SAFOD, Drilling San Andreas Fault
An international team of scientists are embarking on a project to drill an angled hole through a seismically active portion of the San Andreas Fault Zone, creating a San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD). In the summer of 2004, SAFOD began drilling directly through the fault to a depth of kilometers, in order to obtain samples and make geophysical measurements within and adjacent to the fault zone, and to install instruments to continuously monitor variations in rock deformation and other parameters during the earthquake cycle. SAFOD will provide direct information on the composition and mechanical properties of fault rocks; the nature of stresses responsible for earthquakes; the role of fluids in controlling faulting and earthquake recurrence; and the physics of earthquake initiation and rupture.
Size: 2000px × 3008px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: andreas, ca, california, core, depth, drilling, earthquakes, earthscope, fault, geology, geophysics, lithology, observatory, parkfield, research, safod, sample, samples, san, science, seismology, tectonics
