ROV JASON expedition at Hikurangi Subduction Zone
Current ROV JASON expedition is highlighted by Dr. Clair McKinley (Univ. Washington) on her blog posted in The Eastcoastlab. The science mission is to understand the seismogenesis of a subduction zone, represented by Hikurangi Subduction Zone. “There are several unique things about the Hikurangi subduction zone that make it a great place to examine earthquake processes. Along the Hikurangi suduction zone, the southern portion of the subduction zone is locked, meaning that the two plates are not slipping past each other. You can think of this as the portion where energy is being stored and earthquakes as the release of that energy. On the northern portion of the Hikurangi subduction zone the plates are freely slipping or moving past each other. We are not really sure why subuction zones lock or slip like this,” McKinley said.