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Jenna C Hill

Research Geologist with the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

Prior to joining the USGS as a Research Geologist in 2017, I spent 10 years at Coastal Carolina University, where I was an Associate Professor of Marine Science and did extensive undergraduate and graduate teaching, as well as research. I graduated from Oberlin College with a B.A. in Geology and Environmental Studies, and spent two years working at the USGS in Woods Hole, before going on to earn my Ph.D. in Earth Science from Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 2007.

Science and Products

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A map illustration of the seafloor off of a coastal area, that shows the features like submarine canyons and depth.

Cascadia Subduction Zone Marine Geohazards

Societal Issue: Uncertainty related to rupture extent, slip distribution, and recurrence of past subduction megathrust earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest (northern CA, OR, WA, and southern BC) leads to ambiguity in earthquake and tsunami hazard assessments and hinders our ability to prepare for future events.
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, 3-D CT Core Imaging Laboratory, Core Preparation and Analysis Laboratory and Sample Repositories, Multi-Sensor Core Logger Laboratory
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Cascadia Subduction Zone Marine Geohazards

Societal Issue: Uncertainty related to rupture extent, slip distribution, and recurrence of past subduction megathrust earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest (northern CA, OR, WA, and southern BC) leads to ambiguity in earthquake and tsunami hazard assessments and hinders our ability to prepare for future events.
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A building after an earthquake has crumbled the roof and brick walls, the interior is now visible.

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.
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, 3-D CT Core Imaging Laboratory, Core Preparation and Analysis Laboratory and Sample Repositories
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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.
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Illustration of the seafloor off the coast with areas highlighted to show detail.

2019 Geophysical surveys and sediment coring in southern Cascadia (northern California)

Geophysical data and sediment cores collected offshore of northern California in 2019, a USGS-BOEM partnership
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
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2019 Geophysical surveys and sediment coring in southern Cascadia (northern California)

Geophysical data and sediment cores collected offshore of northern California in 2019, a USGS-BOEM partnership
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Illustration of the seafloor off the coast with areas highlighted to show detail.

2019 Geophysical surveys and instrumented tripod deployment in and around Astoria Canyon

Geophysical data collected and instrumented tripods deployed in and around Astoria Canyon offshore of the Washington/Oregon border in 2019, a USGS-University of Washington partnership
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
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2019 Geophysical surveys and instrumented tripod deployment in and around Astoria Canyon

Geophysical data collected and instrumented tripods deployed in and around Astoria Canyon offshore of the Washington/Oregon border in 2019, a USGS-University of Washington partnership
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Composite multibeam bathymetry surface and data sources of the southern Cascadia Margin offshore Oregon and northern California

Bathymetry data from various sources, including newly released 2018 and 2019 multibeam data collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), were combined to create a composite 30-m resolution multibeam bathymetry surface of the southern Cascadia Margin offshore of Oregon and northern California. The bathymetry data are available as a 3
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

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
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

Archive of boomer sub bottom data collected off shore Eureka, California during USGS field activity W-1-96-NC from 1996-06-29 to 1996-07-07

This data release contains boomer subbottom data collected in June and July of 1996 on the shelf and slope offshore Eureka, California. Subbottom acoustic penetration spans up to several tens of meters, and is variable by location. This data release contains digital SEG-Y data. The data were collected aboard the R/V Wecoma using a Huntec Hydrosonde Deep-Tow system.
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
A smiling woman holds a spring-loaded instrument against a sediment core.
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Colorfully shaded map of the seafloor showing the many unique canyons created by nearby rivers.
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Filter Total Items: 14

Mass wasting along the Cascadia subduction zone: Implications for abyssal turbidite sources and the earthquake record

The only submarine records of large (>Mw7) prehistoric earthquakes along the Cascadia subduction zone are derived from sequences of deep sea turbidites interpreted to represent synchronous, shaking-induced failures along the continental slope. However, the spatial correlation of these deposits along the margin is complicated and the chronological constraints involve significant uncertainties, rais
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Jenna C. Hill, Janet Watt, Daniel S. Brothers
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Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

Timing of iceberg scours and massive ice-rafting events in the subtropical North Atlantic

High resolution seafloor mapping shows extraordinary evidence that massive (>300 m thick) icebergs once drifted >5,000 km south along the eastern United States, with >700 iceberg scours now identified south of Cape Hatteras. Here we report on sediment cores collected from several buried scours that show multiple plow marks align with Heinrich Event 3 (H3), ~31,000 years ago. Numerical glacial iceb
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Alan Condron, Jenna C. Hill
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

Submarine canyons, slope failures and mass transport processes in southern Cascadia

The marine turbidite record along the southern Cascadia Subduction Zone has been used to interpret paleoseismicity and suggest a shorter recurrence interval for large (>M7) earthquakes along this portion of the margin; however, the sources and pathways of these turbidity flows are poorly constrained. We examine the spatial distribution of sediment storage, downslope transport, and slope failures a
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Jenna C. Hill, Janet Watt, Daniel S. Brothers, Jared W. Kluesner
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

Subsurface controls on the development of the Cape Fear Slide Complex, central US Atlantic Margin

The Cape Fear Slide is one of the largest (>25 000 km3) submarine slope failure complexes on the US Atlantic margin. Here we use a combination of new high-resolution multichannel seismic data (MCS) from the National Science Foundation Geodynamic Processes at Rifting and Subducting Margins (NSF GeoPRISMS) Community Seismic Experiment and legacy industry MCS to derive detailed stratigraphy of this s
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Jenna C. Hill, Daniel S. Brothers, Matthew J. Hornbach, Derek E. Sawyer, Donna J. Shillington, Anne Bécel
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

Geologic controls on submarine slope failure along the central U.S. Atlantic margin: Insights from the Currituck Slide Complex

Multiple styles of failure, ranging from densely spaced, mass transport driven canyons to the large, slab-type slope failure of the Currituck Slide, characterize adjacent sections of the central U.S. Atlantic margin that appear to be defined by variations in geologic framework. Here we use regionally extensive, deep penetration multichannel seismic (MCS) profiles to reconstruct the influence of th
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Jenna C. Hill, Daniel S. Brothers, Bradley K. Craig, Uri S. ten Brink, Jason D. Chaytor, Claudia Flores
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

Archive of datasonics SIS-1000 CHIRP subbottom data, collected during USGS cruise SEAX 95007, New York Bight, 7-25 May, 1995

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Jenna C. Hill, William C. Schwab, David S. Foster

Archive of water gun subbottom data collected during USGS cruise SEAX 96004, New York Bight, 1 May - 9 June 1996

Beginning in 1995, the USGS, in cooperation with the U.S Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), New York District, began a program to generate reconnaissance maps of the sea floor offshore of the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area, one of the most populated coastal regions of the United States. The goal of this mapping program is to provide a regional synthesis of the sea-floor environment, including
Authors
Jenna C. Hill, William C. Schwab, David S. Foster

Archive of datasonic SIS-1000 CHIRP subbottom data collected during USGS Cruise DIAN 97032, Long Island, New York Inner Shelf; Fire Island, New York 25 September-19 October, 1997

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Jenna C. Hill, E. R. Thieler, D. S. Foster, B. A. Swift, T. F. O'Brien

Archive of Boomer subbottom data collected during USGS cruise ATSV 99044, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, 29 October - 12 November, 1999

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Jenna C. Hill, W. C. Schwab, S.V. Dadisman, W. W. Danforth, J. F. Denny, T. F. O'Brien, K. F. Parolski

Archive of boomer and sparker subbottom data collected during USGS Cruise DIAN 97032, Long Island, NY inner shelf; Fire Island, NY 25 September-19 October, 1997

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Jenna C. Hill, E. R. Thieler, D. S. Foster, B. A. Swift, T. F. O'Brien

Archive of Datasonic SIS-1000 chirp subbottom data collected during USGS Cruise DIAN 97011, Long Island, New York, inner shelf; Fire Island, New York, 5-26 May, 1997

Authors
Jenna C. Hill, William C. Schwab, David S. Foster

Archive of Boomer Subbottom Data Collected During USGS Cruise SEAX 96004, New York Bight, 1 May - 9 June 1996

Beginning in 1995, the USGS, in cooperation with the U.S Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), New York District, began a program to generate reconnaissance maps of the sea floor offshore of the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area, one of the most populated coastal regions of the United States. The goal of this mapping program is to provide a regional synthesis of the sea-floor environment, including
Authors
Jenna C. Hill, William C. Schwab, David S. Foster

Non-USGS Publications**

Hill, J.C., Brothers, D.S., Craig, B.K., ten Brink, U.S., Chaytor, J.D., and Flores, C.H., 2017. The role of antecedent geology in submarine slope failure: An examination of the Currituck Slide Complex, U.S. Atlantic margin, Marine Geology, 385:114-130, doi: 10.1016/j.margeo.2016.10.007.
Hill, J.C., 2016. Iceberg ploughmarks on the upper continental slope, South Carolina, in Dowdeswell, J.A., Canals, M., Jakobsson, M., Todd, B.J., Dowdeswell, E.K. and Hogan, K.A. (Eds.), Atlas of Submarine Glacial Landforms. Geological Society of London Memoir.
Hill, J.C. and Condron, A., 2014. Subtropical iceberg scours and meltwater routing in the deglacial western North Atlantic, Nature Geoscience, doi: 10.1038/ngeo2267.
Mickey, R.C., Xu, K., Libes, S., and Hill, J.C., 2014. Sediment texture, erodibility, and composition in the northern Gulf of Mexico and their potential impacts on hypoxia formation, Ocean Dynamics, doi: 10.1007/s10236-014-0796-4.
Brothers, D.S., Ruppel, C., Kluesner, J.W., tenBrink, U.S., Chaytor, J.D., Hill, J.C., Andrews, B.D., and Flores, C., 2014. Seabed fluid expulsion along the upper slope and outer shelf of the U.S. Atlantic continental margin, Geophysical Research Letters, doi: 10.1002/2013GL058048.
Hill, J.C. and Driscoll, N.W., 2010. Evidence for iceberg discharge to the Chukchi shelf during the Younger Dryas, Quaternary Research, doi: 10.1016/j.yqres.2010.03.008.
Hill, J.C., Gayes, P.T., Driscoll, N.W., Johnstone, E.A., and Sedberry, G.R., 2008. Iceberg scours along the southern U.S. Atlantic margin, Geology, 36: 447-450.
Hill, J.C. and Driscoll, N.W., 2008. Paleodrainage on the Chukchi shelf reveals sea level history and meltwater discharge, Marine Geology, 254: 129-151.
Newman, K.R., Cormier, M., Weissel, J.K., Driscoll, N.W., Kastner, M., Solomon, E.A., Robertson, G., Hill, J.C., Singh, H., Camilli, R. and Eustice, R., 2007. Active methane venting observed at giant seafloor pockmarks along the U.S. mid-Atlantic shelf break, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 267: 341-352.
Hill, J.C., Driscoll, N.W., Brigham-Grette, J., Donelly, J.P., Gayes, P.T., and Keigwin, L.D., 2007. New evidence for high discharge to the Chukchi shelf since the Last Glacial Maximum, Quaternary Research, 68: 271-279.
Hill, J.C., Driscoll, N.W., Weissel, J.K., and Goff, J.A., 2004, Large scale elongated gas blowouts along the U.S. Atlantic margin, Journal of Geophysical Research, 109:B9, doi: 10.1029/2004JB002969.

**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.

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Interagency Partners to Collect Seafloor Data in Southern Alaska

Starting in May 2023 in the Gulf of Alaska, this regional seafloor mapping campaign is part of a broader effort to collect data across coastal and...

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USGS-Engineered Tripod Allows Study of Deep-Sea Oceanographic Processes

Staff from the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center Marine Facility engineered a Free Ascent Tripod (FAT) for deployment in deep-sea...

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Research Expedition Collects Cores, Geophysical Data from Cascadia Subduction Zone

To better understand the geophysical characteristics and seismic history of the Cascadia Subduction Zone, USGS researchers conduct fieldwork at sea to...

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Timing of iceberg scours and massive ice-rafting events in the subtropical North Atlantic

Iceberg tracks in the seafloor reveal a journey all the way to Florida!

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PCMSC scientists invited to present at the National Seismic Hazard Map Workshop

USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center research geologist Jenna Hill to present recent offshore work on the Cascadia Subduction Zone.

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Earthquakes, Landslides, and Tsunamis: Mapping Geohazards in the Cascadia Subduction Zone

The geologic research and mapping in the offshore areas is foundational to understanding how to manage resources and improve public safety in...

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