Erick R Burns
Erick is a Research Hydrologist at the USGS Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center. He specializes in the development of methods and tools for analysis and simulation of groundwater and heat flow in the subsurface, particularly in the volcanogenic terranes of California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.
Biography
Erick Burns is a Research Geologist with the USGS Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center. His research experience is varied, including groundwater flow and transport, geothermal energy, geostatistical methods and stochastic analysis, process thermodynamics, agricultural water pollution, and seawater intrusion. Additionally, Erick has taught hydrology and geostatistics courses.
Education:
- Ph.D. Bioresource Engineering, Oregon State University, 2004
- M.S. Mathematics, Oregon State University, 2004
- M.S. Hydrologic Sciences (Groundwater), University of Nevada - Reno, 1996
- B.S. Geology (extended major: Geophysics), Northern Arizona University, 1994
Non-USGS Partners:
- U.S. Department of Energy - Geothermal Technologies Office
Science and Products
Geothermal
Mission: to characterize and assess geothermal energy resources in the United States and to work with the Department of Energy and other partners to advance the technologies applied to discover, characterize, and utilize those resources.
The influence of episodic shallow magma degassing on heat and chemical transport in volcanic hydrothermal systems
Springs at La Soufrière of Guadeloupe have been monitored for nearly four decades since the phreatic eruption and associated seismic activity in 1976. We conceptualize degassing vapor/gas mixtures as square‐wave sources of chloride and heat and apply a new semianalytic solution to demonstrate that chloride and heat pulses with the same timing and...
Chen, Kewei; Zhan, Hongbin; Burns, Erick; Ingebritsen, Steven E.; Agrinier, Pierre Geothermal implications of a refined composition-age geologic map for the volcanic terrains of southeast Oregon, northeast California, and southwest Idaho, USA
Sufficient temperatures to generate steam likely exist under most of the dominantly volcanic terrains of southeast Oregon, northeast California, and southeast Idaho, USA, but finding sufficient permeability to allow efficient advective heat exchange is an outstanding challenge. A new thematic interpretation of existing state-level geologic maps...
Burns, Erick; Gannett, Marshall W.; Sherrod, David R.; Keith, Mackenzie K.; Curtis, Jennifer A.; Bartolino, James R.; Engott, John A.; Scandella, Benjamin P.; Stern, Michelle A.; Flint, Alan L. Thermal effect of climate change on groundwater-fed ecosystems
Groundwater temperature changes will lag surface temperature changes from a changing climate. Steady state solutions of the heat-transport equations are used to identify key processes that control the long-term thermal response of springs and other groundwater discharge to climate change, in particular changes in (1) groundwater recharge rate and...
Burns, Erick; Zhu, Yonghui; Zhan, Hongbin; Manga, Michael; Williams, Colin F.; Ingebritsen, Steven E.; Dunham, Jason B.
Study Explores Groundwater and Geothermal Energy in Drought-Stricken Eastern Oregon and Neighboring States
A new study now underway by the U.S. Geological Survey is exploring the groundwater resources and geothermal energy potential in drought-stricken areas of eastern Oregon and nearby parts of California, Idaho and Nevada.