Project Grant 2528974
- The National Science Foundation Division of Ocean Sciences awarded The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York $118,653 on September 1, 2026, under the Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050) to image the plate interface across the 1964 Alaska earthquake rupture zone. The project will acquire long-offset multi-channel seismic reflection and wide-angle ocean bottom seismometer data spanning the entire rupture zone of the magnitude 9.2 1964 Alaska subduction zone earthquake—the largest...
- The National Science Foundation Office of Integrative Activities awarded the University of New Mexico $743,813 on September 1, 2026, under the Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050) to image the plate interface across the 1964 Alaska earthquake rupture zone and determine the causes for changes in slip behavior between locked and creeping sections of the megathrust. The project will acquire long-offset multichannel seismic reflection and wide-angle ocean bottom seismometer data spanning the entire...
- This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050) provides $347,238 to Michigan State University (MSU) to conduct collaborative research on the structure and behavior of the Alaska megathrust subduction zone. The project aims to enhance the fundamental understanding of how geological structures influence seismic activity in subduction zones, with the ultimate goal of improving earthquake hazard mitigation efforts. Key research activities...
- This $499,286 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050) supports research to reconstruct the pattern, timing, and magnitude of past earthquakes and tsunamis along the Alaska-Aleutian subduction zone over the last 2,000 years. The researchers at Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University will employ innovative paleogeodetic methods and tsunami simulations to quantify vertical deformation and map the spatial distribution of tsunami...
- This $175,416 project grant from the National Science Foundation's Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050) will fund research at Cornell University from August 2022 to July 2024. The university will investigate structure and seismicity within the southern region of the 1964 Great Alaska earthquake rupture zone using data from a dense array of seismic sensors deployed in Kodiak Island, Alaska. Researchers will reanalyze 2019 data from 400 instruments to identify small earthquakes and precisely locate...
- The National Science Foundation Division of Earth Sciences awarded a $188,294 project grant to The University of New Mexico under the Geosciences federal grant program (CFDA 47.050) for the period of August 1, 2022 through July 31, 2024. The grant will support research to investigate structure and seismicity within the southern region of the 1964 Great Alaska earthquake rupture area using a dense node array. Specifically, the grantee will reanalyze seismic data collected in 2019 by 400...
- The National Science Foundation Division of Ocean Sciences awarded The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York $359,522 on September 1, 2026, under the Geosciences program to investigate fault slip associated with very large earthquakes using samples recovered from the Tohoku-Oki earthquake fault zone. The project analyzes three cores extracted hundreds of meters below the seafloor from the plate boundary fault zone, with sample sites only 30 meters apart but fault zone thickness...
- The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a Project Grant of $158,159 to the University of Hawaii at Manoa on January 15, 2024 through its Integrative Activities (CFDA 47.083) program. The grant will fund a collaborative research project to investigate the relationship between the structure of the Alaska-Aleutian subduction zone and megathrust earthquake characteristics. The project will utilize seismic data from community experiments to develop high-resolution models of the plate interface,...
- The National Science Foundation Office of Integrative Activities awarded Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution $428,486 on September 1, 2026, under the Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050) to establish relationships between tectonic features and seismic hazards at subduction zones. The research uses state-of-the-art plate tectonics models and mathematical methods to map connections between seafloor tectonic structures and earthquake locations at subduction zones, with initial focus on the Aleutians,...
- The National Science Foundation Division of Ocean Sciences awarded the Board of Regents of Nevada System of Higher Education (operating as University of Nevada, Reno) $182,990 on September 1, 2026, to investigate fault slip associated with very large earthquakes, specifically the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake. The award funds analysis of fault zone samples recovered from hundreds of meters below the seafloor at three core sites on the plate boundary fault, sites separated by 30 meters but...
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: IMAGING THE LOCKED-TO-SLIPPING TRANSITION FOR THE 1964 ALASKA EARTHQUAKE RUPTURE ZONE -THE LARGEST RECORDED EARTHQUAKE IN UNITED STATES HISTORY, A MAGNITUDE 9.2 EVENT IN 1964, OCCURRED AT THE ALASKA SUBDUCTION ZONE. SOME SECTIONS OF THIS EARTHQUAKE RUPTURE ZONE ARE CURRENTLY LOCKED AND ACCUMULATING STRAIN, WHILE OTHER SECTIONS ARE CREEPING. THIS PROJECT WILL IMAGE THE PLATE INTERFACE ACROSS THIS REGION TO HELP DETERMINE THE CAUSES FOR THE CHANGES IN SLIP BEHAVIOR. THE RESULTS WILL IMPROVE UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROCESSES THAT GENERATE GREAT EARTHQUAKES, WITH RELEVANCE TO EARTHQUAKE HAZARDS IN ALASKA AND OTHER SUBDUCTION ZONES WORLDWIDE. THE PROJECT WILL PROVIDE AT-SEA TRAINING FOR SEVERAL GRADUATE STUDENTS FROM MULTIPLE INSTITUTIONS. THIS STUDY WILL ACQUIRE LONG-OFFSET MULTI-CHANNEL SEISMIC REFLECTION AND WIDE-ANGLE OCEAN BOTTOM SEISMOMETER DATA SPANNING THE ENTIRE RUPTURE ZONE OF THE 1964 EARTHQUAKE. PROFILES WILL IMAGE THE INCOMING PLATE STRUCTURE, UPPER PLATE FAULT GEOMETRIES, MEGATHRUST REFLECTION SIGNATURE, AND MATERIAL PROPERTIES NEAR THE TRENCH WITHIN AND ACROSS THE 1964 RUPTURE ZONE. KEY HYPOTHESES THAT THE DATASET WILL BE ABLE TO TEST ARE: 1) ALONG-STRIKE VARIABILITY IN PLATE BOUNDARY SLIP MECHANISMS DURING GREAT EARTHQUAKES REFLECTS VARIABILITY IN SUBDUCTION INPUTS. 2) THE CHARACTER AND LOCATION OF THE YAKUTAT/PACIFIC BOUNDARY CONTROLS VARIATIONS IN LOCKING AND COSEISMIC SLIP. 3) MAJOR FOREARC STRUCTURES THAT EXPERIENCE CO-SEISMIC SLIP ARE ROOTED IN THE MEGATHRUST AND INFLUENCED BY VARIATIONS IN PLATE INTERFACE GEOMETRY AND PROPERTIES. 4) AREAS OF NEAR-TRENCH RUPTURE AND TSUNAMIGENESIS OCCUR IN REGIONS WHERE RELATIVELY RIGID FOREARC CRUST IS CLOSER TO THE TRENCH AND/OR PORE-FLUID PRESSURES ARE LARGELY ABSENT ON THE SHALLOW PLATE BOUNDARY. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.
Mod # | Description | ReasonForModification | Federal Obligation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not listed | $61.4k | 7/20/26 |