State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Author: Suzanne Carbotte

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  • Searching for Faults From Afar

    Searching for Faults From Afar

    Researchers are using ocean-bottom and land-based seismometers to record the R/V Marcus Langseth’s soundings from afar, to better understand the potential impacts of large earthquakes in the Cascadia region.

  • Collecting More Than Just Seismic Data Along the Cascadia Fault

    Collecting More Than Just Seismic Data Along the Cascadia Fault

    While researchers search for a megathrust fault off the Pacific Northwest coast, they are also helping to map the seafloor in high resolution and detect underwater methane seeps.

  • Looking Out for Marine Mammals

    Looking Out for Marine Mammals

    When using sound to search for an undersea fault, researchers must take special precautions to protect dolphins, whales and other vulnerable species.

  • Seismic Data on Deck: Sounding for the Cascadia Megathrust Fault

    Seismic Data on Deck: Sounding for the Cascadia Megathrust Fault

    Using sound and a 7.5-mile-long streamer towed behind the boat, scientists can collect a tremendous amount of data from under the seafloor.

  • Observations While on Quarantine in Newport, Oregon

    Observations While on Quarantine in Newport, Oregon

    Before embarking on a 6-week voyage to scan for Cascadia’s megathrust fault, the research team had to quarantine for two weeks in a hotel.

  • Searching for the Megathrust Fault at Cascadia

    Searching for the Megathrust Fault at Cascadia

    Researchers have set sail to find and map a fault that causes giant earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest.

  • Mapping Water Circulation Within Cascadia Basin

    Heading west from coastal Oregon we are able to make our initial seismic images beneath the seafloor continuously as we go. Where once our data would have been recorded on magnetic tapes only to be analyzed long after the expedition was over, thanks to the wonders of modern signal processing, we can now make images…

  • X-Ray Vision Beneath the Seafloor

    X-Ray Vision Beneath the Seafloor

    Yesterday we deployed one of the Langseth’s long cables equipped with listening devices and began the second phase of our survey which we have been awaiting with much anticipation.

  • Imaging the Cascadia Subduction Zone

    Imaging the Cascadia Subduction Zone

    In the research expedition now underway, we will investigate the Juan de Fuca plate before it disappears under North America to understand why earthquakes happen where and when they do within the Cascadia subduction zone off the Pacific Northwest. Our ship, the R/V Marcus G. Langseth, is one of 25 research vessels available to U.S.…

  • Searching for Faults From Afar

    Searching for Faults From Afar

    Researchers are using ocean-bottom and land-based seismometers to record the R/V Marcus Langseth’s soundings from afar, to better understand the potential impacts of large earthquakes in the Cascadia region.

  • Collecting More Than Just Seismic Data Along the Cascadia Fault

    Collecting More Than Just Seismic Data Along the Cascadia Fault

    While researchers search for a megathrust fault off the Pacific Northwest coast, they are also helping to map the seafloor in high resolution and detect underwater methane seeps.

  • Looking Out for Marine Mammals

    Looking Out for Marine Mammals

    When using sound to search for an undersea fault, researchers must take special precautions to protect dolphins, whales and other vulnerable species.

  • Seismic Data on Deck: Sounding for the Cascadia Megathrust Fault

    Seismic Data on Deck: Sounding for the Cascadia Megathrust Fault

    Using sound and a 7.5-mile-long streamer towed behind the boat, scientists can collect a tremendous amount of data from under the seafloor.

  • Observations While on Quarantine in Newport, Oregon

    Observations While on Quarantine in Newport, Oregon

    Before embarking on a 6-week voyage to scan for Cascadia’s megathrust fault, the research team had to quarantine for two weeks in a hotel.

  • Searching for the Megathrust Fault at Cascadia

    Searching for the Megathrust Fault at Cascadia

    Researchers have set sail to find and map a fault that causes giant earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest.

  • Mapping Water Circulation Within Cascadia Basin

    Heading west from coastal Oregon we are able to make our initial seismic images beneath the seafloor continuously as we go. Where once our data would have been recorded on magnetic tapes only to be analyzed long after the expedition was over, thanks to the wonders of modern signal processing, we can now make images…

  • X-Ray Vision Beneath the Seafloor

    X-Ray Vision Beneath the Seafloor

    Yesterday we deployed one of the Langseth’s long cables equipped with listening devices and began the second phase of our survey which we have been awaiting with much anticipation.

  • Imaging the Cascadia Subduction Zone

    Imaging the Cascadia Subduction Zone

    In the research expedition now underway, we will investigate the Juan de Fuca plate before it disappears under North America to understand why earthquakes happen where and when they do within the Cascadia subduction zone off the Pacific Northwest. Our ship, the R/V Marcus G. Langseth, is one of 25 research vessels available to U.S.…