A pool of portable seismic instruments, referred to as the Flexible Array, is supported out of the USArray Array Operations Facility (AOF), collocated with the PASSCAL Instrument Center in Socorro, NM. The Flexible Array has available to the research community ~2100 instruments (291 broadband, 120 short period, and 1700 active source) that can be deployed using flexible source-receiver geometries. Using both natural and active sources, these additional portable instruments permit high-density, short-term observations of key targets within the footprint of the larger Transportable Array. USArray's flexible component offers exciting opportunities for a variety of focused investigations requiring higher-resolution images embedded within the context of the Transportable Array.

Many important geologic targets are amenable to investigation with the Flexible Array, including the depth extent of faults, magma chamber dimensions beneath active volcanoes, the relation between crustal tectonic provinces and mantle structure, the shape of terrane boundaries, the deep structure of sedimentary basins and mountain belts, and the structure and magmatic plumbing of continental rifts. Linked with coordinated geological, geochemical, and geodetic studies, the Flexible Array will also address a wide range of problems in continental geodynamics, tectonics, and earthquake processes.

Flexible Array PIs can find information on instrument availability, data-use policy, an instrument request form, and more on the PASSCAL Instrument Center Web site. Click on the left menu item "USArray."

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