Drilling into Plate Boundaries: Studying Earthquakes Three Miles under the Ocean

Demian Saffer is an associate professor of geohydrology at Pennsylvania State University and a distinguished lecturer with the Consortium for Ocean Leadership. His research looks at the role of fluids in earthquakes, faulting, and heat transport. He has been involved in the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program and is currently part of the leadership team for NanTroSEIZE, a series of drilling expeditions aimed at understanding subduction earthquakes and tectonics off of southwestern Japan. As part of this ambitious project, the team will drill several boreholes penetrating the plate boundary fault system, including one to the subduction megathrust at a depth of 6.2 km. Part of the Department of Geological & Atmospheric Sciences Distinguished Lecture Series.