Seismic monitoring project turns focus to Alaska

Nature : The Transportable Array is a system of 400 seismometers that has been making its way across the continental US and parts of Canada since 2004. The project has been mapping the geological properties of the crust and mantle underneath North America. The most recent installation in that process occurred on 26 September, and while the sensors are collecting data, the researchers are preparing to move on to Alaska, which is the most geologically active US state but is not well monitored. They are obtaining more durable sensors and longer-lasting batteries that can be charged by solar panels. The Transportable Array, as part of the larger geophysical data collection project EarthScope, has provided the clearest picture of the varied structure of North America’s crust and mantle. It detected shockwaves from the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake, mapped the August 2011 Virginia earthquake, and even picked up the seismic disturbances caused by Hurricane Sandy.