I am a geophysicist who works with various geophysical tools and datasets, specializing in 2D and 3D seismic reflection. I received my Ph.D. at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and carried out my post-doc at the University of California Santa Cruz. I joined the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in the Spring of 2015.
My research focuses on the development and application of geophysical processing and imaging techniques. I specialize in 2D/3D seismic reflection data and other geophysical data types such as multibeam bathymetry/backscatter and chirp. One of my current research focuses is on the application of artificial neural-networks to 2D/3D seismic attribute calculations for enhanced detection and visualization of geologic features, such as faults, fluid-pathways, and mass transport deposits.
Science and Products
U.S. West Coast and Alaska Marine Geohazards
Marine geohazards are sudden and extreme events beneath the ocean that threaten coastal populations. Such underwater hazards include earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, and tsunamis. Devastating earthquakes in Japan (2011) and Chile (2010) that spawned pan-oceanic tsunamis sent a sobering reminder that U.S. coastlines are also vulnerable to natural disasters that originate in the ocean...
Underwater Landslides off Southern California
An earthquake can trigger a landslide along the ocean floor, which can then set off a tsunami. Without modern, high-resolution imaging of the seafloor, many historical slides and threats from future slides remain undetected.
Filter Total Items: 16
High-resolution multi-channel and Chirp seismic-reflection data from USGS cruise 2018-641-FA collected in south-central California in support of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Cal DIG I offshore alternative energy project
This dataset is one of several collected as part of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)-funded California Deepwater Investigations and Groundtruthing (Cal DIG I) project. The purpose of the study is to assess shallow geohazards, benthic habitats, and thereby the potential for alternative energy infrastructure (namely floating wind turbines) offshore south-central California due to its pro
Reprocessed multichannel seismic-reflection (MCS) data from USGS field activity T-1-96-SC collected in San Diego Bay, California in 1996
This data release presents reprocessed multichannel seismic-reflection (MCS) data that was originally collected in 1996 in partnership with the California Division of Mines and Geology and Caltrans as part of a seismic hazard assessment of the Coronado Bridge in San Diego Bay, California. The original survey collected 130 km of data with a 14-cubic inch sleeve-gun (airgun) source, a 24-channel str
Multichannel minisparker, multichannel boomer, and chirp seismic-reflection data of USGS field activity 2017-612-FA collected in Puget Sound and Lake Washington in February of 2017
High-resolution multichannel minisparker, multichannel boomer and chirp seismic-reflection data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Washington in February of 2017 west of Seattle in Puget Sound and in Lake Washington, Washington. Data were collected aboard University of Washington's R/V Clifford A. Barnes during USGS field activity 2017-612-FA. Sub-bottom acoustic pe
Multichannel minisparker seismic-reflection and chip sub bottom data collected in the Santa Barbara Channel in July of 2018
High-resolution multichannel minisparker seismic-reflection and chirp sub-bottom data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey in July of 2018 between Point Conception and Coal Oil Point in the Santa Barbara Channel, California. Data were collected aboard the USGS R/V Parke Snavely during field activity 2018-645-FA. Data were acquired to support the USGS geologic hazards projects to aide hazar
Multibeam bathymetry, acoustic backscatter, and multichannel minisparker seismic-reflection data of USGS field activity 2016-666-FA collected in the Santa Barbara Basin in September and October of 2016
High-resolution multichannel minkisparker seismic-reflection (MCS) profiles were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey in September and October of 2016 from the northern portion of the Santa Barbara Basin offshore southern California. Data were collected aboard the USGS R/V Parke Snavely and NOAA R/V Shearwater during field activity 2016-666-FA. Data were acquired to support USGS geologic hazar
Multichannel minisparker and chirp seismic reflection data of USGS field activity 2016-616-FA collected in the Catalina Basin offshore southern California in February 2016
This data release contains 25 multichannel minisparker seismic reflection (MCS) profiles and 41 chirp sub-bottom profiles that were collected in February of 2016 from the Catalina Basin offshore southern California by the U.S. Geological Survey Pacific and Coastal Marine Science Center in cooperation with the University of Washington. Data were collected aboard the University of Washington's R/V T
Minisparker and chirp seismic-reflection data of field activity 2014-645-FA collected in the outer Santa Barbara Channel, California, between 2014-11-12 to 2014-11-25 (ver. 2.0, March 2020)
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collected high-resolution multichannel sparker, minisparker and chirp seismic-reflection data in November 2014, from offshore Catalina and Santa Cruz basins. The survey was designed to image faults and folds associated with movement on the faults in offshore southern California, including the Catalina, Catalina Ridge, San Clemente, and San Diego Trough faults. Dat
Multichannel sparker seismic reflection data of USGS field activity 2018-658-FA collected between Cape Blanco and Cape Mendocino from 2018-10-04 to 2018-10-18
This data release contains processed high-resolution multichannel sparker seismic-reflection (MCS) data that were collected aboard Humboldt State University's R/V Coral Sea in October of 2018 on U.S. Geological Survey cruise 2018-658-FA on the shelf and slope between Cape Blanco, Oregon, and Cape Mendocino, California. MCS data were collected to characterize quaternary deformation and sediment dyn
Multibeam bathymetry and acoustic-backscatter data collected in 2016 in Catalina Basin, southern California and merged multibeam bathymetry datasets of the northern portion of the Southern California Continental Borderland
In February 2016 the University of Washington in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center (USGS, PCMSC) collected multibeam bathymetry and acoustic-backscatter data in and near the Catalina Basin, southern California aboard the University of Washington's Research Vessel Thomas G. Thompson. Data was collected using a Kongsberg EM300 multibeam echosounde
Multibeam and multichannel sparker seismic-reflection data between Cross Sound and Dixon Entrance, offshore southeastern Alaska, collected from 2016-05-17 to 2016-06-12 during field activity 2016-625-FA
Multibeam bathymetry and multisparker data were collected along the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather Fault between Icy Point and Dixon Entrance, offshore southeastern Alaska from 2016-05-17 to 2016-06-12.
Multichannel sparker seismic-reflection data of field activity 2016-656-FA; between Icy Point and Dixon Entrance, Gulf of Alaska from 2016-08-07 to 2016-08-26
This data release contains high-resolution multichannel seismic (MCS) reflection data collected in August of 2016 along the southeast Alaska continental margin. Structure perpendicular MCS profiles were collected along the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather fault. The data were collected aboard the R/V Norseman using a Delta sparker sound source and recorded on a 64-channel digital streamer. Subbottom ac
Multichannel minisparker and chirp seismic-reflection data of field activity 2015-651-FA; Chatham Strait and Cross Sound, southeastern Alaska from 2015-08-03 to 2015-08-21
High-resolution multichannel minisparker and chirp seismic-reflection data were collected in August of 2015 to explore marine geologic hazards of inland waterways of southeastern Alaska. Sub-bottom profiles were acquired in the inland waters between Glacier Bay and Juneau, including Cross Sound and Chatham Strait. High-resolution seismic-reflection profiles were acquired to assess evidence for act
Colored shaded-relief bathymetry, acoustic backscatter, and selected perspective views of the northern part of the California Continental Borderland, southern California
The California Continental Borderland is the complex continental margin in southern California that extends from Point Conception southward into northern Baja California (Fisher and others, 2009). This colored shaded-relief bathymetry map of the northern continental borderland in southern California was generated primarily from multibeam-echosounder data collected by the University of Washington i
Filter Total Items: 20
Sequence stratigraphy, seismic stratigraphy, and seismic structures of the lower intermediate confining unit and most of the Floridan aquifer system, Broward County, Florida
Deep well injection and disposal of treated wastewater into the highly transmissive saline Boulder Zone in the lower part of the Floridan aquifer system began in 1971. The zone of injection is a highly transmissive hydrogeologic unit, the Boulder Zone, in the lower part of the Floridan aquifer system. Since the 1990s, however, treated wastewater injection into the Boulder Zone in southeastern Flor
Origin and dynamics of depositionary subduction margins
Here we propose a new framework for forearc evolution that focuses on the potential feedbacks between subduction tectonics, sedimentation, and geomorphology that take place during an extreme event of subduction erosion. These feedbacks can lead to the creation of a “depositionary forearc,” a forearc structure that extends the traditional division of forearcs into accretionary or erosive subduction
Seismic attribute detection of faults and fluid pathways within an active strike-slip shear zone: New insights from high-resolution 3D P-Cable™ seismic data along the Hosgri Fault, offshore California
Poststack data conditioning and neural-network seismic attribute workflows are used to detect and visualize faulting and fluid migration pathways within a 13.7 km2 13.7 km2 3D P-Cable™ seismic volume located along the Hosgri Fault Zone offshore central California. The high-resolution 3D volume used in this study was collected in 2012 as part of Pacific Gas and Electric’s Central California Seismic
Corrugated megathrust revealed offshore from Costa Rica
Exhumed faults are rough, often exhibiting topographic corrugations oriented in the direction of slip; such features are fundamental to mechanical processes that drive earthquakes and fault evolution. However, our understanding of corrugation genesis remains limited due to a lack of in situ observations at depth, especially at subducting plate boundaries. Here we present three-dimensional seismic
Pleistocene vertical motions of the Costa Rican outer forearc from subducting topography and a migrating fracture zone triple junction
Understanding the links between subducting slabs and upper-plate deformation is a longstanding goal in the field of tectonics. New 3D seismic sequence stratigraphy, mapped within the Costa Rica Seismogenesis Project (CRISP) seismic-reflection volume offshore southern Costa Rica, spatiotemporally constrains several Pleistocene outer forearc processes and provides clearer connections to subducting p
Strain partitioning in southeastern Alaska: Is the Chatham Strait Fault active?
A 1200 km-long transform plate boundary passes through southeastern Alaska and northwestern British Columbia and represents one of the most seismically active, but poorly understood continental margins of North America. Although most of the plate motion is accommodated by the right-lateral Queen Charlotte–Fairweather Fault (QCFF) System, which has produced at least six M > 7 earthquakes since 1920
Neotectonics of the Big Sur Bend, San Gregorio‐Hosgri fault system, central California
The right‐lateral San Gregorio‐Hosgri fault system (SGHF) extends mainly offshore for about 400 km along the central California coast and is a major structure in the distributed transform margin of western North America. We mapped a poorly known 64‐km‐long section of the SGHF offshore Big Sur between Piedras Blancas and Point Sur using high‐resolution bathymetry, seismic reflection, and marine mag
Statistical approach to neural network imaging of karst systems in 3D seismic reflection data
The current lack of a robust, standardized technique for geophysical mapping of karst systems can be attributed to both the complexity of the environment and prior technological limitations. Abrupt lateral variations in physical properties that are inherent to karst systems generate significant geophysical noise, challenging conventional seismic signal processing and interpretation. Modern applica
Practical approaches to maximizing the resolution of sparker seismic reflection data
Sparkers are a type of sound source widely used by the marine seismic community to provide high-resolution imagery of the shallow sub-bottom (i.e.,
Seafloor fluid seeps on Kimki Ridge, offshore southern California: Links to active strike-slip faulting
The Kimki Ridge fluid seeps are located in western Catalina Basin about 60 km southwest of the southern California mainland and at a water depth of approximately 1100 m. Multichannel seismic reflection profiles collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 2014 show acoustic transparency within the Kimki Ridge, suggesting the possibility of fluid seeps and possible sub-seafloor fluid pathways.
The tectonically controlled San Gabriel Channel–Lobe Transition Zone, Catalina Basin, Southern California Borderland
High-resolution geophysical data across the Catalina Basin, offshore southern California, USA, reveal a complex channel–lobe transition zone (CLTZ) and provide an opportunity to characterize an entire seafloor CLTZ in a tectonically active and confined-basin setting. The seafloor morphology, distribution of depositional and erosional features, and location of depocenters in the CLTZ are controlled
The Santa Cruz Basin submarine landslide complex, southern California: Repeated failure of uplifted basin sediment
The Santa Cruz Basin (SCB) is one of several fault-bounded basins within the California Continental Borderland that has drawn interest over the years for its role in the tectonic evolution of the region, but also because it contains a record of a variety of modes of sedimentary mass transport (i.e., open slope vs. canyon-confined systems). Here, we present a suite of new high-resolution marine geo
Science and Products
- Science
U.S. West Coast and Alaska Marine Geohazards
Marine geohazards are sudden and extreme events beneath the ocean that threaten coastal populations. Such underwater hazards include earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, and tsunamis. Devastating earthquakes in Japan (2011) and Chile (2010) that spawned pan-oceanic tsunamis sent a sobering reminder that U.S. coastlines are also vulnerable to natural disasters that originate in the ocean...Underwater Landslides off Southern California
An earthquake can trigger a landslide along the ocean floor, which can then set off a tsunami. Without modern, high-resolution imaging of the seafloor, many historical slides and threats from future slides remain undetected. - Data
Filter Total Items: 16
High-resolution multi-channel and Chirp seismic-reflection data from USGS cruise 2018-641-FA collected in south-central California in support of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Cal DIG I offshore alternative energy project
This dataset is one of several collected as part of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)-funded California Deepwater Investigations and Groundtruthing (Cal DIG I) project. The purpose of the study is to assess shallow geohazards, benthic habitats, and thereby the potential for alternative energy infrastructure (namely floating wind turbines) offshore south-central California due to its proReprocessed multichannel seismic-reflection (MCS) data from USGS field activity T-1-96-SC collected in San Diego Bay, California in 1996
This data release presents reprocessed multichannel seismic-reflection (MCS) data that was originally collected in 1996 in partnership with the California Division of Mines and Geology and Caltrans as part of a seismic hazard assessment of the Coronado Bridge in San Diego Bay, California. The original survey collected 130 km of data with a 14-cubic inch sleeve-gun (airgun) source, a 24-channel strMultichannel minisparker, multichannel boomer, and chirp seismic-reflection data of USGS field activity 2017-612-FA collected in Puget Sound and Lake Washington in February of 2017
High-resolution multichannel minisparker, multichannel boomer and chirp seismic-reflection data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Washington in February of 2017 west of Seattle in Puget Sound and in Lake Washington, Washington. Data were collected aboard University of Washington's R/V Clifford A. Barnes during USGS field activity 2017-612-FA. Sub-bottom acoustic peMultichannel minisparker seismic-reflection and chip sub bottom data collected in the Santa Barbara Channel in July of 2018
High-resolution multichannel minisparker seismic-reflection and chirp sub-bottom data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey in July of 2018 between Point Conception and Coal Oil Point in the Santa Barbara Channel, California. Data were collected aboard the USGS R/V Parke Snavely during field activity 2018-645-FA. Data were acquired to support the USGS geologic hazards projects to aide hazarMultibeam bathymetry, acoustic backscatter, and multichannel minisparker seismic-reflection data of USGS field activity 2016-666-FA collected in the Santa Barbara Basin in September and October of 2016
High-resolution multichannel minkisparker seismic-reflection (MCS) profiles were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey in September and October of 2016 from the northern portion of the Santa Barbara Basin offshore southern California. Data were collected aboard the USGS R/V Parke Snavely and NOAA R/V Shearwater during field activity 2016-666-FA. Data were acquired to support USGS geologic hazarMultichannel minisparker and chirp seismic reflection data of USGS field activity 2016-616-FA collected in the Catalina Basin offshore southern California in February 2016
This data release contains 25 multichannel minisparker seismic reflection (MCS) profiles and 41 chirp sub-bottom profiles that were collected in February of 2016 from the Catalina Basin offshore southern California by the U.S. Geological Survey Pacific and Coastal Marine Science Center in cooperation with the University of Washington. Data were collected aboard the University of Washington's R/V TMinisparker and chirp seismic-reflection data of field activity 2014-645-FA collected in the outer Santa Barbara Channel, California, between 2014-11-12 to 2014-11-25 (ver. 2.0, March 2020)
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collected high-resolution multichannel sparker, minisparker and chirp seismic-reflection data in November 2014, from offshore Catalina and Santa Cruz basins. The survey was designed to image faults and folds associated with movement on the faults in offshore southern California, including the Catalina, Catalina Ridge, San Clemente, and San Diego Trough faults. DatMultichannel sparker seismic reflection data of USGS field activity 2018-658-FA collected between Cape Blanco and Cape Mendocino from 2018-10-04 to 2018-10-18
This data release contains processed high-resolution multichannel sparker seismic-reflection (MCS) data that were collected aboard Humboldt State University's R/V Coral Sea in October of 2018 on U.S. Geological Survey cruise 2018-658-FA on the shelf and slope between Cape Blanco, Oregon, and Cape Mendocino, California. MCS data were collected to characterize quaternary deformation and sediment dynMultibeam bathymetry and acoustic-backscatter data collected in 2016 in Catalina Basin, southern California and merged multibeam bathymetry datasets of the northern portion of the Southern California Continental Borderland
In February 2016 the University of Washington in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center (USGS, PCMSC) collected multibeam bathymetry and acoustic-backscatter data in and near the Catalina Basin, southern California aboard the University of Washington's Research Vessel Thomas G. Thompson. Data was collected using a Kongsberg EM300 multibeam echosoundeMultibeam and multichannel sparker seismic-reflection data between Cross Sound and Dixon Entrance, offshore southeastern Alaska, collected from 2016-05-17 to 2016-06-12 during field activity 2016-625-FA
Multibeam bathymetry and multisparker data were collected along the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather Fault between Icy Point and Dixon Entrance, offshore southeastern Alaska from 2016-05-17 to 2016-06-12.Multichannel sparker seismic-reflection data of field activity 2016-656-FA; between Icy Point and Dixon Entrance, Gulf of Alaska from 2016-08-07 to 2016-08-26
This data release contains high-resolution multichannel seismic (MCS) reflection data collected in August of 2016 along the southeast Alaska continental margin. Structure perpendicular MCS profiles were collected along the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather fault. The data were collected aboard the R/V Norseman using a Delta sparker sound source and recorded on a 64-channel digital streamer. Subbottom acMultichannel minisparker and chirp seismic-reflection data of field activity 2015-651-FA; Chatham Strait and Cross Sound, southeastern Alaska from 2015-08-03 to 2015-08-21
High-resolution multichannel minisparker and chirp seismic-reflection data were collected in August of 2015 to explore marine geologic hazards of inland waterways of southeastern Alaska. Sub-bottom profiles were acquired in the inland waters between Glacier Bay and Juneau, including Cross Sound and Chatham Strait. High-resolution seismic-reflection profiles were acquired to assess evidence for act - Maps
Colored shaded-relief bathymetry, acoustic backscatter, and selected perspective views of the northern part of the California Continental Borderland, southern California
The California Continental Borderland is the complex continental margin in southern California that extends from Point Conception southward into northern Baja California (Fisher and others, 2009). This colored shaded-relief bathymetry map of the northern continental borderland in southern California was generated primarily from multibeam-echosounder data collected by the University of Washington i - Publications
Filter Total Items: 20
Sequence stratigraphy, seismic stratigraphy, and seismic structures of the lower intermediate confining unit and most of the Floridan aquifer system, Broward County, Florida
Deep well injection and disposal of treated wastewater into the highly transmissive saline Boulder Zone in the lower part of the Floridan aquifer system began in 1971. The zone of injection is a highly transmissive hydrogeologic unit, the Boulder Zone, in the lower part of the Floridan aquifer system. Since the 1990s, however, treated wastewater injection into the Boulder Zone in southeastern FlorOrigin and dynamics of depositionary subduction margins
Here we propose a new framework for forearc evolution that focuses on the potential feedbacks between subduction tectonics, sedimentation, and geomorphology that take place during an extreme event of subduction erosion. These feedbacks can lead to the creation of a “depositionary forearc,” a forearc structure that extends the traditional division of forearcs into accretionary or erosive subductionSeismic attribute detection of faults and fluid pathways within an active strike-slip shear zone: New insights from high-resolution 3D P-Cable™ seismic data along the Hosgri Fault, offshore California
Poststack data conditioning and neural-network seismic attribute workflows are used to detect and visualize faulting and fluid migration pathways within a 13.7 km2 13.7 km2 3D P-Cable™ seismic volume located along the Hosgri Fault Zone offshore central California. The high-resolution 3D volume used in this study was collected in 2012 as part of Pacific Gas and Electric’s Central California SeismicCorrugated megathrust revealed offshore from Costa Rica
Exhumed faults are rough, often exhibiting topographic corrugations oriented in the direction of slip; such features are fundamental to mechanical processes that drive earthquakes and fault evolution. However, our understanding of corrugation genesis remains limited due to a lack of in situ observations at depth, especially at subducting plate boundaries. Here we present three-dimensional seismicPleistocene vertical motions of the Costa Rican outer forearc from subducting topography and a migrating fracture zone triple junction
Understanding the links between subducting slabs and upper-plate deformation is a longstanding goal in the field of tectonics. New 3D seismic sequence stratigraphy, mapped within the Costa Rica Seismogenesis Project (CRISP) seismic-reflection volume offshore southern Costa Rica, spatiotemporally constrains several Pleistocene outer forearc processes and provides clearer connections to subducting pStrain partitioning in southeastern Alaska: Is the Chatham Strait Fault active?
A 1200 km-long transform plate boundary passes through southeastern Alaska and northwestern British Columbia and represents one of the most seismically active, but poorly understood continental margins of North America. Although most of the plate motion is accommodated by the right-lateral Queen Charlotte–Fairweather Fault (QCFF) System, which has produced at least six M > 7 earthquakes since 1920Neotectonics of the Big Sur Bend, San Gregorio‐Hosgri fault system, central California
The right‐lateral San Gregorio‐Hosgri fault system (SGHF) extends mainly offshore for about 400 km along the central California coast and is a major structure in the distributed transform margin of western North America. We mapped a poorly known 64‐km‐long section of the SGHF offshore Big Sur between Piedras Blancas and Point Sur using high‐resolution bathymetry, seismic reflection, and marine magStatistical approach to neural network imaging of karst systems in 3D seismic reflection data
The current lack of a robust, standardized technique for geophysical mapping of karst systems can be attributed to both the complexity of the environment and prior technological limitations. Abrupt lateral variations in physical properties that are inherent to karst systems generate significant geophysical noise, challenging conventional seismic signal processing and interpretation. Modern applicaPractical approaches to maximizing the resolution of sparker seismic reflection data
Sparkers are a type of sound source widely used by the marine seismic community to provide high-resolution imagery of the shallow sub-bottom (i.e.,Seafloor fluid seeps on Kimki Ridge, offshore southern California: Links to active strike-slip faulting
The Kimki Ridge fluid seeps are located in western Catalina Basin about 60 km southwest of the southern California mainland and at a water depth of approximately 1100 m. Multichannel seismic reflection profiles collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 2014 show acoustic transparency within the Kimki Ridge, suggesting the possibility of fluid seeps and possible sub-seafloor fluid pathways.The tectonically controlled San Gabriel Channel–Lobe Transition Zone, Catalina Basin, Southern California Borderland
High-resolution geophysical data across the Catalina Basin, offshore southern California, USA, reveal a complex channel–lobe transition zone (CLTZ) and provide an opportunity to characterize an entire seafloor CLTZ in a tectonically active and confined-basin setting. The seafloor morphology, distribution of depositional and erosional features, and location of depocenters in the CLTZ are controlledThe Santa Cruz Basin submarine landslide complex, southern California: Repeated failure of uplifted basin sediment
The Santa Cruz Basin (SCB) is one of several fault-bounded basins within the California Continental Borderland that has drawn interest over the years for its role in the tectonic evolution of the region, but also because it contains a record of a variety of modes of sedimentary mass transport (i.e., open slope vs. canyon-confined systems). Here, we present a suite of new high-resolution marine geo - News