Strength and Fracturing Behavior on Lithospheric Scales: Applications of Rock Mechanics to Rocky Planets, Ocean Worlds, and Asteroids
Geotechnical Engineering Seminar featuring Christian Klimczak, UGA.
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering Presents: Geotechnical Engineer Seminar
"Strength and Fracturing Behavior on Lithospheric Scales: Applications of Rock Mechanics to Rocky Planets, Ocean Worlds, and Asteroids"
Christian Klimczak
Associate Professor of Structural Geology
University of Georgia
Abstract: Rock mechanics is the theoretical and applied science that studies how rocks and rock masses mechanically behave. Many of its applications to larger rock volumes, i.e., rock masses, rely on empirical relationships that are based on decades of geological field observations on Earth. In-situ observations of rock masses on planetary bodies are limited but become increasingly available with continued planetary exploration. In this talk, I will show examples of how (and to what extent) rock mechanical concepts can be applied to planetary bodies across the Solar System, with applications to the global contractional tectonics of Mercury, strength of the seafloor of Jupiter's moon Europa, and fracturing behavior of asteroid 4 Vesta.
About the Speaker: Christian Klimczak is Associate Professor of Structural Geology in the Department of Geology at the University of Georgia. He is an expert in Mercury tectonics with interest in rock- and fault mechanics applied to deformation properties of rock, especially on lithospheric scales. His planetary geology research is complemented by studying planetary analogues on Earth utilizing field work, remote sensing, and structural geological modeling.