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Room: Ballroom F

Date: 4/16/2026

Session Time: 2:15 PM to 3:30 PM (local time)

Linking Subduction Zone Processes and Cascading Hazards in Alaska, Cascadia, Chile and Beyond

Subduction zone environments host some of the most dynamic interactions between geological processes and structures, from the deep to the shallow and surface and across timescales from seconds to millennia and beyond. Subduction zone hazards arise from and catalyze the enduring tectonic changes, often involving cascading, interlinked occurrences of earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, landslides and land-level changes that pose significant risks to society. Some of these hazards, such as joint ruptures of the subduction interface along with the upper/lower-plate faults, remain underobserved but complicate risk assessment. To illuminate the structure, source dynamics and hazard impacts in subduction zones, it is essential to integrate observations and models spanning a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. The deeper insights gained from comparing and contrasting the behaviors of archetypal convergent margins underpin the development of a systems-based framework for improving our predictive understanding of subduction zones.

This session is motivated by SZ4D (www.sz4d.org), a community-driven initiative for a long-term, interdisciplinary research program aimed at understanding how the different components of subduction zone systems interact to produce and magnify geohazards over time. We invite new contributions to studies of subduction zone systems globally, on topics including, but not limited to, sensing technologies, imaging, modeling and interpretation studies for faults and earthquakes (particularly linked ruptures of megathrust and crustal faults), lithosphere and asthenosphere, volcanoes, landscapes and associated geohazards and risk evaluation, across seismology, geodesy, geology, engineering and other related fields. Observational, theoretical, computational and laboratory studies on the SZ4D focus areas of Alaska, Cascadia and Chile, as well as other subduction zones offering relevant insights, are particularly welcome.

Conveners

Geoffrey Abers, Cornell University (abers@cornell.edu)
Tiegan E. Hobbs Geological Survey of Canada (thobbs@eoas.ubc.ca) 
Andrew Howell, University of Canterbury (andrew.howell@canterbury.ac.nz)
Junle Jiang, University of Oklahoma (jiang@ou.edu)
Duo Li, Earth Sciences New Zealand (d.li@gns.cri.nz)
Camilla Penney, University of Canterbury (camilla.penney@canterbury.ac.nz)
Chris Rollins, GNS Science (c.rollins@gns.cri.nz)
Ignacio Sepulveda, San Diego State University (isepulveda@sdsu.edu)
Lingling Ye, Southern University of Science and Technology (yell@sustech.edu.cn)
Iris van Zelst University of Edinburgh (iris.vanzelst@ed.ac.uk)

Oral Presentations