This
decade-long effort involves 15 GPS
faculty members spanning geophysics, geology and geochemistry.
The idea is to bring the diverse range of skills represented
by these faculty to bear on a carefully selected set of key
questions. The TO provides infrastructure to foster interdisciplinary
research activities that will focus on field areas of particular
interest or on key processes. The TO employs staff to facilitate
its work, notably in software development, geodesy, and in
the application of geographical
information systems (GIS).
Field investigations will be complemented by measurements
made in laboratories at Caltech and elsewhere. These observations
will provide critical input to a new generation of numerical
models designed to elucidate the underlying processes. |
In
turn, the models will provide guidance for selecting new
observations and new locations for study. A central challenge
will be the development of models that can accommodate the
necessarily huge range of time and length scales provided
by the observations and will be required to accurately represent
the relevant phenomena.
Most projects involve close
collaboration with partners from other American or foreign
institutions.
The Tectonics Observatory offers students an environment
with access to a wide range of modern techniques and analytical
tools in earth sciences, along with the possibility of interacting
with a group of collaborators with diverse expertise and
culture. |