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

大型的陆内走滑断层系统（一个板块向另一个板块移动）穿过人口稠密的地区，在过去造成了毁灭性的地震。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，为社会更好地为未来的灾难性事件做好准备提供关键信息。该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，但其地震历史仍然知之甚少。通过地球物理方法和沉积学调查的结合，该项目将揭示断裂系统在时间和空间上的演化。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，通过参加一个国际研究项目，对他们进行地球物理学和沉积学方面的培训，为加强地球科学工作队伍作出贡献。该项目还将通过为小学和中学科学课程开发地球科学课程模块以及为K-12科学教师举办教育地球科学研讨会，接触到广泛的公众受众。尽管人们不断努力了解陆内走滑断层系统，但与地震发生、频率和位置相关的过程仍然存在一些重大挑战。这些问题部分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孕震行为有关，而这些信息对于地震危险性评估至关重要。该项目调查了Polochic-Motagua断层系统附近的五个湖泊中保存的古地震记录，Polochic-Motagua断层系统是分隔北美和加勒比板块的陆内走滑板块边界断层系统。这个板块边界与圣安德烈亚斯和北安纳托利亚断层相似，但地震记录在很大程度上是未知的。通过地震反射数据的采集和表征，以及对沉积岩芯的沉积学解释，该项目将有助于水下定量古地震学领域的研究，并提高我们对沿着这一走滑板块边界地震时空演变的认识。该项目将涉及两名研究生和几名本科生，通过地球物理和沉积学数据采集、处理和解释方面的培训，支持地球科学劳动力的发展。该项目还将通过让K-12学生和教师参与几项教育活动，访问密苏里州的科学教室，为小学和高中教师举办教师研讨会，以及在密苏里州科技大学为小学和中学女生举办的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未充分研究的断层系统沿着地震风险提供更好的基础。参与并与危地马拉的高等教育机构和政府机构合作将促进国际研究机会和美国和危地马拉机构之间的合作。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

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.