A Seismic Nodal Deployment on the Denali Fault in the Region of Canwell Glacier and the Alaska Pipeline, Central Alaska

The Denali fault is a continental-scale feature carving through the Alaska Range. It exhibits hundreds of kilometers of right-lateral displacement, and it most recently ruptured a 226 km section as part of a three-fault, 340 km rupture during the 2002 Mw 7.9 earthquake. Little is known about the subsurface structure of the Denali fault zone. In April 2016, a set of 189 nodal seismic sensors was deployed between the Richardson Highway and the toe of the Canwell Glacier. The sensors recorded continuously for about three weeks. Here, we provide an introduction to this dataset and a preliminary analysis using local earthquakes and ambient noise. The array shows clear sensitivity to fault-zone structures that are aligned with the 2002 surface rupture. We identify opportunities for more expansive analyses with the 2016 data, and we provide recommendations for a future possible deployment in the same region.