Visiting Researchers
 |
Institute |
Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo |
Title |
Post-doc Researcher | |
Country |
U.S.A. | |
Period of Stay |
2011/01/01 - 2011/03/31 | |
Research Theme |
Experimental study of seismic attenuation | |
Host Researcher |
Yasuko Takei |
My research explores the mechanical properties of earth and planetary materials. Specifically, I use laboratory experiments to measure creep strength and anelasticity. For my Ph.D. project at Brown University I tested ice combined with various cryominerals that may be found on the surfaces of moons in the outer solar system. I found that the measured attenuation was much greater than that predicted by simple solid models. Thus, the dissipation of tidal energy could be a significant source of heating and may explain the anomalously high heat flux and dynamic tectonic features that have been observed on many of these icy satellites.
While here at ERI, I continue to experimentally measure attenuation, this time focusing on a terrestrial context. Using an organic material (borneol) as an analogue to mantle rock, Dr. Yasuko Takei and I measure the grain size and temperature dependences of anelasticity over a broad range of seismic and subseismic frequencies. We are also exploring the effect of a small quantity of melt on the mechanical response. With these data we hope to develop a physical model of grain scale interaction that allows us to appropriately scale laboratory data to mantle conditions and better interpret seismological observations.