A pulse on the pulse of Canada
By Lauren Plews

OTTAWA — In a small office at Carleton university all it takes is the click of a mouse to see every move Canada makes.

Dr. Gail Atkinson is a geophysicist at Carleton University. She is part of the Polaris Consortium. For the past three years, Atkinson and a group of scientists from across the country have been studying earthquakes around the world, in particular Canada.

A Polaris unit. The seismograph is in the metal drum.

The goal of the consortium is to reach a better understanding of these disasters. Not only will the results of their study possibly lead to better warning systems but it may be a new way to discover diamonds in the North West Territories and other parts of Canada.

The consortium is a group of three arrays in Ontario, B.C. and the North West Territories. Each array is made up of thirty seismographs placed in remote locations. Each satellite-linked seismograph allows Atkinson to see earthquakes occur in real time across the country and the world.

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