November 28, 2005
Troy, N.Y. — Sixteen Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute researchers will present results ranging from imaging earthquake activity at the San Andreas Fault to exploring life in extreme environments at the 2005 American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting Dec. 5-9 in San Francisco.
For more information about the AGU meeting, including presentation abstracts, visit http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm05.
The following are a few highlights of Rensselaer research to be presented:
Earthquake imaging at the San Andreas Fault
Steven Roecker, geophysics professor at Rensselaer,
and undergraduate student Ashley Shuler are collaborating with
University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers to analyze five
years of seismic activity data from the San Andreas Fault
Observatory at Depth (SAFOD). A component of EarthScope, SAFOD
is a national project that involves drilling two miles into the
Earth’s surface to reveal what processes underneath the fault
enable plates to slip and slide past one another. As part of
his work on SAFOD, Roecker has set up an advanced network of
instrumentation at the site to record seismic data on a
continuous basis. The researchers are using inverse problem
techniques to image what’s below the surface, refining
knowledge of 3-D crustal structure, wave propagation
characteristics, and earthquake locations around the site, with
the goal of understanding what causes earthquakes along the San
Andreas Fault.
(T24B-05: Tuesday, Dec. 6, 5 p.m., MCC 3011, “Refined images of the crust around the SAFOD drill site derived from combined active and passive seismic experimental data”)
Life in extreme environments
What clues about life and chemistry can be found in
extreme environments? Anurag Sharma, biogeochemistry professor
at Rensselaer, is exploring how microbes in extreme
environments survive and grow and whether organic resources can
be generated at such extreme conditions. Sharma’s
cross-disciplinary research uses physics tools such as diamond
anvil cells and high-pressure vessels to investigate biological
and bio-geochemical processes. Sharma and graduate student Rui
Zou have been experimenting with the role of interactions
between minerals and geochemical fluids by simulating
conditions found deep in the Earth’s crust. In this
presentation, Sharma will discuss recent results that
demonstrate it is possible to create methane in the absence of
life processes using inorganic chemicals available at
deep subsurface conditions. He will also highlight caveats
overlooked by several earlier attempts to create such
abiotic synthesis. In an educational poster presentation at the
meeting, Sharma will present results on how some
microbes adapt to such extreme conditions while others
perish.
(B23D-06: Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2:55 p.m., Marriott Salon 13, “Abiotic methane synthesis: Caveats and new results”)
(ED11B-1100: Monday, Dec. 5, 8 a.m. to 12:20 p.m., Poster Session, MCC Level 2, “A visual approach towards introduction of bio-geochemistry at non-ambient conditions”)
Modeling the 2004 Sumatra Earthquake with GPS
What can GPS measurements tell us about the 2004
Sumatra-Andaman earthquake? Ashley Shuler, an undergraduate
student in geology at Rensselaer, collaborated with researchers
at University of Alaska-Fairbanks and India’s Centre for Earth
Studies to create a slip model of the 9.0 Sumatra-Andaman
Earthquake 2004 using GPS data from 65 networked sites
throughout the region. Shuler will discuss her research model,
which shows the slip and movement of the faults along the
tectonic plate boundaries and each fault segment’s contribution
to displacement at the site, as well as the earthquake-caused
changes in longitude and latitude.
(G11A-1199: Monday, Dec. 5, 8 a.m. to 12:20 p.m., Poster Session, MCC Level 2, “A slip model for the Mw 9.0 2004 Sumatra-Andaman Earthquake based on GPS measurements of coseismic displacement”)
Contact: Tiffany Lohwater
Phone: (518) 276-6542
E-mail: lohwat@rpi.edu