Christopher B DuRoss

As an earthquake geologist, I investigate geologic evidence of active faulting, with an emphasis on normal-faulting regions of the Western U.S. My research is focused on field-based mapping and paleoseismic trenching investigations, Quaternary geochronology and geomorphology, syntheses of complex paleoseismic datasets, the characterization of active faults for probabilistic seismic-hazard analysis, and post-earthquake investigations to collect ephemeral field data. The goal of this research is to quantify seismic hazard in the U.S. and reduce earthquake risk.

Primary research interests:

Paleoseismology and earthquake geology
Quaternary geochronology and Bayesian modeling
Tectonic geomorphology and geologic mapping
Remote sensing and image-based (structure-from-motion) modeling
Earthquake probability and hazard modeling

Areas of active research:

Teton fault (Wyoming): Developing new paleoseismic (fault-trench) data to refine estimates of earthquake timing, displacement, rupture length, and magnitude.
Wasatch fault zone (Utah): Synthesizing existing paleoseismic data to develop objective contstraints on prehistoric earthquake rupture length.
Lost River fault zone (Idaho): Comparing prehistoric and historic (M6.9 Borah Peak earthquake) rupture timing, displacement, and geometry.
2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence (California): Evaluating along-strike displacement profile for the M7.1 rupture.

Publications

DuRoss, C. B., M. S. Zellman, G. D. Thackray, R. W. Briggs, R. D. Gold, and S. A. Mahan (2020). Holocene Paleoseismology of the Steamboat Mountain Site: Evidence for Full‐Length Rupture of the Teton Fault, Wyoming, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, doi: https://doi.org/10.1785/0120200212

DuRoss, C. B., R. D. Gold, T. E. Dawson, K. M. Scharer, K. J. Kendrick, S. O. Akciz, S. J. Angster, J. Bachhuber, S. Bacon, S. E. K. Bennett, et al. (2020). Surface Displacement Distributions for the July 2019 Ridgecrest, California, Earthquake Ruptures, Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am. 110(4), 1400–1418, https://doi.org/10.1785/0120200058.

DuRoss, C. B., R. D. Gold, T. E. Dawson, K. M. Scharer, K. J. Kendrick, S. O. Akciz, S. J. Angster, J. Bachhuber, S. Bacon, S. E. K. Bennett, et al., 2020, Surface Displacement Observations of the 2019 Ridgecrest, California Earthquake Sequence: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P986ILE2.

Valentini, A., DuRoss, C.B., Field, E.H., Gold, R.D., Briggs, R.W., Visini, F., and Pace, B., 2019, Relaxing segmentation on the Wasatch fault zone: Impact on seismic hazard: Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. https://doi.org