Adrian M Bender
I study how Alaska's landscapes adjust to earthquake-related rock uplift, climatic change, and human action. My science is strongly fieldwork-oriented, and also uses geographic information systems, digital topography analysis, simple models, and collaborations with academic experts in cosmogenic isotope geochemistry and luminescence dating. Results from my work provide the general public and scientific community with basic information about how, when, where, and how fast or slow Alaska's land surface has uplifted, eroded, and produced mineral resources such as placer gold.
Professional Experience
2015 - Present Geologist, USGS Alaska Science Center, Anchorage, Alaska
2012 - 2015 Physical Science Tech, USGS Alaska Science Center, Anchorage, Alaska
2014 - 2015 Graduate Research Assistant, Western Washington University
2013 - 2014 Graduate Teaching Assistant, Western Washington University
2010 - 2012 Undergraduate Lab Assistant, University of Alaska, Anchorage
Education and Certifications
M.S. 2015 Western Washington University (WWU) Geology
B.S. 2012 University of Alaska, Anchorage (UAA) Geology
Affiliations and Memberships*
American Geophysical Union (2012-present)
Geological Society of America (2013-present)
Honors and Awards
WWU Outstanding Graduate Award, Geology Department (2015)
Hecla-Greens Creek Scholarship (2011)
Chugach Gem and Mineral Society Scholarship (2012)
Fran Ulmer Transformative Research Award, UAA (2012)
Global Change Research Grant, UA Statewide (2012)
Geological Society of America Graduate Student Research Grant (2014)
Geology Graduate Student Research Grant, WWU (2014)
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 19
Sediment Transport Data from the Totatlanika River, Alaska, August 2021 Sediment Transport Data from the Totatlanika River, Alaska, August 2021
This data package provides four datasets acquired for the purpose of quantifying parameters affecting sediment trasport along the Totatlanika River, which drains the minerally endowed and tectonically active northern Alaska Range. The datasets provide measures of: (1) channel geometry, (2) boulders, (3) sediment grains size, and (4) water flow. The data can be used to understand sediment...
Totatlanika River Terrace Luminescence Age Data Collected 2020-2022 Totatlanika River Terrace Luminescence Age Data Collected 2020-2022
This dataset comprises three tables containing infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) ages and related data from samples collected at seven terrace sites along the Totatlanika River in central Alaska in 2020 and 2021. The IRSL ages and data were generated from the samples at the Utah State University Luminescence Lab. The ages were determined to enable computation of rates of bedrock...
Charley River Cosmogenic Isotope Data Collected 2019-2021 Charley River Cosmogenic Isotope Data Collected 2019-2021
This data release is comprised of three tables containing cosmogenic beryllium-10 and aluminum-26 concentrations and related data from samples collected at four sites along the Charley River in central Alaska in 2019, prepared in 2020 at the University of Vermont (UVM), and measured at the Purdue Rare Isotope Measurement lab (PRIME) in 2021. The file "burialDating_cosmogenic...
Radiocarbon and Luminescence Data for Fairweather Fault Investigation, Glacier Bay National Park, Southeast Alaska Radiocarbon and Luminescence Data for Fairweather Fault Investigation, Glacier Bay National Park, Southeast Alaska
This dataset is comprised of two tables with age data along the Fairweather fault in Glacier Bay National Park. The tables are: (1) radiocarbon dates analyzed at the National Ocean Sciences Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Facility (NOSAMS), and (2) infrared stimulated luminescence ages determined by the Utah State University (USU) Luminescence Laboratory.
Fodar Orthomosaic and Digital Elevation Model of the Totatlanika River Corridor (Alaska) Acquired August 2021 Fodar Orthomosaic and Digital Elevation Model of the Totatlanika River Corridor (Alaska) Acquired August 2021
This dataset provides one orthorectified aerial photo mosaic and one digital elevation model derived from airborne fodar data acquired in 2021 on August 31 over the Totatlanika River in central Alaska. The term "fodar" is a portmanteau of foto and lidar, coined by Matt Nolan, which describes a method of quantifying the color and elevation of Earth's surface via airborne small-format...
Field Data Collected 2018 to Document Human-induced Gorge Incision at The Kink (Fortymile River, Alaska) Field Data Collected 2018 to Document Human-induced Gorge Incision at The Kink (Fortymile River, Alaska)
This dataset is comprised of four tables containing channel survey cross section data, field observations including channel width and bank material, measured surface water velocity, and alluvial grain size data collected along the North Fork Fortymile River near a man-made meander cutoff called The Kink. The data release also contains eight field photos used to obtain grain size...
Filter Total Items: 25
Rapid active thrust faulting at the northern Alaska Range front Rapid active thrust faulting at the northern Alaska Range front
Plate convergence rates strongly influence seismicity and mountain building inboard of convergent margins, but the distribution and kinematics of structures accommodating farfield convergence can be elusive. In interior Alaska, Yakutat microplate convergence drives late Pleistocene–recent right slip on the Denali fault, but westward-decreasing slip rates leave substantial residual...
Authors
Adrian Bender, Richard Lease, Tammy Rittenour, James Jones
Yukon River incision drove organic carbon burial in the Bering Sea during global climate changes at 2.6 and 1 Ma Yukon River incision drove organic carbon burial in the Bering Sea during global climate changes at 2.6 and 1 Ma
River erosion affects the carbon cycle and thus climate by exporting terrigenous carbon to seafloor sediment and by nourishing CO2-consuming marine life. The Yukon River–Bering Sea system preserves rare source-to-sink records of these processes across profound changes in global climate during the past 5 million years (Ma). Here, we expand the terrestrial erosion record by dating terraces...
Authors
Adrian Bender, Richard Lease, Lee Corbett, Paul R. Bierman, Marc Caffee, James Jones, Douglas Kreiner
Bedrock gorge incision via anthropogenic meander cutoff Bedrock gorge incision via anthropogenic meander cutoff
Bedrock river-gorge incision represents a fundamental landscape-shaping process, but a dearth of observational data at >10 yr timescales impedes understanding of gorge formation. I quantify 102 yr rates and processes of gorge incision using historical records, field observations, and topographic and image analysis of a human-caused bedrock meander cutoff along the North Fork Fortymile...
Authors
Adrian Bender
Geomorphic expression and slip rate of the Fairweather fault, southeast Alaska, and evidence for predecessors of the 1958 rupture Geomorphic expression and slip rate of the Fairweather fault, southeast Alaska, and evidence for predecessors of the 1958 rupture
Active traces of the southern Fairweather fault were revealed by light detection and ranging (lidar) and show evidence for transpressional deformation between North America and the Yakutat block in southeast Alaska. We map the Holocene geomorphic expression of tectonic deformation along the southern 30 km of the Fairweather fault, which ruptured in the 1958 moment magnitude 7.8...
Authors
Robert C. Witter, Adrian Bender, Katherine M. Scharer, Christopher DuRoss, Peter J. Haeussler, Richard Lease
Extreme Quaternary plate boundary exhumation and strike slip localized along the southern Fairweather fault, Alaska, USA Extreme Quaternary plate boundary exhumation and strike slip localized along the southern Fairweather fault, Alaska, USA
The Fairweather fault (southeastern Alaska, USA) is Earth’s fastest-slipping intracontinental strike-slip fault, but its long-term role in localizing Yakutat–(Pacific–)North America plate motion is poorly constrained. This plate boundary fault transitions northward from pure strike slip to transpression where it comes onshore and undergoes a 6–8 km/m.y. exhumation rates that increases in...
Authors
Richard Lease, Peter J. Haeussler, Robert C. Witter, Daniel Stockli, Adrian Bender, Harvey Kelsey, Paul O’Sullivan
Dating by cosmogenic nuclides Dating by cosmogenic nuclides
Since the 1990s, cosmogenic nuclides have revolutionized the study of Earth surface processes, particularly the understanding of rates and dates. These nuclides, including 3He, 10Be, 14C, 21Ne, 26Al, and 36Cl, enable dating of landforms and the measurement of erosion rates both at the scale of drainage basins and at specific locations on Earth's surface. Cosmogenic nuclides are produced...
Authors
Paul R. Bierman, Adrian Bender, Andrew Christ, Lee Corbett, Christopher Halsted, Eric Portenga, Amanda Schmidt
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 19
Sediment Transport Data from the Totatlanika River, Alaska, August 2021 Sediment Transport Data from the Totatlanika River, Alaska, August 2021
This data package provides four datasets acquired for the purpose of quantifying parameters affecting sediment trasport along the Totatlanika River, which drains the minerally endowed and tectonically active northern Alaska Range. The datasets provide measures of: (1) channel geometry, (2) boulders, (3) sediment grains size, and (4) water flow. The data can be used to understand sediment...
Totatlanika River Terrace Luminescence Age Data Collected 2020-2022 Totatlanika River Terrace Luminescence Age Data Collected 2020-2022
This dataset comprises three tables containing infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) ages and related data from samples collected at seven terrace sites along the Totatlanika River in central Alaska in 2020 and 2021. The IRSL ages and data were generated from the samples at the Utah State University Luminescence Lab. The ages were determined to enable computation of rates of bedrock...
Charley River Cosmogenic Isotope Data Collected 2019-2021 Charley River Cosmogenic Isotope Data Collected 2019-2021
This data release is comprised of three tables containing cosmogenic beryllium-10 and aluminum-26 concentrations and related data from samples collected at four sites along the Charley River in central Alaska in 2019, prepared in 2020 at the University of Vermont (UVM), and measured at the Purdue Rare Isotope Measurement lab (PRIME) in 2021. The file "burialDating_cosmogenic...
Radiocarbon and Luminescence Data for Fairweather Fault Investigation, Glacier Bay National Park, Southeast Alaska Radiocarbon and Luminescence Data for Fairweather Fault Investigation, Glacier Bay National Park, Southeast Alaska
This dataset is comprised of two tables with age data along the Fairweather fault in Glacier Bay National Park. The tables are: (1) radiocarbon dates analyzed at the National Ocean Sciences Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Facility (NOSAMS), and (2) infrared stimulated luminescence ages determined by the Utah State University (USU) Luminescence Laboratory.
Fodar Orthomosaic and Digital Elevation Model of the Totatlanika River Corridor (Alaska) Acquired August 2021 Fodar Orthomosaic and Digital Elevation Model of the Totatlanika River Corridor (Alaska) Acquired August 2021
This dataset provides one orthorectified aerial photo mosaic and one digital elevation model derived from airborne fodar data acquired in 2021 on August 31 over the Totatlanika River in central Alaska. The term "fodar" is a portmanteau of foto and lidar, coined by Matt Nolan, which describes a method of quantifying the color and elevation of Earth's surface via airborne small-format...
Field Data Collected 2018 to Document Human-induced Gorge Incision at The Kink (Fortymile River, Alaska) Field Data Collected 2018 to Document Human-induced Gorge Incision at The Kink (Fortymile River, Alaska)
This dataset is comprised of four tables containing channel survey cross section data, field observations including channel width and bank material, measured surface water velocity, and alluvial grain size data collected along the North Fork Fortymile River near a man-made meander cutoff called The Kink. The data release also contains eight field photos used to obtain grain size...
Filter Total Items: 25
Rapid active thrust faulting at the northern Alaska Range front Rapid active thrust faulting at the northern Alaska Range front
Plate convergence rates strongly influence seismicity and mountain building inboard of convergent margins, but the distribution and kinematics of structures accommodating farfield convergence can be elusive. In interior Alaska, Yakutat microplate convergence drives late Pleistocene–recent right slip on the Denali fault, but westward-decreasing slip rates leave substantial residual...
Authors
Adrian Bender, Richard Lease, Tammy Rittenour, James Jones
Yukon River incision drove organic carbon burial in the Bering Sea during global climate changes at 2.6 and 1 Ma Yukon River incision drove organic carbon burial in the Bering Sea during global climate changes at 2.6 and 1 Ma
River erosion affects the carbon cycle and thus climate by exporting terrigenous carbon to seafloor sediment and by nourishing CO2-consuming marine life. The Yukon River–Bering Sea system preserves rare source-to-sink records of these processes across profound changes in global climate during the past 5 million years (Ma). Here, we expand the terrestrial erosion record by dating terraces...
Authors
Adrian Bender, Richard Lease, Lee Corbett, Paul R. Bierman, Marc Caffee, James Jones, Douglas Kreiner
Bedrock gorge incision via anthropogenic meander cutoff Bedrock gorge incision via anthropogenic meander cutoff
Bedrock river-gorge incision represents a fundamental landscape-shaping process, but a dearth of observational data at >10 yr timescales impedes understanding of gorge formation. I quantify 102 yr rates and processes of gorge incision using historical records, field observations, and topographic and image analysis of a human-caused bedrock meander cutoff along the North Fork Fortymile...
Authors
Adrian Bender
Geomorphic expression and slip rate of the Fairweather fault, southeast Alaska, and evidence for predecessors of the 1958 rupture Geomorphic expression and slip rate of the Fairweather fault, southeast Alaska, and evidence for predecessors of the 1958 rupture
Active traces of the southern Fairweather fault were revealed by light detection and ranging (lidar) and show evidence for transpressional deformation between North America and the Yakutat block in southeast Alaska. We map the Holocene geomorphic expression of tectonic deformation along the southern 30 km of the Fairweather fault, which ruptured in the 1958 moment magnitude 7.8...
Authors
Robert C. Witter, Adrian Bender, Katherine M. Scharer, Christopher DuRoss, Peter J. Haeussler, Richard Lease
Extreme Quaternary plate boundary exhumation and strike slip localized along the southern Fairweather fault, Alaska, USA Extreme Quaternary plate boundary exhumation and strike slip localized along the southern Fairweather fault, Alaska, USA
The Fairweather fault (southeastern Alaska, USA) is Earth’s fastest-slipping intracontinental strike-slip fault, but its long-term role in localizing Yakutat–(Pacific–)North America plate motion is poorly constrained. This plate boundary fault transitions northward from pure strike slip to transpression where it comes onshore and undergoes a 6–8 km/m.y. exhumation rates that increases in...
Authors
Richard Lease, Peter J. Haeussler, Robert C. Witter, Daniel Stockli, Adrian Bender, Harvey Kelsey, Paul O’Sullivan
Dating by cosmogenic nuclides Dating by cosmogenic nuclides
Since the 1990s, cosmogenic nuclides have revolutionized the study of Earth surface processes, particularly the understanding of rates and dates. These nuclides, including 3He, 10Be, 14C, 21Ne, 26Al, and 36Cl, enable dating of landforms and the measurement of erosion rates both at the scale of drainage basins and at specific locations on Earth's surface. Cosmogenic nuclides are produced...
Authors
Paul R. Bierman, Adrian Bender, Andrew Christ, Lee Corbett, Christopher Halsted, Eric Portenga, Amanda Schmidt
*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