Where is USArray now? Where is it going? When will it be there?

The Transportable Array is rolling across the country with roughly two-year deployments in each region. The spacing between each station is 70 km (~42 miles). Multiple deployments will cover all contiguous 48 states and Alaska over a ten-year period. To find out where USArray is right now, CLICK HERE and then choose how you would like to view the information (e.g., in a list or on a map).

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Aside from the basic grid, how do you decide where and when to place a station?

Several factors affect where we construct and install Transportable Array stations. Some questions we ask are: Is the site accessible with two-wheel drive vehicles? Is the site near a busy road, railroad, or other sources of noise? Is the site likely to be subject to vandalism? Will the site have direct, unobstructed sunlight? Regarding when a station will be installed, we prefer to take advantage of a season where weather conditions will be optimal.

Where are the Flexible Array components being placed?

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The pool of 2400 instruments of the Flexible Array can be deployed as the scientific community decides the locations that need finer resolution. These transient arrays provide high-resolution, short-term observations of key geologic targets within the footprint of the larger Transportable Array. The Flexible Array uses high-density sensor spacing and both natural and artificial sources of seismic energy.

Where are the magnetotelluric instruments being placed?

In 2006 the instruments were placed in a broad swath across eastern Oregon. The temperature and fluid-content data from these give strong support to the data from the Transportable Array and several Flexible Arrays that are deployed in the region. To see where MT stations are currently deployed, CLICK HERE and choose how you would like to view the information (e.g., by list or map).

What about Canada and Mexico? They are part of our continent.

Although USArray's initial focus is coverage within the United States, extensions of the array into neighboring countries and onto the continental margins in collaboration with scientists from Canada, Mexico, and the ocean sciences community would be natural additions to the initiative.

The Canadian counterpart to USArray, POLARIS (Portable Observatories for Lithospheric Analysis and Research Investigating Seismicity) is a geophysical research consortium focused on investigation of structure and dynamics of Earth's lithosphere and the prediction of earthquake ground motion.