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Shinohara Lab (Marine Seismology Group / Seafloor Seismic and Crustal Deformation Observation)
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The lab places seismometers on the seafloor to capture the movements of plate boundaries.
AboutAbout the lab
Going down to the seafloor to measure the movements of the Earth.
The Shinohara Lab is a marine seismology lab that focuses on seismic observation at sea.
The Earth's outer layer, made up of the crust and upper mantle, is considered the most active part of the planet.
Most of the plate boundaries, where this activity is most intense, now lie on the seafloor.
The lab places great importance on observing seismic activity in the field, and works on observations using ocean bottom seismometers and Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS), as well as on instrument development.
Key terms
- Island arc
- A chain of islands arranged in an arc along a trench. The Japanese archipelago is one example
- Ocean bottom seismometer
- An instrument placed on the seafloor that records ground shaking from earthquakes
- Plate boundary
- A place where plates meet, including trenches and mid-ocean ridges. Earthquakes occur there in large numbers
NewsLab news
Prof. Shinohara and researchers from the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED) received the Seismological Society of Japan Technology Development Award
A paper by Prof. Shinohara and colleagues was selected for Highlighted Papers 2025 in Earth, Planets and Space
Prof. Shinohara and colleagues received the 2023 Seismological Society of Japan Technology Development Award
A paper by a doctoral student and Prof. Shinohara and colleagues received the 2023 Seismological Society of Japan Paper Award
Prof. Shinohara received the 2023 Seismological Society of Japan Paper Award
ResearchResearch themes
Most of the plate boundaries, the most active parts of the Earth's surface, lie on the seafloor. Using seismological methods with high spatial resolution, the lab studies the dynamics of plate convergence zones such as trenches, island arcs, and back-arc basins through seafloor observations.
*Illustrative imageNatural Earthquake Observation at Sea
The lab places seismometers on the seafloor to observe naturally occurring earthquakes. Its basic approach is to go to the site and accurately understand what is happening at plate boundaries.
*Illustrative imageDevelopment of Marine Seismic Observation Systems
Technologically, ocean observation is a frontier field, and carrying out the intended experiments and observations also requires developing instruments. The lab conducts research on building seafloor seismic observation systems themselves.
*Illustrative imageStructure of the Mantle and Crust Beneath the Sea
The lab uses seismological methods at sea to investigate the structure of the mantle and crust beneath the ocean. Because island arcs are often located on land, the lab also conducts observations that span both marine and land areas.
MembersFaculty
- ProfessorMasanao ShinoharaPublications ↗
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RelatedLabs similar to Shinohara Lab (Marine Seismology Group / Seafloor Seismic and Crustal Deformation Observation)
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Ocean Bottom Seismometer made by ERI, U-Tokyo” Theodore Xu / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Natural Earthquake Observation at Sea: “GEOFLAMME cruise - Underwater photo of an Ocean-Bottom Seismometers (OBS) on the seafloor (Ifremer )” Ifremer / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Development of Marine Seismic Observation Systems: “Ocean Bottom Seismometer - Hongo Campus, the University of Tokyo - DSC04878” Daderot / CC0 (cropped)
- Structure of the Mantle and Crust Beneath the Sea: “OBS deployment” John Whitehead / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Park Lab (Marine Geology and Geophysics)): “Airgun-array hg” Hannes Grobe (talk) / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Baba Lab (Ocean Hemisphere Research Center)): “Ocean Bathymetry (NESDIS Bathymetry)” NOAA / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Mochizuki Lab (Marine Seismology)): “Test des sismomètres OBS (Ocean Bottom Seismometer) en bassin d'essais (Ifremer )” Olivier Dugornay (Ifremer) / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Takeuchi Lab): “Terrestrial Planet Interiors (Earth, Mars and Moon) - Artist's Concept” NASA/JPL-Caltech / Public domain (cropped)
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