[12.571 / ESS] Earth Science Seminar – Patrick Fulton (Cornell University)

“Insights into earthquakes, tsunamis, and fault zone hydrogeology from sub-seafloor borehole observatories”

During the 2011 Mw 9.1 Tohoku-oki Japan earthquake the shallowest part of the fault slipped more than 50 m all the way to the seafloor creating a much larger earthquake and tsunami than imagined possible. To address questions regarding the underlying physical processes and conditions involved, the Japan Trench Fast Drilling Project (JFAST), IODP Expedition 343, set out one year after the earthquake to drill through the fault zone, make downhole measurements, collect core samples, and install a borehole temperature nearly a kilometer underground and in the extreme ultra-deep water depth of 7 km.

Here Prof. Patrick Fulton of Cornell University describes the remarkable results of that expedition and in particular, the 9 months of distributed temperature measurements recorded within the fault zone. He will discuss what those observations reveal about the stresses acting on the fault, damage and healing processes, and fault zone hydrogeology.

Now twelve years later, Prof. Fulton is returning to the Japan Trench as a co-chief of a new expedition, IODP Expedition 405 JTRACK – Tracking Tsunami Slip Across the Japan Trench to further characterize the shallow fault system and assess how it has evolved over time.

The results of these highly collaborative projects and similar borehole observatories both on- and off-shore are advancing our understanding of earthquake physics and fault zone dynamics, as well as advancing novel subsurface characterization techniques with immediate hydrogeologic and geothermal applications.

Earth Science Seminar:

Lecture portion of the EAPS graduate-level class 12.571, covering current research in geophysics, geology, geochemistry, and geobiology. All members of the MIT community are welcome to join for presentations by guest speakers, held approximately every two weeks during the term.

Contact: earth-science-seminar-info@mit.edu