USGS Mendenhall Postdoctoral Opportunity

Dear Colleagues,

We would like to draw your attention to the Fiscal Year 2007 Mendenhall
Postdoctoral Opportunities that are now open for application. A total of
39 opportunities have been announced. The application deadline is
December 1, 2005. Information about the program and application
procedures can be found at http://geology.usgs.gov/postdoc .

We would particularly like to invite members of the SCEC community to
consider oportunity #29, Earthquake Physics in the Near-Source Region,
with co-advisors Bill Ellsworth, Steve Hickman and Mark Zoback. A
description of this opportunity is given below. We would be very
interested in talking to you if you have a potential interest in this
postdoc.

Regards,

Bill, Steve and Mark

FY-07 Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellowship Program -- Proposed Research Opportunity

Title: Earthquake Physics in the Near-Source Region.

Research Advisors and Affiliation: William Ellsworth1, Steve Hickman, and Mark Zoback2
1U.S. Geological Survey, 2Stanford University

Primary Contact: William Ellsworth

I. BACKGROUND

As part of EarthScope, the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth, SAFOD,
is being built directly within the San Andreas Fault to measure the
physical and chemical conditions under which earthquakes occur. SAFOD
lies just north of the rupture of the 2004 Parkfield earthquake, where
the fault is moving through a combination of aseismic creep and repeating
microearthquakes. The SAFOD borehole begins 1.8 km west of the San
Andreas Fault, and passes through the entire fault zone into relatively
undisturbed rock on the east side.

II. DESCRIPTION OF THE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY

An array of instruments, including accelerometers, seismometers,
tiltmeters, pressure transducers and thermistors will be installed in
SAFOD within or very near the rupture patch of several magnitude 2 and
smaller earthquakes at a depth of about 3 km. The key scientific
objectives for the instruments will be to monitor, in the near-field, the
processes associated with nucleation, propagation and arrest of
earthquakes. Specific goals include:

* Monitoring tilt, pore pressure and temperature during the cycle of repeating microearthquakes.
* Observing earthquake nucleation and rupture processes in the near field.
* Modeling stress transfer and earthquake interaction between repeating earthquake sources.

In addition, SAFOD will 1) obtain physical samples (cores, cuttings, and
fluids), 2) measure stress, heat flow, fluid pressure and physical
properties within and adjacent to the San Andreas Fault Zone, and 3) make
repeated measurements of casing deformation to document the locations,
widths and rates of shearing associated with active faults crossing the
borehole. This combination of physical samples, in-situ measurements, and
long term observation of earthquake activity will provide a fundamentally
new and comprehensive view of earthquake processes.

The incumbent will be expected to develop a research plan utilizing SAFOD
data to formulate and test dynamic theories of earthquake nucleation and
rupture propagation.

III. RELEVANCE AND TIMELINESS

Understanding the non-linear processes that lead to earthquake nucleation
has been recognized as a critical step along the path to determine the
limits of predictability for earthquakes. SAFOD provides the best
opportunity anywhere in the world to understand how earthquakes work. As
a full partner with the National Science Foundation and Stanford
University in SAFOD, the USGS has already made substantial investments in
every phase of the SAFOD experiment. This postdoctoral opportunity will
continue our leadership and deep involvement as the observatory moves
into its most critical and potentially rewarding period.