Vibration damage of rock landforms: contribution of anthropogenic and natural energy sources to bedrock fracture and erosion

该项目研究了独立岩石地形中自然和人为振动源造成的破坏，如拱门、塔和鳍。虽然地震引发边坡破坏的能力是众所周知的，但相对而言，很少有人关注人为振动源在驱动岩石破坏中的作用，以及反复暴露对岩石地貌长期稳定性的累积影响。研究人员确定了几种能够激发共振并造成破坏的来源：地震、风、卡车、火车、直升机和音爆。为了实现更广泛的影响，调查人员将与国家公园管理局的管理人员合作，分享知识和资料，以供公众传播，包括动画和声音文件，并就人为振动对地质特征长期稳定性的潜在影响进行管理简报。他们将培训学士、硕士和博士级别的学生，包括STEM中代表性不足的群体，并与美洲原住民部落组织开展外展活动。他们将开展一项新的科学与艺术合作，这将导致一件公开共享的艺术作品，传达地球表面地貌的动态本质。研究人员将开发方法，从环境共振传感中评估地质特征的振动模式，从地震和次声场数据中编制振动源能量特征，生成重要的新数据集，测量由选择的过境源引起的共振，并创建新的监测数据统计分析，以将单个事件和源背景化。然后，他们将使用监测数据来参数化一个广泛适用的概念断裂力学模型，对纯自然或人为增加的振动能量在驱动岩体损伤方面的长期累积影响进行定量比较。该分析为定量比较人为因素和自然因素对地质特征机械退化的影响创造了一个独特的机会，包括在广泛的震级范围内振动事件的累积效应。这项研究的重点是犹他州具有文化价值的岩石特征，但其结果将广泛适用于世界各地。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project investigates damage created by natural and anthropogenic vibration sources in freestanding rock landforms, such as arches, towers and fins. While the ability of earthquakes to trigger slope failure is well known, comparably little attention has been given to the role of human vibration sources in driving rock damage, as well as the cumulative effects of repeated exposure on the long-term stability of rock landforms. The investigators identify several sources able to excite resonance and generate damage: earthquakes, wind, trucks, trains, helicopters, and sonic booms. To achieve broader impacts, the investigators will work with National Park Service managers to share knowledge and materials for public dissemination, including animations and sound files, as well as conduct management briefings on potential effects of anthropogenic vibrations on the long-term stability of geologic features. They will train students at the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels, including groups underrepresented in STEM, and conduct outreach activities with Native American tribal organizations. They will develop a new science-art collaboration that will result in a publicly shared art piece communicating the dynamic nature of Earth surface landforms. The investigators will develop methodology to assess vibrational modes of geological features from ambient resonance sensing, compile vibration source energy characterizations from seismic and infrasound field data, generate important new data sets measuring resonance induced by select transit sources, and create new statistical analyses of monitoring data to contextualize individual events and sources. They will then use monitoring data to parameterize a broadly-applicable, conceptual fracture mechanics model generating quantitative comparison of the long-term cumulative impact of purely natural or added anthropogenic vibration energy in driving rock mass damage. The analysis creates a unique opportunity for quantitative comparison of anthropogenic and natural contributions to the mechanical degradation of geological features, including the cumulative effects of vibration events across a broad range of magnitudes. This study focuses on culturally valuable rock features in Utah, but the results will be broadly applicable across the world.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.