Damage caused by the Bhuj earthquake in 2001, for which many aftershocks nucleated in the lower crust

'The Geological Record of the Earthquake Cycle in the Lower Crust' project is a combined field and lab-based project funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council.

The three year project is investigating how the behaviour of the lower crusts changes during an earthquake cycle.

NERC Standard Grant 'The Geological Record of the Earthquake Cycle in the Lower Crust' (3-year, start date Jan-17, fEC £575,181, Plymouth PI: Luca Menegon, Co-I: Iain Stewart)

The overarching aim of this project is to derive quantitative rheological and mechanical parameters of the lower continental crust during the earthquake cycle. To achieve this aim we will use the natural laboratory offered by an exhumed earthquake source in Nusfjord (Lofoten, Norway) that records episodic rapid brittle slip events (earthquakes) alternating with long-lasting viscous creep. The project, based at PU, will be carried out in collaboration with the University of Liverpool, Cardiff University, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Leeds, and the University of Milan-Bicocca (Italy).

Read the University of Plymouth news release: 
Study examines causes of earthquakes originating deep below earth’s surface

Dr Luca Menegon, Lecturer in Structural Geology and Tectonics, said:

At the moment, we do not fully know how to predict earthquakes but perhaps that is because we do not fully understand the signals which rock deformation is sending us

Read more about Dr Luca Menegon and his research