TRUSTEES OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, THE
Grant: $271,351 - National Science Foundation - Jun. 16, 2009
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Award Description: Traditionally, faults were thought to accommodate slip in one of two ways: Stick-slip motion, in which long periods where the fault is essentially locked are punctuated by brief episodes of rapid slip (earthquakes), and steady creep at plate tectonic rates (centimeters per year) or less. The discoveries within the last decade of episodic slow slip and associated tremor within numerous subduction zones, and tremor along the San Andreas fault, show that fault behavior is much more varied. In episodic slow slip, faults slip at rates 1 to 2 orders of magnitude larger than plate tectonic rates at quasi-regular intervals on the order of 1 year. Because the slip episodes last for several weeks and extend over areas tens to hundreds of kilometers across, they release energy equivalent to earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more. Tremor is a quasi-continuous seismic signal thought to be made up of myriad small events similar to regular earthquakes of magnitude 1.5 or less except in being more sluggish. Because slow slip events increase the stressing rate on the shallower locked portion of faults that can slip in magnitude 9 earthquakes, understanding them may prove to be useful for earthquake hazards reduction. In addition, the increased understanding of slip localization that arises from this work can be used to interpret ongoing experiments monitoring earthquake nucleation at several kilometers depth in California and South Africa.
Project Description: As defined in the project abstract.
Infrastructure Description: NA
Jobs Summary: No Princeton University faculty jobs were created or retained through ARRA funding. Prime recipient retained Graduate Student. (Total jobs reported: 1)
Project Status: Less Than 50% Completed
This award's data was last updated on Jun. 16, 2009. Help expand these official descriptions using the wiki below.
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