For all researchers interested in subduction processes at the New Zealand GeoPRISMS Primary Site, consider attending the following mini-workshops before the 2014 Fall AGU Meeting – Sunday December 14, 2014. Please mark your calendars today!
The GeoPRISMS Office
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(1) Workshop to cultivate and coordinate GeoPRISMS studies of the Hikurangi subduction margin
Sunday December 14, 2014, 9 – 12:30pm, Grand Hyatt, Fillmore ABC
Laura Wallace (Univ. Texas Institute for Geophysics, UT-Austin)
Mike Underwood (University of Missouri)
Samer Naif (Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego)
Bill Fry (GNS Science)
Stephen Bannister (GNS Science)
Nathan Bangs (Univ. Texas Institute for Geophysics, UT-Austin)
The Hikurangi subduction margin in New Zealand offers an outstanding opportunity to address many fundamental questions on subduction margin deformation and megathrust behavior. The objectives of the Hikurangi mini-workshop will be to foster new relationships among researchers who will develop amphibious projects across a spectrum of geophysical, geological, and geochemical approaches. Discussion will occur within the context of existing planned projects, including a proposed IODP transect. Data acquisition activities are ongoing by New Zealand, United States, Japanese and European scientists. We will discuss ways of leveraging and coordinating these existing efforts with new efforts to maximize potential GeoPRISMS outcomes at the Hikurangi focus site. We encourage all researchers interested in subduction processes at the Hikurangi margin to attend. We also encourage attendees interested in subduction deformation and megathrust processes in Cascadia and Alaska, to cross-fertilize ideas and implementation strategies among all three of the GeoPRISMS primary sites. Some of the topics to be discussed include: (1) the state of the incoming plate and the role of incoming sediment properties in subduction thrust behavior and margin evolution; (2) physical properties of the megathrust and the influence of this on megathrust behavior; (3) fluid sources and fluxes, with emphasis on the forearc; (4) microseismicity, episodic slip, and tremor. Attendees will collectively identify new research activities that address these topics most effectively, with an emphasis on leveraging existing studies/datasets.
(2) Mini-workshop for the South Island, New Zealand primary site coordination
Sunday December 14, 2014, 1:30 – 5pm, Grand Hyatt, Fillmore ABC
Mike Gurnis (Caltech)
Sean Gulick (University of Texas Institute for Geophysics)
Ellen Syracuse (LANL)
Tim Stern (Victoria University of Wellington)
Phaedra Upton (GNS Science)
The South Island of New Zealand offers a wealth of prospects for subduction zone research. The Puysegur Trench region — a juvenile subduction zone “caught in the act” of initiation — provides unique opportunities to investigate the geodynamics of the process. In Fiordland tectonic motions have led to deep exhumation of the only pristine Cretaceous arc section in the circum-Pacific and offers a prime locale to investigate the root zones of an ancient arc at outcrop scale. Excellent opportunities exist in both regions to address fault slip and its spatial variability. Addressing questions on subduction initiation, exhumed terranes, and subduction thrust slip behavior in one region is an exciting opportunity, and will require large geophysical field deployments, targeted geological fieldwork, sampling, geochemical analysis, multi-scale geodynamic models, and integration of diverse data types. Solving the questions may require ocean drilling and sampling through IODP. The South Island mini-workshop will focus on: 1. Brief reviews and discussion of latest work on GeoPRISMS science questions within Puysegur and Fiordland; 2. Presentation of specific plans on a wide range of studies (including geological sampling, passive and active geophysical experiments, and IODP drilling); 3. Review and discuss the capabilities of facilities from the US, NZ and other countries and how they could be used to address plans; and 4. Make plans for science collaboration. Researchers in any geoscience field are invited to participate in the workshop, including those who have not worked in the region previously.