CAREER: Paleoseismicity along the North American-Caribbean Plate Boundary: Research, Education and Outreach

大型大陆内走滑断层系统（一个板块向另一个板块横向移动）穿过人口稠密的地区，并在过去引发了毁灭性的地震。需要对这些断层系统进行全面调查，以了解过去的地震频率以及这些地震如何影响断层演化，为更好地为未来的灾难性事件做好准备提供关键信息。本项目的重点是重建位于危地马拉北美板块南部边界的断层系统的地震历史。该断层系统与加州的圣安德烈亚斯断层系统相似，但人们对其地震历史知之甚少。本项目将通过地球物理方法和沉积学调查相结合，揭示断层系统在时间和空间上的演变。该项目将通过检查断层系统附近五个湖泊的沉积物来调查控制地震频率和位置的过程。除了取得科学成果外，该项目还将为本科生和研究生提供教育机会，通过参与国际研究项目，培训他们在地球物理和沉积学方面的知识，为加强地球科学人才队伍做出贡献。该项目还将通过为中小学科学课程开发地球科学课程模块和为K-12科学教师开发教育地球科学讲习班，广泛接触公众。尽管人们不断努力了解大陆内走滑断层系统，但与控制地震发生、频率和位置的过程有关的几个重大挑战仍然存在。在一定程度上，这些问题与历史记录和仪器测量不足以理解断层系统的长期演化和发震行为有关，而这些信息对地震危险性评估至关重要。该项目调查了波罗奇-莫塔瓜断层系统附近的五个湖泊保存的古地震记录，该断层系统是分隔北美板块和加勒比板块的大陆内走滑板块边界断层系统。这个板块边界的设置类似于圣安德烈亚斯断层和北安那托利亚断层，但地震记录在很大程度上是未知的。本项目将通过对地震反射数据的采集和表征，以及沉积物岩心的沉积学解释，为水下定量古地震学领域做出贡献，提高我们对该走滑板块边界地震时空演化的认识。该项目将涉及两名研究生和几名本科生，通过对地球物理和沉积学数据采集、处理和解释的培训，支持地球科学劳动力的发展。该项目还将通过让K-12年级的学生和教师参与几项教育活动、参观密苏里州的科学教室、为小学和高中教师举办教师讲习班，以及在密苏里科技大学为小学和初中女生举办的STEM日期间展示和分享研究成果，来接触更广泛的受众。最后，该项目将为评估危地马拉一个研究不足的断层系统的地震风险提供更好的基础。与几家危地马拉高等教育机构和政府机构的参与和合作将促进美国和危地马拉机构之间的国际研究机会和合作。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Large intracontinental strike-slip fault systems (where one plate moves sideways against another) cut across heavily populated regions and have caused devastating earthquakes in the past. Comprehensive investigations of these fault systems are needed to understand past earthquake frequency and how these earthquakes affect fault evolution, providing crucial information to better prepare societies for future catastrophic events. This project focuses on reconstructing the earthquake history of a fault system located at the southern boundary of the North American Plate in Guatemala. The fault system is similar to the San Andreas Fault System in California, but its earthquake history remains poorly understood. By integration of geophysical methods and sedimentological investigations, this project will unravel the evolution of the fault system in time and space. The project will investigate the processes governing the frequency and location of earthquakes by examining sediments in five lakes near the fault system. In addition to the scientific outcomes, this project will provide educational opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students by training them in geophysics and sedimentology through participation in an international research project, contributing towards a stronger geoscience workforce. The project will also reach a broad public audience through the development of geoscience class modules for elementary and middle school science classes and educational geoscience workshops for K-12 science teachers.Despite continuous efforts to understand intracontinental strike-slip fault systems, several grand challenges related to the processes governing earthquake initiation, frequency, and location remain. Partly, these issues are related to the fact that historical records and instrumental measurements are insufficient to understand the long-term evolution and seismogenic behavior of fault systems, information that is paramount for seismic hazard evaluation. This project investigates the paleoseismic record preserved in five lakes in proximity to the Polochic-Motagua Fault System, the intracontinental strike-slip plate boundary fault system that separates the North American and Caribbean plates. This plate boundary setting is similar to that of the San Andreas and North Anatolian faults, but the earthquake record is largely unknown. Through seismic reflection data acquisition and characterization, and sedimentological interpretation of sediment cores, this project will contribute to the field of subaqueous quantitative paleoseismology and improve our understanding of the spatial and temporal evolution of earthquakes along this strike-slip plate boundary. The project will involve two graduate and several undergraduate students, supporting geoscience workforce development through training of geophysical and sedimentological data acquisition, processing, and interpretation. The project will also reach out to a broader audience by involving K-12 students and teachers in several educational activities, by visiting science classrooms in Missouri, by developing teacher workshops for elementary and high school teachers, and by presenting and sharing research results during STEM days for elementary and middle school female students at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. Finally, this project will provide a better foundation for assessing seismic risk along an understudied fault system in Guatemala. Involvement and collaboration with several Guatemalan higher education institutions and government agencies will facilitate international research opportunities and collaborations among U.S. and Guatemalan institutions.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.