We seek a postdoctoral Fellow to study ‘slow’ to ‘fast’ fault slip in Alaska and along the Aleutian arc, which are home to a 2500 km span of subduction zone and one of the world’s most prominent volcanic arcs. These major plate boundaries have hosted episodes of aseismic slip and tremor and an extraordinarily high rate of large earthquakes, providing the opportunity to examine directly spatial and temporal connections between slow slip and earthquakes. Moreover, traversing Alaska and the Aleutian arc samples subduction beneath oceanic, transitional, and continental lithosphere of varying ages, permitting exploration of the range of physical properties under which these processes occur. The Fellow’s research will quantify the occurrence and extent of tremor using the seismic networks of the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) and the Alaska Earthquake Information Center. The Fellow also may investigate ties between tremor and aseismic slip, earthquakes, volcanic activity and deep subduction zone processes using Plate Boundary Observatory and AVO GPS data, and other data types. The Fellow may participate in scientific preparations for the 2015 arrival of NSF’s USArray and complementary Flexible Array and other studies, NSF’s GeoPRISMs program, and Integrated Ocean Drilling Program drilling along the northern-most Aleutian trench in 2012.
The Duty Station is Anchorage or Seattle. Applicants must have a Ph.D. or an equivalent degree. Research Advisors include Stephanie Prejean and Peter Haeussler (USGS Volcano Sci. Ctr., Anchorage AK); Joan Gomberg (USGS Earthquake Sci. Ctr., Seattle WA); Doug Christensen and Jeffrey Freymueller (Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks AK). Contact Stephanie Prejean, sprejean@usgs.gov or Joan Gomberg, gomberg@usgs.gov. For program information see http://geology.usgs.gov/postdoc/. APPLICATIONS DUE February 21, 2012.