Amy East
I study how landscapes change over time, focusing on response to hydroclimatic and anthropogenic disturbances. These studies inform resource management as well as fundamental understanding of earth-surface processes. I am also interested in how sediment moves from source to sink, and how the sedimentary record reflects changes in sediment supply and transport.
Research Topics
Landscape Response to Climate Change
Climatic changes associated with modern global warming have been documented widely, but physical landscape responses are poorly understood. Landscape signals of modern climate change relate to human health and safety, infrastructure, water security, and ecosystems. Our project investigates landscape responses to modern climate change, primarily in the western US, focusing on slope failures, watershed sediment yields, river morphology, and aeolian (wind-blown) sediment mobilization.
Post-Fire Sediment Mobilization
Watershed sediment yields increase after fire, but by how much and with what driving factors is not well understood for some regions. Our group studies several CA wildfires, monitoring sediment yield and related processes. We have studied landscape change after seven California fires spanning 2016 to 2022.
Effects of Large Dam Removal
Colleagues and I have studied river response to large dam removals on the Elwha River, WA, and Carmel River, CA, and study the Klamath River (CA and OR) preparing for dam removals there. I helped lead a USGS Powell Center working group on the state of dam-removal science.
Landscape Response to Hydroclimatic Extremes
Western US landscapes export large sediment fluxes, due to steep terrain, tectonic activity, and potential for extreme rain. I study landscape response to hydroclimatic disturbances—drought and extreme rain. We studied sediment export from the San Lorenzo River, CA, from record rainfall in 2017; and debris flows caused by intense rain in 2018 over the Tuolumne basin. Understanding such disturbances is critical to constraining effects of extreme events on landscapes and sediment budgets.
Landscape Evolution in the Colorado River Ecosystem
From 2003 to 2017 I studied connectivity among fluvial, aeolian, and hillslope processes in the Colorado River corridor, AZ. Since 1963, dam operations have altered flows and sediment supply in the Colorado River, Grand Canyon National Park. Loss of sandbars in the dammed river reduces windblown sand supply to aeolian dunes, affecting archaeological-site stability and ecosystem properties.
Aeolian Landscape Stability
Our work quantified sediment accumulation and landscape stability in areas of the California desert considered for solar-energy projects. I also studied aeolian landscapes on the Navajo Nation, where during drought wind-blown sand mobility has destabilized ground surfaces, endangering housing and transportation, jeopardizing grazing lands, and impacting air quality.
Professional Experience
Research Geologist, 2006-present: USGS Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Santa Cruz, CA, Principal Investigator of Landscape Response to Disturbance project
Editor-in-Chief, January 2019-present: Journal of Geophysical Research, Earth Surface
Postdoctoral Researcher, 2003-2006: USGS/UC Santa Cruz
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Geology and Geophysics, 2003: MIT/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
B.S., Geological Sciences, 1997: Tufts University
Science and Products
Modern landscape processes affecting archaeological sites along the Colorado River corridor downstream of Glen Canyon Dam, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Arizona
Dam removal: Listening in
Linking fluvial and aeolian morphodynamics in the Grand Canyon, USA
Channel-planform evolution in four rivers of Olympic National Park, Washington, U.S.A.: The roles of physical drivers and trophic cascades
Conditions and processes affecting sand resources at archeological sites in the Colorado River corridor below Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona
Large-scale dam removal on the Elwha River, Washington, USA: river channel and floodplain geomorphic change
Large-scale dam removal on the Elwha River, Washington, USA: source-to-sink sediment budget and synthesis
Understanding landscape responses to sediment supply changes constitutes a fundamental part of many problems in geomorphology, but opportunities to study such processes at field scales are rare. The phased removal of two large dams on the Elwha River, Washington, exposed 21 ± 3 million m3, or ~ 30 million tonnes (t), of sediment that had been deposited in the two former reservoirs, allowing a comp
Sedimentology of new fluvial deposits on the Elwha River, Washington, USA, formed during large-scale dam removal
Gully annealing by aeolian sediment: field and remote-sensing investigation of aeolian-hillslope-fluvial interactions, Colorado River corridor, Arizona, USA
Differential preservation in the geologic record of intraoceanic arc sedimentary and tectonic processes
Recent seasonal variations in arid landscape cover and aeolian sand mobility, Navajo Nation, southwestern U.S.
Vegetation, substrate, and eolian sediment transport at Teesto Wash, Navajo Nation, 2009-2012
Non-USGS Publications**
ISSN: 0197-9337 , 1096-9837 (online) , 1096-9837; DOI: 10.1002/esp.5561
Draut, A.E., and Clift, P.D., 2001, Geochemical evolution of arc magmatism during arc-continent collision, South Mayo, Ireland: Geology v. 29 (6): 543–546. doi: 10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029<0543:GEOAMD>2.0.CO;2
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
Modern landscape processes affecting archaeological sites along the Colorado River corridor downstream of Glen Canyon Dam, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Arizona
Dam removal: Listening in
Linking fluvial and aeolian morphodynamics in the Grand Canyon, USA
Channel-planform evolution in four rivers of Olympic National Park, Washington, U.S.A.: The roles of physical drivers and trophic cascades
Conditions and processes affecting sand resources at archeological sites in the Colorado River corridor below Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona
Large-scale dam removal on the Elwha River, Washington, USA: river channel and floodplain geomorphic change
Large-scale dam removal on the Elwha River, Washington, USA: source-to-sink sediment budget and synthesis
Understanding landscape responses to sediment supply changes constitutes a fundamental part of many problems in geomorphology, but opportunities to study such processes at field scales are rare. The phased removal of two large dams on the Elwha River, Washington, exposed 21 ± 3 million m3, or ~ 30 million tonnes (t), of sediment that had been deposited in the two former reservoirs, allowing a comp
Sedimentology of new fluvial deposits on the Elwha River, Washington, USA, formed during large-scale dam removal
Gully annealing by aeolian sediment: field and remote-sensing investigation of aeolian-hillslope-fluvial interactions, Colorado River corridor, Arizona, USA
Differential preservation in the geologic record of intraoceanic arc sedimentary and tectonic processes
Recent seasonal variations in arid landscape cover and aeolian sand mobility, Navajo Nation, southwestern U.S.
Vegetation, substrate, and eolian sediment transport at Teesto Wash, Navajo Nation, 2009-2012
Non-USGS Publications**
ISSN: 0197-9337 , 1096-9837 (online) , 1096-9837; DOI: 10.1002/esp.5561
Draut, A.E., and Clift, P.D., 2001, Geochemical evolution of arc magmatism during arc-continent collision, South Mayo, Ireland: Geology v. 29 (6): 543–546. doi: 10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029<0543:GEOAMD>2.0.CO;2
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.