Seismo-Acoustic Effects of Sonic Booms on Archeological Sites, Valentine Military Operations Area

Abstract

Seismo-acoustic recordings of sonic booms were made at two sites in the Valentine Military Operations Aras (MOA). Each location was selected as representative of a class of significant archeological sites found within the MOA. These studies indicate that sonic booms are unlikely to cause damage to the archeological finds. The expected motions are, at worst, 8 percent of the limits set by strict blasting codes and comparable to velocities that could be produced by local earthquakes which have occurred in the Valentine area. At these levels of motion, competent rock will be unaffected by the transmission of seismic waves. The predicted velocity levels are unlikely to initiate either fracture or spalling in rocks. However, it is possible that in rocks where natural meteorological action has initiated these erosive mechanisms the sonic boom induced motion accelerate the processes to some small, and probably insignificant, degree.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 01, 1983
Accession Number
ADA139581

Entities

People

  • James C. Battis

Organizations

  • Air Force Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acoustic Admittance
  • Acoustic Waves
  • Aircrafts
  • Angle Of Incidence
  • Doppler Effect
  • Earth Sciences
  • Earthquakes
  • Mach Number
  • Military Operations
  • Phase Velocity
  • Rayleigh Waves
  • Seismic Velocity
  • Seismic Waves
  • Shock Waves
  • Sonic Boom
  • Surface Waves
  • Waves

Readers

  • Acoustics.
  • Aviation Science / Aeronautics.
  • Environmental Engineering.