Claims ................................................................................................................175 4.5. Outcomes ..............................................................................................................................199 Chapter 5 Discussion & Conclusions ......................................................................................... 201 5.1. GIST, QCED, Moduli Fields of Vacua, & Quasicrystals .....................................................203 5.1.1. Limitations of Accomplishments .......................................................................................204 5.2. Future Research ....................................................................................................................208 5.3. Summary of GIST Contributions ..........................................................................................214 References ................................................................................................................................... 217 Appendices .................................................................................................................................. 231 Appendix A. Conceptual Periods in Speleogenetic Thinking .................................................... 231 ii Appendix B. Glossary .................................................................................................................241 Appendix C. Analog Martian & Terrestrial Atmospheric Environmental Contexts ..................245 Appendix D. Martian Kart of Noctis Labyrinthus and Robotic RS Survey Geohazards ............246 Appendix E. International Union of Geological Science Holocene Subdivisions (Cohen et al 2018 update).....................................................................................................................247 Appendix F. Karst Geohydrological FOI Datasets & Definitions Table .....................................248 Appendix G. Microsoft Access Karst Database. .........................................................................258 Appendix H. ERD of cave system datasets (Daire et al. 2017). ..................................................259 Appendix I. GIST Project Schedule for ULS Cave Survey Deployment Table ..........................260 Appendix J. Project Field Survey, Dive Plan, & Crew Procedures Table ..................................271 Appendix K. Fractal Marble AgiSoft Parallel Projection & DEM Processing Parameters .........296 Appendix L. Philosophies, Procedures, & Tools for Subaquatic Survey & Survival .................301 Appendix M. Nebenhaus, Mayor, Daire, & Loew Spatial Datasets of Sistema Taj Mahal ........302 Appendix N. Laser Classification & Safety Datasheet ................................................................303 Appendix O. Exported AgiSoft DTM for Full Cave Photoplethysmogram in Cloudcompare ...304 iii List of Figures Figure 1 Interdisciplinary Research Domains of Speleology with PSTAR Potential .....................2 Figure 2 Thesis Goal, Phases, Objectives, and Details ....................................................................6 Figure 3 PSTAR Goal & Objectives ..............................................................................................12 Figure 4 3D cross-section overlay of cenote karst map diagraming a Conceptual Model of Phreatic Karst Science Topics.. ..............................................................................17 Figure 5 Yucatan Peninsula AOI Map ...........................................................................................18 Figure 6 Cenotes proximate to highway 307 .................................................................................19 Figure 7 BRCA grade 1 AOI map with overlain FOI survey. .......................................................20 Figure 8 BRCA Grade 3 Map with .svg raw polylines-spheres ....................................................21 Figure 9 Research Benefits Matrix