2006 Kiholo Bay Earthquakes Rattle the Hawaiian Islands
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soest Department of 2006 Kiholo Bay Earthquakes GEOLOGY & GEOPHYSICS University of Hawaii, Manoa Rattle the Hawaiian Islands Summer 2007 Hawaii is one of the most seismically active states in the U.S., and ex- Inside this issue… periences large earthquakes (magnitude (M) > 6.0) on a regular basis, at 2006 Kiholo Bay Earthquake ...........1 Message from the Chair ...................2 least every decade or so. All Degrees & Awards ............................3 earthquakes in Hawaii are ul- In the News, G&G Picnic ................5 timately due to the active and New Faculty in G&G .......................7 growing volcanoes, although SOEST Young Investigators .............9 the specifi c processes causing New Ocean Observatory ..............................11 different earthquakes varies. SOEST Isotope Lab ........................12 The October 15, 2006, Jim Kauahikaua ..............................13 40-kilometer deep M 6.7 Ki- Alumni News .................................15 holo Bay earthquake and its Geology Club .................................18 Faculty News ..................................20 aftershocks were types of earth- Additions to Curriculum ...............24 quakes referred to as “deep G&G Publications 2006-2007 .......25 mantle earthquakes” to distin- Kalahikiola Congregational Church SOEST Open House 2007 .............28 guish them from the shallower in Kapa’au, after the October 15, 2006 crustal earthquakes (such as Magnitude-6.7 earthquake. Photo cour- Nuhou Kanaka Puka the 1975 M 7.7 Kalapana earth- tesy USGS. quake) that also occur in Ha- Nuhou Kanaka Puka (“Alumni News” waii. Scientists have long recognized that such deep mantle earthquakes in Hawaiian) is published by the De- partment of Geology and Geophysics of occur at Hawaii: it is believed that these deep events are the result of the the School of Ocean and Earth Science stresses generated by and Technology (SOEST) for its alumni the huge weight of and friends. Throughout the year, we’d the islands and the like to hear from you. Contributions of resultant fl exure/ photos, news items, changes in address bending of the lith- and monetary donations may be sent to osphere. Department of Geology & Geophysics, The M 6.2 Hon- University of Hawaii, 1680 East West umu earthquake Rd., POST 701, Honolulu, HI 96822. in 1973 (causing Chair: Charles Fletcher $4 million dam- Editors: GG Relations & Honors age) was also a deep Committee; Robert Dunn, Chair earthquake and it has been suggested E-mail: [email protected] that the 1871 M 6.9 Phone: (808) 956-7640 Lanai earthquake M6.7 Hawai‘i earthquake of October 15, 2006. FAX: (808) 956-5512 and the 1938 M 6.9 Maui earthquake were likely deep mantle earthquakes as well. Scientists Visit our web site at and engineers at the University of Hawaii have served on the Hawaii State http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/ Earthquake Advisory Committee (HSEAC) to the Hawaii State Defense, in asp/GG/index.asp order to provide advice to the state on earthquake hazard mitigation and emergency response issues [e.g., Pritchard et al., 2007]. Cecily Wolfe, Associate Professor Message from the Chair Greetings from the Department of Geology and 5. Nosal, E.-M., and L.N. Frazer (2006) Delays be- Geophysics! We always look forward to reaching out to tween direct and refl ected arrivals used to track a our alumni, friends, and colleagues around the world single sperm whale, Applied Acoustics, 87(11-12), with our annual newsletter. Inside you’ll fi nd informa- 1187-1201. tion on the activities of our faculty and students, and a description of department achievements. 6. Mittelstaedt, E. (2007) Modeling the sharp compo- As in the past, we report on faculty publications. sitional interface in the Pu’u ‘O’o magma reservoir, Publishing research fi ndings is recognized globally Kilauea volcano, Hawai’i. Geochem. Geophys.Geo- as the “bread and butter” of the scientifi c enterprise. sys., 8, (1). SOEST and especially G&G are populated by prolifi c writers of peer reviewed scientifi c literature. Our cur- 7. Oakley, A.J., B. Taylor, P. Fryer, G.F. Moore, A.M. riculum recognizes that a student’s education is not Goodliffe, and J.K. Morgan (in press) Emplace- complete until they understand that publishing re- ment, growth, and gravitational deformation of search results is the fi nal sign of a successfully com- serpentinite seamounts on the Mariana forearc, pleted project. Geophysical Journal International. Personally, I advise my students to defi ne their re- search activities in terms of “publishable units.” In this 8. Rotzoll, K., A.I. El-Kadi, and S.B. Gingerich (2007) regard student papers are always a special treat. Here Estimating hydraulic properties of volcanic aqui- are some of the student papers that have been pub- fers using constant-rate and variable-rate aquifer lished in the past year. tests. J. American Water Resources Assoc., 43, no. 2: 334-345. 1. Denevi, B.W., P.G. Lucey, E.J. Hochberg, and D. Steutel (2007), Near-infrared optical con- 9. Wilcox, B.B., P.G. Lucey, and B.R. Hawke (2006) Ra- stants of pyroxene as a function of iron and cal- diative transfer modeling of compositions of lunar cium content, J. Geophys. Res., 112, E05009, doi: pyroclastic deposits, J. Geophys. Res., 111, E09001, 10.1029/2006JE002802. doi:10.1029/2006JE002686. 2. Carey R.J., B.F. Houghton, J.E. Sable, and C.J.N. I hope you all visit the new GG website http://www. Wilson (2006), Contrasting grain size and compo- soest.hawaii.edu/asp/GG/index.asp on a regular basis. nentry in complex proximal deposits of the 1886 We post job opportunities, special announcements, Tarawera basaltic plinian eruption. Bull. Volcanol- curricular plans for the next 5 years, and profi les of ogy (online). all GG members. Link up and check it out (and while you’re at it click the “Create an Opportunity” button 3. Eason, D. and J. Sinton (2006) Origin of high-Al and make a donation to the department). N-MORB by fractional crystallization in the upper mantle beneath the Galapagos Spreading Center, My very best wishes, Earth & Planet. Sci. Letts., 252, 423-436. Chip Fletcher 4. Nosal, E.-M., and L.N. Frazer (in press) Modifi ed Department Chairperson pair-wise spectrogram processing for localization of unknown broadband sources, IEEE J. Ocean En- gineering. 2 Confi rmation of Degrees & Student Awards Undergraduates Penny Larin (BS, Fall 2006) Parker Babcock (BA,(BA, SpringSpring 2007)2007) Jesse Favia (BS,(BS, SpringSpring 2007)2007) Jeffrey Fennell (BA, Spring 2007) Christopher Pollio (BA, Spring 2007) Benjamin Sellers (BS, Spring 2007) Keli Sproat (BS,(BS, SpringSpring 2007)2007) Lisa Tatsumi (BS, Spring 2007) Michael Theune (BS, Spring 2007) Masters of Science Emily Chapp—MarianaMariana ForearcForearc BasinBasin EvolutionEvolution from 14°N to 18°N: A Seismic Stratigraphic Analysis (Advisor: B. Taylor, Fall 2006) Christin Shacat—MeasuringMeasuring SurfaceSurface Displace-Displace- ment with Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (INSAR) and Gamma Software: A Case Study from Kapoho, Island of Hawaii (Advisor: B. Brooks, Fall 2006) Erin Diurba—AutomatedAutomated RugosityRugosity ValuesValues fromfrom High Frequency Multibeam Sonar Data for Benthic Habitat Classifi cation (Advisor: B. Appelgate, Spring 2007) B. Benjamin Studer—The SOEST DataHotSpot— What is it, and how to use it (Advisor: C. Fletcher, Spring 2007) Melody Studer—Structural Restoration and Ap- plication of Dynamic Conlomb Wedge Theory to the Nankai Trough Accretionary Wedge Toe (Advisor: G. Moore, Spring 2007) (above) Fall 2006 Graduates: Emily Chapp (MS), Christin Shacat (MS), Penny Larin (BS) (left) Spring 2007 Graduates: front row—Mike Theune (BS), Keli Sproat (BS), Lisa Tatsumi (BS), back row—Brett Wilcox-Denevi (PhD), Melody Studer (MS), Ben Studer (MS), Jesse Favia (BS), missing—Erin Diurba (MS), Parker Babcock (BA), Jeffrey Fennel (BA), Chris Pollio (BA), Ben Sellers (BS) 3 Doctor of Philosophy Brett Wilcox-Denevi—Understanding the Composition of the Lunar Mare Through Refl ectance Spectroscopy (Advisor: P. Lucey, Summer 2007) Student Awards Agatin Abbott Memorial Award Presented to an outstanding senior each year in memory of department faculty Agatin Abbott. Lisa Tatsumi Harold T. Stearns Fellowship Endowed by longtime department friend, Harold T. Stearns, for the purpose of supporting student research on geological and geophysical problems in Hawaii and the Pacifi c Basin. Jared Marske, Francois Paquay, Kolja Rotzoll J. Watumull Scholarship Awarded annually to the department’s outstanding graduate student from an endowment from the Watumull Foundation. Rebecca Carey ARCS Awarded by the Achievement Rewards for College Scientist foundation. Toby Lee Award in Geology Todd Bianco Patty Lee (retired G&G instructor), Todd Bianco and Dan Lee at the G&G Sweet Success year end party on May 3, 2007 where the fi rst ever ARCS Toby Lee Award in Geology was announced. Todd’s big smile refl ects the overwhelming appre- ciation he has for the Lee family and the $10,000 scholarship in honor of their son Toby Lee. 4 In the News... Honors and Awards Faculty In July 2006, Julia Hammer was notifi ed that she was a recipient of a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)- the highest honor bestowed by the U. S. Government on scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers. This award recognizes Julia for integrating various methodologies to study how magmas accumulate, mix and equilibrate before ascending to the surface during volcanic eruptions on Earth and other plane- tary bodies, and for developing educational activities and outreach efforts to enhance the scientifi c literacy of high-school teach- ers in the State of Hawaii. In addition to this award, Julia was also recognized by the Geological Society of America as an Exceptional Reviewer for Ge- ology, 2006. President Bush shown with several of the 65 PECASE recipients for 2006, twenty of these represent the NSF, Julia Hammer included. She is four persons to the right of the Presi- dent and one row above.