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~Alaska Summer Research Academy~|
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Welcome! This site is dedicated to a small research project based in Denali National Park, Alaska. This is the Geophysics module of the Alaska Summer Research Academy or ASRA. Goals We asked ourselves the question "What is the earthquake activity in Denali National Park like?"To answer this question, we: Abstract Eight of us led an expedition into the heart of Denali with one purpose in mind: find out what's going on underneath. Seismology, as we learned on the drive to Denali, is the study of vibrations within the earth. This study of vibrations has a variety of uses, whether it is to determine the location of a recent earthquake, or even detect a nuclear bomb test from across the globe. We used seismology to get an idea of the earthquake activity underneath Denali, and to see what has changed since the last big earthquake of 2002. In one week, our team set up four different sites for our seismometers, one at Igloo Creek, one at the Savage River Campground, one beneath the Murie Science and Learning Center, and another just above the permafrost south of the park entrance. Using various methods of protection from the elements, we either excavated a hole in the ground, or covered our instrument with an air-tight container. Our focus in locating sites was to find the least noisy places for the instruments to record data from, hopefully, earthquakes within or outside of Denali National Park. Our results show that most of the earthquakes currently occurring near Denali come from a region known as the Kantishna swarm. This area is located west of our network near the town of Kantishna. By examining the seismic data we found as many as 15 quakes per day from this area that recorded well on our network. Some earthquakes also appear to be coming from the east. These are probably small aftershocks of the magnitude 7.9 Denali Fault earthquake in 2002. In addition to these local earthquakes, we recorded several larger earthquakes up to magnitude 3.5 which occurred along coastal Alaska. These earthquakes are probably the result of tectonic plate motions between the Pacific Ocean Plate and the North American Continent. |
