The Earth Science Colloquium Series presents:
Insights into Structure and Seismicity at Strike-Slip Plate Boundaries from Marine Seismic Imaging Offshore Southeast Alaska
with Dr. Lindsay Lowe Worthington, Associate Professor, The University of New Mexico.
This talk will present an overview of current results from a large-scale seismic imaging study of the Queen Charlotte fault offshore southeast Alaska and British Columbia. The data offer insight into how strain is accommodated and partitioned at transform plate boundaries, and the physical conditions controlling deformation and seismogenesis in this tectonic setting. Join us for a submarine view of the "San Andreas of the North"!
Bio: Prof. Worthington is interested in the structural evolution of the Earth’s crust at a variety of scales. She pursues questions about mountain building, climate and tectonic interactions, surface processes, and landscape evolution in a variety of tectonic settings. Her primary research tool is seismology, ranging from high-resolution (<5 m) subsurface imaging in a marine setting to land-based crustal scale refraction seismology. She and her students often blend seismological imaging with stratigraphic and structural interpretation and modeling as well as complementary geophysical modeling using gravity and magnetics. Examples of recent work include the integration of ocean drilling and seismic reflection data to investigate the role of glacial advance-retreat cycles in modulating fluid flow and deformation in the northeastern Alaska-Aleutian subduction zone; utilizing data from a dense array of ~800 seismometers to image the Socorro Magma Body, the world’s second-largest actively inflating magma body; determining velocity structure across the eastern North American margin to investigate the interplay between tectonic extension and magmatism during the early stages of continental rifting.
Host: Dr. Anne Bécel, Lamont Associate Research Professor, Marine and Polar Geophysics.
The Earth Science Colloquium Series, sponsored by Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Columbia University Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (DEES), provides a lively forum for discussing a wide variety of topics within the Earth sciences and related fields. Colloquia are attended by the full range of scientific and technical staff at LDEO. Colloquium attendance is required of all pre-orals DEES graduate students. The Colloquium Series supports the Lamont Seminar Diversity Initiative.
