Laboratory Technician Support: UW-Madison Rock Mechanics Laboratory for Teaching, Service, and Decadal Testing

该奖项支持威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校（UWM）岩石力学实验室（RML）的新实验室技术员。在UWM-RML进行的地球科学研究范围从构造物理学和断层力学的基本问题到能源回收的优化。RML的研究使命是为各种科学/工程项目的基本岩石力学测试需求提供岩石力学设施，并主持解决地质力学和构造物理学前沿问题的高级岩石力学研究。RML还通过课堂活动为本科生和研究生提供积极的教育体验，并在他们的研究中提供先进的设备。新的实验室技术员将帮助培训/指导研究室管理手册的各种用户，并大大提高研究室管理手册发挥这些作用的能力。RML的专业技术人员还将在用户中培养安全意识的文化和环境，以及为美国地球科学界服务的协作环境。在地质力学问题中，对岩石力学性质进行准确可靠的测量以正确解释固体地球的驱动力和变形之间的因果关系是至关重要的。在UWM-RML中，特别强调量化地壳岩石的长期随时间变化的韧性性质，直到最近，由于普遍认为岩石在地壳中或多或少表现为线性弹性，因此岩石力学界对这些性质的研究相对不足。新技术员将协助设计一个坚固的十年级试验设施，这将需要开发一个具有严格的高精度温度控制的常规三轴仪。来自UW-Madison RML的新发现预计将提供急需的数据，以评估地壳岩石韧性行为的真实影响，可能导致地质力学和构造物理学的变革性解释。更好地了解固体地球如何在地质时间尺度上储存应力和变形，将有助于社会减轻地震，火山和山体滑坡等破坏性自然灾害造成的损失。这些知识也导致更好的做法，在行业中更有效地回收地下资源，最大限度地减少对环境的影响。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得支持的评估使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

This award supports a new laboratory technician for the Rock Mechanics Laboratory (RML) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UWM). The scope of earth science research that takes place in UWM-RML spans from fundamental questions in tectonophysics and fault mechanics, to optimization of energy resource recovery. The research mission of the RML is to provide rock mechanics facilities for basic rock mechanics testing needs in various scientific/engineering projects, and to host advanced rock mechanics research addressing cutting edge issues in geomechanics and tectonophysics. The RML also hosts active educational experiences to undergraduate and graduate students through classroom activities and by providing access to advanced equipments in their researches. The new laboratory technician will help train/mentor the various users of the RML and greatly enhance the capacity to which the RML serves these roles. The dedicated technician in the RML will also foster a safety-conscious culture and environment amongst the users, and a collaborative environment to serve the US earth science community.In geomechanical problems, it is fundamental to conduct accurate reliable measurements of rock mechanical properties to properly interpret the causal relationship between the driving forces and deformation of the solid-earth. In UWM-RML, specific emphasis is on quantifying the long-term time-dependent ductile properties of crustal rocks, which have been relatively under-investigated in the rock mechanics community until recently, due to common notion that rocks more or less behave linear elastically in the crust. The new technician will contribute to the design of a robust decadal-scale testing facility which will require the development of a conventional triaxial apparatus with rigorous high-precision temperature controls. New findings from the UW-Madison RML is expected to provide the much needed data to evaluate the true impact of the ductile behavior of crustal rocks, potentially leading to transformative interpretations in geomechanics and tectonophysics. Better physical understanding of how the solid earth stores stress and deforms over decadal to geological time scales will help the society mitigate damages caused by devastating natural hazards such as earthquake, volcanoes, and landslides. Such knowledge also leads to better practices in the industry to recover subsurface resources more efficiently minimizing the impact to the environment.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.