Katherine (Kate) Scharer
Dr. Scharer holds a Ph.D. from the University of Oregon and a B.S. in Geological Sciences from the University of Washington.
Prior to coming to the USGS, she was a professor at Appalachian State University in North Carolina. Dr. Scharer studies the timing and size of pre-historic earthquakes along the San Andreas Fault and other active faults in southern California, Alaska, and the Dominican Republic. She also investigates the deformation produced by tectonic motion through a combination of field mapping, lidar analysis, and Quaternary geochronologic methods.
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 49
The Elizabeth Lake paleoseismic site: Rupture pattern constraints for the past ~800 years for the Mojave section of the south-central San Andreas Fault The Elizabeth Lake paleoseismic site: Rupture pattern constraints for the past ~800 years for the Mojave section of the south-central San Andreas Fault
The southern San Andreas Fault in California has hosted two historic surface-rupturing earthquakes, the ~M7 1812 Wrightwood earthquake and the ~M7.9 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake (e.g., Sieh, 1978; Jacoby et al., 1988). Numerous paleoseismic studies have established chronologies of historic and prehistoric earthquakes at sites along the full length of the 1857 rupture (e.g., Sieh, 1978...
Authors
Sean Bemis, Katherine M. Scharer, James F. Dolan, Ed Rhodes
Validation of meter-scale surface faulting offset measurements from high-resolution topographic data Validation of meter-scale surface faulting offset measurements from high-resolution topographic data
Studies of active fault zones have flourished with the availability of high-resolution topographic data, particularly where airborne light detection and ranging (lidar) and structure from motion (SfM) data sets provide a means to remotely analyze submeter-scale fault geomorphology. To determine surface offset at a point along a strike-slip earthquake rupture, geomorphic features (e.g...
Authors
Barrett Salisbury, D.E. Haddad, T. K. Rockwell, R. Arrowsmith, C. Madugo, O. Zielke, Katherine M. Scharer
Photomosaics and event evidence from the Frazier Mountain paleoseismic site, trench 1, cuts 5–24, San Andreas Fault Zone, southern California (2010–2012) Photomosaics and event evidence from the Frazier Mountain paleoseismic site, trench 1, cuts 5–24, San Andreas Fault Zone, southern California (2010–2012)
The Frazier Mountain paleoseismic site is located within the northern Big Bend of the southern San Andreas Fault (lat 34.8122° N., lon 118.9034° W.), in a small structural basin formed by the fault (fig. 1). The site has been the focus of over a decade of paleoseismic study due to high stratigraphic resolution and abundant dateable material. Trench 1 (T1) was initially excavated as a 50...
Authors
Katherine M. Scharer, Tom E. Fumal, Ray J. Weldon, Ashley R. Streig
The Mw6.0 24 August 2014 South Napa earthquake The Mw6.0 24 August 2014 South Napa earthquake
The Mw 6.0 South Napa earthquake, which occurred at 10:20 UTC 24 August 2014 was the largest earthquake to strike the greater San Francisco Bay area since the Mw 6.9 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The rupture from this right‐lateral earthquake propagated mostly unilaterally to the north and up‐dip, directing the strongest shaking toward the city of Napa, where peak ground accelerations...
Authors
Thomas M. Brocher, Annemarie S. Baltay Sundstrom, Jeanne L. Hardebeck, Fred F. Pollitz, Jessica R. Murray, Andrea L. Llenos, David P. Schwartz, J. Luke Blair, Daniel J. Ponti, James J. Lienkaemper, Victoria E. Langenheim, Timothy E. Dawson, Kenneth W. Hudnut, David R. Shelly, Douglas S. Dreger, John Boatwright, Brad T. Aagaard, David J. Wald, Richard M. Allen, William D. Barnhart, Keith L. Knudsen, Benjamin A. Brooks, Katherine M. Scharer
Rapid mapping of ultrafine fault zone topography with structure from motion Rapid mapping of ultrafine fault zone topography with structure from motion
Structure from Motion (SfM) generates high-resolution topography and coregistered texture (color) from an unstructured set of overlapping photographs taken from varying viewpoints, overcoming many of the cost, time, and logistical limitations of Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and other topographic surveying methods. This paper provides the first investigation of SfM as a tool for...
Authors
Kendra Johnson, Edwin Nissen, Srikanth Saripalli, J. Ramon Arrowsmith, Patrick McGarey, Katherine M. Scharer, Patrick Williams, Kimberly Blisniuk
Paleoearthquakes at Frazier Mountain, California delimit extent and frequency of past San Andreas Fault ruptures along 1857 trace Paleoearthquakes at Frazier Mountain, California delimit extent and frequency of past San Andreas Fault ruptures along 1857 trace
Large earthquakes are infrequent along a single fault, and therefore historic, well-characterized earthquakes exert a strong influence on fault behavior models. This is true of the 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake (estimated M7.7–7.9) on the southern San Andreas Fault (SSAF), but an outstanding question is whether the 330 km long rupture was typical. New paleoseismic data for six to seven...
Authors
Katherine M. Scharer, Ray Weldon, Ashley Streig, Thomas Fumal
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 49
The Elizabeth Lake paleoseismic site: Rupture pattern constraints for the past ~800 years for the Mojave section of the south-central San Andreas Fault The Elizabeth Lake paleoseismic site: Rupture pattern constraints for the past ~800 years for the Mojave section of the south-central San Andreas Fault
The southern San Andreas Fault in California has hosted two historic surface-rupturing earthquakes, the ~M7 1812 Wrightwood earthquake and the ~M7.9 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake (e.g., Sieh, 1978; Jacoby et al., 1988). Numerous paleoseismic studies have established chronologies of historic and prehistoric earthquakes at sites along the full length of the 1857 rupture (e.g., Sieh, 1978...
Authors
Sean Bemis, Katherine M. Scharer, James F. Dolan, Ed Rhodes
Validation of meter-scale surface faulting offset measurements from high-resolution topographic data Validation of meter-scale surface faulting offset measurements from high-resolution topographic data
Studies of active fault zones have flourished with the availability of high-resolution topographic data, particularly where airborne light detection and ranging (lidar) and structure from motion (SfM) data sets provide a means to remotely analyze submeter-scale fault geomorphology. To determine surface offset at a point along a strike-slip earthquake rupture, geomorphic features (e.g...
Authors
Barrett Salisbury, D.E. Haddad, T. K. Rockwell, R. Arrowsmith, C. Madugo, O. Zielke, Katherine M. Scharer
Photomosaics and event evidence from the Frazier Mountain paleoseismic site, trench 1, cuts 5–24, San Andreas Fault Zone, southern California (2010–2012) Photomosaics and event evidence from the Frazier Mountain paleoseismic site, trench 1, cuts 5–24, San Andreas Fault Zone, southern California (2010–2012)
The Frazier Mountain paleoseismic site is located within the northern Big Bend of the southern San Andreas Fault (lat 34.8122° N., lon 118.9034° W.), in a small structural basin formed by the fault (fig. 1). The site has been the focus of over a decade of paleoseismic study due to high stratigraphic resolution and abundant dateable material. Trench 1 (T1) was initially excavated as a 50...
Authors
Katherine M. Scharer, Tom E. Fumal, Ray J. Weldon, Ashley R. Streig
The Mw6.0 24 August 2014 South Napa earthquake The Mw6.0 24 August 2014 South Napa earthquake
The Mw 6.0 South Napa earthquake, which occurred at 10:20 UTC 24 August 2014 was the largest earthquake to strike the greater San Francisco Bay area since the Mw 6.9 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The rupture from this right‐lateral earthquake propagated mostly unilaterally to the north and up‐dip, directing the strongest shaking toward the city of Napa, where peak ground accelerations...
Authors
Thomas M. Brocher, Annemarie S. Baltay Sundstrom, Jeanne L. Hardebeck, Fred F. Pollitz, Jessica R. Murray, Andrea L. Llenos, David P. Schwartz, J. Luke Blair, Daniel J. Ponti, James J. Lienkaemper, Victoria E. Langenheim, Timothy E. Dawson, Kenneth W. Hudnut, David R. Shelly, Douglas S. Dreger, John Boatwright, Brad T. Aagaard, David J. Wald, Richard M. Allen, William D. Barnhart, Keith L. Knudsen, Benjamin A. Brooks, Katherine M. Scharer
Rapid mapping of ultrafine fault zone topography with structure from motion Rapid mapping of ultrafine fault zone topography with structure from motion
Structure from Motion (SfM) generates high-resolution topography and coregistered texture (color) from an unstructured set of overlapping photographs taken from varying viewpoints, overcoming many of the cost, time, and logistical limitations of Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and other topographic surveying methods. This paper provides the first investigation of SfM as a tool for...
Authors
Kendra Johnson, Edwin Nissen, Srikanth Saripalli, J. Ramon Arrowsmith, Patrick McGarey, Katherine M. Scharer, Patrick Williams, Kimberly Blisniuk
Paleoearthquakes at Frazier Mountain, California delimit extent and frequency of past San Andreas Fault ruptures along 1857 trace Paleoearthquakes at Frazier Mountain, California delimit extent and frequency of past San Andreas Fault ruptures along 1857 trace
Large earthquakes are infrequent along a single fault, and therefore historic, well-characterized earthquakes exert a strong influence on fault behavior models. This is true of the 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake (estimated M7.7–7.9) on the southern San Andreas Fault (SSAF), but an outstanding question is whether the 330 km long rupture was typical. New paleoseismic data for six to seven...
Authors
Katherine M. Scharer, Ray Weldon, Ashley Streig, Thomas Fumal