Graduation Year

2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Degree Granting Department

School of Geosciences

Major Professor

Jochen Braunmiller, Ph.D.

Co-Major Professor

Stephen McNutt, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Jeri Y. Ben-Horin, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Mark Rains, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Glenn Thompson, Ph.D.

Keywords

earthquake, fluvial seismology, seismicity

Abstract

Arizona encompasses a strikingly diverse array of geological terranes and physiographic terrain and consequently experiences a wide range of tectonic and meteorological phenomena, many of which generate distinctive seismic signals. For much of the past century, however, the state has largely lacked the style of dense seismic networks now prevalent in some regions of neighboring California, allowing myriad low-magnitude earthquakes and other subtle seismic sources to elude detection and characterization. In this dissertation, I utilize the high-resolution data of two temporary local seismic networks to investigate two such sources – the primarily low-magnitude but prolific aftershock sequence of the 29 June 2014 Mw=5.3 Duncan earthquake, whose occurrence startled many denizens of seismically quiet southeastern Arizona; and a series of monsoon-driven flash floods which ran along central Arizona's Black Canyon Creek in the summer of 2018, followed in early autumn by several floodcrests induced by the remnants of Tropical Storm Rosa. Chapter 2 primarily concerns the aftershocks' locations, magnitudes, and the previously unmapped subsurface faults which their distribution illuminates, along with the implications which the sequence's longevity holds for the region's potential wealth of undermeasured seismicity. Chapter 3 includes a preliminary seismic characterization of the Black Canyon Creek floods; a comparison between these relatively miniscule floods' seismic signatures and those of higher-discharge flash and controlled floods; and a discussion of how one might implement a seismic network for the purposes of flash flood detection.

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