Names: Assistant Professor Kevin Mackey and Professor Kazuya Fujita
Department: Geological sciences
Title of research project: Northeast Russia Seismic Project
Date of research: Fujita began the project in 1989, and it has continued as an ongoing project. There is no projected end date at this time, Mackey said.
Basics of project: Mackey and Fujita, with the help of Russian organizations, have installed about 20 seismic stations to monitor earthquake activity in Siberia, located in northern Asia — covering a land area about the size of the continental United States.
They are studying data from these stations to understand where the tectonic plate boundaries are in that area of the world.
"It's essentially an unresearched area," Mackey said. "A lot of what we are doing is the fundamental research."
Mackey said he has colleagues in Russia who are collecting the data from the stations and sending it back to MSU. Mackey, with the help of one graduate student and one undergraduate student, work to analyze and interpret the data.
Social impact of research:
• To understand where the active earthquakes will occur in that area by looking at fault lines and the boundaries of the tectonic plates in that part of the world. This information is "important and essentially unknown," Mackey said.
• To distinguish between below-ground nuclear testing and earthquakes. Mackey said they are studying the sounds of underground mining explosions to determine the difference because below-ground nuclear testing and earthquakes look similar on seismometers.
Grants and funding: The Northeast Russia Seismic Project is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy at about $250,000 per year.
