9526955 Fisher Subduction of oceanic plates under continental margin commonly involves uplift of forearc regions, and recently it has been shown that subduction of large features such as seismic ridges causes differential uplift in the margin above the down-going buoyant material. This project will test the idea that along sediment starved convergent margins forearc deformation is characterized by differential uplift in the upper plate controlled by the roughness of the incoming seafloor bathymetry. This work involves integration of structural, bathymetric seismic and geodetic information in the middle America trench off Costa Rica to determine the linkage between down-going topography and the resulting differential uplift topography of the upper plate, and the operative kinematics, stress orientation and seismicity associated with the phenomena. Results will be useful in understanding uplift in active forearc regions and is subduction zone dynamic generally.
