page_title: Earthscope
section_title: Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO)
hierarchical_section_title: Earthscope / Observatories / Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO)
caption_attribution_description: Schematic representation of the SAFOD borehole and pilot hole. The background colors show the structure of the upper crust determined from surface profiling, with blue dots representing and the approximate locations of microearthquakes located by the USGS and UC Berkeley seismology laboratories. The drill site will be located sufficiently far from the San Andreas Fault (as determined by surface fault creep, imaging, and microearthquake locations) to allow for rotary drilling and coring through the entire fault zone starting at a depth of about 3 km and continuing until relatively undisturbed country rock is reached on the far side of the fault. The main SAFOD hole will be drilled at the same surface location as the pilot hole, but offset from the pilot hole by about 20 m.
context_page_description: Earthscope is an earth science program using geological and geophysical techniques to explore the structure and evolution of the North American continent and to understand the processes controlling earthquakes and volcanoes. The project has three components: USArray, the Plate Boundary Observatory, and the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth.
  The project is funded by the National Science Foundation, and the data produced is publicly accessible in real-time. Organizations associated with the project include UNAVCO, the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology, Stanford University, the United States Geological Survey and National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Several international organizations also contribute to the initiative.
context_section_description: The Plate Boundary Observatory PBO consists of a series of geodetic instruments, Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers and borehole strainmeters, that have been installed to help understand the boundary between the North American Plate and Pacific Plate. The PBO network includes several major observatory components: a network of 1100 permanent, continuously operating Global Positioning System (GPS) stations many of which provide data at high-rate and in real-time, 78 borehole seismometers, 74 borehole strainmeters, 26 shallow borehole tiltmeters, and six long baseline laser strainmeters. These instruments are complemented by InSAR (interferometric synthetic aperture radar) and LiDAR (light detection and ranging) imagery and geochronology acquired as part of the GeoEarthScope initiative. PBO also includes comprehensive data products, data management and education and outreach efforts. These permanent networks are supplemented by a pool of portable GPS receivers that can be deployed for temporary networks to researchers, to measure the crustal motion at a specific target or in response to a geologic event. The Plate Boundary Observatory portion of EarthScope is operated by UNAVCO, Inc. UNAVCO is a non-profit, university-governed consortium that facilitates research and education using geodesy.
caption: Schematic representation of the SAFOD main borehole and pilot hole
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