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<TITLE>SSA special session on strain accumulation within continents</TITLE>
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<FONT SIZE="1"><FONT FACE="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:9pt'>Dear CIG short-term crustal dynamics members,<BR>
We would like to draw your attention to a special session at this year’s Seismological Society of America annual meeting in Memphis, TN, April 13-15th. Please consider submitting an abstract to and attending this session. Abstracts are now being accepted through </SPAN></FONT><SPAN STYLE='font-size:9pt'><FONT FACE="Lucida Grande">5 PM PST 11 January 2011.<BR>
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Strain Accumulation Inside Continents: Observations, Uncertainties, and Models<BR>
</B>Large, potentially devastating, earthquakes occur within the interiors of tectonic plates where geodetically measured surface strain rates are very low (<I>e.g.</I>, the 1811-1812 M7-8 New Madrid and 2008 M7.9 Sichuan, China earthquakes). In some cases, the paleoseismic history may suggest a relatively high rate of strain accumulation, which, if at odds with geodetic studies, can obfuscate estimates of seismic hazard. In the central US, geodetic measurements may indicate very little overall surface deformation, which could be at odds with the relatively high frequency of large earthquakes in the New Madrid seismic zone. Are these observations incompatible? How variable might strain rates be over the earthquake cycle and longer time scales? Could a steady build up of strain responsible for repeated large earthquakes be localized and partially masked from surface observations? This session seeks presentations that address geodetic (short term) and geologic (long term) observations of surface deformation in continental interiors, uncertainty in those observations, and models that either explain any significant signal or propose mechanisms with measureable surface deformation.<BR>
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<B>Conveners<BR>
</B>Oliver Boyd </FONT><FONT FACE="Courier, Courier New"><<a href="olboyd@usgs.gov">olboyd@usgs.gov</a>><BR>
</FONT><FONT FACE="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial">Eric Calais </FONT><FONT FACE="Courier, Courier New"><<a href="ecalais@purdue.edu">ecalais@purdue.edu</a>><BR>
</FONT><FONT FACE="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial">John Langbein </FONT><FONT FACE="Courier, Courier New"><<a href="langbein@usgs.gov">langbein@usgs.gov</a>></FONT></SPAN></FONT><FONT FACE="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:11pt'><BR>
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