Belle Philibosian
The focus of my research is to understand the earthquake cycle, using techniques drawn from the fields of active tectonics and paleoseismology. In various projects I have employed imagery- and LiDAR-based fault mapping, paleoseismic trenching, GPS and InSAR observations, and coral microatoll paleogeodesy. I pursue the dual goals of scientific understanding and hazard assessment of earthquakes.
EDUCATION
2013 Ph.D. Geology, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology
2007 M.S. Geological Sciences, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Oregon
2005 B.S. Geology, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology
EMPLOYMENT
2019–present Research Geologist, Earthquake Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey
2016–2019 Mendenhall Postdoctoral Research Geologist, Earthquake Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey
2015–2016 Columbia Science Fellow, Columbia University
2013–2015 AXA Postdoctoral Researcher, Equipe de Tectonique, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 17
Surface displacement distributions for the July 2019 Ridgecrest, California earthquake ruptures Surface displacement distributions for the July 2019 Ridgecrest, California earthquake ruptures
Surface rupture in the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake sequence occurred along two orthogonal cross faults and includes dominantly left‐lateral and northeast‐striking rupture in the Mw 6.4 foreshock and dominantly right‐lateral and northwest‐striking rupture in the Mw 7.1 mainshock. We present >650 field‐based, surface‐displacement observations for these ruptures and synthesize...
Authors
Christopher DuRoss, Ryan Gold, Timothy Dawson, Katherine M. Scharer, Katherine Kendrick, Sinan Akciz, Stephen Angster, Jeffery Bachhuber, Steven Bacon, Scott Bennett, Luke Blair, Benjamin Brooks, Thomas Bullard, W. Burgess, Colin Chupik, Michael DeFrisco, Jaime Delano, James Dolan, Erik Frost, Nick Graehl, Elizabeth Haddon, Alexandra Hatem, Janis Hernandez, Christopher Hitchcock, Kennth Hudnut, Jessica Thompson Jobe, Richard Koehler, Ozgur Kozaci, Tyler Ladinsky, Christopher Madugo, Devin McPhillips, Christopher Milliner, Alexander Morelan, Brian Olson, Jason Patton, Belle Philibosian, Alexandra Pickering, Ian Pierce, Daniel Ponti, Gordon Seitz, Eleanor Spangler, Brian Swanson, Kate Thomas, Jerome Treiman, Francesca Valencia, Alana Williams, Robert Zinke
Coupling of Indo-Pacific climate variability over the last millennium Coupling of Indo-Pacific climate variability over the last millennium
The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) impacts climate and rainfall across the world, and most severely in nations surrounding the Indian Ocean1-4. The frequency and intensity of positive IOD events increased during the 20th Century5 and may continue to intensify in a warming world6; however, confidence in future IOD changes is limited by known biases in model representations of the IOD7 and the...
Authors
Nerilie Abram, Nicky Wright, Bethany Ellis, Bronwyn Dixon, Jennifer Wurtzel, Matthew England, Caroline Ummenhofer, Belle Philibosian, Sri Cahyarini, Tsai-Luen Yu, Chuan-Chou Shen, Hai Cheng, R. Edwards, David Heslop
Time-varying interseismic strain rates and similar seismic ruptures on the Nias-Simeulue patch of the Sunda megathrust Time-varying interseismic strain rates and similar seismic ruptures on the Nias-Simeulue patch of the Sunda megathrust
Fossil coral microatolls from fringing reefs above the great (MW 8.6) megathrust rupture of 2005 record uplift during the historically reported great earthquake of 1861. Such evidence spans nearly the entire 400-km strike length of the 2005 rupture, which was previously shown to be bounded by two persistent barriers to seismic rupture. Moreover, at sites where we have constrained the...
Authors
Aron Meltzner, Kerry Sieh, Hong-Wei Chiang, Chung-Che Wu, Louisa Tsang, Chuan-Chou Shen, Emma Hill, Bambang Suwargadi, Danny Natawidjaja, Belle Philibosian, Richard Briggs
San Andreas fault earthquake chronology and Lake Cahuilla history at Coachella, California San Andreas fault earthquake chronology and Lake Cahuilla history at Coachella, California
The southernmost ~100 km of the San Andreas fault has not ruptured historically. It is imperative to determine its rupture history to better predict its future behavior. This paleoseismic investigation in Coachella, California, establishes a chronology of at least five and up to seven major earthquakes during the past ~1100 yr. This chronology yields a range of average recurrence...
Authors
B. Philibosian, T. Fumal, R. Weldon
Photomosaics and logs of trenches on the San Andreas Fault near Coachella, California Photomosaics and logs of trenches on the San Andreas Fault near Coachella, California
The Coachella paleoseismic site is located on the San Andreas Fault along the northeast edge of the Coachella Valley in southern California east of Dillon Road and south of Avenue 44. Three benched trenches, a total of more than 950 m, were excavated across the fault zone as part of an Alquist-Priolo fault investigation study. These trenches exposed a thick section of latest Holocene...
Authors
Belle Philibosian, Thomas Fumal, Ray Weldon, Katherine Kendrick, Katherine Scharer, Sean Bemis, Reed Burgette, Beth Wisely
Non-USGS Publications**
Philibosian, B., K. Sieh, J.-P. Avouac, D. H. Natawidjaja, H.-W. Chiang, C.-C. Wu, C.-C. Shen, M. R. Daryono, H. Perfettini, B. W. Suwargadi, Y. Lu, and X. Wang (2017). Earthquake supercycles of the Mentawai segment of the Sunda Megathrust in the 17th century and earlier, Journal of Geophysical Research 122, doi:10.1002/2016JB013560.
Philibosian, B., K. Sieh, J.-P. Avouac, D. H. Natawidjaja, H.-W. Chiang, C.-C. Wu, H. Perfettini, C.-C. Shen, M. R. Daryono, and B. W. Suwargadi (2014). Rupture and variable coupling behavior of the Mentawai segment of the Sunda megathrust during the supercycle culmination of 1797 to 1833, Journal of Geophysical Research 119, doi: 10.1002/2014JB011200.
Philibosian, B., K. Sieh, D.H. Natawidjaja, H.-W. Chiang, C.-C. Shen, B.W. Suwargadi, E.M. Hill, and R.L. Edwards (2012). An ancient shallow slip event on the Mentawai segment of the Sunda Megathrust, Sumatra. Journal of Geophysical Research 117, B05401, doi:10.1029/2011JB009075.
Philibosian, B., and M. Simons (2011). A survey of volcanic deformation on Java using ALOS PALSAR interferometric time series. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 12, Q11004, doi:10.1029/2011GC003775.
**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
Filter Total Items: 17
Surface displacement distributions for the July 2019 Ridgecrest, California earthquake ruptures Surface displacement distributions for the July 2019 Ridgecrest, California earthquake ruptures
Surface rupture in the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake sequence occurred along two orthogonal cross faults and includes dominantly left‐lateral and northeast‐striking rupture in the Mw 6.4 foreshock and dominantly right‐lateral and northwest‐striking rupture in the Mw 7.1 mainshock. We present >650 field‐based, surface‐displacement observations for these ruptures and synthesize...
Authors
Christopher DuRoss, Ryan Gold, Timothy Dawson, Katherine M. Scharer, Katherine Kendrick, Sinan Akciz, Stephen Angster, Jeffery Bachhuber, Steven Bacon, Scott Bennett, Luke Blair, Benjamin Brooks, Thomas Bullard, W. Burgess, Colin Chupik, Michael DeFrisco, Jaime Delano, James Dolan, Erik Frost, Nick Graehl, Elizabeth Haddon, Alexandra Hatem, Janis Hernandez, Christopher Hitchcock, Kennth Hudnut, Jessica Thompson Jobe, Richard Koehler, Ozgur Kozaci, Tyler Ladinsky, Christopher Madugo, Devin McPhillips, Christopher Milliner, Alexander Morelan, Brian Olson, Jason Patton, Belle Philibosian, Alexandra Pickering, Ian Pierce, Daniel Ponti, Gordon Seitz, Eleanor Spangler, Brian Swanson, Kate Thomas, Jerome Treiman, Francesca Valencia, Alana Williams, Robert Zinke
Coupling of Indo-Pacific climate variability over the last millennium Coupling of Indo-Pacific climate variability over the last millennium
The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) impacts climate and rainfall across the world, and most severely in nations surrounding the Indian Ocean1-4. The frequency and intensity of positive IOD events increased during the 20th Century5 and may continue to intensify in a warming world6; however, confidence in future IOD changes is limited by known biases in model representations of the IOD7 and the...
Authors
Nerilie Abram, Nicky Wright, Bethany Ellis, Bronwyn Dixon, Jennifer Wurtzel, Matthew England, Caroline Ummenhofer, Belle Philibosian, Sri Cahyarini, Tsai-Luen Yu, Chuan-Chou Shen, Hai Cheng, R. Edwards, David Heslop
Time-varying interseismic strain rates and similar seismic ruptures on the Nias-Simeulue patch of the Sunda megathrust Time-varying interseismic strain rates and similar seismic ruptures on the Nias-Simeulue patch of the Sunda megathrust
Fossil coral microatolls from fringing reefs above the great (MW 8.6) megathrust rupture of 2005 record uplift during the historically reported great earthquake of 1861. Such evidence spans nearly the entire 400-km strike length of the 2005 rupture, which was previously shown to be bounded by two persistent barriers to seismic rupture. Moreover, at sites where we have constrained the...
Authors
Aron Meltzner, Kerry Sieh, Hong-Wei Chiang, Chung-Che Wu, Louisa Tsang, Chuan-Chou Shen, Emma Hill, Bambang Suwargadi, Danny Natawidjaja, Belle Philibosian, Richard Briggs
San Andreas fault earthquake chronology and Lake Cahuilla history at Coachella, California San Andreas fault earthquake chronology and Lake Cahuilla history at Coachella, California
The southernmost ~100 km of the San Andreas fault has not ruptured historically. It is imperative to determine its rupture history to better predict its future behavior. This paleoseismic investigation in Coachella, California, establishes a chronology of at least five and up to seven major earthquakes during the past ~1100 yr. This chronology yields a range of average recurrence...
Authors
B. Philibosian, T. Fumal, R. Weldon
Photomosaics and logs of trenches on the San Andreas Fault near Coachella, California Photomosaics and logs of trenches on the San Andreas Fault near Coachella, California
The Coachella paleoseismic site is located on the San Andreas Fault along the northeast edge of the Coachella Valley in southern California east of Dillon Road and south of Avenue 44. Three benched trenches, a total of more than 950 m, were excavated across the fault zone as part of an Alquist-Priolo fault investigation study. These trenches exposed a thick section of latest Holocene...
Authors
Belle Philibosian, Thomas Fumal, Ray Weldon, Katherine Kendrick, Katherine Scharer, Sean Bemis, Reed Burgette, Beth Wisely
Non-USGS Publications**
Philibosian, B., K. Sieh, J.-P. Avouac, D. H. Natawidjaja, H.-W. Chiang, C.-C. Wu, C.-C. Shen, M. R. Daryono, H. Perfettini, B. W. Suwargadi, Y. Lu, and X. Wang (2017). Earthquake supercycles of the Mentawai segment of the Sunda Megathrust in the 17th century and earlier, Journal of Geophysical Research 122, doi:10.1002/2016JB013560.
Philibosian, B., K. Sieh, J.-P. Avouac, D. H. Natawidjaja, H.-W. Chiang, C.-C. Wu, H. Perfettini, C.-C. Shen, M. R. Daryono, and B. W. Suwargadi (2014). Rupture and variable coupling behavior of the Mentawai segment of the Sunda megathrust during the supercycle culmination of 1797 to 1833, Journal of Geophysical Research 119, doi: 10.1002/2014JB011200.
Philibosian, B., K. Sieh, D.H. Natawidjaja, H.-W. Chiang, C.-C. Shen, B.W. Suwargadi, E.M. Hill, and R.L. Edwards (2012). An ancient shallow slip event on the Mentawai segment of the Sunda Megathrust, Sumatra. Journal of Geophysical Research 117, B05401, doi:10.1029/2011JB009075.
Philibosian, B., and M. Simons (2011). A survey of volcanic deformation on Java using ALOS PALSAR interferometric time series. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 12, Q11004, doi:10.1029/2011GC003775.
**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.