On 11th March 2011 the mega Tohoku Quake triggered a disastrous tsunami. In Germany, this event dominated the headlines for weeks, mainly because of the subsequent catastrophe in the Fukushima nuclear power station. A group of German and Japanese scientists on board the SONNE research vessel recently embarked on an expedition to investigate what effect the mega quake has had on the ocean floor. The research expedition is being funded by the Federal Ministry for Education and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG – German Research Foundation).
Under the leadership of Gerold Wefer, professor of the University of Bremen and the director of the Center for Marine Environmental Sciences (MARUM), the scientists will install modern measuring devises on the ocean bed. It is intended that data gathered in this way will help scientists gain a better understanding of how such large earthquakes come about. The expedition will be carried out in two phases, during which 33 scientists working with the dive-robot MARUM-QUEST will set up two observatories on the sea floor, housing seismometers that will record accurate data on future earthquakes. At depths of over 2,000 meters, the autonomous MARUM-SEAL dive-robot will accurately chart the ocean floor. Furthermore, the SONNE research vessel will retrace a number of ocean-floor profiles in the vicinity of the epicenter, which were accurately surveyed by Japanese researchers back in 2004 and 1999. In this way it will be possible to build up a precise picture of the impact on the ocean floor caused by the mega 2011 quake.
“I am extremely grateful to the Ministry and the DFG for giving us and our Japanese colleagues this opportunity to research the impact of the massive quake on the morphology and sediment characteristics on the continental slope off Honshu“, says Professor Wefer. “The expedition will enhance cooperation with Japan in the marine sciences and serve as a basis for future joint projects.”
As a reminder: on 11th March 2011 the earth quaked for a full 150 seconds some 130 kilometers off the Japanese Island of Honshu, resulting in the release of enormous seismic energy. The earthquake was caused when the Pacific Plate moved abruptly under the Eurasian Continental Plate in the region of the Japan Ocean Trench. The consequence: a devastating tsunami that cost almost 20,000 lives and riveted the world’s attention on the region.
Further information can be obtained from:
Albert Gerdes
MARUM-Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
Phone: +49 421 218-65540
e-mail: agerdesprotect me ?!marumprotect me ?!.de
www.marum.de
