![Strong and safe communities Strong and safe communities](/web/20061103003147im_/http://www.gsc.nrcan.gc.ca/esst_images/2002iscom_e.jpeg) Natural Resources Canada > Earth Sciences Sector > Priorities > Strong and safe communities > Geodynamics
Geodynamics
The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC)'s Geodynamics Program is housed
within the Sidney Subdivision of GSC: Pacific. We are located at the
Pacific Geoscience Centre (PGC), Sidney, British Columbia, Canada.
The Geodynamics Program provides information on contemporary movements
of the Earth's crust for studies of earthquake hazard and global change.
The surface of the Earth is constantly deforming in response to changes
in the forces acting on the Earth's crust. Using modern technology, this
deformation can be measured with ever-increasing precision thereby
providing new information crucial to studies of earthquake hazard and
global change.
In active seismic regions at plate margins, such as the west coast of
British Columbia, crustal deformation can be related directly to the
build-up of stress between tectonic plates. This accumulating stress is
eventually released in the form of very large earthquakes. Consequently,
monitoring and modelling the buckling and squeezing of the Earth's surface
in these areas, leads to a better understanding of earthquake processes
and provides clues as to where and when the next large earthquake is
likely to occur.
The global change component of the Geodynamics Program is focused on
the waxing and waning of the great ice sheets which caused the Earth's
surface to deform due to the tremendous weight of the ice. Current
research attempts to measure and model postglacial rebound and determine
the effect this crustal tilting will have on drainage patterns of lakes
and rivers. These global change studies also address the question of how
sea-level has changed and is changing.
|