The First EarthScope Institute on the Spectrum of Fault Slip Behaviors

October 11-14, 2010, Portland, Oregon

Steering committee: Chris Marone (convenor), Jeff Freymueller (co-convenor), John Vidale (co-convenor), Anne Trehu (co-convenor), Greg Beroza, Mike Brudzinski, Joan Gomberg, and Jeff McGuire.

This is the first in an anticipated series of workshops to spawn virtual EarthScope Institutes that are intended to engage the scientific community on broad, emerging problems with transformative potential. To propose additional topics for workshops to initiate virtual EarthScope Institutes, please contact a member of the EarthScope Steering Committee.

Post workshop: Presentations, abstracts, etc.

Workshop agenda: Update 10/08/10 [pdf].

Poster abstracts: Abstracts 10/08/10 [pdf 12.6 MB].

Deadline for poster abstracts is September 17. Submit abstracts to earthscope@coas.oregonstate.edu as either a doc or pdf file (up to 4 pages with figures and references). Slides from talks and abstracts of posters will be available via the web site.

Keynote speakers: Nick Beeler, Emily Brodsky, Roland Burgmann, Massimo Cocco, Cristiano Collettini, Jim Dieterich, Jay Fineberg, Nadia Lapusta, Rowena Lohman, Rob McCaffrey, Casey Moore, Kazushige Obara, Zhigang Peng, Chris Scholz, Paul Segall, David Shelly, Rick Sibson, Kelin Wang, Ray Weldon

The principle goal of this EarthScope Institute will be to improve understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the spectrum of observed fault slip behaviors. The purpose of the workshop is to seed collaborations between observational efforts, numerical and theoretical approaches, and laboratory based research programs focused on Transient Fault Slip (TFS). Presentations from the workshop will be posted on the web as background for what is planned to be an ongoing exploration of the spectrum of fault slip behaviors. The Institute is intended to: 1) foster critical thinking about the underlying mechanisms and physical processes responsible for TFS and 2) promote broad, community-based interest in understanding TFS.

The spectrum of fault slip behaviors from Ide et al., Nature, 2007. The challenge for this workshop is to document the full range of known fault behaviors and chart a path towards understanding the physical processes controlling them.

Questions to be addressed include:

• What are the physics that govern the transition from slow to fast TFS? How are the physics of slow, intermediate, and fast TFS phenomena related?
• Do tremor and slow TFS phenomena occur on the same segments of the fault that host dynamic rupture? Under what conditions can we identify the slip plane with sufficient resolution to answer this question?
• What are the mechanisms that inhibit fast, dynamic rupture and allow slow earthquakes?
• Can creep events and dynamic stresses released by tremor trigger large earthquakes?
• Does tremor activity evolve during the seismic cycle between large earthquakes?
• Can the range of TFS phenomena be described by one set of constitutive equations?
• How best can we foster interdisciplinary connections between researchers in geodesy, seismology, rock mechanics, petrology, hydrogeology, tectonics, and geodynamics?

The workshop will begin on the evening of October 11, 2010 with an ice-breaker at the Hotel Fifty and continue with full-day sessions on October 12-14 at the World Trade Center on the riverfront in downtown Portland, Oregon. Scientific sessions will be organized around five main themes: 1) The Spectrum of Fault Slip, 2) Seismic and Geodetic Observations, 3) Lab and Field Observations, 4) Theory & Models, and 5) The Path Ahead. Each session will involve keynote talks to set the stage and provide a broad perspective, followed by shorter talks, discussion and poster presentations. After the workshop, to initiate a continuing on-line Virtual Institute dedicated to advancing understanding of the spectrum of slip on faults, a webpage will be established with presentations and breakout group summaries presented at the workshop.

We anticipate providing partial travel support for ~100 participants (food and lodging during the meeting and up to $500 to cover airfare). To apply to attend the workshop, please fill out the application form and provide a brief CV, a discussion of your past and current research on related topics, and your reasons for wanting to attend the workshop. Posters and abstracts will be solicited later.