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J4270
Geology Feature Story
Mike Underwood
geologist instead.
that I didn’t really like biology very much, and I didn’t really like biologists very much,”
Underwood said.
After taking a geology class, he was drawn to the basic approach of looking at
how the earth has evolved and the “processes that govern at the earth’s surface,” as well
as the other geology students at the university, many of whom enjoyed the outdoors as
1982. MU was one of many places that offered him a position in sedimentology.
Underwood said the size of the city and whether or not it was a good place to raise kids
the history of marine geology, called the Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment,
aka NanTroSEIZE. He estimates that around 250 scientists from all over of the world
have contributed to the experiment, with the main organizers being Japanese and
The deepest that those working on the project have drilled thus far is over 3,000 meters
earthquakes are occurring and sample the fault zone and ultimately install instruments
that can monitor the behavior of the fault through earthquake cycle,” Underwood said.
The fault in which they have been drilling has a history of producing earthquakes
with magnitudes of eight and greater, as well as tsunamis. Eventually, the instruments
will be placed into the plate boundary and will allow scientists to try to anticipate the
likelihood of events similar to the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011 on
Japan’s northeastern coast. Forecasting such activity will help minimize harm to those in
affected areas.
Underwood and the rest of the scientists involved are trying to conclude the
project, but budget limitations, including a lack of government funding, are keeping that
“I’m on the project management team and we meet every once in a while, but
there are also long periods of time where we don’t get updates,” Underwood said.
“Resumption of the really deep drilling is probably not going to happen until late 2016
For more information on Mike Underwood and his research, please visit
http://geology.missouri.edu/research/underwoodresearch.html.