Issues

Front: In remote regions of Alaska and northwestern Canada, bears are regular visitors to seismic stations, and Tape et al. (this issue) document their visits at three recent projects. Evidence gathered suggests that remote stations are visited by bears more regularly than non-remote stations, and that data losses because of bears are minor (<5%) and occur exclusively at remote stations. The authors propose that the threat of damage from bears to a station increases with the remoteness of the site and the density of bears, and it decreases with the strength and security of materials used to protect the station. They suggest that the installation of low-power electric fences be considered for seismic stations, especially for temporary experiments, to protect the equipment and to protect the bears.

Back: The American subduction zones, stretching more than 8000 km from Mexico to southern Chile and covering ∼5000 km in the eastern Caribbean, lead to earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions that threaten the region’s large and growing population. An unprecedented amount of data from recent seismic events and deployments has given rise to new ideas about seismic rupture, subduction geometry, triggered events, nonvolcanic tremors, and the earthquake cycle. In this issue of SRL, the Focus Section on Subduction Zone Processes in the Americas presents 10 original articles that address these new developments as part of an international effort to connect researchers and ideas along the Latin America subduction zone. The illustration, from Chao et al. (this issue), shows some of the subduction features in this expansive region.