GIS/REMOTE SENSING AS A TEACHING AND FIELD RECONNAISSANCE METHOD FOR INVESTIGATING NEOTECTONICS/EARTHQUAKE HAZARD AND RELATED GEOTHERMAL ACTIVITY: APPLICATIONS IN THE BASIN AND RANGE PROVINCE, USA

Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing data and hardware/software technologies are increasingly more accessible to the scientific community. As a result, geoscientists are evolving in our approach to field reconnaissance and field mapping as well as geo-science education. As geo-database assembly, integration and distribution grows; our limits as both scientists and educators are continuously expanded.

This poster aims to show, through examples of my research in the Basin and Range Province, U.S.A., how to use GIS/Remote Sensing as both a practical research tool as well as a teaching tool. The focus of my research is the tectonic evolution of the Basin and Range Province, more specifically; I am working to gain an understanding of slip history of normal faulting and it relationship to magmatic processes. My specific area of interest is the Northwestern Basin and Range; an area located at the interface between extensional tectonics and insipient (~< 5 Ma) strike-slip faulting associated with the Walker Lane Belt. To aid in my investigation and to enhance my understanding of the spatial relationships, I integrate air photos, satellite imagery, Global Positioning System (GPS) data, seismic data, digital elevation models (DEMs) and geochemical data (to name a few) to evaluate the relationship between geomorphology, geology, (neo)tectonics and geothermal activity. These techniques serve to 1) broaden the spatial perspective of the tectonic/geomorphic systems, 2) supplement and enhance field targets, observations and data collection, and 3) provide a digital interface for 3-d interpretation of structural relationships. These goals are valuable research and educational tactics and the tools are increasingly accessible to both students and researchers.