Typically, scientists create sound waves at the surface to listen for echoes from fractures in the ground, but this new technique could provide more accurate information about the cracks because sound does not have to travel to the fracture and back again. The new technique aims to enhance scientists’ abilities to image faults in the Earth, including those man-made through the process of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

The new method is explained in a paper that appears online in the journal Physical Review Letters.

“These concepts are of great importance in earthquake dynamics, but also in exploration of hydrocarbons,” said study coauthor Thomas Blum, a Boise State doctoral student. “If we can understand, for example, the microscopic structure of fracture points using this technique, we might be able to learn how, exactly, earthquakes happen. Scientists do not yet fully understand the structure of the faults, so if we could remotely sense the structure of faults, we might be able to learn more.”

Blum and associate professor of geosciences Kasper van Wijk came up with the new technique by focusing laser light directly onto a fracture inside a transparent sample to create elastic waves. The researchers proved that laser-based ultrasonic techniques can “excite,” or cause vibrations, in the fracture. The result – jointly obtained with scientists at Colorado School of Mines and ConocoPhillips – opens up the possibility of measuring variations in the fracture and diagnosing the mechanical properties of fractures by directly exciting them.

Some highly sensitive — and oversized — scientific equipment caused a stir on the Quad Wednesday morning as it was moved from the Math/Geosciences Building to its new home in the Environmental Research Building on University Drive.

The instrumentation included the Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometer (TIMS) from the Isotope Geology Lab in the Department of Geophysics and an optical table used in the Physical Acoustics Lab. In order to move them, a large pane of glass was removed from the front of the building and the equipment was carefully lifted down from the second story with a forklift.

The TIMS, operated by associate professor of geology Mark Schmitz, is used for high-precision geochronology and tracer isotope geochemistry. The optical table, used by assistant professor of geology Kasper van Wijk, is used in conjunction with a laser to model seismic properties of geologic and geophysical environments for applications in energy and CO2 sequestration.

John Kelly photo

The story discussed seismometers at Boise State that have been tracking local vibrations caused by the earthquakes in Japan.

Read the full text on MSNBC.

Although earthquakes are common in Japan, this magnitude 8.9 event is believed to be the strongest in a century. The death toll from it and the subsequent tsunami can only be guessed at right now, and concern remains high around the world about further tsunami waves reaching coastlines. Twenty countries are reported to be under warnings, including the U.S., though reports from the West Coast have been positive thus far.

Matt Haney

For Matt Haney, the good news here at home is tempered by a personal connection to the devastation in Japan. An assistant professor of geophysics with expertise in seismology, Haney has a colleague at Tohoku University in Sendai, one of the areas hardest hit by the earthquake and tsunami. He visited there last summer, flying in and out of the airport that is now in ruins.

Boise State student Alex Emanoff is experiencing the crisis on the other side of the world. He is an international relations major studying abroad at Hosei University in Tokyo, where the earthquake hit hard. Twitter posts from people in the city reported by Time.com described fires, collapsed roofs and trains swaying on their tracks. The giant city has been brought to a virtual standstill. KTVB was able to video chat with Emanoff and broadcast his frightening account of the quake.

Kasper van Wijk

As smaller earthquakes started hitting Japan over the last few days, assistant professor of geophysics Kasper van Wijk said his students detected the seismic activity on seismometers they built in class. Boise State’s Center for Geophysical Investigation of the Shallow Subsurface also has been monitoring the quakes, with some of the readings posted here. Additional readings for all of the earthquakes being monitored by CGISS can be found here.

As news continues to unfold, the Boise State community will continue to monitor the situation. All students on semesters abroad in tsunami warning areas have been accounted for and reported to be safe.

On the flanks of Mount Princeton, one of Colorado’s infamous “fourteeners,” 10 representatives of the Boise State Geosciences Department stood with peers from the Colorado School of Mines and the Imperial College of London.

They were celebrating the success of an international geophysics field camp operated by the Department of Geophysics at the Colorado School of Mines. The annual, month-long program is designed to give students hands-on experience conducting geophysical field investigations, and 14 nationalities were represented in this year’s group.

Boise State participants included undergraduate students Katherine Warner, Kyle Lindsay, Michael Morrison, Brian Melander and Laura Garchar; graduate assistants Andy Lamb, Dylan Mikesell and Thomas Blum; and faculty members Lee Liberty and Kasper van Wijk. They targeted a geothermal reservoir in their research, which the U.S. Department of Energy sponsored in the interest of characterizing the area for potential development.

The first half of the session was held in the field, where students collected data using geophysical methods such as deep and shallow seismic, electromagnetics, gravity, self-potential, resistivity, and ground penetrating radar. The second half was spent processing and interpreting the data, which will be presented formally at the close of the camp this Friday, June 11.

“We have been doing this for four years,” said van Wijk, “and I think it is safe to say that our students consider this one of the highlights of their academic experience at Boise State.”