Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/Z000386/1
Sedimentary controls on megathrust earthquake mechanisms
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Dr U Nicholson, Heriot-Watt University, Sch of Energy, Geosci, Infrast & Society
- Co-Investigator:
- Dr A Cartwright-Taylor, Heriot-Watt University, Sch of Energy, Geosci, Infrast & Society
- Co-Investigator:
- Dr A Gough, Heriot-Watt University, Sch of Energy, Geosci, Infrast & Society
- Co-Investigator:
- Dr N Forbes Inskip, Heriot-Watt University, Sch of Energy, Geosci, Infrast & Society
- Grant held at:
- Heriot-Watt University, Sch of Energy, Geosci, Infrast & Society
- Science Area:
- Earth
- Marine
- Overall Classification:
- Unknown
- ENRIs:
- Environmental Risks and Hazards
- Science Topics:
- Earthquakes
- Earth Engineering
- Geohazards
- Earthquakes
- Hazard warning systems
- Tectonic systems
- Tsunamis
- Ocean drilling
- Sediment/Sedimentary Processes
- Earthquakes
- Tectonic Processes
- Abstract:
- Earthquakes that form at subduction zones, where the Earth's tectonic plates converge, are the largest on Earth, measuring up to magnitude 9-9.5. As well as seismic shaking, these also tend to generate large tsunamis and are therefore among the most significant geological hazards that affect human populations. The magnitude 9.0 Tohoku earthquake that struck the east coast in Japan in 2011 was one of the largest ever recorded, and resulted in over 20,000 fatalities and over $200 billion in damages. This was mostly caused by the unusually large tsunami, locally exceeding 40 m in height, that overwhelmed tsunami defence systems. IODP Expedition 405, "Tracking Tsunamigenic Slip Across the Japan Trench (JTRACK)", aims to drill into the main fault that ruptured during the 2011 event to understand the physical properties of this system, and to understand why fault slip was so large near the seafloor to generate such a tsunami. This expedition will recover sediment cores of the fault zone itself, as well as undeformed sediments that are entering the fault zone during ongoing subduction. Our research aims to characterise the physical properties of these sediments by carrying out geochemical analyses, and rock mechanics experiments to understand how these rocks deform under natural (high pressure and high temperature) conditions. This will provide us with important new insights into subduction earthquakes, both here in Japan but also at other subduction margins globally.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/Z000386/1
- Grant Stage:
- Awaiting Event/Action
- Scheme:
- Directed (RP) - NR1
- Grant Status:
- Active
- Programme:
- UK IODP Phase4
This grant award has a total value of £25,916
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| DI - Other Costs | DA - Investigators | DI - T&S |
|---|---|---|
| £14,251 | £5,867 | £5,798 |
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