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.

Project Report

This work developed a transformational new tool for earthquake hazard analysis. The project produced a dataset of exposure ages for well-characterized geologic features (precariously balanced rocks, PBRs) using the cosmogenic isotope 10Be. Successful dating of PBRs allowed for shaking from ancient earthquakes to be constrained over timescales for which observational data do not exist. This chronology was synthesized with physics-based unexceeded ground motion estimates for each PBR and compared to existing earthquake hazard maps. The results help to test ground motion models and reduce uncertainty in earthquake hazard estimates, in turn, providing a firm scientific basis for probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA). The study showed that PBRs can 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 greatly assists government regulators in successfully assessing the hazard for sensitive structures (e.g. nuclear power plants). The long-timescale constraints produced in this study demonstrate the importance of PBR measurements to the development of robust seismic hazard analyses for such facilities. These sensitive facilities are critical infrastructure for the nation’s future. This project also supported the career development of a young scientist through mentorship and teaching experience. The fellow taught Natural Disasters, a general education course at University of California, Irvine. Course topics include geologic hazards, including earthquakes and major climate changes, and reaches a large (~100 student) group with a diverse demographic (including underrepresented minorities). This research and teaching strategy, and mentorship of students, helped to prepare the fellow for a career as a scientist and educator in the Earth sciences.

Agency
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Institute
Division of Earth Sciences (EAR)
Application #
0948350
Program Officer
Lina C. Patino
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
2010-04-01
Budget End
2012-06-30
Support Year
Fiscal Year
2009
Total Cost
$170,000
Indirect Cost
Name
Rood Dylan H
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
Livermore
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
94550