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BOB HIRSHON (host):
Peering into earth’s core. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.
The Transportable Array is a network of 400 seismographs deployed in a grid across the United States. Together, they’re creating a subterranean snapshot.
KASEY ADERHOLD (Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology):
You can think of it as like a CAT scan of the earth.
HIRSHON:
That’s seismologist Kasey Aderhold, from the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology, or IRIS.
ADERHOLD:
These are all meant to be temporary, so they’re recording for at least two years, and that’s enough time to get enough earthquake data recorded at that station to image what’s beneath it.
HIRSHON:
Recently, she and her colleagues completed installation of 280 seismographs in Alaska, which will let them image huge sections of the earth that haven’t yet been explored. Revealing the planet’s hidden structure will help them understand volcanoes, earthquakes and plate tectonics. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.
Story by Bob Hirshon