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Four AGU Session Announcements

Date: 08/20/2008

Dear SCEC Community,

We would like to call your attention to four special sessions at the Fall AGU Meeting. The deadline for abstract submission for all of these sessions is September 10th, 2008. Please feel free to forward to your colleagues that would be interested in this topic.

From Olaf Zielke, ASU:

Please consider submitting an abstract for this special session at the 2008 AGU fall meeting: “S10: Earthquake Simulators -- Ready for Primetime?!"

Earthquake simulators, both numerical and analog, that produce sequences and catalogs of simulated earthquakes on multiple or single faults, have evolved to become powerful tools used to study numerous aspects of the earthquake cycle including coseismic and post-seismic deformation, aftershock distributions, fault interaction, scaling-relationships, earthquake recurrence times, earthquake probabilities, earthquake correlations in space and time, record-breaking statistics, and space-time patterns. Simulations can also be used in forecasting. Many of these simulators are based on well established physics, implementing the latest results from theoretical, experimental and field studies. Although simplifications and approximations regarding geometric complexity, and heterogeneity of fault and material properties are made, the simulated results are generally (at least to first order) in good agreement with observed data and therefore carry valuable insights. Nevertheless, skepticism clearly exists in the community regarding the validity and value of earthquake simulations, despite the fact that complex numerical simulations are widely used in other contexts, including mantle convection, lithospheric flow, weather and climate studies, structural geology, geochemical processes, seismic wave propagation, and studies of granular materials. In all of these applications, uncertainty exists as to the appropriate governing equations, parameter values, and initial and boundary conditions, but numerical experiments with simulations can clarify many of these uncertainties. The goal of this session is to demonstrate the current status of earthquake simulators, to explore what their limitations and usefulness may be, and to look to the future concerning what might be done to enhance their value and use.

We invite contributions that utilize earthquake simulators as a mean to investigate rupture process, rupture propagation, scaling-relationships, seismic hazard posed by a fault, earthquake recurrence times, magnitude-frequency distributions, etc., either for a specific fault or a general case. We also invite contributions on comparisons between natural and synthetic seismic data, as well as investigations of space-time correlations and patterns in both synthetic and real earthquake catalogs. We encourage contributions that express either enthusiasm or skepticism concerning the value of using simulators.

Session organizers:
Olaf Zielke, Arizona State University, olaf.zielke@asu.edu
David Jackson, UC Los Angeles, djackson@ucla.edu
John Rundle, UC Davis, rundle@physics.ucdavis.edu
Terry Tullis, Brown University, terry_tullis@brown.edu

From Vicki Ferrini, LDEO/Columbia:

Please consider submitting an abstract to Fall AGU session IN19 -- From Data to Synthesis: Next-Generation Science Applications.

The research community has made great strides in assembling and publicizing a living compilation of scientific data. As we continue to move toward greater interoperability and improved data access and visualization, the final and most difficult challenge is building tools that enable quantitative analyses and lead to new scientific insight. We seek to highlight efforts underway in numerous multi-disciplinary research communities (e.g. Ridge 2000, MARGINS, IODP, EarthScope, OOI, IPY, OCB, GLOBEC) that aim to meet this challenge. As many of these large-scale research initiatives move toward synthesis and integration phases, there is a particular need for tools that are powerful, flexible, and broadly useful across disciplines. We encourage contributions that describe existing tools and science applications, lessons learned, and directions for future development.

We expect this to be an exciting session, and hope you can be a part of it!

Co-conveners:
Vicki Ferrini, LDEO (ferrini@ldeo.columbia.edu)
Tim Ahern, IRIS (tim@iris.washington.edu)
Stephen Miller, SIO (spmiller@ucsd.edu)
Cyndy Chandler, WHOI (cchandler@whoi.edu)
Jamus Collier, IODP-MI (jcollier@iodp-mi-sapporo.org)

From Zhigang Peng, Georgia Tech:

We would like to draw your attention to two special sessions at the Fall AGU meeting: S06, on temporal Earth-monitoring with seismic waves, and S15, on Seismological Investigations of the 2008/05/12 Ms8.0 Wenchuan Earthquake.

S06: Monitoring Temporal Changes of Earth's Properties with Seismic Waves

Sponsor: Seismology
CoSponsor: Geodesy; Mineral and Rock Physics; Tectonophysics; Volcanology, Geochemistry, and Petrology

Description: Traditionally, seismic waves were used to investigate the 3D velocity and attenuation structure of the Earth. The detection of temporal changes in the structure was out of reach. Recently, technical and methodological developments led to a number of observations of such temporal changes. The main targets are volcanoes, fault zones, and hydrocarbon reservoirs. In most cases changes of the seismic velocities are monitored. Techniques range from repeated structural studies like tomography or seismic surveys to interferometric approaches that are specifically designed for the detections of temporal changes. The latter group uses repeating earthquakes, repeatable active sources like vibrators or ambient noise.

The observed velocity changes are attributed to migrating fluids, to seismicity induced stress changes or to structural changes like damage in a near surface layer.

To this session we invite contributions on temporal Earth-monitoring with seismic waves. We want to focus on observations and their interpretations. But we also want to discuss theoretical contributions and technical issues of the different approaches with the goal to advance on the way to 4D Seismology.

Conveners:
Christoph Sens-schoenfelder, University of Leipzig, DEU
sens-schoenfelder@uni-leipzig.de

Florent Brenguier, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, FRA
fbrengui@ipgp.jussieu.fr

Tom Daley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA
tmdaley@lbl.gov

Zhigang Peng, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
zpeng@gatech.edu

S15: Seismological Investigations of the 2008/05/12 Ms8.0 Wenchuan Earthquake

Sponsor: Seismology
CoSponsor: Geodesy, Tectonophysics

Description: The 2008/05/12 Ms8.0 Wenchuan earthquake occurred in Eastern Sichuan, China. It ruptured more than 300 km along the Longmenshan fold-and-thrust belt that bounds the Tibetan plateau and the Sichuan basin. This disastrous event was felt throughout the Eastern Asia, and was responsible for killing at least 70 thousand people, and leaving around 5 million homeless. The mainshock and its rigorous aftershock sequences were recorded by many permanent and temporary seismic stations deployed by Chinese Earthquake Administration and other institutions at local and regional distances, and the Global Seismic Network and USArray at teleseismic distances. This session invites contributions that take advantage of the dense seismic observations to study the mainshock slip distributions, aftershock locations, local fault zone structures, regional-scale seismic tomography, near-field and remote triggering, future seismic hazard in the surrounding region, and more.

We invite contributions that take advantage of dense seismic observations to study the mainshock slip distributions, aftershock locations, local fault zone structures, regional-scale seismic tomography, near-field and remote triggering, future seismic hazard in the surrounding region, and more.

Conveners: Zhigang Peng, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
zpeng@gatech.edu

Qiyuan Liu, Chinese Earthquake Administration, CHN
qyliu@ies.ac.cn

Chen Ji, UC Santa Barbara, USA
ji@geol.ucsb.edu