Source: Dan Hawkes, Seji Nakagawa
A t the Annual Symposium for the Geosciences Research Program within the Department of Energy’s Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES), held in early April 2012 in suburban Washington D.C. for researchers supported by BES, ESD’s Seiji Nakagawa and his collaborators received an award for the best research presentation. The topic of the presentation was “Static and Dynamic Coupling of Fractures and Fluid”, which is a part of the currently funded Geophysics Cluster Project “Detection and Monitoring of Fluids, Faults, and Coupled Processes in the Earth’s Crust.” Specifically, the presentation discussed frequency-dependent seismic properties of poroelastic fractures; development of laboratory techniques for rapid calcite cementation in fractures and in rock matrix; and a new laboratory method for coupled, multi-physics measurement of fracture/fault destabilization during fluid injection. ESD personnel contributing to this research include Tim Kneafsey, Valeri Korneev, Eric Sonnenthal, Paul Cook, Joern Larsen, Li Yang, April Van Hise, and Brian Bonner.
The BES Annual Symposium, hosted by the Geosciences Research Program’s Nick Woodward, provides an opportunity for researchers to present their current research results to fellow investigators and DOE program managers, and to share thoughts on the latest developments and subjects of common interest. Past award winners from ESD include (but are not limited to) Kurt Nihei, Karsten Pruess, Carl Steefel, Don Vasco, Don DePaolo, and Tim Kneafsey.