8:45-10:45 – Mexico, Rob Clayton – Sumatra, Kerry Sieh – Taiwan, Jean-Philippe Avouac – Western US, Jason Saleeby – Alaska,  Kerry Sieh – Large earthquakes, Jeroen Tromp, Don Helmberger– Subduction processes, Japan, Mark Simons – Iran, Brian Wernicke

10:45-… Discussion and tea around the posters

Tectonics Observatory2004- Annual Meeting

The Caltech Tectonics Observatory

• An initiative supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Fundation : $13,250,000 grant for a first 5-year phase.

15 Faculty involved 20 students and postdocs

• Plate Tectonics is only an approximation : some plate boundaries are rather broad zones of diffuse deformation and seismicity.

• Plate Tectonics is a kinematic model : it does not address the mechanics and physics behind this surface manifestation of the earth dynamics.

• Implications of Plate Tectonics for hazard mitigation are poor: it does not provide much keys for assessing seismic and volcanic hazard.

• Time to update the elastic rebound model of the seismic cycle : The physical parameters controlling the behavior of large faults are poorly understood.

The Caltech Tectonics Observatory

• Take advantage of recent technological advances in Earth Sciences to gain some better understanding of the dynamics of the lithosphere that will renew/encompass current paradigms (Plate Tectonics, Elastic rebound model of the EQ cycle)

• Stimulate cross-fertilization among the various earth science disciplines in the Division.

• Develop the use of most recent techniques for tectonic studies (CGPS, satellite imagery, thermochronology, seismic imaging, isotopic geochemistry …)

• Take advantage of new computational techniques and recent hardware advances.

We intend to create an stimulating multidisciplinary environment to breed a new generation of earth scientists who will conceive the future theory and models of the earth dynamics

Focus AreasData from existing and planned national networks (U.S., Japan, and Taiwan)Targeted field efforts in key areas

Analysis CenterComputationalGeochemicalGeological & Geophysical

(field obs. & remote sensing)

Implementation Strategies

Infrastructure/ People

• Administrative assistant : Heather Steele• Technical support : J. Yu, S.Healy, M. Turner,

John Galetzka, X, X• Steering committee (R. Clayton, J. Eiler, M.

Gurnis, K. Sieh, M. Simons, B. Wernicke)• 8 multidisciplinary projects lead by 8 different

faculty.

Infrastructure

• GIS facilities• Beowulf• Deployment of CGPS networks in Sumatra,

Bargain, Nepal,• Geochemistry, Stable Isotopes Mass

Spectrometer• 50 Broadband seismometers

Regional Targets

Arabia and Indo-Asia collision zone ?

Sumatra

Peru-Chile America ?

Western North America

Taiwan

Japan

Middle America