convener:Naoji Koizumi(School of Environmental Science,the University of Shiga Prefecture), Makoto Yamano(Earthquake Research Institute, the University of Tokyo), Takafumi Kasaya(Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology), Hideki Hamamoto(Center for Environmental Science in Saitama)

An active fault causes a large earthquake at a very low frequency such as once every several thousand to tens of thousands years and destroys the surrounding environment. On the other hand, during the period when the large earthquake or the fault movement does not occur, the unique environments such as mountains, basins, structural lakes, hot springs and mineral deposits are formed and maintained by the topography and hydrogeological structure made by the accumulation of the fault movement. In general, the presence of active faults is recognized as a factor of environmental destruction, but it is also necessary to understand the active faults as a factor of environmental formation and maintenance. In this session, we welcome wide-ranging topics on the role of active faults as a factor for the formation and maintenance of the environment and how to investigate it.