Overview
This team's research combines traditional geological tools, like geological maps, satellite imagery, and seismicity datasets, with data from the oil industry (seismic reflection data and wells). In addition, Judith Hubbard's team bought an Envirovibe minibuggy from Industrial Vehicle International to acquire high-resolution seismic reflection data across the tips of active faults to understand their recent deformation history and to tie deep structure to surface deformation.
Many active fault systems in Southeast Asia are barely mapped, and the region thus offers many open research problems; it is one of the best places in the world to study earthquake hazards today. Judith Hubbard's team will use quantitative fault-related folding techniques to interpret datasets at its disposal and develop realistic geometric and kinematic 3D fault models. The lab will develop local and regional 3D fault models for parts of Southeast Asia, including fault systems in the Himalayas, Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Resources
The Ratu River Expedition: Earthquakes in Nepal
The Ratu River Expedition (Nepali subtitles)
La Expedición del Río Ratu - Terremotos en Nepal
EOS Knowledge Capsule: Seismic Vibration Truck
Facilities
MIBB GPS Network
Sumatran GPS Array (SuGAr)
Sample seismic reflection image acquired in the North Sumatra Basin, Indonesia, in the course of petroleum exploration. The folded sediments, which appear as dark and white lines, are deformed by a deeper fault. The magnitude of deformation decreases upward, indicating that these sediments were deposited while deformation was occurring (past 20 million years). As a consequence, the units at the surface appear nearly flat, despite the large fault that lies beneath.