UAF Researchers to Present on Earthquakes and Global Warming at National Conference

Submitted by Carla Browning
Phone: (907) 474-7778
11/26/02

UAF researchers will present information on recent major earthquakes in Alaska at the national American Geophysical Union Conference December 6-10 in San Francisco.

The seismology session was added to the conference in response to a magnitude 7.9 earthquake that took place on Alaska’s Denali Fault on Nov. 3. The Denali Fault is the most significant crustal fault in the state, slicing the rugged Alaska Range and bounding the precipitous north face of Mount McKinley, the highest peak in North America.

Roger Hansen, UAF Geophysical Institute professor and state seismologist, will co-chair the special session.

"This is the first 8-class earthquake to have been monitored with modern technology, such as integrated seismic and global positioning systems," said Hansen. "From a research standpoint, this is a very important earthquake."

In addition to the special session and discussion panel on earthquakes, UAF researchers Larry Hinzman, with UAF’s Institute of Northern Engineering and Terry Chapin, researcher with the Institute of Arctic Biology, will participate in a special session on permafrost entitled "Recent Changes in the Polar Latitudes: Evidence of Global Warming?"

Dozens of researchers from UAF will participate in the December conference. An online searchable database for research presented at the AGU fall meeting is available.

CONTACT: Carla Browning, UAF Public Information Officer at (907) 474-7778 or visit e-mail carla.browning@uaf.edu for more information.