Please login or register to join our webinar.

E-mail address:
Password:
Forgot your password?
Log in
REGISTRATION
Home > U Ottawa > News > Land Motion Offers Insights...
U Ottawa

Land Motion Offers Insights into Cascadia Earthquake Cycle

Aug 8, 2020
Comparing recent GPS data with a longer record of sea level along the western coast of North America allows researchers to home in on interseismic deformation above the Cascadia megathrust.
 
 
The western edge of North America is one of the most seismically active areas on Earth. In the Cascadia Subduction Zone, which spans from northern Vancouver Island in British Columbia to Northern California, strain has been building since a massive earthquake, thought to have been about magnitude 9, occurred in 1700. When a large quake strikes this megathrust fault again, the toll on infrastructure and human life could be catastrophic, so scientists are continually trying to understand better how energy builds up on the fault.
 
In a new study, Yousefi et al. study vertical land motion (VLM) on the western coast of North America, comparing GPS data with a 4,000-year record of land motion from sea level data. By subtracting recent trends in land motion from the longer record, the scientists show which part of the observed surface deformation is due to plate locking along the megathrust as part of the Cascadia earthquake cycle and which part is more likely caused by other processes, such as groundwater extraction and glacier retreat.
 
Overall, the VLM data in the new study show widespread uplift and a landward tilt in the Cascadia region related to fault locking. Uplift is dominant along most of the western Canadian and American coasts, except for the San Diego Bay area, where subsidence is occurring. The researchers found that their refined VLM data compared well with an existing model of Cascadia megathrust locking tuned to match horizontal land motion rates, especially for the case in which complete locking occurs at shallow depths (less than 30 kilometers).
 
The scientists conclude that this sort of VLM data analysis, which allows the contribution to land motion from deformation between major earthquakes to be isolated, will be useful in better constraining locking models of the Cascadia and other subduction zones, especially where only horizontal land motion data have been used previously. (Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JB018248, 2020)
 
—David Shultz, Science Writer
 

Source: https://eos.org/research-spotlights/land-motion-offers-insights-into-cascadia-earthquake-cycle

Latest news
Out of thick air: Transforming CO2 into light-emitting carbon
Canadian researchers studying effectiveness and safety of COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy
Local Connections: New partnership to enhance Internet connectivity for uOttawa and region
RESEARCH: Canadian researchers work to understand and improve health for Indigenous Peoples after surgery
Paying it forward: uOttawa Alumni Association gifting wellness to students
View More News
Career Opportunities
Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Cybersecurity – Two positions

The University of Ottawa invites applications for two Tier 2 Canada Research Chairs (CRC) in Cybersecurity. 
Full-Time Faculty Position (at the rank of Assistant)

Located on the traditional and unceded territory of the Anishinabé-Algonquin people, near the Kichi Sìbi river, the School of Social Work at the University of Ottawa is accepting applications for one (1) tenure-track position at the rank of assistant.
Replacement Faculty Position

We are looking for candidates with expertise in the following areas: Financing for Development, Canada and the World, Globalization and Development, Project Management, Conflict and Development, Private Enterprise and Development, Quantitative Research Methods and Development. 
Tenure-track position with a specialization in content-based language education (immersion/CLIL)

The Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute (OLBI) of the University of Ottawa invites applications for a tenure-track position with a specialization in content-based language education (e.g., immersion; CLIL) in higher education and relevant research and teaching experience with English language education.
Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Social Accountability

The successful candidate will hold a clinical non-tenure track position with the Faculty of Medicine, one of its affiliated hospitals (e.g., The Ottawa Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Hôpital Montfort, The Royal Ottawa), and its respective affiliated research institute (The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI); Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute (CHEO-RI); University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI); Bruyere Research Institute (BRI); Institute

Research Librarian

The University of Ottawa Library seeks an innovative, motivated and service-oriented Research Librarian. The successful candidate will be a creative individual who works well with other colleagues in a challenging and changing environment.
Chief Communications Officer

The University of Ottawa is seeking a Chief Communications Officer (CCO) to be the ambassador and communications lead for the University. Reporting to the Vice President of External Relations and working in concert with the President and Vice Chancellor, the CCO will be responsible for the University of Ottawa’s strategic communications, public and government relations, media relations, and reputation management. 
More Careers