Jim E O'Connor
Jim O'Connor is a Research Geologist in the Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center. He chiefly works on the geology and geomorphology of the Pacific Northwest.
Jim O’Connor majored in Geological Science at University of Washington and earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees at University of Arizona. Since 1991, he has worked at the U.S. Geological Survey, intent on improving understanding of the processes and events that shape the remarkable and diverse landscapes of the Pacific Northwest.
Professional Experience
2014 - present, Research Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Portland, Oregon
1996 - present, Adjunct professor, Dept. Geology, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon
1996 - 2014, Research Hydrologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Portland, Oregon
1994 - 1996, Research Hydrologist, U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, Portland, Oregon
1991 - 1994, National Research Council Post-Doctoral Fellow, U.S. Geological Survey, Cascades Volcano Observatory, Vancouver, Washington
1985 - 1987, Hydrologist, Pima County Dept. Transportation and Flood Control, Tucson, Arizona
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Geosciences, University of Arizona, 1990
M.S., Geosciencesm University of Arizona, 1985
B.S., Geological Sciences, University of Washington, 1982
Affiliations and Memberships*
1984 - present, Geological Society of America (Fellow)
1985 - present, American Geophysical Union
2015 - present, Sigma Xi
Portland State University
Oregon State University
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 48
Arc versus river: The geology of the Columbia River Gorge Arc versus river: The geology of the Columbia River Gorge
The Columbia River Gorge is the Columbia River’s long-held yet evolving passage through the volcanic arc of the Cascade Range. The globally unique setting of a continental-scale river bisecting an active volcanic arc at the leading edge of a major plate boundary creates a remarkable setting where dynamic volcanic and tectonic processes interact with diverse and energetic fluvial...
Authors
Jim E. O'Connor, Ray Wells, Scott E.K. Bennett, Charles M. Cannon, Lydia M. Staisch, James L Anderson, Anthony Francis Pivarunas, Gabriel Wells Gordon, Richard J. Blakely, Mark E. Stelten, Russell C. Evarts
Upper Grand Coulee: New views of a channeled scabland megafloods enigma Upper Grand Coulee: New views of a channeled scabland megafloods enigma
New findings about old puzzles occasion rethinking of the Grand Coulee, greatest of the scabland channels. Those puzzles begin with antecedents of current upper Grand Coulee. By a recent interpretation, the upper coulee exploited the former high-level valley of a preflood trunk stream that had drained to the southwest beside and across Coulee anticline or monocline. In any case, a...
Authors
Richard B. Waitt, Brian F. Atwater, Karin Lehnigk, Isaac J. Larsen, Bruce N. Bjornstad, Michelle A. Hanson, Jim E. O'Connor
Improving flood-frequency analysis with a 4,000-year record of flooding on the Tennessee River near Chattanooga, Tennessee Improving flood-frequency analysis with a 4,000-year record of flooding on the Tennessee River near Chattanooga, Tennessee
This comprehensive field study applied paleoflood hydrology methods to estimate the frequency of low-probability floods for the Tennessee River near Chattanooga, Tennessee. The study combined stratigraphic records of large, previously unrecorded floods with modern streamflow records and historical flood accounts. The overall approach was to (1) develop a flood chronology for the...
Authors
Tessa M. Harden, Jim E. O'Connor, Meredith L. Carr, Mackenzie Keith
Glacier-related outburst floods Glacier-related outburst floods
Water bodies impounded by glaciers, moraines, and ice jams on rivers can drain suddenly, with disastrous downstream consequences. Lakes can form at the margins of an alpine glacier or ice cap, on its surface, or at its base. Smaller pockets of water may also be present within some glaciers. In all cases, these water bodies might drain by enlarging subglacial tunnels or by mechanical...
Authors
John J. Clague, Jim E. O'Connor
Eroding Cascadia— Sediment and solute transport and landscape denudation in western Oregon and northwestern California Eroding Cascadia— Sediment and solute transport and landscape denudation in western Oregon and northwestern California
Riverine measurements of sediment and solute transport give empirical basin-scale estimates of bed-load, suspended-sediment, and silicate-solute fluxes for 100,000 km2 of northwestern California and western Oregon. This spatially explicit sediment budget shows the multifaceted control of geology and physiography on the rates and processes of fluvial denudation. Bed-load transport is...
Authors
Jim E. O'Connor, Joseph F. Mangano, Daniel R. Wise, Joshua R. Roering
Outburst floods Outburst floods
Outbursts from impounded water bodies produce large, hazardous, and geomorphically significant floods affecting the Earth as well as other planetary surfaces. Two broad classes of impoundments are: (1) valleys blocked by ice, landslides, constructed dams, and volcanic materials; and (2) closed basins such as tectonic depressions, calderas, meteor craters, and those rimmed by glaciers and...
Authors
Jim E. O'Connor, John J. Clague, Joseph S. Walder, Vernon Manville, Robin A. Beebee
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 48
Arc versus river: The geology of the Columbia River Gorge Arc versus river: The geology of the Columbia River Gorge
The Columbia River Gorge is the Columbia River’s long-held yet evolving passage through the volcanic arc of the Cascade Range. The globally unique setting of a continental-scale river bisecting an active volcanic arc at the leading edge of a major plate boundary creates a remarkable setting where dynamic volcanic and tectonic processes interact with diverse and energetic fluvial...
Authors
Jim E. O'Connor, Ray Wells, Scott E.K. Bennett, Charles M. Cannon, Lydia M. Staisch, James L Anderson, Anthony Francis Pivarunas, Gabriel Wells Gordon, Richard J. Blakely, Mark E. Stelten, Russell C. Evarts
Upper Grand Coulee: New views of a channeled scabland megafloods enigma Upper Grand Coulee: New views of a channeled scabland megafloods enigma
New findings about old puzzles occasion rethinking of the Grand Coulee, greatest of the scabland channels. Those puzzles begin with antecedents of current upper Grand Coulee. By a recent interpretation, the upper coulee exploited the former high-level valley of a preflood trunk stream that had drained to the southwest beside and across Coulee anticline or monocline. In any case, a...
Authors
Richard B. Waitt, Brian F. Atwater, Karin Lehnigk, Isaac J. Larsen, Bruce N. Bjornstad, Michelle A. Hanson, Jim E. O'Connor
Improving flood-frequency analysis with a 4,000-year record of flooding on the Tennessee River near Chattanooga, Tennessee Improving flood-frequency analysis with a 4,000-year record of flooding on the Tennessee River near Chattanooga, Tennessee
This comprehensive field study applied paleoflood hydrology methods to estimate the frequency of low-probability floods for the Tennessee River near Chattanooga, Tennessee. The study combined stratigraphic records of large, previously unrecorded floods with modern streamflow records and historical flood accounts. The overall approach was to (1) develop a flood chronology for the...
Authors
Tessa M. Harden, Jim E. O'Connor, Meredith L. Carr, Mackenzie Keith
Glacier-related outburst floods Glacier-related outburst floods
Water bodies impounded by glaciers, moraines, and ice jams on rivers can drain suddenly, with disastrous downstream consequences. Lakes can form at the margins of an alpine glacier or ice cap, on its surface, or at its base. Smaller pockets of water may also be present within some glaciers. In all cases, these water bodies might drain by enlarging subglacial tunnels or by mechanical...
Authors
John J. Clague, Jim E. O'Connor
Eroding Cascadia— Sediment and solute transport and landscape denudation in western Oregon and northwestern California Eroding Cascadia— Sediment and solute transport and landscape denudation in western Oregon and northwestern California
Riverine measurements of sediment and solute transport give empirical basin-scale estimates of bed-load, suspended-sediment, and silicate-solute fluxes for 100,000 km2 of northwestern California and western Oregon. This spatially explicit sediment budget shows the multifaceted control of geology and physiography on the rates and processes of fluvial denudation. Bed-load transport is...
Authors
Jim E. O'Connor, Joseph F. Mangano, Daniel R. Wise, Joshua R. Roering
Outburst floods Outburst floods
Outbursts from impounded water bodies produce large, hazardous, and geomorphically significant floods affecting the Earth as well as other planetary surfaces. Two broad classes of impoundments are: (1) valleys blocked by ice, landslides, constructed dams, and volcanic materials; and (2) closed basins such as tectonic depressions, calderas, meteor craters, and those rimmed by glaciers and...
Authors
Jim E. O'Connor, John J. Clague, Joseph S. Walder, Vernon Manville, Robin A. Beebee
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government