https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/20159504009
The potential of continuous, local atomic clock measurements for earthquake prediction and volcanology
1 Physics Department, University of Mississippi, Mississippi, USA
2 Departamentul de Fizica, Universitatea de Vest, Timisoara, Romania
3 Department of Physics, University of Zürich,, Zürich, Switzerland
4 Albert Einstein Institute, Hannover, Germany
a e-mail: bondarescu.mihai@gmail.com
Published online: 29 May 2015
Modern optical atomic clocks along with the optical fiber technology currently being developed can measure the geoid, which is the equipotential surface that extends the mean sea level on continents, to a precision that competes with existing technology. In this proceeding, we point out that atomic clocks have the potential to not only map the sea level surface on continents, but also look at variations of the geoid as a function of time with unprecedented timing resolution. The local time series of the geoid has a plethora of applications. These include potential improvement in the predictions of earthquakes and volcanoes, and closer monitoring of ground uplift in areas where hydraulic fracturing is performed.
© Owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2015
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
