Sandwiched between tectonic plates are layers of material that show up as thin shadows on seismic tomography, a kind of CT scan of the Earth. For years, scientists assumed the anomalies were signs of highly pressurized water squeezed into densely packed rock and that the fluid acted as a kind of hair-trigger on earthquake faults.… Continue Reading Are Deep Fluids Behind the Largest Earthquakes? ‘Not So Fast!’ Says UT Graduate Student
Eclectic Rocks Influence Earthquake Types
New Zealand’s largest fault is a jumble of mixed-up rocks of all shapes, sizes, compositions and origins. According to research from a global team of scientists, this motley mixture could help explain why the fault generates slow-motion earthquakes known as “slow slip events” as well as destructive, tsunami-generating tremors. “One thing that really surprised… Continue Reading Eclectic Rocks Influence Earthquake Types
Scientist Profile: Demian Saffer
In August, The University of Texas at Austin hired Demian Saffer to be the new director of the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics. His full time appointment as UTIG’s director begins Jan. 1, 2020. According to Demian Saffer, geophysics is more than a scientific pursuit. It’s a solution. “If you want to know whether there’s… Continue Reading Scientist Profile: Demian Saffer