Charlotte Pizer
Contact
Email: charlotte.pizer@vuw.ac.nz
Office: CO418
Qualifications
BSc in Geography, Durham University (2017)
MSc in Geography, Durham University (2019)
PhD Candidate in Geography
Research Interests
Coastal deformation, subduction earthquakes, paleoseismology, tsunami deposits, seismoturbidites, radiocarbon dating, tephrochronology
PhD thesis
Title
Untangling a record of past subduction earthquakes on the central Hikurangi margin
Supervisors
- Kate Clark (GNS)
Project objectives and description
My PhD project aims develop our understanding of earthquake behavior on the central section of the Hikurangi subduction margin. Geodetic measurements indicate this region is weakly coupled, which is compatible with the modern seismic behavior dominated by slow slip. However, this behavior is contrasted by evidence of repeated large magnitude earthquakes causing coastal subsidence throughout the Holocene. Hence, we question whether the central margin is capable of both large earthquakes and slow slip, or whether the paleoearthquake record could represent upper plate faulting.
Precise earthquake ages and robust geologic evidence are required to distinguish the most likely fault source for past earthquakes. Using sediment cores collected from the Pakuratahi valley, my project develops a new paleoearthquake record for Hawke’s Bay. This work provides a firmer platform from which we can examine temporal correlations with other earthquake evidence on the central margin. To provide more constraints on the spatial extent of these past earthquakes, my work also develops a chronology for turbidites recorded in offshore sediment cores as an alternative proxy for seismic shaking in large magnitude earthquakes. Considering the full suite of paleoseismic data, my goal is to distinguish which of these events (if any) represent subduction earthquakes, and what this tells us about seismic hazard on the Hikurangi subduction zone.