Seismic study of subduction zones, rifted margins and mid-ocean ridges

拟议的研究计划集中在地球的三个主要边界：俯冲带，裂谷边缘和洋中脊，所有这些都是地球板块构造周期的一部分。俯冲带是大洋板块和大陆板块交汇的地方，在这里，较薄但较密集的大洋板块“俯冲”到大陆板块之下，最终进入地幔。裂断大陆边是大陆岩石圈伸展和断裂形成的，这一过程打开了新的洋盆。洋中脊是一个不断生成新洋壳的板块构造边界。它们构成了地球上最广阔的山脉系统和最长的火山链。拟议的研究计划依赖于将最先进的数据分析方法创新地结合到新的多通道地震和海底地震仪数据中。目标是以前所未有的分辨率对目标地下结构进行成像，以测试领先的科学假设和问题，这些假设和问题有可能改变该计划重点研究的领域。选定的研究区域是：阿拉斯加俯冲带，胡安德富卡板块和卡斯卡迪亚俯冲带，加拿大东部的裂谷边缘和西南印度洋脊。该计划所要解决的研究领域和问题是根据其对实现我的短期和长期科学目标的适用性，高影响力发现的潜力以及对广泛的地球科学家和公众的兴趣来选择的。卡斯卡迪亚和阿拉斯加俯冲带的火山爆发和地震对美国西北部和加拿大西南部人口稠密地区构成重大风险。从基础科学（例如，地球固体内部和海洋之间的能量和质量交换）和社会影响（俯冲地震灾害）。该计划的预期成果是改善俯冲地震期间最大同震滑动下倾极限的约束，或者换句话说，更好地了解这些大型近海地震发生在沿海城市的距离。这项研究计划的另一个成果是关于俯冲逆冲断层（巨型逆冲断层）耦合的横向变化的更详细的信息，或者简单地说，俯冲带的哪些部分被强烈堵塞，因此可能在俯冲地震期间释放大部分破坏性地震能量。这些知识将导致大推力事件的概率地震灾害地图的准确性和改进的建筑规范，我们用来减轻这些破坏性地震的主要手段的进步。在大洋中脊，由于地壳薄，构造环境相对简单，研究活跃岩浆系统的挑战性最小，因此，更好地了解活跃岩浆系统的内部运作，将有助于更好地预测未来的海底喷发，并增进对火山的总体了解。断裂边缘的深层结构受到新的限制，这也是最近钻探的最大碳氢化合物矿床所在的主要沉积盆地的所在地，将有助于指导未来的石油勘探，以获得新的发现。构成拟议研究计划的所有项目都是备受瞩目的国际合作，因为对海底深处结构的调查是地球最后的前沿之一，需要大量的人力和物力资源。

The proposed research program is focused on three of the Earth's major boundaries: subduction zones, rifted margins and mid-ocean ridges, all of which form as part of the Earth's plate tectonic cycle. Subduction zones are places where oceanic and continental plates converge, and where the thinner but denser oceanic plate "ducks" under the continental plate to eventually become recycled into the Earth's mantle. Rifted continental margins form by extension and breakup of the continental lithosphere, a process that opens up new ocean basins. Mid-ocean ridges are a divergent plate tectonic boundary where new oceanic crust is being continuously generated. They make up the most extensive mountain system and the longest chain of volcanoes on planet Earth. The proposed research program relies on applying an innovative combination of state-of-the-art data analysis methods to new multichannel seismic and ocean bottom seismometer data. The goal is to image the targeted subsurface structures at unprecedented resolution in order to test leading scientific hypothesis and questions that have the potential to transform the fields of study this program focuses on. The selected study areas are: Alaska subduction zone, Juan de Fuca plate and Cascadia subduction zone, rifted margins of eastern Canada, and Southwest Indian ridge. The study areas and problems to be addressed by this program are chosen based on their suitability for achieving my short- and long-term science goals, the potential for high-impact discoveries, and interest to a broad group of earth scientists and general public. Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes at the Cascadia and Alaska subduction zones pose significant risk in the heavily populated areas of northwestern United States and southwestern Canada. How oceanic crust evolves from ridge to trench is important from the perspectives of both basic science (e.g., energy and mass exchange between the Earth's solid interior and the oceans) and societal impacts (subduction earthquake hazards). An expected outcome of this program are improved constraints on the downdip limit of maximum coseismic slip during subduction earthquakes or, in other words, better understanding of how close to the coastal cities can these large offshore earthquakes occur. Another outcome of this research program is more detailed information on lateral variations in subduction thrust (megathrust) coupling or, in simpler terms, which sections of subduction zones are strongly jammed and therefore likely to release most of the destructive seismic energy during subduction earthquakes. This knowledge will lead to advances in accuracy of probabilistic seismic hazards maps for megathrust events and improved building codes, our primary means used to mitigate against these damaging earthquakes. Better understanding of the inner workings of active magmatic systems, which are the least challenging to investigate at mid-ocean ridges because of the thin crust and relatively simple tectonic setting, will lead to better prediction of future undersea eruptions and to improved understanding of volcanoes in general. New constraints on the deep structures at rifted margins, that are also the site of major sedimentary basins that host the largest recently drilled hydrocarbon deposits, will help guide future petroleum exploration to new discoveries. All of the projects that comprise the proposed research program are high-profile international collaborations because investigations of structures deep below the seabed, which is one of the Earth's last frontiers, require major resources, both human and material.