Shaking up earthquake science on Macquarie Island

July 8th, 2021

Australian Antarctic Program, Other, 06/07/2021
Macquarie Island, and the steep underwater mountain chain from which it rises, have become a Southern Ocean seismic observatory to better understand earthquakes and tsunamis caused by the collision of continental plates. The array of 32 seismometers, deployed across the tectonically active area known as the Macquarie Ridge Complex (MRC), are part of a project led by the Australian National University (ANU)* with help from Australian Antarctic Program expeditioners – to study the mechanisms causing submarine earthquakes in the region. […] Deep-sea sensors In late 2020 Professor Tkalcic and colleagues from ANU and the University of Tasmania, on board CSIRO’s research vessel (RV) Investigator , deployed 27 ocean bottom seismometers on the sea floor around Macquarie Island, covering some 25,000 square kilometres ( described in this EOS article The seismometers measure ground movement caused by earthquakes locally, regionally, and more than 1000 kilometres away (teleseismic’ distances), as well as seismic and ambient noise.