Physical state of the subducting Juan de Fuca plate and the blind deconvolution problem in global seismology

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Over the next 5 years my research program will focus on 2 key problems in global seismology, one observational and the other theoretical. The first project concerns the physical state of the subducting Juan de Fuca plate from Vancouver Island to California and its influence on earthquake occurrence. A number of different styles of earthquake, each with its own significance for seismic hazard, occur in this region. Megathrust earthquakes, comparable in magnitude to the December 2004 Indonesian earthquake, occur every 550 years on average. Deep slab earthquakes, although smaller in magnitude, occur in closer vicinity to major population centers such as Vancouver and Victoria and so pose significant threat. The most damaging earthquakes to occur in southwestern B.C. in the past century have been crustal earthquakes on central Vancouver Island. A fourth class of earthquake that has only recently been discovered involves very slow slip deep on the plate boundary. Although not a direct threat, there is growing evidence that these slow slip earthquakes bear genetic associations with other classes of earthquake through the structure of the subducting plate and the migration/transport of fluids generated therein. This research aims to clarify these associations.