ONGOING CRACK MONITORING AT THE CARNEGIE QUARRY, DINOSAUR NATIONAL MONUMENT, UTAH

In an effort to investigate if natural and/or anthropogenic motion is occurring at the Carnegie Quarry at Dinosaur National Monument in northeastern Utah, a monitoring program was established as motion could result in negative impacts on both the stability of the quarry as well as long-term preservation of the rich fossil resources at the site. Therefore, in June 2017, four vibrating wire crack meters were installed on the face of the steeply dipping bone bed. On fifteen minute intervals, each crack meter collects both a distance measurement between anchors on either side of an existing open fracture as well as a temperature measurement.

This monitoring program was first established by researchers from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in cooperation with the National Park Service (NPS). Recently, the NPS has occupied the measurement sites with their own equipment with the intent of monitoring this site into the foreseeable future.

Preliminary results suggest that both seasonal and long term motions are occurring at the site. Ongoing and future work will focus on better understanding the source of these motions and their implications.