Measuring rock flake deformation

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Messages 21 - 30 of total 30 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
gstock

climber
Yosemite Valley
Topic Author's Reply - May 15, 2012 - 08:33pm PT
Update: Contrary to my post above, the instrumentation is still in place as of spring 2012. We decided to keep the instrumentation going for another summer to be able to fully evaluate the effects of non-reversible deformation over the course of a full year, and also to make some acoustic measurements of possible crack growth on the hottest days. We now intend to take the instruments down this fall (fall of 2012).

Thanks again for your support of this interesting project - it is proving to be influential among the international community of scientists studying rockfalls.

Greg
nutjob

Gym climber
Berkeley, CA
May 15, 2012 - 08:54pm PT
So if there is a rattly fingers flake that I want to make an easier thin hands, just wait until afternoon. And if it's a little too wide to get a knee lock, just try it again the next mid-morning. Excellent.
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
May 15, 2012 - 09:14pm PT
It would be interesting to put a Crack-o-meter in the Hollow Flake.

Tom Frost is convinced that one is getting wider and it is arguably the longest flake system in the Valley. It would be interesting to see what the cycles would look on this test case.
dfinnecy

Social climber
'stralia
May 15, 2012 - 11:36pm PT
This is cool, is there a description somewhere of how the crackmeters work?
kaholatingtong

Trad climber
the green triangle, cali
May 16, 2012 - 12:29am PT
yes, i believe it is a few posts up. very interesting study.
Jan

Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
May 16, 2012 - 01:25am PT
Very interesting. Thanks.
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
May 19, 2012 - 01:28pm PT
Crack-O-Bump...
Spider Savage

Mountain climber
The shaggy fringe of Los Angeles
May 19, 2012 - 01:52pm PT
I once placed a hex in a flake on Tahquitz granite first thing in the morning. About 15 minutes later, my partner tried to remove it after the sun hit the flake. A good experienced climber he was. No way was that thing coming out.

Later that day the placement was back in the shade and I climbed up and pulled it, no problem.

The change in width was amazing. After that experience I am amazed that these granite cliffs don't rain exfoliation every day.
gstock

climber
Yosemite Valley
Topic Author's Reply - May 19, 2012 - 02:36pm PT
Here is the abstract of a talk Brian Collins gave on the flake deformation study at the European Geophysical Union meeting in Vienna last month:

http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2012/EGU2012-13223.pdf

And while I'm at it, here is the abstract of a talk I gave at the same meeting, which included the flake deformation work but explored rock falls along exfoliation joints more generally:

http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2012/EGU2012-12053.pdf

Greg
crunch

Social climber
CO
May 19, 2012 - 03:24pm PT
East face of Echo Tower, in the Fisher Towers, Utah.
Jumaring past the lower, steepest section, 15 feet out from the rock, with no nearby, visible cracks, each morning there would be occasional, random, loud, deep, thumpy, "crack!" noises; presumably from the sun quickly warming the face after a cold night. We figured that there were/are exfoliation cracks hidden inside to separate the insides (with a more consistent temperature) from the surface (with wildly fluctuating temps). No moisture involved, no ice.
This face is low down, overhanging, with a vast weight of stone (several hundred vertical feet) above. Must be all under enormous stress and will one day all collapse.

East face of Kingfisher, near start of Death of American Democracy, similar noises can be heard as the sun warms the rock in the early morning, though the rock is merely vertical.

Geology in action!

Never heard spontaneous cracking noises from the rock anywhere else, ever.
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