Drill the sea floor to find out the earthquake

About 70 scientists from 10 countries will be present in Gisborne, New Zealand from August 1 to 5 to learn about the "silent" earthquake by drilling into the sea floor.

The "silent" earthquake, known as slowness on the boundary of earth tectonic plates. Where a plate of tectonics slides beneath another array called submerged suction area. This phenomenon occurs more slowly than normal earthquakes, takes weeks or months and feels less on the ground.

This slow sliding phenomenon was first discovered by the introduction of new measurement technologies on the west coast of Canada about 15 years ago. Since then, dozens of locations around the world have been recorded, including four locations around New Zealand - a spokesman for the New Zealand Institute of Nuclear and Geological Sciences (GNS) said. .

The earthquake caused Kileuea volcano, Hawaii erupted
source from slow sliding phenomenon (source: Nature)

Scientists have proposed many theories to explain this phenomenon, but it is difficult to test this hypothesis because the " quake " earthquake occurs below the ground for many kilometers.

Laura Wallace, of the GNS Institute, said: "The best way to find out the true cause of slow slippage is to drill and sample the fractures of the tectonic plates - places that happen to slow down, from which to follow. all physical and chemical properties at the tectonic plate surface ".

Gisborne was located near a large crack and scientists discovered the first quake of earthquakes here for the first time in 2002. About eight slow slips have taken place below Gisborne since 2002, on average every 2 cases. year.

Let Gisborne be the ideal place to study " earthquakes " because this phenomenon happened on the Gisborne seabed from 5 to 15 km (compared to other places 30 - 40 km deep), so scientists can access the shallow area of ​​the slide by modern drilling methods.

The potential research sites by drilling methods are central Japan and Costa Rica.

The international prediction of offshore drilling of Gisborne will take several years and be carried out in stages, depending on the availability of scientific ocean-going drilling ships - often a few years in advance, Wallace said.

"The findings from the project have global implications because it significantly boosts our understanding of the mechanism of subduction zone breaks and earthquakes that occur due to them."