(Press-News.org) RENO, Nev. – A new study published in the prestigious journal Science, co-authored by University of Nevada, Reno's Glenn Biasi and colleagues at GNS Science in New Zealand, finds that very large earthquakes have been occurring relatively regularly on the Alpine Fault along the southwest coastline of New Zealand for at least 8,000 years.
The Alpine Fault is the most hazardous fault on the South Island of New Zealand, and about 80 miles northwest of the South Island's main city of Christchurch.
The team developed evidence for 22 earthquakes at the Hokuri Creek site, which, with two additional from nearby, led to the longest continuous earthquake record in the world for a major plate boundary fault. The team established that the Alpine Fault causes, on average, earthquakes of around a magnitude 8 every 330 years. Previous data put the intervals at about 485 years.
Relative motion of Australian and Pacific plates across the Alpine Fault averages almost an inch per year. This motion builds up, and then is released suddenly in large earthquakes. The 530-mile-long fault is among the longest, straightest and fastest moving plate boundary faults in the world. More than 23 feet of potential slip has accumulated in the 295 years since the most recent event in A.D. 1717.
Biasi, working with the GNS Science team led by Kelvin Berryman, used paleoseismology to extend the known seismic record from 1000 years ago to 8,000 years ago. They estimated earthquake dates by combining radiocarbon dating leaves, small twigs and marsh plants with geologic and other field techniques.
"Our study sheds new light on the frequency and size of earthquakes on the Alpine Fault. Earthquakes have been relatively periodic, suggesting that this may be a more general property of simple plate boundary faults worldwide," Biasi, of the Nevada Seismological Laboratory said. "By comparison, large earthquakes on California's San Andreas Fault have been less regular in size and timing."
"Knowing the average rate of earthquakes is useful, but is only part of the seismic hazard equation," he said. "If they are random in time, then the hazard does not depend on how long it has been since the most recent event. Alpine Fault earthquakes are more regular in their timing, allowing us to use the time since the last earthquake to adjust the hazard estimate. We estimate the 50-year probability of a large Alpine fault earthquake to be about 27 percent."
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake centered near Christchurch, the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, caused extensive damage to buildings on Sept. 2, 2010, and no deaths. On Feb. 22, 2011, a triggered aftershock measuring magnitude 6.3, with one of the strongest ground motions ever recorded worldwide in an urban area, struck the city killing 185 people.
INFORMATION:
Among other seismic work, Biasi has conducted research on earthquake recurrence on the San Andreas Fault and is a contributor to the Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast-3 project, which is developing earthquake probabilities for the California Earthquake Authority. He is a research associate professor in the College of Science's Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering.
Nevada's land-grant university founded in 1874, the University of Nevada, Reno has an enrollment of 18,000 students and is ranked in the top tier of the nation's best universities. Part of the Nevada System of Higher Education, the University has the system's largest research program and is home to the state's medical school. With outreach and education programs in all Nevada counties and with one of the nation's largest study-abroad consortiums, the University extends across the state and around the world. For more information, visit www.unr.edu.
Alpine Fault study shows new evidence for regular magnitude 8 earthquakes
University of Nevada, Reno seismologist Glenn Biasi co-authors report with GNS Science in New Zealand
2012-07-26
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
ACR: Medical imaging study in health affairs incomplete and potentially misleading
2012-07-26
In response to a study published in the August issue of Health Affairs regarding declining medical imaging use in recent years, the American College of Radiology (ACR) released a statement explaining that physician education efforts and quality assurance steps have resulted in more efficient use of imaging, but that arbitrary Medicare cuts are damaging patient access to care. The ACR also cited a December 2011 Health Affairs article that shows Medicare imaging cuts may have resulted in physical harm to patients.
"This Health Affairs study further supports the fact that ...
Disabled Pakistani women abandoned, ignored after quake
2012-07-26
(Edmonton) Women who suffered spinal injuries in the 2005 Pakistan earthquake continued to endure hardships years later, including abandonment by spouses and families, according to new research from the University of Alberta.
Zubia Mumtaz, an assistant professor in the School of Public Health who studies how gender and class inequalities affect maternal health, worked with a team of graduate students to document the experiences of paraplegic women three years after the 7.6-magnitude quake that devastated Kashmir. They found that women—far more than men with similar spinal ...
NIH scientists identify likely predictors of hepatitis C severity
2012-07-26
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have identified several factors in people infected with the hepatitis C virus that may predict whether the unusually rapid progression of disease from initial infection to severe liver conditions, such as cirrhosis, will occur. Knowing whether a patient's condition is likely to deteriorate quickly could help physicians decide on the best course of treatment.
The study was conducted by an international team of researchers led by Patrizia Farci, M.D., chief of the Hepatic Pathogenesis Section in the Laboratory of Infectious ...
NIH-funded study finds high HIV infection rates among gay and bisexual black men in the US
2012-07-26
WHAT:
The rate of new HIV infections among black men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States, particularly younger men, is high and suggests the need for prevention programs specifically tailored to this population, according to initial findings from the HPTN 061 study. The preliminary results were presented at the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) in Washington, D.C., by study co-chair Kenneth Mayer, M.D., medical research director for the Fenway Community Health Center in Boston.
The HPTN 061 study, which involved 1,553 black MSM ages 18 and older ...
Controlling monkey brains and behavior with light
2012-07-26
Researchers reporting online on July 26 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, have for the first time shown that they can control the behavior of monkeys by using pulses of blue light to very specifically activate particular brain cells. The findings represent a key advance for optogenetics, a state-of-the-art method for making causal connections between brain activity and behavior. Based on the discovery, the researchers say that similar light-based mind control could likely also be made to work in humans for therapeutic ends.
"We are the first to show that optogenetics ...
Writing in cursive with your eyes only
2012-07-26
VIDEO:
A new technology described in the paper published online on July 26 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, might allow people who have almost completely lost the ability to...
Click here for more information.
A new technology described in the paper published online on July 26 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, might allow people who have almost completely lost the ability to move their arms or legs to communicate freely, by using their eyes to ...
Whole-genome sequencing of African hunter-gatherers reveals human genetic diversity
2012-07-26
Genome sequences of African hunter-gatherers from three different populations reveal insights into how humans have adapted to distinct environments over evolutionary history. By sequencing whole genomes of individuals within these groups, a team of scientists has substantially expanded knowledge about the scope of genetic diversity in humans, publishing their findings on July 26th in the journal Cell.
Africa is the ancestral homeland of all modern humans and contains the highest level of genetic diversity among all of the continents. "Even though African populations ...
New drug could help maintain long-term weight loss
2012-07-26
A new drug could aid in losing weight and keeping it off. The drug, described in the journal Cell Metabolism on July 26, increases sensitivity to the hormone leptin, a natural appetite suppressant found in the body. Although so far the new drug has only been tested on mice, the findings have implications for the development of new treatments for obesity in humans.
"By sensitizing the body to naturally occurring leptin, the new drug could not only promote weight loss, but also help maintain it," says senior study author George Kunos of the National Institute on Alcohol ...
New study associates excess maternal iodine supplementation with congenital hypothyroidism
2012-07-26
Cincinnati, OH. July 26, 2012 – Congenital hypothyroidism is thyroid hormone deficiency at birth that, if left untreated, can lead to neurocognitive impairments in infants and children. Although the World Health Organization recommends 200-300 µg of iodine daily during pregnancy for normal fetal thyroid hormone production and neurocognitive development, the US Institute of Medicine considers 1,100 µg to be the safe upper limit for daily ingestion. A case series scheduled for publication in The Journal of Pediatrics describes three infants who developed congenital hypothyroidism ...
Genomic study of Africa's hunter-gatherers elucidates human variation and ancient interbreeding
2012-07-26
PHILADELPHIA — Human diversity in Africa is greater than any place else on Earth. Differing food sources, geographies, diseases and climates offered many targets for natural selection to exert powerful forces on Africans to change and adapt to their local environments. The individuals who adapted best were the most likely to reproduce and pass on their genomes to the generations who followed.
That history of inheritance is written in the DNA of modern Africans, but it takes some investigative work to interpret. In a report to be featured on the cover of the Aug. 3 issue ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Why does ALS take away body movement? – The hidden burden that seals neurons’ fate
Is your ultra-HD TV worth it? Scientists measure the resolution limit of the human eye
Coronal mass ejections at the dawn of the solar system
Uncovering hyper-maturity and accelerated aging in the hippocampus
Earliest long-snouted fossil crocodile from Egypt reveals the African origins of seagoing crocs
Henna’s hidden healing: Treating fibrosis with a chemical derived from Lawsonia inermis
KIST demonstrates world's first ultra-precise, ultra-high-resolution distributed quantum sensor with 'entangled light'
Liver transplantation utilizing grafts donated after medical assistance in dying is feasible and has outcomes comparable to standard donation
Canada is failing the rising numbers of youth who use opioids
Opioid prescribing for pain is declining in Canada
Can inpatient care help address overdose crisis?
Discovering six new bat species is a treat for museum researchers
National emergency wakeup call as SEND support system crisis worsens – latest analysis shows
New drug-eluting balloon may be as safe and effective as conventional metal stents for repeat percutaneous coronary interventions
Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of automated external defibrillators in private homes
University of Phoenix College of Social and Behavioral Sciences leadership publishes white paper on trauma-informed education
Microbial iron mining: turning polluted soils into self-cleaning reactors
Molecular snapshots reveal how the body knows it’s too hot
Analysis finds alarming rise in severe diverticulitis among younger Americans
Mitochondria and lysosomes reprogram immune cells that dampen inflammation
Cockroach infestation linked to home allergen, endotoxin levels
New biochar-powered microbial systems offer sustainable solution for toxic pollutants
Identifying the best high-biomass sorghum hybrids based on biomass yield potential and feedstock quality affected by nitrogen fertility management under various environments
How HIV’s shape-shifting protein reveals clues for smarter drug design
Study identifies viral combinations that heighten risk of severe respiratory illnesses in infants
Aboveground rather than belowground productivity drives variability in miscanthus × giganteus net primary productivity
Making yeast more efficient 'cell factories' for producing valuable plant compounds
Aging in plain sight: What new research says the eyes reveal about aging and cardiovascular risk
Child welfare system involvement may improve diagnosis of developmental delays
Heavier electric trucks could strain New York City’s roads and bridges, study warns
[Press-News.org] Alpine Fault study shows new evidence for regular magnitude 8 earthquakesUniversity of Nevada, Reno seismologist Glenn Biasi co-authors report with GNS Science in New Zealand


