Richard Blakely
Richard is a Scientist Emeritus with the Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center. He focuses on the application of gravity, magnetic, and other geophysical methods to address a variety of earth science issues in the Western United States.
After graduation from Stanford, he served as Assistant Professor in the School of Oceanography at OSU. He joined the USGS in 1975, becoming Senior Scientist six years before retiring from the USGS in 2016. As an Emeritus Research Geophysicist, Richard uses potential-field (gravity and magnetic) and other geophysical methods to help address national earth science issues in the Western United States. His recent research focuses on mapping and characterizing hazardous faults in the Cascadia subduction zone, assessing mineral resources in the Basin and Range, and estimating ground-water resources of the arid southwest US.
Professional Experience
2016-present, Research Geophysicist Emeritus, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA
2010-2016, Senior Scientist, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA
1975-2010, Research Geophysicist, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA
2005-2006, Chief, Geophysical Unit of Menlo Park (GUMP), U.S. Geological Survey
1990-1993, Adjunct Professor, School of Oceanography, Oregon State University
1988-1991, Chief, Crustal Dynamics Section, Branch of Geophysics, U.S. Geological Survey
1978-1979, 1986-1987, Consulting Professor, Department of Geophysics, Stanford University
1973-1975, Assistant Professor, School of Oceanography, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
1972-1973, Research Associate, School of Oceanography, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
1972, Research Associate, Stanford University
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Geophysics, Stanford University, 1972
M.S., Geophysics, Stanford University, 1971
B.S., General Science, Oregon State University, 1968
Affiliations and Memberships*
USGS Innovation Center Advisory Group (ICAG), 2016-present
CSIRO (Australia) Deep Earth Imaging Advisory Panel, 2016-2020
President and President-Elect, Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Section, AGU, 2008-2012
AGU Council, 2008-2012
Assoc. Editor, Journal of Geophysical Research, 1987-1990
Assoc. Editor, Reviews of Geophysics and Space Physics, 1985-1988
Assoc. Editor, U.S. National Report (GP Section) to the IUGG, 1985-1987
Honors and Awards
Fellow, American Geophysical Union, 2003
Fellow, Geological Society of America, 1987
Meritorious Service Award, Dept. of Interior, 1994
Shoemaker Award for Communications Product Excellence
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 20
Mineral resource potential map of the Blanco Mountain and Black Canyon Roadless Areas, Inyo and Mono Counties, California
On the basis of geologic, geochemical, and geophysical investigations and a survey of mines and prospects, the mineral resource potential for gold, silver, lead, zinc, tungsten, and barite of the Blanco Mountain and Black Canyon Roadless Areas is judged to be low to moderate, except for one local area that has high potential for gold and tungsten resources. A geochemical survey detected...
Map and interpretation of aeromagnetic data for the Wild Rogue Wilderness, Coos and Curry Counties, Oregon
The Wild Rogue Wilderness is located in Coos and Curry Counties, southwestern Oregon and covers part of the Bone Mountain, Marial, and Agness 15-minute quadrangles (fig. 1). It is an elongate area 19 mi by 1 to 3 mi (31 km by 1.3 to 5 km) and covers approximately 35,818 acres extending from the town of Agness to Mount Bolivar. The mapped geology of the Wild Rogue Wilderness (Gray and...
Maps showing aeromagnetic data and interpretation for the Kalmiopsis Wilderness, southwestern Oregon
The distinctive magnetic properties of the major rock types in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness of southwestern Oregon facilitate interpretation of aeromagenetic data. The region is composed of tectonic slices of magnetic ultramafic, gabboric, and other ophiolitic rocks faulted against the realitively nonmagnetic Dothan Formation, the equivalent of the Franciscan Complex of Western California...
Mineral resource potential map of the Kalmiopsis Wilderness, southwestern Oregon
Under the provisions of the Wilderness Act (Public Law 88-577, September 3, 1964) and the Joint conference Report on Senate Bill 4, 88th Congress, the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Bureau of Mines have been conducting mineral surveys of wilderness and primitive areas. Areas officially designated as "wilderness," wild," or "canoe" when the act was passed were incorporated into the...
Filter Total Items: 120
High-resolution seismic reflection imaging of growth folding and shallow faults beneath the Southern Puget Lowland, Washington State
Marine seismic reflection data from southern Puget Sound, Washington, were collected to investigate the nature of shallow structures associated with the Tacoma fault zone and the Olympia structure. Growth folding and probable Holocene surface deformation were imaged within the Tacoma fault zone beneath Case and Carr Inlets. Shallow faults near potential field anomalies associated with...
Authors
Jackson K. Odum, William J. Stephenson, Thomas L. Pratt, Richard J. Blakely
Basement domain map of the conterminous United States and Alaska
The basement-domain map is a compilation of basement domains in the conterminous United States and Alaska designed to be used at 1:5,000,000-scale, particularly as a base layer for national-scale mineral resource assessments. Seventy-seven basement domains are represented as eighty-three polygons on the map. The domains are based on interpretations of basement composition, origin, and...
Authors
Karen Lund, Stephen E. Box, Christopher S. Holm-Denoma, Carma A. San Juan, Richard J. Blakely, Richard Saltus, Eric D. Anderson, Ed Dewitt
Tectonic evolution of the Tualatin basin, northwest Oregon, as revealed by inversion of gravity data
The Tualatin basin, west of Portland (Oregon, USA), coincides with a 110 mGal gravity low along the Puget-Willamette lowland. New gravity measurements (n = 3000) reveal a three-dimensional (3-D) subsurface geometry suggesting early development as a fault-bounded pull-apart basin. A strong northwest-trending gravity gradient coincides with the Gales Creek fault, which forms the...
Authors
Darcy McPhee, Victoria E. Langenheim, Ray E. Wells, Richard J. Blakely
The Wallula fault and tectonic framework of south-central Washington, as interpreted from magnetic and gravity anomalies
The Yakima fold and thrust belt (YFTB) in central Washington has accommodated regional, mostly north-directed, deformation of the Cascadia backarc since prior to emplacement of Miocene flood basalt of the Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG). The YFTB consists of two structural domains. Northern folds of the YFTB strike eastward and terminate at the western margin of a 20-mGal negative...
Authors
Richard J. Blakely, Brian Sherrod, Craig S. Weaver, Ray E. Wells, Alan C. Rohay
Holocene faulting in the Bellingham forearc basin: Upper-plate deformation at the northern end of the Cascadia subduction zone
The northern Cascadia forearc takes up most of the strain transmitted northward via the Oregon Coast block from the northward-migrating Sierra Nevada block. The north-south contractional strain in the forearc manifests in upper-plate faults active during the Holocene, the northern-most components of which are faults within the Bellingham Basin. The Bellingham Basin is the northern of...
Authors
Harvey M. Kelsey, Brian Sherrod, Richard J. Blakely, Ralph A. Haugerud
Structural evolution of the east Sierra Valley system (Owens Valley and vicinity), California: a geologic and geophysical synthesis
The tectonically active East Sierra Valley System (ESVS), which comprises the westernmost part of the Walker Lane-Eastern California Shear Zone, marks the boundary between the highly extended Basin and Range Province and the largely coherent Sierra Nevada-Great Valley microplate (SN-GVm), which is moving relatively NW. The recent history of the ESVS is characterized by oblique extension...
Authors
Calvin H. Stevens, Paul Stone, Richard J. Blakely
Tectonic setting of the Wooded Island earthquake swarm, eastern Washington
Magnetic anomalies provide insights into the tectonic implications of a swarm of ~1500 shallow (~1 km deep) earthquakes that occurred in 2009 on the Hanford site,Washington. Epicenters were concentrated in a 2 km2 area nearWooded Island in the Columbia River. The largest earthquake (M 3.0) had first motions consistent with slip on a northwest-striking reverse fault. The swarm was...
Authors
Richard J. Blakely, Brian Sherrod, Craig S. Weaver, Alan C. Rohay, Ray E. Wells
Miocene magmatism in the Bodie Hills volcanic field, California and Nevada: A long-lived eruptive center in the southern segment of the ancestral Cascades arc
The Middle to Late Miocene Bodie Hills volcanic field is a >700 km2, long-lived (∼9 Ma) but episodic eruptive center in the southern segment of the ancestral Cascades arc north of Mono Lake (California, U.S.). It consists of ∼20 major eruptive units, including 4 trachyandesite stratovolcanoes emplaced along the margins of the field, and numerous, more centrally located silicic...
Authors
David A. John, Edward A. du Bray, Richard J. Blakely, Robert J. Fleck, Peter Vikre, Stephen E. Box, Barry C. Moring
Subducted seamounts and recent earthquakes beneath the central Cascadia forearc
Bathymetry and magnetic anomalies indicate that a seamount on the Juan de Fuca plate has been subducted beneath the central Cascadia accretionary complex and is now located ∼45 km landward of the deformation front. Passage of this seamount through the accretionary complex has resulted in a pattern of uplift followed by subsidence that has had a profound influence on slope morphology, gas...
Authors
Anne Trehu, Richard J. Blakely, Mark W. Williams
The western limits of the Seattle fault zone and its interaction with the Olympic Peninsula, Washington
We present evidence that the Seattle fault zone of Washington State extends to the west edge of the Puget Lowland and is kinemati-cally linked to active faults that border the Olympic Massif, including the Saddle Moun-tain deformation zone. Newly acquired high-resolution seismic reflection and marine magnetic data suggest that the Seattle fault zone extends west beyond the Seattle Basin...
Authors
A.P. Lamb, Lee M. Liberty, Richard J. Blakely, Thomas L. Pratt, B.L. Sherrod, K. Van Wijk
Connecting the Yakima fold and thrust belt to active faults in the Puget Lowland, Washington
High-resolution aeromagnetic surveys of the Cascade Range and Yakima fold and thrust belt (YFTB), Washington, provide insights on tectonic connections between forearc and back-arc regions of the Cascadia convergent margin. Magnetic surveys were measured at a nominal altitude of 250 m above terrain and along flight lines spaced 400 m apart. Upper crustal rocks in this region have diverse...
Authors
Richard J. Blakely, B.L. Sherrod, C.S. Weaver, Ray E. Wells, A.C. Rohay, E. A. Barnett, N.E. Knepprath
Unique geologic insights from "non-unique" gravity and magnetic interpretation
Interpretation of gravity and magnetic anomalies is mathematically non-unique because multiple theoretical solutions are always possible. The rigorous mathematical label of "nonuniqueness" can lead to the erroneous impression that no single interpretation is better in a geologic sense than any other. The purpose of this article is to present a practical perspective on the theoretical non...
Authors
R.W. Saltus, Richard J. Blakely
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 20
Mineral resource potential map of the Blanco Mountain and Black Canyon Roadless Areas, Inyo and Mono Counties, California
On the basis of geologic, geochemical, and geophysical investigations and a survey of mines and prospects, the mineral resource potential for gold, silver, lead, zinc, tungsten, and barite of the Blanco Mountain and Black Canyon Roadless Areas is judged to be low to moderate, except for one local area that has high potential for gold and tungsten resources. A geochemical survey detected...
Map and interpretation of aeromagnetic data for the Wild Rogue Wilderness, Coos and Curry Counties, Oregon
The Wild Rogue Wilderness is located in Coos and Curry Counties, southwestern Oregon and covers part of the Bone Mountain, Marial, and Agness 15-minute quadrangles (fig. 1). It is an elongate area 19 mi by 1 to 3 mi (31 km by 1.3 to 5 km) and covers approximately 35,818 acres extending from the town of Agness to Mount Bolivar. The mapped geology of the Wild Rogue Wilderness (Gray and...
Maps showing aeromagnetic data and interpretation for the Kalmiopsis Wilderness, southwestern Oregon
The distinctive magnetic properties of the major rock types in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness of southwestern Oregon facilitate interpretation of aeromagenetic data. The region is composed of tectonic slices of magnetic ultramafic, gabboric, and other ophiolitic rocks faulted against the realitively nonmagnetic Dothan Formation, the equivalent of the Franciscan Complex of Western California...
Mineral resource potential map of the Kalmiopsis Wilderness, southwestern Oregon
Under the provisions of the Wilderness Act (Public Law 88-577, September 3, 1964) and the Joint conference Report on Senate Bill 4, 88th Congress, the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Bureau of Mines have been conducting mineral surveys of wilderness and primitive areas. Areas officially designated as "wilderness," wild," or "canoe" when the act was passed were incorporated into the...
Filter Total Items: 120
High-resolution seismic reflection imaging of growth folding and shallow faults beneath the Southern Puget Lowland, Washington State
Marine seismic reflection data from southern Puget Sound, Washington, were collected to investigate the nature of shallow structures associated with the Tacoma fault zone and the Olympia structure. Growth folding and probable Holocene surface deformation were imaged within the Tacoma fault zone beneath Case and Carr Inlets. Shallow faults near potential field anomalies associated with...
Authors
Jackson K. Odum, William J. Stephenson, Thomas L. Pratt, Richard J. Blakely
Basement domain map of the conterminous United States and Alaska
The basement-domain map is a compilation of basement domains in the conterminous United States and Alaska designed to be used at 1:5,000,000-scale, particularly as a base layer for national-scale mineral resource assessments. Seventy-seven basement domains are represented as eighty-three polygons on the map. The domains are based on interpretations of basement composition, origin, and...
Authors
Karen Lund, Stephen E. Box, Christopher S. Holm-Denoma, Carma A. San Juan, Richard J. Blakely, Richard Saltus, Eric D. Anderson, Ed Dewitt
Tectonic evolution of the Tualatin basin, northwest Oregon, as revealed by inversion of gravity data
The Tualatin basin, west of Portland (Oregon, USA), coincides with a 110 mGal gravity low along the Puget-Willamette lowland. New gravity measurements (n = 3000) reveal a three-dimensional (3-D) subsurface geometry suggesting early development as a fault-bounded pull-apart basin. A strong northwest-trending gravity gradient coincides with the Gales Creek fault, which forms the...
Authors
Darcy McPhee, Victoria E. Langenheim, Ray E. Wells, Richard J. Blakely
The Wallula fault and tectonic framework of south-central Washington, as interpreted from magnetic and gravity anomalies
The Yakima fold and thrust belt (YFTB) in central Washington has accommodated regional, mostly north-directed, deformation of the Cascadia backarc since prior to emplacement of Miocene flood basalt of the Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG). The YFTB consists of two structural domains. Northern folds of the YFTB strike eastward and terminate at the western margin of a 20-mGal negative...
Authors
Richard J. Blakely, Brian Sherrod, Craig S. Weaver, Ray E. Wells, Alan C. Rohay
Holocene faulting in the Bellingham forearc basin: Upper-plate deformation at the northern end of the Cascadia subduction zone
The northern Cascadia forearc takes up most of the strain transmitted northward via the Oregon Coast block from the northward-migrating Sierra Nevada block. The north-south contractional strain in the forearc manifests in upper-plate faults active during the Holocene, the northern-most components of which are faults within the Bellingham Basin. The Bellingham Basin is the northern of...
Authors
Harvey M. Kelsey, Brian Sherrod, Richard J. Blakely, Ralph A. Haugerud
Structural evolution of the east Sierra Valley system (Owens Valley and vicinity), California: a geologic and geophysical synthesis
The tectonically active East Sierra Valley System (ESVS), which comprises the westernmost part of the Walker Lane-Eastern California Shear Zone, marks the boundary between the highly extended Basin and Range Province and the largely coherent Sierra Nevada-Great Valley microplate (SN-GVm), which is moving relatively NW. The recent history of the ESVS is characterized by oblique extension...
Authors
Calvin H. Stevens, Paul Stone, Richard J. Blakely
Tectonic setting of the Wooded Island earthquake swarm, eastern Washington
Magnetic anomalies provide insights into the tectonic implications of a swarm of ~1500 shallow (~1 km deep) earthquakes that occurred in 2009 on the Hanford site,Washington. Epicenters were concentrated in a 2 km2 area nearWooded Island in the Columbia River. The largest earthquake (M 3.0) had first motions consistent with slip on a northwest-striking reverse fault. The swarm was...
Authors
Richard J. Blakely, Brian Sherrod, Craig S. Weaver, Alan C. Rohay, Ray E. Wells
Miocene magmatism in the Bodie Hills volcanic field, California and Nevada: A long-lived eruptive center in the southern segment of the ancestral Cascades arc
The Middle to Late Miocene Bodie Hills volcanic field is a >700 km2, long-lived (∼9 Ma) but episodic eruptive center in the southern segment of the ancestral Cascades arc north of Mono Lake (California, U.S.). It consists of ∼20 major eruptive units, including 4 trachyandesite stratovolcanoes emplaced along the margins of the field, and numerous, more centrally located silicic...
Authors
David A. John, Edward A. du Bray, Richard J. Blakely, Robert J. Fleck, Peter Vikre, Stephen E. Box, Barry C. Moring
Subducted seamounts and recent earthquakes beneath the central Cascadia forearc
Bathymetry and magnetic anomalies indicate that a seamount on the Juan de Fuca plate has been subducted beneath the central Cascadia accretionary complex and is now located ∼45 km landward of the deformation front. Passage of this seamount through the accretionary complex has resulted in a pattern of uplift followed by subsidence that has had a profound influence on slope morphology, gas...
Authors
Anne Trehu, Richard J. Blakely, Mark W. Williams
The western limits of the Seattle fault zone and its interaction with the Olympic Peninsula, Washington
We present evidence that the Seattle fault zone of Washington State extends to the west edge of the Puget Lowland and is kinemati-cally linked to active faults that border the Olympic Massif, including the Saddle Moun-tain deformation zone. Newly acquired high-resolution seismic reflection and marine magnetic data suggest that the Seattle fault zone extends west beyond the Seattle Basin...
Authors
A.P. Lamb, Lee M. Liberty, Richard J. Blakely, Thomas L. Pratt, B.L. Sherrod, K. Van Wijk
Connecting the Yakima fold and thrust belt to active faults in the Puget Lowland, Washington
High-resolution aeromagnetic surveys of the Cascade Range and Yakima fold and thrust belt (YFTB), Washington, provide insights on tectonic connections between forearc and back-arc regions of the Cascadia convergent margin. Magnetic surveys were measured at a nominal altitude of 250 m above terrain and along flight lines spaced 400 m apart. Upper crustal rocks in this region have diverse...
Authors
Richard J. Blakely, B.L. Sherrod, C.S. Weaver, Ray E. Wells, A.C. Rohay, E. A. Barnett, N.E. Knepprath
Unique geologic insights from "non-unique" gravity and magnetic interpretation
Interpretation of gravity and magnetic anomalies is mathematically non-unique because multiple theoretical solutions are always possible. The rigorous mathematical label of "nonuniqueness" can lead to the erroneous impression that no single interpretation is better in a geologic sense than any other. The purpose of this article is to present a practical perspective on the theoretical non...
Authors
R.W. Saltus, Richard J. Blakely
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government