Looking at Earth in Action

摘要

Experimental geophysicists at Livermore are tackling diverse challenges such as the storage of nuclear wastes, discovery of new energy sources, mitigation of greenhouse effects, and better understanding of nuclear weapons. They set up experiments in the laboratory so they can examine how specific environments alter material properties. According to Brian Bonner, who leads the Laboratory's Experimental Geophysics Group, much of what these scientists do is "indoor geophysics," bringing Earth into the laboratory. "Natural systems are so complex that we can often learn more about the physical processes in the laboratory — where we can isolate the controlling variables and study the processes systematically," says Bonner. In this way, researchers can better understand the geophysical processes occurring deep within Earth's subsurface and across the vast expanses of its surface.