Holloman Air Force Base Afb Supersonic Flight Operations In The Valentine Military Operations Area

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.