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UH Research Measures Weathering of Rocks Below Surface

James St. John / Flickr
James St. John / Flickr
Steve Martel
Credit Steve Martel
Foam model showing crack formations.

Rock formations can tell scientists a lot about changes in the earth. Fractures in bedrock affect where drinking water will flow and the path magma will take as it pushes toward the surface.

Now a team of researchers at the University of Hawai‘I, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of Wyoming and elsewhere has created a model that measures horizontal pressure on rock layers.

By using location, topography, and physical features – scientists are able to predict the extent of bedrock weathering below the surface.  The formula allows researchers to predict where formations will fracture and results can be applied to real life situations like construction development – or monitoring the rocks which make up Hawaii’s aquifer.

Stephen Martel is a professor with UH’s Department of Geology and Geophysics. 

Martel’s research was recently published in the journal “Science”. More information on this story can be seen at UH’s website.

Nick Yee’s passion for music developed at an early age, as he collected jazz and rock records pulled from dusty locations while growing up in both Southern California and Honolulu. In college he started DJing around Honolulu, playing Jazz and Bossa Nova sets at various lounges and clubs under the name dj mr.nick. He started to incorporate Downtempo, House and Breaks into his sets as his popularity grew, eventually getting DJ residences at different Chinatown locations. To this day, he is a fixture in the Honolulu underground club scene, where his live sets are famous for being able to link musical and cultural boundaries, starting mellow and building the audience into a frenzy while steering free of mainstream clichés.
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