The Cascadia Offshore Subduction Zone Observatory (COSZO) is an National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Mid-scale Research Infrastructure (RI-1) implementation project. Scientists and engineers from the University of Washington School of Oceanography, Department of Earth and Space Sciences, and Applied Physics Laboratory and the Scripps School of Oceanography will add geophysical instrumentation to the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) Regional Cabled Array (RCA) off the coast of Oregon.

The OOI RCA, established in 2015, was originally positioned on the continental margin to support coast oceanography. It is also fortuitously located in a region of geophysical significance where the locked region of the Cascadia fault extends well offshore and clusters of earthquakes occur beneath the continental shelf.

The geophysical sensor suite will collect continuous, high-fidelity data to enable the scientific community to address fundamental questions on how subduction zone faults work and provide a facility to support the development of offshore early warning.

NSF announcement of COSZO award

UW College of the Environment announcement of COSZO Award