Development of Laboratory Seismic Exploration Experiment for Education and Demonstration

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26282043
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Science education
• Research Institution: Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
• Principal Investigator: NAKANISHI Ayako 国立研究開発法人海洋研究開発機構, 地震津波海域観測研究開発センター, 技術研究員 (30371727)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): ITO Akihiko 宇都宮大学, 教育学部, 教授 (70134252) ; YAMASHITA Mikiya 国立研究開発法人海洋研究開発機構, 地震津波海域観測研究開発センター, 研究員 (00415978) ; YANAGISAWA Takatoshi 国立研究開発法人海洋研究開発機構, 地球深部ダイナミクス研究分野, 主任研究員 (20359186) ; YAMAGISHI Yasuko 国立研究開発法人海洋研究開発機構, 数理科学・先端技術研究分野, 研究技術専任スタッフ (10359185)
• Research Collaborator: OMATA Tamano ; IMAMURA Hisako ; MOROHASHI Yoko ; SHUDO Keiko ; SATO Norihiko ; Kagaya Issa
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 科学教育 / 地学教育 / 寒天ゲル / 屈折法地震探査

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We developed a laboratory experiment to simulate a seismic refraction survey for educational purposes. The experiment is tabletop scaled experiment using the soft hydrogel as an analogue material of a layered crust. So, we can conduct the seismic exploration experiment in a laboratory or a classroom. The softness and the transparency of the gel material enable us to observe the wave propagation with our naked eyes, using the photoelastic technique. By analyzing the waveforms obtained by the image analysis of the movie of the experiment, one can estimate the velocities and the structure of the gel specimen in the same way as an actual seismic survey. We report details of the practical course and the public outreach activities using the experiment.

Free Research Field

制御震源地震学