SSA 2026 Session: Linking Subduction Zone Processes and Cascading Hazards in Alaska, Cascadia, Chile, and Beyond

[Jiang, Junle]

We invite you to submit abstracts to our session at the SSA 2026 Annual Meeting in Pasadena, California (April 14–18). Abstract submission deadline: January 13, 2026, 11:59 PM Pacific Time (US).

Session details:

Linking Subduction Zone Processes and Cascading Hazards in Alaska, Cascadia, Chile, and Beyond

Subduction zone environments host some of the most dynamic interactions between geological processes and structures, from the deep to the shallow and surface, and across timescales from seconds to millennia and beyond. Subduction zone hazards arise from and catalyze the enduring tectonic changes, often involving cascading, interlinked occurrences of earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, landslides, and land-level changes that pose significant risks to society. Some of these hazards, such as joint ruptures of the subduction interface along with the upper/lower-plate faults, remain underobserved but complicate risk assessment. To illuminate the structure, source dynamics, and hazard impacts in subduction zones, it is essential to integrate observations and models spanning a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. The deeper insights gained from comparing and contrasting the behaviors of archetypal convergent margins underpin the development of a systems-based framework for improving our predictive understanding of subduction zones.

This session is motivated by SZ4D (www.sz4d.org), a community-driven initiative for a long-term, interdisciplinary research program aimed at understanding how the different components of subduction zone systems interact to produce and magnify geohazards over time. We invite new contributions to studies of subduction zone systems globally, on topics including, but not limited to, sensing technologies, imaging, modeling, and interpretation studies for faults and earthquakes (particularly linked ruptures of megathrust and crustal faults), lithosphere and asthenosphere, volcanoes, landscapes, and associated geohazards and risk evaluation, across seismology, geodesy, geology, engineering, and other related fields. Observational, theoretical, computational, and laboratory studies on the SZ4D focus areas of Alaska, Cascadia, and Chile, as well as other subduction zones offering relevant insights, are particularly welcome.

Conveners

Geoffrey Abers, Cornell University

Tiegan E Hobbs, Geological Survey of Canada

Andrew Howell, University of Canterbury

Junle Jiang, The University of Oklahoma

Duo Li, Earth Sciences New Zealand

Camilla Penney, University of Canterbury

Chris Rollins, GNS Science

Ignacio Sepulveda, San Diego State University

Lingling Ye, Southern University of Science and Technology

Iris van Zelst, University of Edinburgh

On behalf of the conveners, 

Junle

Junle Jiang
Assistant Professor of Geophysics
School of Geosciences
The University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA