The UASEDS Microgravity Team's project is titled Gravitational Effect on Fault Formation (GEOFF.)
The earth is governed by geological processes that occur from regional to global scales. New insights to physical events have been discovered at a rapid rate over the last several decades, but much still needs further investigation. Thrust faults are both terrestrial and extraterrestrial geological features that signify crustal compression. Thrust faults can be quantified by critical shear stress, cohesive strength, internal friction and normal stresses. They are nicely related to one another in Coulomb’s Law of Failure. However, research on the topic by University of Arizona students has shown a disregard for studies with varying degrees of gravity. It is unknown if gravity is a governing factor when computing an angle of failure for thrust faults. This experiment will test the influence of varying gravitational forces on thrust fault analogues. Motorized squeezeboxes will compress uniformly distributed sands until propagation of a fault occurs. Measurements and observations will be taken to record the angle of failure in thrust faults. If gravity is indeed an influential factor, it can be expected that the angle of failure will differ from terrestrial models where gravity is assumed to be a constant value.
UASEDS Microgravity is a team made up of 6 students applying for the chance to be a part of NASA's Reduced Gravity Education Flight Program. Learn more about the program here.
