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Jeffrey Coe

I began my career at the USGS in 1988 and joined the Landslide Hazards group in 1996.

Early in my career, I was fortunate to work on an assortment of geologic problems (paleoseismology, structural geology, debris-flow hazards) related to the proposed Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository in Nevada. I’ve been able to utilize this broad base of experience in the Landslide Hazards group, where I’ve worked on a wide variety of landslide types and topics in the US and abroad. I’m currently the chief of the Landslide Magnitude and Mobility research project based in Golden, CO. My broad research focus is on understanding landslide processes and quantifying landslide hazards. I’m currently interested in gaining a better understanding of the impact that climate change will have on landslide hazards.

Education and Certifications

  • Kent State University, B.S., 1984, Geology

    Colorado School of Mines, M.S., 1995, Geology

Science and Products

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Photo of flowing glacier

Barry Arm, Alaska Landslide and Tsunami Monitoring

A large steep slope in the Barry Arm fjord 30 miles (50 kilometers) northeast of Whittier, Alaska has the potential to fall into the water and generate a tsunami that could have devastating local effects on those who live, work, and recreate in and around Whittier and in northern Prince William Sound.
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Landslide Hazards Program
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Barry Arm, Alaska Landslide and Tsunami Monitoring

A large steep slope in the Barry Arm fjord 30 miles (50 kilometers) northeast of Whittier, Alaska has the potential to fall into the water and generate a tsunami that could have devastating local effects on those who live, work, and recreate in and around Whittier and in northern Prince William Sound.
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Tidal Inlet, Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska

Potential Landslide Paths and Implications for Tsunami Hazards in Glacier Bay, Alaska – An Initial Investigation

Glacier Bay and its inlets are a popular destination for cruise ships and passenger boats; about 540,000 people visited Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve (GBNPP) in 2017. A typical tour of the Bay traverses the entire length up to the glacier calving viewpoints in the Johns Hopkins and Tarr Inlets. A 2018 article “Landslides and Giant Waves” by the National Park Service (NPS) states, “The...
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Landslide Hazards Program, Geologic Hazards Science Center
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Potential Landslide Paths and Implications for Tsunami Hazards in Glacier Bay, Alaska – An Initial Investigation

Glacier Bay and its inlets are a popular destination for cruise ships and passenger boats; about 540,000 people visited Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve (GBNPP) in 2017. A typical tour of the Bay traverses the entire length up to the glacier calving viewpoints in the Johns Hopkins and Tarr Inlets. A 2018 article “Landslides and Giant Waves” by the National Park Service (NPS) states, “The...
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February 16, 2014 rock avalanche from Mount La Perouse. Relief from head scarp to toe is about 1770 m.

Mountain Permafrost, Climate Change, and Rock Avalanches in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska

Release Date: JUNE 18, 2018 We usually hear about landslides and avalanches that are caused by large amounts of rainfall, the shaking from earthquakes, or a volcanic eruption, but we may be hearing more about avalanches caused by the (seemingly innocuous) melting of ice in the coming years.
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Landslide Hazards Program
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Mountain Permafrost, Climate Change, and Rock Avalanches in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska

Release Date: JUNE 18, 2018 We usually hear about landslides and avalanches that are caused by large amounts of rainfall, the shaking from earthquakes, or a volcanic eruption, but we may be hearing more about avalanches caused by the (seemingly innocuous) melting of ice in the coming years.
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Data logger suspended above a channel with a person pointing up at it from the bottom of the channel

Millicoma Meander, Elliott State Forest, Oregon

The USGS and its cooperators have installed instruments in a steep, recently clear-cut basin in the Elliott State Forest.
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Landslide Hazards Program, Geologic Hazards Science Center
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Millicoma Meander, Elliott State Forest, Oregon

The USGS and its cooperators have installed instruments in a steep, recently clear-cut basin in the Elliott State Forest.
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Aerial photo of the West Salt Creek rock avalanche

Reconstruction of an Avalanche: The West Salt Creek Rock Avalanche

Release Date: MAY 25, 2016 The West Salt Creek Rock Avalanche, Colorado, May 25, 2014
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Landslide Hazards Program
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Reconstruction of an Avalanche: The West Salt Creek Rock Avalanche

Release Date: MAY 25, 2016 The West Salt Creek Rock Avalanche, Colorado, May 25, 2014
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Filter Total Items: 26

Digital compilation of historical ice terminus positions of tidewater glaciers in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska

In coastal subarctic environments such as the fjords of Southeast Alaska, tidewater glaciers can control local hydrology, climatic patterns, ecology, and geologic hazards like landslides and consequent tsunami waves. Documenting and studying glacial retreat in fjords can help scientists understand the dynamic systems that are intrinsically tied to glacial ice processes and forecast changes in thes
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Geologic Hazards Science Center

Inventory map of submarine and subaerial-to-submarine landslide features in Barry Arm Fjord, Prince William Sound, Alaska

Documenting and assessing submarine or subaerial-to-submarine landslides is critical for understanding the history of slope failures and related tsunami impacts in rapidly deglaciating fjord environments. The discovery of the ~500-million-cubic-meter slow-moving subaerial Barry Arm Landslide in northwest Prince William Sound, Alaska (Dai and others, 2020) highlights the need to better understand l
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Geologic Hazards Science Center

Slow-moving landslides and subsiding fan deltas mapped from Sentinel-1 InSAR in the Glacier Bay region, Alaska and British Columbia, 2018-2020

This data release contains four GIS shapefiles, one Google Earth kmz file, and five metadata files that summarize results from Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) analyses in the Glacier Bay region of Alaska and British Columbia. The principal shapefile (Moving_Ground) and the kmz file (GBRegionMovingGround) contain polygons delineating slow-moving (0.5-6 cm/year in the radar line-of-
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Landslide Hazards Program, Geologic Hazards Science Center

Interferometric synthetic aperture radar data from 2021 for landslides at Barry Arm Fjord, Alaska

Subaerial landslides at the head of the Barry Arm fjord remain a tsunami threat for the Prince William Sound region in southern Alaska. Tasked RADARSAT-2 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data from two ultrafine beam modes (2 m), U19 and U15, were used to measure landslide movement of slopes near the toe of the Barry Glacier between 21 May 2021 and 5 November 2021. Data were acquired every 24 days, w
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Landslide Hazards Program, Geologic Hazards Science Center

Simulated inundation extent and depth in Harriman Fjord and Barry Arm, western Prince William Sound, Alaska, resulting from the hypothetical rapid motion of landslides into Barry Arm Fjord, Prince William Sound, Alaska

Summary This data release contains postprocessed model output from a simulation of hypothetical rapid motion of landslides, subsequent wave generation, and wave propagation. A simulated displacement wave was generated by rapid motion of unstable material into Barry Arm fjord. We consider the wave propagation in Harriman Fjord and Barry Arm, western Prince William Sound (area of interest and place
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Geologic Hazards Science Center

Debris-flow and Flood Video Files, Chalk Cliffs, Colorado, USA, 2019

Chalk Cliffs, located 8 miles southwest of Buena Vista, Colorado, is a natural laboratory for research on runoff-initiated debris flows (Coe et al., 2010). In 2019, there were two monitoring stations operating at Chalk Cliffs. The Upper Station drains an area of 0.06 km2 and was used to monitor flow properties and triggering conditions in the headwaters of the study area. It was equipped with two
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Landslide Hazards Program, Geologic Hazards Science Center

Distribution of large boulders on the deposit of the West Salt Creek rock avalanche, western Colorado

On May 25th, 2014, a 54.5 Mm3 rock avalanche occurred in the West Salt Creek valley in western Colorado following heavy rainfall on top of snow (Coe and others, 2016a). The data in this project includes boulder density in 20-m x 20-m grid cells for the entire West Salt Creek rock avalanche deposit. The grid cells cover 2,154,800 m2, which accounts for nearly the entire surface of the deposit. We e
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Landslide Hazards Program, Geologic Hazards Science Center

Simulated inundation extent and depth at Whittier, Alaska resulting from the hypothetical rapid motion of landslides into Barry Arm Fjord, Prince William Sound, Alaska

This data release contains postprocessed model output from simulations of hypothetical rapid motion of landslides, subsequent wave generation, and wave propagation. A modeled tsunami wave was generated by rapid motion of unstable material into Barry Arm Fjord. This wave propagated through Prince William Sound and then into Passage Canal east of Whittier. Here we consider only the largest wave-gene
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Landslide Hazards Program, Geologic Hazards Science Center

Debris-flow and Flood Video Files, Chalk Cliffs, Colorado, USA, 2015

Chalk Cliffs, located 8 miles southwest of Buena Vista, Colorado, is one of the most active debris-flow areas in the state (U.S. Geological Survey). Three stations were set up at Chalk Cliffs which are located sequentially along a channel draining the 0.3 km2 study area. These stations are equipped with rain gauges, laser distance meters, and data loggers to record rainfall and stage data (Kean, e
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Landslide Hazards Program, Geologic Hazards Science Center

Select model results from simulations of hypothetical rapid failures of landslides into Barry Arm, Prince William Sound, Alaska

This data release contains model output from simulations presented in the associated Open-File Report (Barnhart and others, 2021). In this report, we present model results from four simulations (scenarios C-290, NC-290, C-689, NC-689, Table 1) of hypothetical rapid movement of landslides into adjacent fjord water at Barry Arm, Alaska using the D-Claw model (George and Iverson, 2014; Iverson and Ge
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Landslide Hazards Program, Geologic Hazards Science Center

Debris-flow and Flood Video Files, Chalk Cliffs, Colorado, USA, 2016

Chalk Cliffs located 8 miles southwest of Buena Vista, Colorado, is one of the most active debris-flow areas in the state (U.S. Geological Survey). Three stations were set up at Chalk Cliffs which are located sequentially along a channel draining the 0.3 km2 study area. These stations are equipped with rain gauges, laser distance meters, and data loggers to record rainfall and stage data (Kean, et
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Landslide Hazards Program, Geologic Hazards Science Center

Map of landslide structures and kinematic elements at Barry Arm, Alaska in the summer of 2020

Two active landslides at and near the retreating front of Barry Glacier at the head of Barry Arm Fjord in southern Alaska (Figure 1) could generate tsunamis if they failed rapidly and entered the water of the fjord. Landslide A, at the front of the glacier, is the largest, with a total volume estimated at 455 M m3 (Dai et al, 2020). Historical photographs from Barry Arm indicate that Landslide A
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Landslide Hazards Program, Geologic Hazards Science Center

Multi-temporal maps of the Montaguto earth flow in southern Italy from 1954 to 2010

Historical movement of the Montaguto earth flow in southern Italy has periodically destroyed residences and farmland, and damaged the Italian National Road SS90 and the Benevento-Foggia National Railway. This paper provides maps from an investigation into the evolution of the Montaguto earth flow from 1954 to 2010. We used aerial photos, topographic maps, LiDAR data, satellite images, and field ob
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Landslide Hazards Program, Geologic Hazards Science Center

Map showing recent (1997-98 El Nino) and historical landslides, Crow Creek and vicinity, Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, California

This report documents the spatial distribution of 3,800 landslides caused by 1997-98 El Ni?o winter rainfall in the vicinity of Crow Creek in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, California. The report also documents 558 historical (pre-1997-98) landslides. Landslides were mapped from 1:12,000-scale aerial photographs and classified as either debris flows or slides. Slides include rotational and tra
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Landslide Hazards Program, Geologic Hazards Science Center

Geologic map of the north ramp of the exploratory studies facility at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, stations 3+60 to 4+25 meters

No abstract available.
Image: Rock-Fall Estimating
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Image: Rock-Fall Estimating
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Image: Landslide Sampling
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Image: Debris Flow Research
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Image: Debris Flow in Action
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Filter Total Items: 70

Distribution of large boulders on the deposit of the West Salt Creek rock avalanche, western Colorado

On May 25, 2014, a 54.5-million cubic meter rock avalanche in the West Salt Creek valley, Mesa County, Colorado, traveled 4.6 kilometers, leaving a deposit that covers about 2.2 square kilometers. To check the particle-size distribution of the deposit for information about the high mobility of the avalanche, we estimated boulder distribution density for the entire deposit by counting 1-meter (m) o
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Adrian C. Lewis, Rex L. Baum, Jeffrey A. Coe
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Landslide Hazards Program, Geologic Hazards Science Center

Revising supraglacial rock avalanche magnitudes and frequencies in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska

The frequency of large supraglacial landslides (rock avalanches) occurring in glacial environments is thought to be increasing due to feedbacks with climate warming and permafrost degradation. However, it is difficult to (i) test this; (ii) establish cause–effect relationships; and (iii) determine associated lag-times, due to both temporal and spatial biases in detection rates. Here we applied the
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William Smith, Stuart A. Dunning, Neil Ross, Jon Telling, Erin K. Bessette-Kirton, Dan H. Shugar, Jeffrey A. Coe, M. Geertsema
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Landslide Hazards Program, Geologic Hazards Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

Measuring and attributing sedimentary and geomorphic responses to modern climate change: Challenges and opportunities

Today, climate change is affecting virtually all terrestrial and nearshore settings. This commentary discusses the challenges of measuring climate-driven physical landscape responses to modern global warming: short and incomplete data records, land use and seismicity masking climatic effects, biases in data availability and resolution, and signal attenuation in sedimentary systems. We identify opp
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Amy E. East, Jonathan Warrick, Dongfeng Li, Joel B. Sankey, Margaret H. Redsteer, Ann E. Gibbs, Jeffrey A. Coe, Patrick L. Barnard
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Southwest Biological Science Center

Spaceborne InSAR mapping of landslides and subsidence in rapidly deglaciating terrain, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve and vicinity, Alaska and British Columbia

The Glacier Bay area in southeastern Alaska and British Columbia, encompassing Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, has experienced rapid glacier retreat since the end of the Little Ice Age in the mid-1800s. The impact that rapid deglaciation has had on the slope stability of valley walls and on the sedimentation of fans and deltas adjacent to fjords and inlets is an ongoing research topic. Usi
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Jinwook Kim, Jeffrey A. Coe, Zhong Lu, Nikita N. Avdievitch, Chad Hults
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Geologic Hazards Science Center

Submarine landslide susceptibility mapping in recently deglaciated terrain, Glacier Bay, Alaska

Submarine mass wasting events have damaged underwater structures and propagated waves that have inundated towns and affected human populations in nearby coastal areas. Susceptibility to submarine landslides can be pronounced in degrading cryospheric environments, where existing glaciers can provide high volumes of sediment, while cycles of glaciation and ice-loss can damage and destabilize slopes.
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Nikita N. Avdievitch, Jeffrey A. Coe
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Geologic Hazards Science Center

Glacier and permafrost hazards

No abstract available.
Authors
G.J. Wolken, A.K. Liljedahl, M. Brubaker, Jeffrey A. Coe, G. Fiske, H.H. Christiansen, M. Jacquemart, B.M. Jones, A. Kaab, F. Løvholt, S. Natali, A.C.A. Rudy, D. Streletskiy
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Landslide Hazards Program, Geologic Hazards Science Center

Preliminary assessment of the wave generating potential from landslides at Barry Arm, Prince William Sound, Alaska

We simulated the concurrent rapid motion of landslides on an unstable slope at Barry Arm, Alaska. Movement of landslides into the adjacent fjord displaced fjord water and generated a tsunami, which propagated out of Barry Arm. Rather than assuming an initial sea surface height, velocity, and location for the tsunami, we generated the tsunami directly using a model capable of simulating the dynamic
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Katherine R. Barnhart, Ryan P. Jones, David L. George, Jeffrey A. Coe, Dennis M. Staley
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Landslide Hazards Program, Volcano Hazards Program, Geologic Hazards Science Center, Volcano Science Center, Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Recovery Activities

When hazard avoidance is not an option: Lessons learned from monitoring the postdisaster Oso landslide, USA

On 22 March 2014, a massive, catastrophic landslide occurred near Oso, Washington, USA, sweeping more than 1 km across the adjacent valley flats and killing 43 people. For the following 5 weeks, hundreds of workers engaged in an exhaustive search, rescue, and recovery effort directly in the landslide runout path. These workers could not avoid the risks posed by additional large-scale slope collaps
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Mark E. Reid, Jonathan W. Godt, Richard G LaHusen, Stephen L Slaughter, Thomas C. Badger, Brian D. Collins, William Schulz, Rex L. Baum, Jeffrey A. Coe, Edwin L Harp, Kevin M. Schmidt, Richard M. Iverson, Joel B. Smith, Ralph Haugerud, David L. George
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Landslide Hazards Program, National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, Volcano Hazards Program, Geologic Hazards Science Center, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Volcano Science Center

Progress and lessons learned from responses to landslide disasters

Landslides have the incredible power to transform landscapes and also, tragically, to cause disastrous societal impacts. Whereas the mechanics and effects of many landslide disasters have been analyzed in detail, the means by which landslide experts respond to these events has garnered much less attention. Herein, we evaluate nine landslide response case histories conducted by the U.S. Geological
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Brian D. Collins, Mark E. Reid, Jeffrey A. Coe, Jason W. Kean, Rex L. Baum, Randall W. Jibson, Jonathan W. Godt, Stephen Slaughter, Greg M. Stock
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Geologic Hazards Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

Bellwether sites for evaluating changes in landslide frequency and magnitude in cryospheric mountainous terrain: A call for systematic, long-term observations to decipher the impact of climate change

Permafrost and glaciers are being degraded by the warming effects of climate change. The impact that this degradation has on slope stability in mountainous terrain is the subject of ongoing research efforts. The relatively new availability of high-resolution (≤ 10 m) imagery with worldwide coverage and short (≤ 30 days) repeat acquisition times, as well as the emerging field of environmental seism
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Jeffrey A. Coe
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Landslide Hazards Program, Geologic Hazards Science Center

A 36-year record of rock avalanches in the Saint Elias Mountains of Alaska, with implications for future hazards

Glacial retreat and mountain-permafrost degradation resulting from rising global temperatures have the potential to impact the frequency and magnitude of landslides in glaciated environments. Several recent events, including the 2015 Taan Fiord rock avalanche, which triggered a tsunami with one of the highest wave runups ever recorded, have called attention to the hazards posed by landslides in re
Authors
Erin K. Bessette-Kirton, Jeffrey A. Coe
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Landslide Hazards Program, Geologic Hazards Science Center

Mobility characteristics of landslides triggered by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico

Mobility is an important element of landslide hazard and risk assessments yet has been seldom studied for shallow landslides and debris flows in tropical environments. In September 2017, Hurricane Maria triggered > 70,000 landslides across Puerto Rico. Using aerial imagery and a lidar digital elevation model (DEM), we mapped and characterized the mobility of debris slides and flows in four differe
Authors
Erin K. Bessette-Kirton, Jeffrey A. Coe, William Schulz, Corina Cerovski-Darriau, Mason Muir Einbund
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Landslide Hazards Program, National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, Geologic Hazards Science Center, Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Recovery Activities, Hurricane Maria, Hurricanes
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Potential Landslides and Tsunami Hazards in Glacier Bay, Alaska

USGS landslide scientists recently completed an investigation that provides an initial assessment of areas where landslides could enter the water of...

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USGS Geologists Join Efforts in Montecito to Assess Debris-Flow Aftermath

Days after fatal debris flows devastated Southern California’s Montecito community,  a team of U.S. Geological Survey geologists joined county, state...

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