Seismic Slip in Oceanic Lithosphere

许多地震发生在被称为“走滑”或“转换”断层的一类断层上，其中最著名的是从加利福尼亚湾到北加州的圣安德烈亚斯断层。了解地震在这些断层上发生的过程对于减轻加利福尼亚等地地震的影响至关重要，但人们对这些过程知之甚少，部分原因是大多数这类断层都位于海底。两项实地研究，一项是在东太平洋隆起，另一项是在加利福尼亚海岸的布兰科断裂带，正在进行中，但仍有一份全球其他地区的事件目录尚未被研究。对1990年全球宽带地震台网问世以来记录的海底变换断层地震的研究将建立断层运动、滑动分布和应力降的新模型，以帮助定义断裂动力学和控制这些走滑断层地震活动性的因素。这项研究的更广泛的影响包括它与理解和减轻地震危害的明显相关性，它支持了一位女性科学家，以及培训了一位急需的新地震学家。

Many earthquakes occur on a class of faults known as "strike-slip" or "transform" faults, of which the San Andreas Fault, which runs from the Gulf of California to Northern California, is the best known. Understanding the processes by which earthquakes occur on these faults is vital to mitigating the effects of earthquakes in places like California, but these processes are poorly understood, in part because most faults of this type are found in the sea floor. Two field studies, one on the East Pacific Rise, and the other on the Blanco Fracture Zone off the coast of California are underway, but there remains a global catalog of events elsewhere that have not been studied. This study of earthquakes on sea floor transform faults recorded since the advent of the global broadband seismic network in 1990 will establish new models of fault motions, slip distributions and stress drops to help define rupture dynamics and the factors that control seismicity on these strike-slip faults. Among the broader impacts of this study are its obvious relevance to understanding and mitigating earthquake hazards, and the fact that it supports a female scientist, and the training of a much-needed new earthquake seismologist.