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James Conrad

I study seafloor geology along the West Coast of the U.S. using various types of geophysical surveys to map the seafloor and image sub-seafloor strata. The purpose of this work is to help understand the hazards posed to coastal communities and infrastructure by offshore active faults and submarine landslides.

I received a Bachelors Degree in Earth Science from U.C. Berkeley in 1981, and a Masters Degree in Geology from San Jose State University in 1993. I have worked at the USGS since 1981, first in the Minerals Program, where I worked to assess the potential for undiscovered mineral deposits in the western U.S., and used Argon geochronology to date mineral deposits and related igneous rocks. In 1995, I joined the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, where I study marine geologic hazards such as earthquakes on offshore faults and tsunamis generated by submarine landslides.