A Study of Continental Margins Amphibious Seismometry

Columbia University, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

Among the aims of the Cascadia Initiative is a comprehensive study of earthquake seismicity and risk along the coast of the northwestern U.S. ? Washington, Oregon and northern California ? where there is considerable risk of great earthquakes and tsunamis. A major goal of this research program is to provide guidance for long-term planning and hazard mitigation base on a better understanding of earthquake seismicity in the region. A major component of this program is the deployment of an array of Ocean Bottom Seismographs (OBSs). Many of these insruments will be located in shallow waters near the coast, where they will be affected by sources of noise such as waves and currents that are as yet poorly understood. The goal of this study is to obtain a good understanding of the dependence of seismic noise on OBSs location and depth to aid planning future OBS deployments and to improve methods of mitigating noise sources. The chief broader impact of this project lies in its essential contribution to planning shallow-water OBS deployments in the Cascadia Initiative and elsewhere.