Noon today: WWU Geology students to talk about Hawaii volcano research
Western Washington University Geology students will give a presentation on their recent research trip to the Lo’ihi seamount, Hawaii’s youngest submarine volcano, at noon today, Oct. 8, in Environmental Sciences Room 100.
The talk is free and open to the public.
Funded by the National Science Foundation, 13 WWU students and recent graduates spent a week in September dropping ocean-bottom seismometers around the volcano, which monitor tiny earthquakes in and around Lo’ihi and allow the researchers to study its internal structure. Data analysis will begin next summer when the seismometers are recovered.
Western Washington University Associate Professor of Geology Jackie Caplan-Auerbach developed the research trip as a way to better understand submarine volcano behavior and the growth and formation of Hawaiian volcanoes.
“We successfully deployed all 12 ocean-bottom seismometers and collected a good amount of other data for additional geophysical studies,” said Caplan-Auerbach.
Caplan-Auerbach said she waited three years for her research proposal to be accepted by the National Science Foundation. Total project costs were roughly $1 million. Caplan-Auerbach and the WWU students collaborated with faculty and students from the University of Wisconsin at Madison on the research; the team will return in to Lo’ihi next July to retrieve the seismometers for analysis.
Western students and recent graduates on the research team included: Kevin Bellamy, Tacoma; Tyler Cox, Woodinville; Susan Dickerson, Seattle; Emily Grover, Sumner; Greg Horning, Portland, Ore.; Chelsea Mack, East Lansing, Mich.; Dara Merz, Vancouver; Britta Nelson, North Bend; Tyson Throgmorton, Cashmere; Morgan Vane, Seattle; Sarah Weeks, Portland, Ore. and Kayleigh Wilson, Woodinville.
The Lo’ihi research cruise team will present a report on their field work at 12 p.m. Friday Oct. 8 in Environmental Studies Room 100. For more information, contact Jackie Caplan-Auerbach at 360-650-4153 or Jackie@geol.wwu.edu