So this is what I am spending this summer doing:
Title: Geodetic Measurements and Numerical Models of Rifting in Northern Iceland
The objective of this study is to describe quantitatively deformation in the Northern Volcanic Zone (NVZ) of Iceland. The observations were made using interferometric analysis of synthetic aperture radar images (InSAR) between 1993 and 2000. They can be modeled as three sources of deformation in this region: a shallow deflating (Mogi) source, a deep inflating (Mogi) source, and an opening dike trending north south. The modeling assumes an elastic half-space and builds on a previous study using a superset of the InSAR data (De Zeeuw-Van Dalfsen et al., Geophys. Res. Lett., 2004). An innovative new technique to model phase without unwrapping parameters directly (Feigl and Thurber, Geophys. J. Int., 2008) is applied to estimate the model. The parameters of interest include the three-dimensional position and volume change of each source. We test the hypothesis of secular deformation at a constant rate of volume change. If validated, this hypothesis would imply that the post-rifting deformation following the 1975-1980 Kralfa eruption has dissipated on a time scale on the order of 20 years.
Friday, June 06, 2008
Monday, June 02, 2008
Pimpdags Regionals
So I'm finally getting to this now that it's summer, and I'm still bitter about this tournament. I went into it focused and prepared to help lead the Pimps to their typical overachieving regional finish, treating the games just like I did last year with the Pain Train, and left disgruntled and pissed.
I should've seen it coming when we arrived. It was cold, in the 40's, with a strong 15-20mph cross-wind, and the fields were drenched from rain the previous few days. It was a replay of Nashville and a disaster waiting to happen. I'd like to think we could've handled it if it was just upwind/downwind, but we had no such luck. Our first two games were against Winona St. and UW-Eau Claire, and we showed a lack of fire, determination, or any ability to give a shit. Our best players had numerous drops and throwaways as we proved absolutely ineffective at moving the disc against a zone in the cross-wind while the other teams were making plays and ripping through our man and zone D's not so much with their skill but more with our laziness. Basically we started making excuses for bad play and gave up while the other teams embraced the weather and kicked the crap out of us. It was very frustrating to lose our first two games 15-3 and 11-7, as I while I wasn't playing great, I was running hard, but I just didn't have the throws or the defensive ability to make plays in the conditions. As the inevitable result of each game drew closer I couldn't help but make the contrast between this regionals and the euphoria (followed quickly by crushing defeat) of last year.
So with those two games under our belt, field preservation and schedule changes meant we were done for the day, at noon. So we went back to a player's dad's house in Iowa about an hour away from Decorah to relax. I took a long walk about the town, along the flood-stage river banks and then up a ridge for a nice view. I then returned to the house, got some reading done, then enjoyed a great home-cooked meal, some good conversation, and a little beer before retiring for the night. It was a nice opportunity to collect my thoughts.
Sunday brought us to the fields extra early, as our 10am game had been moved to noon without us knowing. SO we watched some of the back door games before finally warming up and playing Northern Iowa, which at the time I thought would be my last college game ever. We played to 9 since the CUT/Hodags final was going on at the same time and we wanted to watch. Despite coming out flat and without any motivation, we beat UNI, in no small part due to my determination not to lose. There. I said it, I played a good game, and eventually the rest of the team woke up and we managed to win 9-7.
At this point I thought I was done and was taking small sips of the left over beer from the previous night's keg that others had brought to the fields in milk jugs while watching the Hodags/CUT final. That was a great game to watch, lots of big plays. At this point I realized we had a 4th game, and that while most of us were relaxing and drinking beer, our opponents were warming up two fields over by scrimmaging themselves. You can guess now how that game went. I think we went down 5 or 6 to 0 before I got super pissed, intentionally tackled a guy to stop a huck, then faked an injury to get off the field on our next possession and went and sat on a berm for 3 points. Frustration indeed. We slowly started to come back, and eventually went on a 4 or 5 point run in the second half as the weather was much much nicer and we were starting to play close to potential. However, our opening play had dug too deep a hole and we lost 13-11 or so, the game winning goal scored by some tall long haired hipped skying the crap out of me. Just the way I wanted to go out. Fuck.
It was really frustrating not to peak for out last tournament, as that's what you train for all year. We had so much potential and really never used all of it except for the second half of the Milwaukee game at sectionals. I guess we played well when it mattered. Hopefully the younger guys were frustrated by this ending as well and will make sure it doesn't happen next year. All in all it was a fun year and I enjoyed getting to play with the Pimpdags, we definitely had some great games along the way.
I should've seen it coming when we arrived. It was cold, in the 40's, with a strong 15-20mph cross-wind, and the fields were drenched from rain the previous few days. It was a replay of Nashville and a disaster waiting to happen. I'd like to think we could've handled it if it was just upwind/downwind, but we had no such luck. Our first two games were against Winona St. and UW-Eau Claire, and we showed a lack of fire, determination, or any ability to give a shit. Our best players had numerous drops and throwaways as we proved absolutely ineffective at moving the disc against a zone in the cross-wind while the other teams were making plays and ripping through our man and zone D's not so much with their skill but more with our laziness. Basically we started making excuses for bad play and gave up while the other teams embraced the weather and kicked the crap out of us. It was very frustrating to lose our first two games 15-3 and 11-7, as I while I wasn't playing great, I was running hard, but I just didn't have the throws or the defensive ability to make plays in the conditions. As the inevitable result of each game drew closer I couldn't help but make the contrast between this regionals and the euphoria (followed quickly by crushing defeat) of last year.
So with those two games under our belt, field preservation and schedule changes meant we were done for the day, at noon. So we went back to a player's dad's house in Iowa about an hour away from Decorah to relax. I took a long walk about the town, along the flood-stage river banks and then up a ridge for a nice view. I then returned to the house, got some reading done, then enjoyed a great home-cooked meal, some good conversation, and a little beer before retiring for the night. It was a nice opportunity to collect my thoughts.
Sunday brought us to the fields extra early, as our 10am game had been moved to noon without us knowing. SO we watched some of the back door games before finally warming up and playing Northern Iowa, which at the time I thought would be my last college game ever. We played to 9 since the CUT/Hodags final was going on at the same time and we wanted to watch. Despite coming out flat and without any motivation, we beat UNI, in no small part due to my determination not to lose. There. I said it, I played a good game, and eventually the rest of the team woke up and we managed to win 9-7.
At this point I thought I was done and was taking small sips of the left over beer from the previous night's keg that others had brought to the fields in milk jugs while watching the Hodags/CUT final. That was a great game to watch, lots of big plays. At this point I realized we had a 4th game, and that while most of us were relaxing and drinking beer, our opponents were warming up two fields over by scrimmaging themselves. You can guess now how that game went. I think we went down 5 or 6 to 0 before I got super pissed, intentionally tackled a guy to stop a huck, then faked an injury to get off the field on our next possession and went and sat on a berm for 3 points. Frustration indeed. We slowly started to come back, and eventually went on a 4 or 5 point run in the second half as the weather was much much nicer and we were starting to play close to potential. However, our opening play had dug too deep a hole and we lost 13-11 or so, the game winning goal scored by some tall long haired hipped skying the crap out of me. Just the way I wanted to go out. Fuck.
It was really frustrating not to peak for out last tournament, as that's what you train for all year. We had so much potential and really never used all of it except for the second half of the Milwaukee game at sectionals. I guess we played well when it mattered. Hopefully the younger guys were frustrated by this ending as well and will make sure it doesn't happen next year. All in all it was a fun year and I enjoyed getting to play with the Pimpdags, we definitely had some great games along the way.
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