Seismo Lab Seminar

This presentation will showcase some new results from three recent DAS and nodal experiments from the South Island of New Zealand. This will include two dark fiber experiments: SISSLE and FISSLE and one DAS acquisition in the DFDP-2 (Deep Fault Drilling Project) borehole.

SISSLE (South Island Seismology at the Speed of Light Experiment) utilized ~30 km of fiber perpendicular across the Alpine Fault. Data from this DAS array, together with 24 100m-spaced nodal seismometers, allow for detailed insight into the structure of the plate bounding fault. A new experiment, ‘DASH', was a targeted, short duration in May 2026 to target seismicity and near-surface hydrological responses at the ~820m deep DFDP-2B borehole into the Alpine Fault in the Whataroa Valley, New Zealand. FISSLE (Fiordland Seismological Sounding of Landslides and Earthquakes) was a ~31.5 km DAS array in the Fiordland region in the southwestern South Island of New Zealand recording along the scenic Milford Road. DAS data during the 2024 Austral winter allowed for insights into the timings and characterization of avalanches, both triggered and natural.

Our results demonstrate the potential of DAS arrays as a low‐cost, continuous seismic monitoring system for many different phenomena from snow avalanche and earthquakes to fault characterization in the remote alpine environment of New Zealand Aotearoa.