The Plate Boundary Observatory: Measuring Active Deformation in the Western U.S.

by Mark Murray
New Mexico Tech

ABSTRACT
The Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO), a component of EarthScope designed to measure active deformation in the western U.S. and Alaska, is now well underway. Since 2004, more than 200 out of total of 775 continuous GPS stations, and more than 10 out of a total of 100 borehole and laser strainmeters have been installed. NMT, which currently hosts the Strainmeter Analysis Center and will soon host one of the GPS Analysis Centers, plays an active and important role in PBO operations. This talk will provide an overview of the goals, design, and current installation of PBO, and present preliminary results and examples of expected results for the some of the active deformation processes associated with plate boundary faults and volcanoes that are focused targets of PBO, including the long-anticipated 2004 M6 Parkfield earthquake.