Investigating Earthquake Source Processes in the Laboratory

在实验室研究地震源过程

• 批准号: 1620330
• 负责人: Ze'ev Reches
• 金额: $ 33.2万
• 依托单位: University of Oklahoma Norman Campus
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-07-01 至 2020-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1620330&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Investigating; Earthquake; Source; Processes; Laboratory

Major efforts have been devoted to earthquake research to further our understanding of this natural phenomenon and attempt to reduce its disastrous damage. However, it is not possible to directly observe earthquake processes, because they occur along faults at depths of a few to hundreds of kilometers. The researchers from Oklahoma University have developed an experimental laboratory with tools to duplicate earthquake speeds and offsets on samples of natural rocks. They will partner with a laboratory at Hebrew University that simulate high speed fracturing on acrylics, which are not the same as naturally occurring rocks but can help researchers see aspects of what is happening that could be related to the natural rock experiments. The combination of these sets of complimentary lab experiments will help us to understand how fractures that cause earthquakes and radiates seismic waves. This information is important to improving how we understand seismic hazards because it will advance what we know about strong ground shaking.The Oklahoma University team developed an apparatus that physically simulates the velocity and displacement of large earthquakes on experimental rock faults. This team succeeded in reproducing well-known earthquake features of rock weakening and energy consumption. The Hebrew University team has developed unique, high-speed experimental tools that quantitatively measure the extremely fast mechanical evolution of the rupture of a "laboratory" earthquake. The project will combine the unique capabilities of the two experimental systems for better understanding of earthquake rupture, including detailed description of realistic processes of rock fracturing, friction, and ground shaking. Experimental data on earthquake processes at depth are essential for the derivation of useful models, interpretation of seismic observations, and the evaluation of seismic hazard. The advanced features of the two experimental systems will allow monitoring of rupture along rock-faults at very high resolution, which cannot be achieved for natural earthquakes. It is anticipated that this rupture monitoring will provide the missing links between experiments, theory and seismic concepts, and therefore will significantly advance the understanding of earthquake rupture processes, earthquake energy balance, physics of fault weakening, and the scaling of slip rate, slip magnitude, and seismic hazard.

主要的努力已致力于地震研究，以进一步了解我们对这一自然现象的理解，并试图减少其灾难性损害。但是，不可能直接观察地震过程，因为它们沿着几到数百公里的深度发生故障。俄克拉荷马大学的研究人员开发了一种实验实验室，其工具可以复制自然岩石样品的地震速度和偏移。他们将与希伯来大学的一家实验室合作，该实验室模拟了高速分裂的丙烯酸分裂，这与自然发生的岩石不同，但可以帮助研究人员看到可能与自然岩石实验有关的方面。这些免费实验实验集的组合将有助于我们了解引起地震和辐射地震波的断裂。这些信息对于改善我们如何理解地震危害很重要，因为它将推动我们对强烈地面震动的了解。俄克拉荷马大学团队开发了一种机器，可以物理模拟实验性岩石断层上大地震的速度和位移。该团队成功地重现了岩石削弱和能耗的著名地震特征。希伯来大学团队开发了独特的高速实验工具，可以定量测量“实验室”地震破裂的极快机械演化。该项目将结合两个实验系统的独特功能，以更好地理解地震破裂，包括对岩石破裂，摩擦和地面震动的现实过程的详细描述。关于地震过程的实验数据对于推导有用模型，地震观察的解释以及地震危害的评估至关重要。这两个实验系统的高级特征将允许以非常高分辨率的岩石过失监测破裂，这是天然地震无法实现的。预计这种破裂监测将提供实验，理论和地震概念之间的缺失联系，因此将显着提高对地震破裂过程的理解，地震能量平衡，断层弱化的物理学，滑动速率的缩放，滑移幅度的缩放幅度和地震危险。