Science AMA Series: Scientists are on board the R/V JOIDES Resolution
for two months to drill into the ocean floor west of Indonesia trying to
figure out why earthquakes happen where and when they do.
Abstract
Hi Reddit, The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) conducts
scientific ocean drilling expeditions throughout the world’s oceans in
search of clues to Earth’s structure and past. The current expedition is
Expedition 362: Sumatra Seismogenic Zone, aboard the U.S. vessel for
scientific ocean drilling, the JOIDES Resolution
http://www.joidesresolution.org. We want to know why earthquakes happen
where and when they do. When earthquakes happen in the ocean, they can
displace huge volumes of water and cause tsunamis, such as the 26
December 2004 Sumatra earthquake and the 11 March 2011 Tohoku-Oki
(Fukushima) earthquake. The combination of ground shaking and flooding
is destructive and deadly. Very large earthquakes like these are
typically at subduction zones , places where tectonic plates converge
and one plate gets pushed down beneath the other. Yet these earthquakes,
as well as several others in the past 15 years, surprised earth
scientists in terms of their size and the amount and location of the
fault slip during the earthquake. Subduction zone earthquakes can happen
many tens or even hundreds of kilometers below Earth’s surface. The
shallower and larger the earthquake, the more damage it can cause by
shaking. It is even more dangerous if it occurs under the ocean floor
because it can trigger a tsunami. We can’t predict earthquakes, but we
can learn more about what happens below the Earth’s surface and why
rocks break and cause earthquakes that trigger tsunamis. A team of 30
scientists from around the globe are on board for two months to work on
these questions. Hand-in-hand with the amazing technology required to
drill deep into the ocean floor, we are collecting the core samples that
hold clues to answer these questions. We will be back at 12 pm ET, Join
us to ask us anything about this intriguing science, how we got here,
what we hope to discover, and our lives on board the ship! AMA!