JOSE HURTADO / UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASOPALEOSEISMIC RESEARCH IN THE BHUTAN HIMALAYAPALEOSEISMIC RESEARCH IN THE BHUTAN HIMALAYA THIS WORK WILL FOCUS ON WILL IDENTIFYING ACTIVE STRUCTURES AND CHARACTERIZING THE CUMULATIVE EFFECT OF DEFORMATION OVER 105 - 106 YR TIMESCALES AND HOW IT RELATES TO THE TOPOGRAPHY OF AND SEISMIC HAZARDS IN THE KINGDOM OF BHUTAN. WHEREAS EARTHQUAKE SEISMOLOGY CAN PROVIDE A GLIMPSE OF THE MODERN STATE OF STRESS AND THE CURRENT DISTRIBUTION OF SEISMIC ACTIVITY ONLY BY EXAMINING THE PALEOSEISMOLOGIC AND TECTONIC GEOMORPHOLOGY RECORD CAN QUANTITIES SUCH AS EARTHQUAKE RECURRENCE INTERVAL AND TIME-INTEGRATED DEFORMATION RATES BE DETERMINED. OF PRIMARY INTEREST IN THE PROPOSED RESEARCH ARE TWO PROMINENT PHYSIOGRAPHIC TRANSITIONS IN THE TOPOGRAPHY OF BHUTAN NEITHER OF WHICH COINCIDES WITH ANY SIGNIFICANT LITHOLOGIC CONTACT. ITIS HYPOTHESIZED THAT THE PHYSIOGRAPHIC TRANSITIONS MAY CORRESPOND TO ACTIVE FAULTS. IF SO THE EXISTENCE OF RECENT UPLIFT ACCOMMODATED BY PREVIOUSLY UN-RECOGNIZED ACTIVE FAULTS WILL CRITICALLY IMPACT SEISMIC HAZARD ASSESSMENTS. IN ADDITION THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ACTIVE TECTONICS AND MIOCENE TECTONICS IS CRITICAL FOR UNDERSTANDING THE EVOLUTION OF THE BHUTAN HIMALAYA. THE PROPOSED WORK WILL ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS BY INCORPORATING FIELD STUDIES QUATERNARY GEOCHRONOLOGY AND QUANTITATIVE TECTONIC GEOMORPHOLOGY. INTEGRATION OF THESE DATA WILL CONSTRAIN THE TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF ACTIVE UPLIFT AND FAULTING IN BHUTAN. THIS PROPOSAL RESPONDS TO SEVERAL OF THE MAJOR RESEARCH AREAS WITIN THE EARTH SURFACE AND INTERIOR (ESI) PROGRAM: NATURAL HAZARDS PREDICTION AND MITIGATION THROUGH THE CHARACTERIZATION OF PAST EARTHQUAKE ACTIVITY ALONG A NORTH-SOUTH TRANSECT ACROSS BHUTAN; CHARACTERIZATION OF EARTH SURFACE VARIABILITY THROUGH THE DIRECT INVESTIGATION OF TECTONIC PROCESSES AND THEIR IMPRINT ON QUATERNARY LANDFORMS AND DEPOSITS. THE FIRST FOCUS IS AT THE HEART OF A MAJOR INTEREST OF THE BHUTANESE GOVERNMENT WITH WHOM THE PI HAS FULL SUPPORT. THE SECOND FOCUS IS A SCIENTIFICALLY RICH ONE AS THE DATA DERIVED FROM THIS WORK CAN BE USED TO ADDRESS QUESTIONS REGARDING THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN ACTIVE TECTONICS AND SURFACE PROCESSES AND THE NATURE OF THE CRUSTAL DEFORMATIONAL PROCESSES THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HIMALAYA (E.G. CHANNEL FLOW). THE PROPOSED WORK FITS WELL INTO THE FRAMEWORK OUTLINED BY THE ESI STRATEGIC PLAN. WE WILL INVESTIGATE SURFACE DEFORMATION USING FIELD OBSERVATIONS TOPOGRAPHY AND REMOTE SENSING A KEY OBSERVATIONAL PRIORITY OF THE ESI STRATEGIC PLAN. INPARTICULAR WE WILL LEVERAGE NASA ASSETS INCLUDING SRTM AND ASTER AMONG OTHER DATA SETS.