Beth

Mapping the Ups and Downs with InSAR

Beth Wisely is developing a method of aquifer characterization in regions of active tectonics using satellite interferometry and hydrogeologic data. This method estimates vertical tectonic displacement rates and site-specific poroelastic aquifer parameters. Current study areas include the San Bernardino basin and the Upper Coachella Valley, two aquifer basins embedded in the southern San Andreas fault system (see figure below).

Beth earned a B.S. in geology with a minor in mathematics from Sonoma State University. Since arriving at UO, her focus has shifted to geophysics. She was recently awarded a collegiate scholarship research grant from the Northern California Geological Society to study surface deformation of the Klamath basin in northern California and southern Oregon. This project will incorporate the use of the most recent satellite data aquisitions available to the scientific community. The primary goal is to remotely monitor and characterize changes in the Klamath groundwater hydrology due to recent environmental actions. A secondary goal is to investigate the vertical tectonism active in this northwestern corner of the Basin and Range Province.

Fault map modified from Anderson et al. (2004), with overlay of tectonic displacement rates at well sites. Rates are the results from a least squares inversion of an InSAR-based time series of surface deformation and coeval well level time series. Red indicates tectonic subsidence, and blue indicates tectonic uplift. Major faults and fault zones labeled as follows: SAFZ, San Andreas fault zone; SJFZ, San Jacinto fault zone; CHFZ, Crafton Hills fault zone; Rialto-Colton fault.