Geology

Introduction to Geophysics – The last assignment!

Rule: You can talk over how to do surveys, etc. but I want everybody to write up their own bids - federal rules preclude collusion and price fixing. Due on or before Monday, December, 17th, 5:01 pm.

Do either part on or part two – your choice:

Part One - Request For Bid: seismic refraction

A client is concerned about the groundwater flowing from the upper Rattlesnake Valley to the Clark Fork River in Missoula and has chosen Line A-A' on Figure 1 as the profile on which to center a study. The client wants to determine the shape of two surfaces:: 1) the contact between the valley fill and the bedrock, and 2) the water table. To determine the shape of the subsurface bedrock and the water table the client seeks bids for:

two reversed refraction profiles in the optimal place and direction to best delineate the subsurface situation
Rocks of the Precambrian Belt Supergroup are exposed at the sides of the valley; the fill of the Rattlesnake Valley is probably Quaternary alluvium.

The bidding contractor is responsible for experimental design, fieldwork, data acquisition, data processing, and interpretation. You should specify the equipment from my lab that you will use but need not include rental expense in your bid.

Your submitted bid should include a brief introduction with a concise description of the problem including your initial estimate of the two surfaces (bedrock and water table) and how you made them. Following that your bid should include:

Equipment to be used including source and number of channels (active geophones)
The locations of the two profiles, their lengths, geophone spacing along the profiles, and why these are the appropriate values
A description/explanation of your proposed procedures (so they can be compared to other bids)
A description of the project report you intend to submit on completion (nature of data, figures and graphs)
An summary of possible problems/limitations of the refraction survey
A detailed breakdown of your survey costs and your total bid for the refraction component of the project. You should consider travel time, time in the field, time in the lab, and time to write the report; base it on $40/hour.

Your bid should be submitted as a memo and should be no longer than three printed pages not including figures or maps. If you need to you may include additional items in an appendix.

Part Two - Request for Bid: Magnetic Survey

A prospective developer is interested in the old Champion stud mill site near McCormick Park, Missoula (Figure 2).

One of her main concerns is that there may well be some old buried drums, fuel tanks, or other potential sources of contaminants in the subsurface. The concern is appropriate in that the site was used for a petroleum operation before it became a lumber mill. The client wishes to limit her potential environmental liability by determining the location of any old drums and tanks before purchasing the property. Thus the client requests a bid for a ground magnetic survey of the area that will locate any buried metallic objects equal to or bigger than several crushed 55 gallon barrels within two meters of the surface.

Your submitted bid should include:

A brief introduction with a concise description of the problem
The equipment you propose to use, the values you propose to measure, and why
Line spacing and station spacing for both surveys
A description/explanation of your proposed procedures (so they can be compared to other bids)
A description of the project report you intend to submit on completion (nature of data, figures and graphs)
An summary of possible problems/limitations of the survey to protect yourself in case you end up in court after a builder drops the bucket of a front end loader into a leaky old fuel oil tank you didn't find
A detailed breakdown of your survey costs and your total bid for the project. You should consider travel time, time in the field, time in the lab, and time to write the report; base it on $40/hour.

Your bid should be submitted as a memo and should be no longer than two printed pages not including figures or maps. If you need to you may include additional items in an appendix.

Geosciences Department - The University of Montana - 32 Campus Drive #1296 - Missoula, MT 59812-1296
Phone: (406) 243-2341 Fax: (406) 243-4028 Email: geology@mso.umt.edu

The University of Montana Geosciences Department