MEDIA ADVISORY

TO:                     News Directors, Science and Education Reporters

FROM:                 University Relations

SUBJECT:            UAF Researchers Co-author an Article in Journal, "Science"

New models about tectonics in the Far East may be forthcoming from University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers as a result of Global Positioning System data. UAF Geophysical Institute Professor Jeff Freymueller and graduate student Qizhi Chen are looking at the way that the Indian subcontinent is colliding with Eurasia and have co-authored a paper published in the Oct. 19 issue of the journal, "Science." The paper, titled, "Present-Day Crustal Deformation in China Constrained by Global Positioning System Measurements" is the result of a decade of measuring the movement of the different faults and plates by an international team of scientists. GPS satellites are used to measure movements in the Earth’s crust with accuracy to a few millimeters. Repeated over time, the measurements reveal the motion of the Earth’s tectonic plates and active faults. Data gathered from the latest measurements disproves many previous theories about the dynamics of the Tibetan Plateau.

"We still have fundamental things to learn about what controls the actions of the Indian-Eurasia plate collision zone in China," said Freymueller. "The new data provides the first really comprehensive picture. Many of the things we thought we knew were overly simplistic."

The data will be used in further modeling to determine whether the movement within the Tibetan Plateau is a result of slip on many smaller faults or a few larger ones, as is the case in Alaska and California. This information will go a long way to determining the seismic hazards faced by the region; information especially important in densely populated areas of China.

Freymueller and Chen will be doing some additional modeling of the region.

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Note to editors: the abstract is available at http://www.sciencemag.org.

CONTACT: Jeff Freymueller, Geophysical Institute, at (907) 474-7286 or e-mailjeff@giseis.alaska.edu or visit http://www.aeic.alaska.edu/Input/jeff/jeff.html for more information.

CJB/10-22-01/02-018ma