Advancing USGS Subduction Zone Science
Eileen Evans (for USGS Subduction Zone Science Working Group)
USGS Earthquake Science Center
- Date & Time
- Location
- Building 3, Room 3240 (main USGS conference room)
- Summary
Subduction zones, with their extraordinary dimensions, high rates of activity, and proximity to a significant portion of the global population, are host to the world’s most potentially hazardous earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, and tsunamis. In addition to posing significant geologic hazards, geologic processes along subduction zones shape the world’s surface morphology, control resource development and distribution, and interact with the earth's climate. During the past decade catastrophic events along subduction zones have been the catalyst for major investments and consequent scientific discoveries, activities that have helped improve hazard assessments. As an ad hoc group of USGS scientists conducting research on subduction zones, our long-term goals are to facilitate the ability of the USGS to capitalize on and lead advances in subduction zone science, while maintaining USGS’s unique existing capabilities, and ensuring that USGS mission goals and constituents' needs are met. We believe an important first step toward these goals involves enhancing communication and coordination for USGS work related to geologic hazards along subduction zones. The unique and diverse environments in subduction zones (e.g,, accretionary prisms, plate interfaces, down-going oceanic slabs, overriding plates, volcanic arcs, and flexural outer-rises) provide natural laboratories to observe and learn about a wide range of geological processes and for collaboration among many disciplines. Thus, today’s goal is to start this internal dialogue by sharing examples of our own ideas of important scientific issues, but also learning about your views on the needs of your constituents, big scientific questions, priority frontiers, and ideas about how to progress towards these goals most effectively.
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