Austin researches the record of earthquakes and faulting in the landscape--past and present--using remote sensing, high resolution topography, and 3D surveying to analyze the size, recurrence, and rupture process of significant faulting events.
Professional Experience
Research Geologist, USGS, 2019 - present
Postdoctoral Researcher in Active Tectonics, University of Oxford, 2015 - 2019
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California Davis, 2014
B.S., Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, 2008
Science and Products
Field response and surface rupture characteristics of the 2020 M6.5 Monte Cristo Range earthquake, central Walker Lane, Nevada
The M 6.5 Monte Cristo Range earthquake that occurred in the central Walker Lane on 15 May 2020 was the largest earthquake in Nevada in 66 yr and resulted in a multidisciplinary scientific field response. The earthquake was the result of left‐lateral slip along largely unmapped parts of the Candelaria fault, one of a series of east–northeast‐striking faults that comprise the Mina deflection, a maj
Pre-USGS Publications
Elliott, A. J., Oskin, M. E., Liu-Zeng, J., Shao, Y.-X., (2018) Persistent rupture terminations at a restraining bend from slip rates on the eastern Altyn Tagh fault, Tectonophysics 733, 57-72, doi: 10.1016/j.tecto.2018.01.004
Elliott, A. J., Oskin, M. E., Liu-Zeng, J., and Shao, Y., (2015) Rupture termination at restraining bends: The last great earthquake on the Altyn Tagh Fault, Geophysical Research Letters 42(7), 2164–2170. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL063107
Elliott, A. J., Dolan, J. F., Oglesby, D. D. (2009) Evidence from coseismic slip gradients for dynamic control on rupture propagation and arrest through stepovers. Journal of Geophysical Research 104, doi: 10.1029/2008JB005969
Surface Rupture Map of the 2020 M 6.5 Monte Cristo Range earthquake, Esmeralda and Mineral counties, Nevada
The 15 May 2020, M6.5 Monte Cristo Range earthquake was the largest earthquake in Nevada in over 66 years and occurred in a sparsely populated area of western Nevada about 74 km southeast of the town of Hawthorne. The earthquake produced surface rupture distributed across a 28-km-long zone along the eastward projection of the Candelaria fault in the Mina deflection of the central Walker Lane. Post
Science and Products
- Publications
Field response and surface rupture characteristics of the 2020 M6.5 Monte Cristo Range earthquake, central Walker Lane, Nevada
The M 6.5 Monte Cristo Range earthquake that occurred in the central Walker Lane on 15 May 2020 was the largest earthquake in Nevada in 66 yr and resulted in a multidisciplinary scientific field response. The earthquake was the result of left‐lateral slip along largely unmapped parts of the Candelaria fault, one of a series of east–northeast‐striking faults that comprise the Mina deflection, a majPre-USGS Publications
Elliott, A. J., Oskin, M. E., Liu-Zeng, J., Shao, Y.-X., (2018) Persistent rupture terminations at a restraining bend from slip rates on the eastern Altyn Tagh fault, Tectonophysics 733, 57-72, doi: 10.1016/j.tecto.2018.01.004Elliott, A. J., Oskin, M. E., Liu-Zeng, J., and Shao, Y., (2015) Rupture termination at restraining bends: The last great earthquake on the Altyn Tagh Fault, Geophysical Research Letters 42(7), 2164–2170. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL063107Elliott, A. J., Dolan, J. F., Oglesby, D. D. (2009) Evidence from coseismic slip gradients for dynamic control on rupture propagation and arrest through stepovers. Journal of Geophysical Research 104, doi: 10.1029/2008JB005969 - Maps
Surface Rupture Map of the 2020 M 6.5 Monte Cristo Range earthquake, Esmeralda and Mineral counties, Nevada
The 15 May 2020, M6.5 Monte Cristo Range earthquake was the largest earthquake in Nevada in over 66 years and occurred in a sparsely populated area of western Nevada about 74 km southeast of the town of Hawthorne. The earthquake produced surface rupture distributed across a 28-km-long zone along the eastward projection of the Candelaria fault in the Mina deflection of the central Walker Lane. Post