NSF East Asia and Pacific Summer Institute for FY 2012 in New Zealand

Bartlow Noel M, Menlo Park CA

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds Noel M. Bartlow of Stanford University to conduct a research project, entitled "Migration of slow earthquakes in the Hikurangi subduction zone, New Zealand," during the summer of 2012 at GNS Science in Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand. The host scientist is Dr. John Beavan. The Intellectual Merit of the research project is to study how slow slip events change over time in Hikurangi and compare them to similar events in Japan and Cascadia in the US. Monitoring and studying these events has implications for evaluating the hazard of large megathrust earthquakes on the same subduction faults, since they indicate how far inland a large earthquake rupture will go, and some theoretical models show that slow slip events may become larger just before a big earthquake. Also, because it is unclear if discoveries made in one subduction zone apply elsewhere it is important to study as many subduction zones as possible. The Broader Impacts of an EAPSI fellowship include providing the Fellow a first-hand research experience outside the U.S.; an introduction to the science, science policy, and scientific infrastructure of the respective location; and an orientation to the society, culture and language. These activities meet the NSF goal to educate for international collaborations early in the career of its scientists, engineers, and educators, thus ensuring a globally aware U.S. scientific workforce. This project begins a new collaboration between earthquake scientists at Stanford and GNS Science, including transferring a new GPS analysis code to GNS Science.