The physical hydrogeology group has generated research that is published in a variety of academic journals. Our work covers a range of groundwater topics such as aquifer characterization, fracture hydrogeology, and geothermal energy.
* indicates student author
Aquifer Characterization:
Patterson, J.R., Cardiff, M. (2025). Multi-Frequency Oscillatory Hydraulic Tomography Improves Heterogeneity Imaging and Resolution and Reduces Uncertainty. Water Resources Research 61(5), e2024WR039606. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024WR039606 . [PDF]
Patterson, J.R., Cardiff, M. (2022). Aquifer Characterization and Uncertainty in Multi-Frequency Oscillatory Flow Tests: Approaches and Insights. Groundwater, 60(2), 180-191. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.13134. [PDF]
Fracture Hydrogeology:
Patterson, J.R., Cardiff, M. (2023). Stiff, Solid, and Smooth? Complex Fracture Hydraulics Revealed through Oscillatory Flow Interference Testing. Water Resources Research, 59(11), e2023WR034621. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023WR034621. [PDF]
Patterson, J.R., Cardiff, M. (2023). Can Simple Analytical Models Capture Complex Fracture Hydraulics? Oscillatory Flow Tests Suggest Not. Groundwater, 61(6), 816-833. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.13297. [PDF]
Hydrogeophysics:
Shadoan, T.A.*, Ajo-Franklin, J.B., Patterson, J.R., Zhu, T. (2026). Active-Seismic Monitoring of Reservoir Pressure Changes in an Analog Reservoir. Geophysics, 91(1), M1-M13. https://doi.org/10.1190/GEO-2024-0471
Chamarczuk, M., Ajo-Franklin, J., Sobolevskaia, V.*, Patterson, J.R. (2024). Tidally Modulated Seismic Velocity Changes Observed Using Submarine Dark Fiber and Virtual-Source Method. Geophysics, 89(5), L33-L48. https://doi.org/10.1190/geo2023-0641.1. [PDF]
Geothermal Energy:
Ma, Y., Ajo-Franklin, J., Chamarczuk, M., Zhu, X.*, Patterson, J.R., Rodriguez, I.V., Podrasky, D., Coleman, T., Maldaner, T., Finnila, A. (2026). Geothermal Reservoir Characterization at Utah FORGE Using DAS Microseismic Imaging. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 131(1), e2025JB032603. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025JB032603. [PDF]
Patterson, J.R., Cardiff M., Feigl K.L. (2020). Optimizing geothermal production in fractured rock reservoirs under uncertainty, Geothermics, 88, 101906. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geothermics.2020.101906. [PDF]
Miller, D.E., Coleman T., Zeng X., J.R. Patterson, Reinisch E.C., Cardiff M., Wang H.F., Fratta D., Trainor-Guitton W., Thurber C.H., Robertson M., Feigl K.L. (2018). DAS and DTS at Brady Hot Springs: Observations about Coupling and Coupled Interpretations, Proceedings of the Forty-Third Workshop on Geothermal Engineering, Stanford, California. [PDF]
Cardiff, M., Lim D., Patterson J.R., Akerley J., Spielman P., Lopeman J., Walsh P., Singh A., Foxall W., Wang H.F., Lord N.E., Thurber C.H., Fratta D., Mellors R.J., Davatzes N.C., Feigl K.L. (2018). Geothermal Production and Reduced Seismicity: Correlation and Proposed Mechanism, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 482, 470-476. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.11.037. [PDF]
Patterson, J.R., Cardiff M., Coleman T., Wang H.F., Feigl K.L., Akerley J., Spielman P. (2017). Geothermal Reservoir Characterization Using Distributed Temperature Sensing at Brady Geothermal Field, Nevada, The Leading Edge, 36(12), 1024a1-1024a7. https://doi.org/10.1190/tle36121024a1.1. [PDF]