SCEC Award Number 25057 View PDF
Proposal Category Collaborative Research Project (Multiple Investigators / Institutions)
Proposal Title Integrating a multi-parameter 3D thermal model of California and Nevada toward an open-sourced Community Thermal Model
Investigator(s)
Name Organization
Andrew Zuza University of Nevada, Reno Daniel Trugman University of Nevada, Reno
SCEC Milestones A1-1, A2-2, B3-1 SCEC Groups CEM, RC, PBS
Report Due Date 03/15/2026 Date Report Submitted 03/03/2026
Project Abstract
 Here, the research team consisting of PI Andrew Zuza, coPI Daniel Trugman, and PhD student Terry Lee we propose to further develop and refine a Community Thermal Model (CTM) for statewide California, including Nevada. This work satisfies a major research priority of the Statewide California Earthquake Center (SCEC) to expand the CTM to the statewide scale. Our research group was supported by SCEC last year (2024) to start developing a CTM based on multiple parameters, including surface heatlfow, mid-crust temperature constraints based on the spatial location of the base of the seismogenic crust, and geophysically constrained Moho depth and temperature. This multi-proxy framework is fit vertically with 1D conductive steady-state thermal profile at each pixel resolved via Monte Carlo simulations that consider reasonable thermal parameters. For this proposal, we aim to further refine this model, compare it to other published CTMs from southern California, and work with SCECs computer team to publish our CTM to SCEC’s Community Earth Model (CEM) web-based explorer. To engage the community and improve the accessibility and evaluation of our model, we also will release a source code to the public, hosted on online repositories, so that users can evaluate and modify our model with their own parameters and input constrains. Our CTM will enable the evaluation of crustal rheology and will provide insights into how the thermal structure impacts active deformation, earthquake processes, and seismic hazards along the plate boundary.
SCEC Community Models Used Community Thermal Model (CTM), Community Rheology Model (CRM)
Usage Description This work provides an updated Community Thermal Model (CTM) product that covers California and Nevada. It can be leveraged to build a Community Rheology Model. We build an online web portal to display the CTM products from different working groups.
Intellectual Merit This project delivered an open-source, multi-parameter 3D crustal thermal model spanning California and Nevada. By integrating surface heat flow, seismogenic thickness, Curie point depth, and Moho temperature constraints, the model provides high spatial resolution of crustal thermal structure across a tectonically complex region. A web-based Community Thermal Model (CTM) Explorer enables community-wide access to temperature profiles, cross-sections, and map slices. This framework supports SCEC priorities by linking crustal temperature to fault behavior, seismicity, rheology, and earthquake hazard assessment across the plate boundary.
Broader Impacts This work contributed to the broader goals of SCEC by constructing a crustal thermal model that encompasses the entire state of California. This work was led by a PhD student, whose training and growth was directly supported by this funding. Two early-mid career faculty started a new collaboration because of this support and project.
Project Participants PI Andrew Zuza (University of Nevada, Reno) and co-PI Daniel Trugman (University of Nevada, Reno) worked with graduate student Terry Lee (University of Nevada, Reno). We coordinated with SCEC computing staff Mei-Hui Su and Philip Maechling.
Exemplary Figure Figure 1 (abbreviated caption). (a) Oblique view of crustal temperature proxies in the western US, including surface heat flow, seismogenic thickness (D95), crustal thickness, and Moho temperature. (b) Schematic 1D steady-state crustal (orange) and lithospheric (red) thermal profiles from two proxy combinations. (c) Representative 1D thermal modeling result for the Salton Trough. (d–f) Temperature maps across Nevada and California at 10 km (d), 20 km (e), and Moho depths (f). Panel (d) includes geothermal power plants and <10 Ma igneous rocks. Thin black lines: Quaternary faults; dashed lines: tectonic domain boundaries. White/grey regions lack accepted results.
Linked Publications

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