Publications

A 1200 km-long transform plate boundary passes through southeastern Alaska and northwestern British Columbia and represents one of the most seismically active, but poorly understood continental margins of North America. Although most of the plate motion is accommodated by the right-lateral Queen Charlotte–Fairweather Fault (QCFF) System, which has produced at least six M > 7 earthquakes since 1920

The coastal marine ecosystem near the Elwha River was altered by a massive sediment influx—over 10 million tonnes—during the staged three-year removal of two hydropower dams. We used time series of bathymetry, substrate grain size, remotely sensed turbidity, scuba dive surveys, and towed video observations collected before and during dam removal to assess responses of the nearshore subtidal commun

Connectivity among individual marine protected areas (MPAs) is one of the most important considerations in the design of integrated MPA networks. To provide such information for managers in Hawaii, USA, a numerical circulation model was developed to determine the role of ocean currents in transporting coral larvae from natal reefs throughout the high volcanic islands of the Maui Nui island complex

Many low-elevation, coral reef-lined, tropical coasts are vulnerable to the effects of climate change, sea level rise, and wave-induced flooding. The considerable morphological diversity of these coasts and the variability of the hydrodynamic forcing that they are exposed to make predicting wave-induced flooding a challenge. A process-based wave-resolving hydrodynamic model (XBeach Non-Hydrostatic

Applying probabilistic methods to infrequent but devastating natural events is intrinsically challenging. For tsunami analyses, a suite of geophysical assessments should be in principle evaluated because of the different causes generating tsunamis (earthquakes, landslides, volcanic activity, meteorological events, and asteroid impacts) with varying mean recurrence rates. Probabilistic Tsunami Haza

The 2010 Mw 7.2 El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake is the largest event recorded in the broader Southern California-Baja California region in the last 18 years. Here we try to analyze primary features of this type of event by using dynamic rupture simulations based on a multifault interface and later compare our results with space geodetic models. Our results show that starting from homogeneous prestress

Gold colloids occur in black smoker fluids from the Niua South hydrothermal vent field, Lau Basin (South Pacific Ocean), confirming the long-standing hypothesis that gold may undergo colloidal transport in hydrothermal fluids. Six black smoker vents, varying in temperature from 250 °C to 325 °C, were sampled; the 325 °C vent was boiling at the time of sampling and the 250 °C fluids were diffusely

Ocean acidification (OA), the gradual decline in ocean pH and [ ] caused by rising levels of atmospheric CO2, poses a significant threat to coral reef ecosystems, depressing rates of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) production, and enhancing rates of bioerosion and dissolution. As ocean pH and [ ] decline globally, there is increasing emphasis on managing local stressors that can exacerbate the vulnerabi

The Kimki Ridge fluid seeps are located in western Catalina Basin about 60 km southwest of the southern California mainland and at a water depth of approximately 1100 m. Multichannel seismic reflection profiles collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 2014 show acoustic transparency within the Kimki Ridge, suggesting the possibility of fluid seeps and possible sub-seafloor fluid pathways.

The pollen assemblage of a deep-sea core (15G) collected at lower bathyal depths (3491 m) on a levee of Monterey Canyon off central California was investigated to gain insights into the delivery processes of terrigenous material to submarine fans and the effect this transport has on the palynological record. Thirty-two samples were obtained down the length of the core, 19 from hemipelagic and mixe

Water levels around river mouths are intrinsically determined by sea level and river discharge. If storm-associated coastal water-level anomalies coincide with extreme river discharge, landscapes near river mouths will be flooded by the hydrodynamic interactions of these two water masses. Unfortunately, the temporal relationships between ocean and river water masses are not well understood. The co

The sources of terrestrial material delivered to the California margin over the past 7 Myr were assessed using 187Os/188Os, Nd, and Pb isotopes in hydrogenetic ferromanganese crusts from three seamounts along the central and southern California margin. From 6.8 to 4.5 (± 0.5) Ma, all three isotope systems show more radiogenic values at Davidson Seamount, located near the base of the Monterey Canyo