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
Data from Theodolite Measurements of Creep Rates on San Francisco Bay Region Faults, California (ver. 2.1, October 2022)
The data comprise an archive of repeated surveyed measurements to monitor surface fault creep (a form of gradual tectonic movement) occurring along active faults in the San Francisco Bay region for use by the scientific research community. Additional description of these data and the methods used to collect them is provided at: https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2009/1119/. The primary data are angle measur
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
Probing the upper end of intracontinental earthquake magnitude: A prehistoric example from the Dzhungarian and Lepsy faults of Kazakhstan
The study of surface ruptures is key to understanding the earthquake occurrence of faults especially in the absence of historical events. We present a detailed analysis of geomorphic displacements along the Dzhungarian Fault, which straddles the border of China and Kazakhstan. We use digital elevation models derived from structure-from-motion analysis of Pléiades satellite imagery and drone imager
How similar was the 1983 Mw 6.9 Borah Peak earthquake rupture to its surface-faulting predecessors along the northern Lost River fault zone (Idaho, USA)?
We excavated trenches at two paleoseismic sites bounding a trans-basin bedrock ridge (the Willow Creek Hills) along the northern Lost River fault zone to explore the uniqueness of the 1983 Mw 6.9 Borah Peak earthquake compared to its prehistoric predecessors. At the Sheep Creek site on the southernmost Warm Springs section, two earthquakes occurred at 9.8−14.0 ka (95% confidence) and 6.5−7.1 ka; e
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
Non-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
**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
- Data
Data from Theodolite Measurements of Creep Rates on San Francisco Bay Region Faults, California (ver. 2.1, October 2022)
The data comprise an archive of repeated surveyed measurements to monitor surface fault creep (a form of gradual tectonic movement) occurring along active faults in the San Francisco Bay region for use by the scientific research community. Additional description of these data and the methods used to collect them is provided at: https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2009/1119/. The primary data are angle measur - 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 - Publications
Probing the upper end of intracontinental earthquake magnitude: A prehistoric example from the Dzhungarian and Lepsy faults of Kazakhstan
The study of surface ruptures is key to understanding the earthquake occurrence of faults especially in the absence of historical events. We present a detailed analysis of geomorphic displacements along the Dzhungarian Fault, which straddles the border of China and Kazakhstan. We use digital elevation models derived from structure-from-motion analysis of Pléiades satellite imagery and drone imagerHow similar was the 1983 Mw 6.9 Borah Peak earthquake rupture to its surface-faulting predecessors along the northern Lost River fault zone (Idaho, USA)?
We excavated trenches at two paleoseismic sites bounding a trans-basin bedrock ridge (the Willow Creek Hills) along the northern Lost River fault zone to explore the uniqueness of the 1983 Mw 6.9 Borah Peak earthquake compared to its prehistoric predecessors. At the Sheep Creek site on the southernmost Warm Springs section, two earthquakes occurred at 9.8−14.0 ka (95% confidence) and 6.5−7.1 ka; eField 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 majNon-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**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.