Geophysical studies of plate boundary zone processes in western North America and lithospheric structure of terrestrial planets

在接下来的五年里，我的研究计划将集中在地球物理学的两个关键问题上，一个是观测地震学，另一个是地球和类地行星的岩石圈流变学。第一个项目涉及北美西部主要板块边界带和断层周围的地壳和地幔结构，从加利福尼亚州的圣安德烈亚斯断层到育空和西北地区的加拿大科迪勒拉北部，及其对地震和地壳形变的影响。在该地区的主要断裂带上，发生了许多不同类型的地震，每一种地震对地震危害都有不同的意义。除了大的破坏性地震(如1906年的圣阿德雷亚斯地震或2011年的日本东北大地震)，这些断层还有各种各样的滑动模式，包括最近发现的“慢滑”和相关的“非火山震动”。尽管不是直接威胁，但越来越多的证据表明，这些慢滑地震通过断层的结构属性(如流体)与常规地震发生有关，如利用地震学数据成像的那样。这项研究旨在阐明这些构造属性在断裂和地震过程中所起的作用。

Over the next five years my research program will focus on two key problems in geophysics, one in observational seismology and the other in the rheology of the lithosphere on Earth and terrestrial planets. The first project concerns the structure of the crust and mantle around major plate boundary zones and faults in western North America, from the San Andreas Fault in California to the northern Canadian Cordillera in the Yukon and Northwest Territories, and their influence on earthquake and crustal deformation. A number of different styles of earthquake, each with its own significance for seismic hazard, occur along major fault lines in this region. In addition to large destructive earthquakes (like the 1906 San Adreas earthquake or the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake in Japan), these faults harbor a wide variety of slip modes, including the recently discovered "slow slip" and associated "non-volcanic tremors". Although not a direct threat, there is growing evidence that these slow slip earthquakes are associated with regular earthquake occurrence through structural properties (e.g., fluids) of the fault, as imaged using seismological data. This research aims to clarify the role played by such structural attributes in the faulting and earthquakes processes.