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  • Profiles of near-surface rock mass strength across gradients in erosion, burial, and time [Data set]

    work
    Creator:
    Townsend, Kirk F, Clark, Marin K, and Zekkos, Dimitrios
    Description:
    These datasets support the findings of Townsend et al. (2020). In this article, we project profiles of rock mass shear strength into the shallow subsurface (~30 m depth) using the Hoek and Brown criterion with Geological Strength Index (GSI) observations of outcrop structure and surface conditions, and Schmidt hammer rebound values of intact (unfractured) rock hardness. We compare these projected rock mass shear strength profiles to shear-wave velocity profiles collected using shallow geophysical arrays. We evaluate our methods in the Western Transverse Ranges of southern California, which exhibit strong gradients in the depth of latest-Mesozoic through Cenozoic sedimentary rocks exposed at the surface today, and in erosion rates quantified from catchment-average cosmogenic radionuclide concentrations and low-temperature apatite and zircon (U-Th)/He thermochronometry. We find that stratigraphic age and burial depth exerts the strongest apparent control on rock strength and S-wave velocities, likely due to diagenetic changes associated with burial. For rocks of the same age and inferred burial history, we observe that shear strength and S-wave velocities are positively correlated with erosion rate. We suggest that increasing erosion rates cause decreased residence time of rock masses within the critical zone, resulting in less weathered rocks.
    Keyword:
    rock strength, seismic, and erosion rate
    Citation to related publication:
    Townsend, K. F., Clark, M. K., & Zekkos, D. (2021). Profiles of Near-Surface Rock Mass Strength Across Gradients in Burial, Erosion, and Time. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 126(4), e2020JF005694.  https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JF005694
    Discipline:
    Science