TY - JOUR
T1 - Tensile rock mass strength estimated using InSAR
AU - Jonsson, Sigurjon
N1 - KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01
PY - 2012/11/7
Y1 - 2012/11/7
N2 - The large-scale strength of rock is known to be lower than the strength determined from small-scale samples in the laboratory. However, it is not well known how strength scales with sample size. I estimate kilometer-scale tensional rock mass strength by measuring offsets across new tensional fractures (joints), formed above a shallow magmatic dike intrusion in western Arabia in 2009. I use satellite radar observations to derive 3D ground displacements and by quantifying the extension accommodated by the joints and the maximum extension that did not result in a fracture, I put bounds on the joint initiation threshold of the surface rocks. The results indicate that the kilometer-scale tensile strength of the granitic rock mass is 1–3 MPa, almost an order of magnitude lower than typical laboratory values.
AB - The large-scale strength of rock is known to be lower than the strength determined from small-scale samples in the laboratory. However, it is not well known how strength scales with sample size. I estimate kilometer-scale tensional rock mass strength by measuring offsets across new tensional fractures (joints), formed above a shallow magmatic dike intrusion in western Arabia in 2009. I use satellite radar observations to derive 3D ground displacements and by quantifying the extension accommodated by the joints and the maximum extension that did not result in a fracture, I put bounds on the joint initiation threshold of the surface rocks. The results indicate that the kilometer-scale tensile strength of the granitic rock mass is 1–3 MPa, almost an order of magnitude lower than typical laboratory values.
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10754/552128
UR - http://doi.wiley.com/10.1029/2012GL053309
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84869476268&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1029/2012GL053309
DO - 10.1029/2012GL053309
M3 - Article
SN - 0094-8276
VL - 39
SP - n/a-n/a
JO - Geophysical Research Letters
JF - Geophysical Research Letters
IS - 21
ER -