Scientist Emeritus with the Central Energy Resources Science Center
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Filter Total Items: 23
The Alaska convergent margin backstop splay fault zone, a potential large tsunami generator between the frontal prism and continental framework
The giant tsunami that swept the Pacific from Alaska to Antarctica in 1946 was generated along one of three Alaska Trench instrumentally recorded aftershock areas following great and giant earthquakes. Aftershock areas were investigated during the past decade with multibeam bathymetry, ocean bottom seismograph wide‐angle seismic, reprocessed legacy, and new seismic reflection images. Summarized an
The Shumagin seismic gap structure and associated tsunami hazards, Alaska convergent margin
The potential for a major earthquake in the Shumagin seismic gap, and the tsunami it could generate, was reported in 1971. However, while potentially tsunamigenic splay faults in the adjacent Unimak and Semidi earthquake segments are known, such features along the Shumagin segment were undocumented until recently. To investigate margin structure and search for splay faults, we reprocessed six lega
Strike-slip 23 January 2018 MW 7.9 Gulf of Alaska rare intraplate earthquake: Complex rupture of a fracture zone system
Large intraplate earthquakes in oceanic lithosphere are rare and usually related to regions of diffuse deformation within the oceanic plate. The 23 January 2018 MW 7.9 strike-slip Gulf of Alaska earthquake ruptured an oceanic fracture zone system offshore Kodiak Island. Bathymetric compilations show a muted topographic expression of the fracture zone due to the thick sediment that covers oceanic b
A possible source mechanism of the 1946 Unimak Alaska far-field tsunami, uplift of the mid-slope terrace above a splay fault zone
In 1946, megathrust seismicity along the Unimak segment of the Alaska subduction zone generated the largest ever recorded Alaska/Aleutian tsunami. The tsunami severely damaged Pacific islands and coastal areas from Alaska to Antarctica. It is the charter member of “tsunami” earthquakes that produce outsized far-field tsunamis for the recorded magnitude. Its source mechanisms were unconstrained by
A possible transoceanic tsunami directed toward the U.S. west coast from the Semidi segment, Alaska convergent margin
The Semidi segment of the Alaska convergent margin appears capable of generating a giant tsunami like the one produced along the nearby Unimak segment in 1946. Reprocessed legacy seismic reflection data and a compilation of multibeam bathymetric surveys reveal structures that could generate such a tsunami. A 200 km long ridge or escarpment with crests >1 km high is the surface expression of an act
Processing of multichannel seismic reflection data acquired in 2013 for seismic investigations of gas hydrates in the Gulf of Mexico
As part of a cooperative effort among the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, two grids of two-dimensional multichannel seismic reflection data were acquired in the Gulf of Mexico over lease blocks Green Canyon 955 and Walker Ridge 313 between April 18 and May 3, 2013. The purpose of the data acqui
The destructive 1946 Unimak near-field tsunami: New evidence for a submarine slide source from reprocessed marine geophysical data
The Mw 8.6 earthquake in 1946 off the Pacific shore of Unimak Island at the end of the Alaska Peninsula generated a far-field tsunami that crossed the Pacific to Antarctica. Its tsunami magnitude, 9.3, is comparable to the 9.1 magnitude of the 2011 Tohoku tsunami. On Unimak Island's Pacific shore, a runup of 42 m destroyed the lighthouse at Scotch Cap. Elsewhere, localized tsunamis with such high
The 1946 Unimak Tsunami Earthquake Area: revised tectonic structure in reprocessed seismic images and a suspect near field tsunami source
In 1946 at Unimak Pass, Alaska, a tsunami destroyed the lighthouse at Scotch Cap, Unimak Island, took 159 lives on the Hawaiian Islands, damaged island coastal facilities across the south Pacific, and destroyed a hut in Antarctica. The tsunami magnitude of 9.3 is comparable to the magnitude 9.1 tsunami that devastated the Tohoku coast of Japan in 2011. Both causative earthquake epicenters occurred
Modeling the mesozoic-cenozoic structural evolution of east texas
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently assessed the undiscovered technically recoverable oil and gas resources within Jurassic and Cretaceous strata of the onshore coastal plain and State waters of the U.S. Gulf Coast. Regional 2D seismic lines for key parts of the Gulf Coast basin were interpreted in order to examine the evolution of structural traps and the burial history of petroleum source
Subducting plate geology in three great earthquake ruptures of the western Alaska margin, Kodiak to Unimak
Three destructive earthquakes along the Alaska subduction zone sourced transoceanic tsunamis during the past 70 years. Since it is reasoned that past rupture areas might again source tsunamis in the future, we studied potential asperities and barriers in the subduction zone by examining Quaternary Gulf of Alaska plate history, geophysical data, and morphology. We relate the aftershock areas to sub
Permafrost-associated natural gas hydrate occurrences on the Alaska North Slope
In the 1960s Russian scientists made what was then a bold assertion that gas hydrates should occur in abundance in nature. Since this early start, the scientific foundation has been built for the realization that gas hydrates are a global phenomenon, occurring in permafrost regions of the arctic and in deep water portions of most continental margins worldwide. In 1995, the U.S. Geological Survey m
Geophysical Studies Based on Gravity and Seismic Data of Tule Desert, Meadow Valley Wash, and California Wash Basins, Southern Nevada
Gravity and seismic data from Tule Desert, Meadow Valley Wash, and California Wash, Nevada, provide insight into the subsurface geometry of these three basins that lie adjacent to rapidly developing areas of Clark County, Nevada. Each of the basins is the product of Tertiary extension accommodated with the general form of north-south oriented, asymmetrically-faulted half-grabens. Geophysical inver
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Filter Total Items: 23
The Alaska convergent margin backstop splay fault zone, a potential large tsunami generator between the frontal prism and continental framework
The giant tsunami that swept the Pacific from Alaska to Antarctica in 1946 was generated along one of three Alaska Trench instrumentally recorded aftershock areas following great and giant earthquakes. Aftershock areas were investigated during the past decade with multibeam bathymetry, ocean bottom seismograph wide‐angle seismic, reprocessed legacy, and new seismic reflection images. Summarized anThe Shumagin seismic gap structure and associated tsunami hazards, Alaska convergent margin
The potential for a major earthquake in the Shumagin seismic gap, and the tsunami it could generate, was reported in 1971. However, while potentially tsunamigenic splay faults in the adjacent Unimak and Semidi earthquake segments are known, such features along the Shumagin segment were undocumented until recently. To investigate margin structure and search for splay faults, we reprocessed six legaStrike-slip 23 January 2018 MW 7.9 Gulf of Alaska rare intraplate earthquake: Complex rupture of a fracture zone system
Large intraplate earthquakes in oceanic lithosphere are rare and usually related to regions of diffuse deformation within the oceanic plate. The 23 January 2018 MW 7.9 strike-slip Gulf of Alaska earthquake ruptured an oceanic fracture zone system offshore Kodiak Island. Bathymetric compilations show a muted topographic expression of the fracture zone due to the thick sediment that covers oceanic bA possible source mechanism of the 1946 Unimak Alaska far-field tsunami, uplift of the mid-slope terrace above a splay fault zone
In 1946, megathrust seismicity along the Unimak segment of the Alaska subduction zone generated the largest ever recorded Alaska/Aleutian tsunami. The tsunami severely damaged Pacific islands and coastal areas from Alaska to Antarctica. It is the charter member of “tsunami” earthquakes that produce outsized far-field tsunamis for the recorded magnitude. Its source mechanisms were unconstrained byA possible transoceanic tsunami directed toward the U.S. west coast from the Semidi segment, Alaska convergent margin
The Semidi segment of the Alaska convergent margin appears capable of generating a giant tsunami like the one produced along the nearby Unimak segment in 1946. Reprocessed legacy seismic reflection data and a compilation of multibeam bathymetric surveys reveal structures that could generate such a tsunami. A 200 km long ridge or escarpment with crests >1 km high is the surface expression of an actProcessing of multichannel seismic reflection data acquired in 2013 for seismic investigations of gas hydrates in the Gulf of Mexico
As part of a cooperative effort among the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, two grids of two-dimensional multichannel seismic reflection data were acquired in the Gulf of Mexico over lease blocks Green Canyon 955 and Walker Ridge 313 between April 18 and May 3, 2013. The purpose of the data acquiThe destructive 1946 Unimak near-field tsunami: New evidence for a submarine slide source from reprocessed marine geophysical data
The Mw 8.6 earthquake in 1946 off the Pacific shore of Unimak Island at the end of the Alaska Peninsula generated a far-field tsunami that crossed the Pacific to Antarctica. Its tsunami magnitude, 9.3, is comparable to the 9.1 magnitude of the 2011 Tohoku tsunami. On Unimak Island's Pacific shore, a runup of 42 m destroyed the lighthouse at Scotch Cap. Elsewhere, localized tsunamis with such highThe 1946 Unimak Tsunami Earthquake Area: revised tectonic structure in reprocessed seismic images and a suspect near field tsunami source
In 1946 at Unimak Pass, Alaska, a tsunami destroyed the lighthouse at Scotch Cap, Unimak Island, took 159 lives on the Hawaiian Islands, damaged island coastal facilities across the south Pacific, and destroyed a hut in Antarctica. The tsunami magnitude of 9.3 is comparable to the magnitude 9.1 tsunami that devastated the Tohoku coast of Japan in 2011. Both causative earthquake epicenters occurredModeling the mesozoic-cenozoic structural evolution of east texas
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently assessed the undiscovered technically recoverable oil and gas resources within Jurassic and Cretaceous strata of the onshore coastal plain and State waters of the U.S. Gulf Coast. Regional 2D seismic lines for key parts of the Gulf Coast basin were interpreted in order to examine the evolution of structural traps and the burial history of petroleum sourceSubducting plate geology in three great earthquake ruptures of the western Alaska margin, Kodiak to Unimak
Three destructive earthquakes along the Alaska subduction zone sourced transoceanic tsunamis during the past 70 years. Since it is reasoned that past rupture areas might again source tsunamis in the future, we studied potential asperities and barriers in the subduction zone by examining Quaternary Gulf of Alaska plate history, geophysical data, and morphology. We relate the aftershock areas to subPermafrost-associated natural gas hydrate occurrences on the Alaska North Slope
In the 1960s Russian scientists made what was then a bold assertion that gas hydrates should occur in abundance in nature. Since this early start, the scientific foundation has been built for the realization that gas hydrates are a global phenomenon, occurring in permafrost regions of the arctic and in deep water portions of most continental margins worldwide. In 1995, the U.S. Geological Survey mGeophysical Studies Based on Gravity and Seismic Data of Tule Desert, Meadow Valley Wash, and California Wash Basins, Southern Nevada
Gravity and seismic data from Tule Desert, Meadow Valley Wash, and California Wash, Nevada, provide insight into the subsurface geometry of these three basins that lie adjacent to rapidly developing areas of Clark County, Nevada. Each of the basins is the product of Tertiary extension accommodated with the general form of north-south oriented, asymmetrically-faulted half-grabens. Geophysical inver