Publication

A new data set of granitic rock strength values from Yosemite Valley, California: applications to rock fall assessment

2020
Conference paper
Abstract

To explore connections between rock strength and rock falls, we undertook a comprehensive rock mechanics testing program for six granitic rock types in Yosemite Valley (California, USA) where rock falls are a common geomorphic and sometimes hazardous process. We collected samples from boulders located at the base of cliffs, with the inherent assumption that the intact boulders should provide reasonable estimates of full-strength values. Our testing program included unconfined compressive strength tests, triaxial compressive strength tests, Brazilian tensile strength tests, and Mode I fracture toughness strength testing using two different types of samples – chevron bend (CB) and cracked chevron notched Brazilian disk (CCNBD). Our results, consisting of 88 individual tests, provide the most detailed evaluation of rock strength in Yosemite Valley to date. These results provide the data needed to evaluate the various failure modes (e.g., shear failure of wedge instabilities, tensile failure of overhangs) that might be expected for rock falls from cliffs in Yosemite. We expect that these data will provide an important resource for the evaluation of rock falls and other geomorphological studies in Yosemite National Park.

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Ontological neighbourhood
Related concepts (33)
Rock (geology)
In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's outer solid layer, the crust, and most of its interior, except for the liquid outer core and pockets of magma in the asthenosphere. The study of rocks involves multiple subdisciplines of geology, including petrology and mineralogy.
Granite
Granite (ˈɡrænɪt ) is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies underground. It is common in the continental crust of Earth, where it is found in igneous intrusions. These range in size from dikes only a few centimeters across to batholiths exposed over hundreds of square kilometers.
Granitoid
A granitoid is a generic term for a diverse category of coarse-grained igneous rocks that consist predominantly of quartz, plagioclase, and alkali feldspar. Granitoids range from plagioclase-rich tonalites to alkali-rich syenites and from quartz-poor monzonites to quartz-rich quartzolites. As only two of the three defining mineral groups (quartz, plagioclase, and alkali feldspar) need to be present for the rock to be called a granitoid, foid-bearing rocks, which predominantly contain feldspars but no quartz, are also granitoids.
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