Six AGU Session Announcements

Dear SCEC Community,

The deadline for the 2012 AGU Fall Meeting session abstract submission is coming up in two weeks (August 8). As such, we are receiving a great number of requests to send out session announcements to inform, invite, and remind potential abstract submitters in advance of this deadline. Included below are six of these announcements -- sessions OS017, S013, T010, T013, T048, and T051 are represented here.

If you plan to attend AGU, please take a moment to review these announcements.

Thanks!

SCEC Information

======================= Session OS017 ===================

Please consider submission to the following session at the AGU Fall Meeting:

OS017: Marine Geohazards
(Cosponsored by: NH)

Conveners: Daniel S Brothers, Jillian M Maloney, Jason Chaytor, Uri S Ten Brink

Description: Marine geohazards are sudden and extreme geologic events that affect coastal areas and seabed infrastructure on local, regional and transoceanic scales. The hazards include submarine earthquakes, explosive volcanic eruptions and collapses of volcanic edifices, submarine slope failures, and tsunami generation. The sediment record of past offshore and coastal hazardous events is generally more complete in the marine/ lacustrine environment than on land and can be investigated in great detail with geological and geophysical tools. We seek contributions that highlight new methodologies, linkages with the terrestrial environment, recurrence intervals, and studies that relate fundamental geological processes to the assessment of marine geohazards.

======================= Session S013 ===================

Dear Colleagues,

Please consider submitting an abstract to the AGU special session, S013 "Mmax"

Convenors are David Jackson <david.d.jackson@ucla.edu>, Thomas Jordan <tjordan@usc.edu>, and Lucile Jones <jones@usgs.gov>

"Recent massive earthquakes near Chile, Japan, Sumatra, and elsewhere have focused attention on a long-standing problem; is there a limit on earthquake size, and if so how can we determine the maximum magnitude in a given region? Possible methods involve the largest historic earthquakes, examination of fault dimensions, comparison with analogous regions, statistical analysis of earthquake catalogs, and matching seismic with tectonic moment rates. Which techniques are valid where, and what have we learned from the recent giant earthquakes? We invite contributions relating to size limits within subsection zones, continental and oceanic transform fault environments, relatively aseismic areas, and anywhere that earthquakes might happen."

======================= Session T010 ===================

Controls on Seismicity and Fault Rupture in Low-Strain Intraplate Regions

"Large earthquakes in continental low-strain regions show their potential for catastrophic damage. Their understanding is challenging due to fault-slip rates below geodetic resolution, sparse earthquake records, and seismicity varying in space and time. Inherited crustal weakness or complex rupture patterns often complicate the assessment of tectonic activity and hence seismic hazard. We seek contributions involving characterization of regions that have experienced intraplate events in Quaternary time. We welcome studies focusing on assessment and comparison of short- and medium-term fault processes and rates that may lead to better understanding of the controls on seismicity and fault rupture in low-strain regions."

http://fallmeeting.agu.org/2012/session-search/single/controls-on-seismi...

Invited speakers (so far):
Mian Liu
Roger Bilham

Conveners:
Angela Landgraf
University of Potsdam
landgraf@geo.uni-potsdam.de

Esther Hintersberger
University of Vienna
esther.hintersberger@univie.ac.at

Simon Kuebler
Ludwig Maximilian University Munich
kuebler@iaag.geo.uni-muenchen.de

Seth Stein
Northwestern University
seth@earth.northwestern.edu

======================= Session T013 ===================

Dear All:

We would like to draw attention to our AGU session on "Earthquake Deformation: Integrating Observations and Mechanics". Please consider submitting an abstract.

Best to all,

Yann Klinger, Steve Day, Thomas Rockwell, conveners

T013. Earthquake Deformation: Integrating Observations and Mechanics

Ability to measure surface deformation has dramatically improved, thanks to new developments such as high-resolution optical satellites, radar, and airborne or ground LIDAR. These tools, along with field studies, have been used to describe fault geometry and earthquake rupture to an unprecedented accuracy, which provides the opportunity to reconsider mechanical aspects of earthquake ruptures, such as the interplay between fault geometry and earthquake propagation, damage distribution or repetition of slip. Contributions about observational data constraining earthquake and fault behavior, bridging between field observations and mechanical models of fault behavior, and about analogue experiments tackling these issues are welcomed.

======================= Session T048 ===================

Dear colleagues,

I would like to draw your attention to the AGU Fall Meeting session entitled "Theory and Practice in Studies of the Earthquake Cycle: how do we Reconcile Laboratory Constraints with Field Observations?" (session T048). The session welcomes contributions using a combination of geodesy, seismology, geology, and laboratory experiments to improve our physical understanding of the earthquake cycle. The four invited speakers are: Nick Beeler (USGS), Roland Bürgmann (UC Berkeley), Zhigang Peng (Georgia Tech), and Tom Rockwell (SDSU).

Best wishes,

Sylvain Barbot (sbarbot@caltech.edu)

---

T048: Theory and Practice in Studies of the Earthquake Cycle: how do we Reconcile Laboratory Constraints with Field Observations?

"The session welcomes studies of the earthquake cycle that present new constraints from laboratory experiments or natural observations (geological, seismological and/or geodetic) and place an emphasis on their implication for the physics of faulting and stress evolution. Important questions addressed include what controls fault segmentation, the seismic/aseismic fault behavior through time or the degree of localization. How can we build realistic models of stress evolution that reconcile past observations? And, in view of recent events, how can we identify the range of faulting behavior that a particular fault system can produce?"

======================= Session T051 ===================

Colleagues,

Please consider submitting to session T051 on the Wenchuan Fault Zone drilling project: results and context. The "context" part of this session may be especially relevant for the SCEC community. Presentations on fault mechanics, geology, seismology, etc. that help inform are most welcomed. Full session description is below.

Emily E. Brodsky
Professor of Geophysics
Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences
UC Santa Cruz
1156 High St.
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Ph: (831)459-1854
FAX: (831)459-3074

Wenchuan Fault Zone Scientific Drilling: Results and Context

Convenors: H-B. Li, J. Mori, K.-F. Ma, and E.E. Brodsky

Drilling fault zones, especially after large earthquakes, provides important information on the physical characteristics, friction, and formation of these highly deformed geological features. In these projects, geological, chemical, and hydrological observations combine to provide a better understanding of rupture processes of large earthquakes. The series of boreholes drilled rapidly following the 2008 Wenchuan, China earthquake at 500-2500 m depths, are now being completed and provide the most extensive subsurface sampling of a major active fault. New results from the Wenchuan project will be placed in context of comparative studies with other fault zones to provide a full image of the faults that generate large earthquakes.