EAR-PF: Geologic Age Constraints for Seismic Hazard Assessment of Critical National Infrastructure

迪伦·鲁德博士被授予美国国家科学基金会地球科学博士后奖学金，在加州大学欧文分校开展一项研究和教育计划。这项工作将为地震灾害分析开发一种变革性的新工具。本研究的目的是利用原位生成的宇宙成因同位素（10Be），为特征明确的地质特征（不稳定平衡岩石，PBRs）建立一个暴露年龄数据集。成功地确定pbr的年代将使古代地震的地面运动在没有观测数据的时间尺度上受到限制。该年表将与每个PBR的基于物理的未超过地面运动估计相结合，并与现有的危险图进行比较。研究结果将验证地震动模型，显著降低地震危险性估算的不确定性，从而为概率地震危险性评估提供坚实的科学依据。pbr有潜力应用于广泛的国家关键基础设施（如建筑物、桥梁、水坝等）的地震危害分析。具体来说，改进的地震危害分析将极大地帮助政府监管机构成功地为敏感结构（例如核电站）颁发许可证。该项目还将通过指导和教学经验支持年轻科学家的职业发展。每年他都会在加州大学欧文分校教授一门通识教育课程——《自然灾害》。课程主题包括地质灾害，包括地震和主要气候变化。这种研究和教学策略将帮助他为将来成为地球科学领域的科学家和教育家做好准备。

Dr. Dylan Rood has been awarded an NSF Earth Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out a research and education plan at the University of California, Irvine. This work will develop a transformational new tool for earthquake hazard analysis. The goal of this investigation is to produce a dataset of exposure ages for well-characterized geologic features (precariously balanced rocks, PBRs) using in-situ produced cosmogenic isotopes (10Be). Successful dating of PBRs will allow ground motions from ancient earthquakes to be constrained over timescales for which observational data do not exist. This chronology will be synthesized with physics-based unexceeded ground motion estimates for each PBR and compared to existing hazard maps. The results will validate ground motion models and significantly reduce uncertainty in earthquake hazard estimates, in turn, providing a firm scientific basis for probabilistic seismic hazard assessment.PBRs have potential to be applied to seismic hazard analysis for a wide range of the nation's critical infrastructure (e.g. buildings, bridges, dams, etc.). Specifically, improved seismic hazard analysis would greatly assist government regulators in successfully licensing sensitive structures (e.g. nuclear power plants). This project will also support the career development of a young scientist through mentorship and teaching experience. Each year the fellow will teach Natural Disasters, a general education course at University of California, Irvine. Course topics include geologic hazards, including earthquakes and major climate changes. This research and teaching strategy will help prepare the fellow for a career as a scientist and educator in the Earth sciences.