Caption: A rock core through the boundary between two tectonic plates, split lengthwise and polished, reveals fractures and damage from of years of movement at an earthquake fault near Japan. UW-Madison geology professor Harold Tobin is co-leading the Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment (NanTroSEIZE), the first geologic study of the underwater subduction zone faults that cause some of the world’s largest earthquakes and tsunamis. The arrow points to a thin black seam of finely ground rock marking the main fault between the two plates.
Photo: courtesy of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program
Date: February 2009
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Caption: Harold Tobin, a University of Wisconsin-Madison geophysicist, is co-chief scientist of a recent deep-sea drilling expedition to an active earthquake zone off the coast of Japan. During eight weeks at sea, from Sept. 21- Nov. 16, 2007, the team successfully drilled four deep boreholes into the ocean floor near the fault zone to study the geophysical processes that cause earthquakes and tsunamis.
Photo by: courtesy JAMSTEC/IODP
Date: 2007
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Caption: The Japanese drilling vessel Chikyu is equipped with advanced drilling technology capable of drilling boreholes into the ocean floor several miles deep. University of Wisconsin-Madison geologist Harold Tobin co-led an expedition from Sept. 21-Nov. 16, 2007, to study off the coast of Japan to study deep oceanic earthquake faults and the geophysical processes that cause earthquakes and tsunamis.
Photo by: courtesy JAMSTEC/IODP
Date: 2007
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Caption: Two drilling engineers work with a section of the powerful drill aboard the Japanese drilling vessel Chikyu during a recent expedition off the coast of Japan. The drill, equipped with state-of-the-art technology, is capable of drilling boreholes into the ocean floor several miles deep. University of Wisconsin-Madison geologist Harold Tobin co-led an expedition from Sept. 21-Nov. 16, 2007, to study deep oceanic earthquake faults and the geophysical processes that cause earthquakes and tsunamis.
Photo by: Harold Tobin
Date: 2007
200 DPI JPEG

Caption: Sections of drill pipes are stacked on board the Japanese drilling vessel Chikyu in preparation for drilling deep boreholes into an active earthquake fault zone off the coast of Japan. University of Wisconsin-Madison geologist Harold Tobin co-led an expedition from Sept. 21-Nov. 16, 2007, to study deep oceanic earthquake faults and the geophysical processes that cause earthquakes and tsunamis.
Photo by: courtesy JAMSTEC/IODP
Date: 2007
300 DPI JPEG