Paleoseismology along Earthscope-PBO Dense Array of GPS Stations Across the Interior of the Great Basin

沿着横跨大盆地内部的 Earthscope-PBO 密集 GPS 站阵列进行古地震学研究

• 批准号: 0509672
• 负责人: Steven Wesnousky
• 金额: $ 30.31万
• 依托单位: Board of Regents, NSHE, obo University of Nevada, Reno
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-09-01 至 2009-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0509672&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Paleoseismology; along; Earthscope; PBO; Dense

The western United States and the Pacific-North American plate boundary are now the focus of the major NSF-sponsored initiative Earthscope that is largely aimed at (1) employing modern observational technologies such as Global Positioning Systems and seismic instrumentation to investigate the structure and evolution of the North American continent and (2) contributing to the mitigation of risks from geological hazards. Pacific-North American plate motion is not limited to California's San Andreas fault system. It also encompasses the Great Basin physiographic province which is characterized by Basin and Range style deformation and encompasses an area reaching 800 km in width between about Reno, NV to the west and Salt Lake City, UT to the east. The Great Basin is one of the world's type-examples of diffuse continental extension. This field study is aimed to quantify the late-Pleistocene occurrence of earthquake displacements (paleoseismology) on major range-bounding active faults across the interior of the Great Basin. The locations of the studies are along an anticipated Earthscope-deployment of Geographic Position System instruments that will form a dense array across the Great Basin. The motivation for the field study stems from the understanding that the kinematics and mechanics of the North-American plate boundary will require measurements of the rate, style, and evolution of deformation across the entirety of the boundary through geologic time. Thus while Earthscope-Plate Boundary Observatory Geographic Position System instruments are measuring strain accumulation, our study is measuring how that strain is released. The knowledge we are gaining is being used to understand the physics of the earthquake process, the development of the structure and physiography across the western United States, and the contemporary strain signal itself. Additionally, the research is supporting the education of a Ph.D. student, and study sites are being used in University field classes as introductions to research methods. It is also intended that this work to understand the physics of the earthquake process will be incorporated into efforts to define seismic hazards and forecast the locations and sizes of future earthquakes.

现在，美国西部和太平洋北美板块边界是NSF赞助的主要倡议Earthscope的重点，该倡议主要针对（1）采用现代观察技术，例如全球定位系统和地震仪器，以研究北美大陆的结构和演变，并为北美大陆的发展和（2）促进对地球地球群的风险促进风险。太平洋北美板块运动不仅限于加利福尼亚的圣安德烈亚斯断层系统。它还涵盖了伟大的盆地生理学省，其特征是盆地和范围风格变形，并涵盖了一个宽度为800公里的区域，大约在里诺，北部的北部，西部和东部的盐湖城。伟大的盆地是世界上弥漫性大陆扩展的类型典型。这项现场研究旨在量化地震位移（古代学）的晚期发生在大盆地内部的主要范围内活动断层上。研究的位置沿着预期的地理位置系统仪器的地球范围延伸，该仪器将在整个大盆地中形成密集的阵列。现场研究的动机源于以下理解：北美板块边界的运动学和力学将需要测量整个边界上通过地质时间的变形的速率，样式和演变。因此，尽管Earthscope-plate边界观测站地理位置系统仪器正在测量应变积累，但我们的研究正在测量该应变的释放方式。我们获得的知识被用来了解地震过程的物理学，整个美国西部的结构和生理学的发展以及当代应变信号本身。此外，该研究正在支持博士学位的教育。学生和学习地点正在大学野外课程中用作研究方法的介绍。还旨在理解地震过程物理学的这项工作将被纳入定义地震危害并预测未来地震的位置和大小的努力中。