UVU Column: UVU Division Shakes Things Up In Earthquake Studies | high education

The seismology study matches the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Utah Valley with a “T.”

Faculty and students make detailed topographic maps of earthquake affected areas, dig trenches and study soils. The Tobleaf Fault, west of Lake Utah, is of particular interest. It’s the second longest bug in the state, at 250 kilometers. Given its proximity to Provo and surrounding population centers, any seismic activity can have a major impact on Utah County.

Making topographic maps – the first letter “T” – is nothing new. But UVU crews produce highly detailed maps, within a few inches accurate, according to Michael Bonds, a professor in the Earth Sciences department.

“We are using very impressive technological methods to make high-resolution Earth surveying maps,” he said. “We do this with drones, small unmanned aerial systems. They allow us to make accurate measurements of the Earth’s motion. We can compare and see how the Earth moved.”

Instead of using more traditional drones, the UVU team is mapping the area using aircraft with longer flight times and GPS units to locate the captured images.

“On some projects, we took 13,000 to 15,000 photos,” Bonds said. “We recently did a mapping project of the southern portion of the San Andreas Fault. If another earthquake happened, we have an amazing dataset, with data points 50 times larger than other data points that existed previously.”

“Although the technology is not new, it is not widely available at this point,” said Nathan Tookey, associate professor in the Department of Earth Sciences.

He said, “It was fun, and we are learning new things from him.” “If an earthquake happened, we would be able to better assess what happened.”

Looking back at the past can help predict and direct the future.

“We use maps to take measurements,” Bonds said. “We can help make predictions about what will happen in the future; to predict future earthquakes we look at the past. In our region, they are very much prehistoric. We discover how big they are, where they have been and how long since the last time.”

Predicting an earthquake is not an exact science. Scientists look at periods of the thousand years when looking at the frequency between events. Anticipating a high chance of earthquake activity at a particular site is a way to plan for the future.

“It’s useful for planning things like developments and power plants,” Bonds said.

Another “T” is trenching.

“Topleaf’s mistake has different levels,” Bonds said. “We can go deeper and be safe.”

During digging, they analyze soil layers.

“We can tell the last time sediments saw light,” Bonds said. “We collect samples without ever seeing the light, and then we estimate their age.”

The team determined that the Topliff Fault had suffered three earthquakes in the last 10,000 to 15,000 years.

UVU faculty and students mapped topographic maps in 2017 and dig trenches in 2019. There were approximately 20 students involved in the project.

“They got a lot of really relevant work experience,” Toki said.

Not only did they do mapping and trenching, but nine of them were also able to present their findings at professional conferences. The full results of this study have not yet been released, but researchers expect to have the opportunity to share their work.

“It favorably fits into UVU’s continuing education,” Bonds said.

“Not many universities dedicate as much money into university research as UVU does. It is very beneficial.” Experience leads to academic careers and opportunities. “At least two of our students have gone to graduate work,” Toki said.

Students not only did fieldwork and give presentations, but also collaborated with others to analyze and helped increase UVU’s position among professionals. The project also increased collaboration with other institutions of higher learning in Utah. Students worked with peers at Utah State University to manipulate the images and create topographic maps.

UVU received some funding from the National Science Foundation and presented its findings to the group, and made them available to the public.

“As for the type of work we do, we are the largest providers of NSF,” Bonds said.

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