Josh Taron

After a short stint studying architectural design, a season of experience with a home remodeler, and an east coast winter shoveling snow from atop lumber supplies as a carpenter's assistant, Josh Taron decided to return to his scientific roots. As a child growing up in central Oklahoma, Josh had been intrigued by papier-mâché volcanoes, toothpick bridges, and safety structures for raw eggs. These childhood interests led to an undergraduate training in Environmental Systems Engineering at Penn State—allowing Josh to solidify some mathematical underpinnings with an edge towards geology.

After undergraduate summers spent interning with DuPont Engineering Technology (DuET) Environmental Group and Environmental Resources Management's (ERM) Site Remediation Group, Josh was drawn to the scientific phenomena encountered in his work and decided to pursue graduate work instead of an industry career.

Staying at Penn State
As an undergraduate at Penn State, Josh participated in CAUSE (Center for Advanced Undergraduate Study and Experience), and was fortunate to collaborate with faculty on the historical/scientific origins of energy in our industrialized culture. Josh's article on a wind energy cooperative in the U.K. was published in Research|Penn State, an online magazine featuring the best in scholarship and creativity from Penn State's research community.

Following this experience, Josh was supported under NSF-REU undergraduate funding with Dr. Derek Elsworth to examine the stability of the Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat. This research was ultimately published in the Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research in 2007 with Josh as the lead author on the article Mechanisms for rainfall-concurrent lava dome collapses at Soufrière Hills Volcano.

While considering other top universities for graduate study, Josh ultimately said that he was “compelled by the diversity of research here [at Penn State], as well as the access to the top researchers in the field.” With several large and accessible computing clusters adding to the appeal, Josh decided that Penn State and G3 offered the best resources, potential and scientific fit for a Ph.D. program.

Focusing on Fundamental Problems with G3
Josh is taking G3's focus on fundamental problems to heart. He is making a concerted effort to apply as many diverse geomechanical mechanisms to different large-scale phenomena.

His current project focuses on coupling the strong interactions between mechanical deformation, chemical alteration, and thermal and fluid transport in engineered geologies. These may include enhanced geothermal reservoirs (EGS) and reservoirs for the sequestration of CO2, but may be extended to include any naturally fractured rock system. Josh's work builds not only upon laboratory studies conducted at Penn State, but also the utilization of full-scale numerical modeling of the coupled system.

The Flash movie below is one of Josh's simulations of permeability in a geothermal reservoir. Cool water (near surface temperature) is injected through a single well into the hot, fractured rock of the reservoir. Hot water (near reservoir temperature) is withdrawn from a companion well and its heat is used to generate electricity. The contours show permeability as it is changing due to chemical, mechanical, and thermal considerations over 50 years of reservoir operation. Permeability of the reservoir will dramatically impact the ability of the reservoir to produce a given quantity of electricity (by the manner in which water and heat flow is encouraged or impeded).

Josh also is examining stability of volcanic dome structures. His research asks questions such as: “What is the propensity for rainfall to trigger instability in an already precarious volcanic dome?” and “What information may geodetic measurements provide on the future behavior of volcanic eruptions?”

His work extends also to the study of other micro- and macro-scale processes. His work with discrete-element representation of micro-scale geomechanical processes takes a closer empirical look at the contact between rock fractures and grains; and on a larger-scale, he is utilizing a finite-element scheme to deconstruct the nature and energy release of impulse waves (tsunamis) that result from the turbulent impact of a subsea granular landslide.

The Flash movie below represents a potential collapse of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the island of La Palma, Canary Islands, where failure of the west flank of this volcano could send up to 500 cubic kilometers of solid material seaward (from Ward, S. and S. Day, 2001. Cumbre Vieja Volcano, Potential collapse and tsunami at La Palma, Canary Islands. Geophys. Res. Lett.), transmitting a sizable wave across the Atlantic Basin. The behavior of such a failure is uncertain, and Josh's simulation attempts to better represent what may happen when such a large mass interacts with the open ocean (if, indeed, it would remain intact). For a sense of scale, the west flank of the volcano is released from the right of the screen (in solid red), and is approximately 2km in length and 1km in depth. The solid landslide impacts the water (blue solid) where depth is near 2km, and runs out towards the open ocean where water depth nears 4km. The wave that is produced in this simulation is approximately 700m in height.

Josh's latest attempts at tsunami modeling utilize mesh free particle methods. These may better represent the sharp interface between fluids of different properties than traditional meshed simulations. The two flash movies below represent:

1.The release of a column of water into a stationary container that allows it to dissipate its energy.

2. A generalized attempt to model a tsunami in a manner comparable to the above representation of La Palma, Canary Island. We would like to see how these two methods (meshed and mesh free) compare in their capabilities.

Outdoors in State College
With such broad research interests, you might expect that Josh is working 24/7 with G3, but that is not the case. “There are an abundance of biking, hiking and camping options.” says Josh of State College, “and the scenery is amazing.” Josh enjoys the small local ski area, because of its nearly immediate access and travels to numerous locations for whitewater kayaking that are within reasonable distances for single-day “drive-kayak-return” trips. Josh is not only thrilled with his G3 experience, but says of his home-away-from-home, “State College takes a few months to adjust to, and then it becomes difficult to leave.”