Publications

Cassini radar images show a variety of fluvial channels on Titan's surface, often several hundreds of kilometers in length. Some (predominantly at low- and mid-latitude) are radar-bright and braided, resembling desert washes where fines have been removed by energetic surface liquid flow, presumably from methane rainstorms. Others (predominantly at high latitudes) are radar-dark and...

Prediction of the runout distance of a debris flow is an important element in the delineation of potentially hazardous areas on alluvial fans and for the siting of mitigation structures. Existing runout estimation methods rely on input parameters that are often difficult to estimate, including volume, velocity, and frictional factors. In order to provide a simple method for preliminary...

Volcanic eruptions and other potentially hazardous natural phenomena occur independently of any human actions. However, such phenomena can cause disasters when a society fails to foresee the hazardous manifestations and adopt adequate measures to reduce its vulnerability. One of the causes of such a failure is the lack of a consistent perception of the changing hazards posed by an...

From November 1999 through July 2000, a broadband seismic experiment was carried out at Popocatépetl Volcano to record seismic activity over a wide period range (0.04–100 s). We present an overview of the seismicity recorded during this experiment and discuss results of analyses of long-period (LP) and very-long-period (VLP) seismic signals recorded at stations nearest to the crater over...

Scoria-cone eruptions are typically low in volume and explosivity compared with eruptions from stratovolcanoes, but they can affect local populations profoundly. Scoria-cone eruption effects vary dramatically due to eruption style, tephra blanket extent, climate, types of land use, the culture and complexity of the affected group, and resulting governmental action. A comparison of a...

We investigate the crustal structure and tectonic evolution of the North American continent in Alaska, where the continent has grown through magmatism, accretion, and tectonic underplating. In the 1980s and early 1990s, we conducted a geological and geophysical investigation, known as the Trans-Alaska Crustal Transect (TACT), along a 1350-km-long corridor from the Aleutian Trench to the...

Dewar crater is a 50-km diameter impact structure located in the highlands northwest of the South Pole–Aitken basin on the lunar farside. A low-albedo area with enhanced Th and Sm values is centered east-northeast of Dewar crater. This area also exhibits elevated FeO abundances (9.0–16.6 wt %) and TiO2 values (0.6–2 wt %). The range of FeO and TiO2 abundances determined for the darkest...

On 13 August 2004, an atmospheric sample was collected at an altitude of 20,000 m along a west to east transect over the continental United States by NASA’s Stratospheric and Cosmic Dust Program. This sample was then shipped to the US Geological Survey’s Global Desert Dust program for microbiological analyses. This sample, which was plated on a low nutrient agar to determine if...

The main goal of this study is to improve the modelling of the source mechanism associated with the generation of long period (LP) signals in volcanic areas. Our intent is to evaluate the effects that detailed structural features of the volcanic models play in the generation of LP signal and the consequent retrieval of LP source characteristics. In particular, effects associated with the...

Volumes of eroded sediment after wildfires vary substantially throughout different geologic terrains across the western United States. These volumes are difficult to compare because they represent the response to rainstorms and runoff with different characteristics. However, by measuring the erosion response as the erodibility efficiency of water to detach and transport sediment on...

Teleseismic traveltime data are inverted for mantle Vp and Vs variations beneath a 1400 km long line of broadband seismometers extending from eastern New Mexico to western Utah. The model spans 600 km beneath the moho with resolution of ~50 km. Inversions show a sharp, large-magnitude velocity contrast across the Colorado Plateau-Great Basin transition extending ~200 km below the crust...

In June 2007, the Pu'u 'Ō'ō-Kūpaianaha eruption of Kīlauea Volcano was interrupted when magma intruded the east rift zone (ERZ), resulting in a small extrusion of lava near Makaopuhi Crater. Deformation associated with the activity was exceptionally well-documented by ASAR interferometry, which indicates deflation of the summit and uplift and extension of the ERZ. Models of co-intrusion