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Background

Project COARSE (COnsortium for an Arizona Reconnaissance Seismic Experiment) is a collaboration between Arizona State University (Matt Fouch and Ed Garnero) and University of Arizona (Susan Beck, Hersh Gilbert and George Zandt) to deploy broadband seismic stations in southern Arizona in preparation for EarthScope/USArray.

Our Goals

  • 01. Measure crustal thickness, upper mantle velocity structure, mantle transition zone depths and thickness variations, and seismic anisotropy parameters across a SW-NE oriented Colorado Plateau-Basin and Range transect in southern Arizona. This region is currently the most seismically undersampled region of the western US.
  • 02. Investigate the crustal anisotropy structure of major metamorphic core complexes.
  • 03. Compare seismic constraints with laboratory measurements of rock properties from crustal and mantle xenoliths from nearby localities.
  • 04. Develop sufficient preliminary data to make a compelling case for AzSCOPE, an EarthScope/USArray Flexible Array experiment that we hope to propose when Bigfoot begins stomping across Arizona.