Scientists go underwater to study quakes

MADISON, Wis., Feb. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they are conducting the first geologic study of underwater seduction zone faults that produce mega-thrust earthquakes and tsunamis.

University of Wisconsin Associate Professor Harold Tobin, the international project's co-chief scientist, said the goal of the Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment is to understand the basic mechanics of faulting.

The project's scientists are using cutting-edge deep-water drilling technology to reach the fault zones for the first time.

"If we want to understand the physics of how the faults really work, we have to go to those faults in the ocean," Tobin said. "Scientific drilling is the main way we know anything at all about the geology of the two-thirds of the Earth that is submerged."

The decade-long project, to be completed in four stages, will use boreholes, rock samples and long-term in situ monitoring of a fault in the Nankai Trough -- located off the coast of Japan -- to understand the basic fault properties that lead to earthquakes and tsunamis. The project is is its second year.

Tobin presented the results of the first stage of the project during the weekend in Chicago at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2009/02/16/Scientists_go_underwater_to_study_quakes/UPI-53021234813730/