Proposal Number: OPP-9806130 Principal Investigator: Fujita, Kuzuya
Northeastern Russia is a seismically active region with neotectonic deformation from the interaction of the North American and Eurasian plate boundaries and a series of small blocks between them. The plate and block interactions result in high levels of seismicity, uplift, faulting, and local rifting. The specific area that the Principal Investigator will examine in detail is in the Chersky Range and Koryak Highlands. These areas include the pole of rotation that lies along the North American and Eurasian plate boundaries, large rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean, and one of the most seismically active regions within the North American plate. The Principal Investigator will use a unique, previously inaccessible data set that was collected during the past five years through the Michigan State University -University of Alaska-Fairbanks cooperative program with institutes in eastern Russia. These data sets consist of seismic phase data from the Yakutian and Magadam regional networks for the period 1980-1995, bulletins with phase data for larger earthquakes in continental eastern Russia for 1970-1990, complete ex-military topographic map coverage at a scale of 1:200,000, geologic maps at scales of 1:500,000 and 1:1,500,000, satellite images, and information on faulting and earthquake-induced features. Results from this proposed study should provide a better understanding of intra-continental deformation in convergent plate boundaries, improved hazard assessment, documentation of the sources and nature of sediments flowing into the Arctic Ocean, and identification of smaller regions for field study.
