Ryan D Gold, Ph.D.

General research statement:

I investigate Quaternary earthquake records via field-based investigation, high-resolution topographic datasets (e.g., lidar, SfM), and geochronology. I also respond to major earthquakes both domestically and abroad, with significant examples including the 2010 M7.0 Haiti, the 2013 M7.7 Balochistan, and the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquakes. I serve as Intermountain West Coordinator for the U.S. Geological Survey’s Earthquake Hazard Program with a focus on characterizing seismic sources across the western United States. I have experience conducting field-based and remotely sensed research in the western and central U.S, the Caribbean, the Indo-Asia Collision, Central Europe, Pakistan, Australia, and New Zealand. Additionally, I advise USGS postdocs, I serve on PhD thesis committees at the Colorado School of Mines and University of Colorado, and I mentor undergraduate student research.

Education:

2009 - Ph.D., University of California, Davis, CA

2006 - M.S., University of California, Davis, CA

2003 - B.A., Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA

Professional Appointments:

2011-present              Research Geologist, USGS

2009-2011                 Mendenhall Postdoctoral Research Fellow, USGS

Published Papers:

2020

DuRoss, C. B., Gold, R. D., Dawson, T. E., Scharer, K. M., Kendrick, K. J., Akciz, S. O., . . . Zinke, R., 2020, Surface Displacement Distributions for the July 2019 Ridgecrest, California, Earthquake Ruptures. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120200058 

Thompson Jobe, J. A., Philibosian, B. E., Chupik, C. M., Dawson, T. E., Bennett, S. E. K., Gold, R. D., DuRoss, C. B., Ladinsky, T., Kendrick, K. J., Haddon, E. K., Pierce, I., Swanson, B., Seitz, G., in press, Evidence of previous faulting along the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake ruptures. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120200041 

Thompson Jobe, J. A., Gold, R. D., Briggs, R. W., Williams, R. A., Stephenson, W. J., Delano, J. E., Shah, A., Minsley, B., 2020, Evidence for late Quaternary deformation along Crowleys Ridge, New Madrid seismic zone. Tectonics, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019tc005746  

2019

Reitman, N. G., Mueller, K. J., Tucker, G. E., Gold, R. D., Briggs, R. W., & Barnhart, K. R., 2019, Offset channels may not accurately record strike‐slip fault displacement: Evidence from landscape evolution models. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 124. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JB018596

Barnhart, W., Hayes, G., Gold, R. D., 2019, The July 2019 Ridgecrest, California Earthquake Sequence: Kinematics of Slip and Stressing in Cross-Fault Ruptures. Geophysical Research Letters, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL084741

DuRoss, C. B., Bunds, M. P., Gold, R. D., Briggs, R. W., Reitman, N. G., Personius S. F., Toke, N. A., in press, Variable normal-fault rupture behavior, northern Lost River fault zone, Idaho, USA. Geosphere. https://doi.org/10.1130/GES02096.1

DuRoss, C. B., Gold, R. D., Briggs, R. W., Delano, J. E., Ostenaa, D., Cholewinski, N., Witke S., Mahan, S. A., 2019, Holocene earthquake history and slip rate of the southern Teton fault, Wyoming, USA. Geological Society of America Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1130/B35363.1

Valentini, A., DuRoss, C., Pace, B., Gold, R. D., Visini F., Briggs, R. W., Field, E. H., 2019, Relaxing segmentation on the Wasatch fault zone: impact on seismic hazard. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120190088

Gold, R. D., Clark, D., Barnhart, W. D., King, T., Quigley, M., & Briggs, R. W., 2019, Surface rupture and distributed deformation revealed by optical satellite imagery: The intraplate 2016 Mw 6.0 Petermann Ranges earthquake, Australia. Geophysical Research Letters, v. 46. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL084926

Barnhart, W. D., Gold, R. D., Shea, H. N., Peterson, K. E., Briggs, R. W., and Harbor, D. J., 2019, Vertical Coseismic Offsets Derived from High‐Resolution Stereogrammetric DSM Differencing: The 2013 Baluchistan, Pakistan Earthquake. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 124. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JB017107

Gold, R. D., DuRoss, C. B., Delano, J. E., Jibson, R. W., Briggs, R. W., Mahan, S. A., Williams, R. A., Corbett, D. R., 2019, Four major Holocene earthquakes on the Reelfoot fault recorded by sackungen in the New Madrid Seismic Zone, USA. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JB016806

Hetzel, R., Hampel, A., Gebbeken, P., Xu, Q., & Gold, R. D., 2019, A constant slip rate for the western Qilian Shan frontal thrust during the last 200 ka consistent with GPS-derived and geological shortening rates. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 509, p. 100-113, doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2018.12.032.

2018

Delano, J. E., Gold, R. D., Briggs, R. W., & Jibson, R. W., 2018, Coseismic Sackungen in the New Madrid Seismic Zone, USA. Geophysical Research Letters, v. 45, n. 24, p. 13,258-213,268, doi: 10.1029/2018GL080493.

DuRoss, C.B., Bennett, S.E.K., Briggs, R.W., Personius, S.F., Gold, R.D., Reitman, N.G., Hiscock, A.I., Mahan, S., 2018, Combining Conflicting Bayesian Models to Develop Paleoseismic Records: An Example from the Wasatch Fault Zone, Utah, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, doi: 10.1785/0120170302.

Bennett, S. E. K., DuRoss, C. B., Gold, R. D., Briggs, R. W., Personius, S. F., Reitman, N. G., DeVore, J. R., Hiscock, A. I., Mahan, S. A., Harrison, G. J., Gunnarson, S., Stephenson, W. J., Klein, T., Pettinger, E., and Odum, J. K., 2018, Paleoseismic Results from the Alpine Site, Wasatch Fault Zone: Timing and Displacement Data for Six Holocene Earthquakes at the Salt Lake City-Provo Segment Boundary, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, doi: 10.1785/0120160358.

Bagge, M., Hampel, A., and Gold, R. D., 2018, Modeling the Holocene slip history of the Wasatch fault (Utah): Coseismic and postseismic Coulomb stress changes and implications for paleoseismicity and seismic hazard, GSA Bulletin, doi: 10.1130/B31906.1.

Levandowski, W., Herrmann, R.B., Briggs, R., Boyd, O., Gold, R.D., 2018. An updated stress map of the continental United States reveals heterogeneous intraplate stress, Nature Geoscience, v. 11, p. 433-437, doi: 10.1038/s41561-018-0120-x.

Moschetti, M.P., Luco, N., Frankel, A., Petersen, M.D., Aagaard, B.T., Baltay, A.S., Blanpied, M., Boyd, O., Briggs, R., Gold, R.D., 2018. Integrate Urban‐Scale Seismic Hazard Analyses with the US National Seismic Hazard Model, Seismological Research Letters, v. 89, p. 967-970, doi: 10.1785/0220170261.

2017

Gold, R.D., Briggs, R.W., Crone, A.J., DuRoss, C.D., 2017, Refining fault slip rates using multiple displaced terrace risers–An example from the Honey Lake fault, NE California, USA, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 477, p. 134-146, doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2017.08.021.

Kuebler, S., Friedrich, A. M., Gold, R. D., and Strecker, M., 2017, Historical coseismic surface deformation of fluvial gravel deposits, Schafberg fault, Lower Rhine Graben, Central Europe, International Journal of Earth Sciences, doi: 10.1007/s00531-017-1510-9.

Stübner, K., Grin, E., Hidy, A.J., Schaller, M., Gold, R.D., Ratschbacher, L., Ehlers, T., 2017, Middle and Late Pleistocene glaciations in the southwestern Pamir and their effects on topography. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 466, p. 181-194, doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2017.03.012.

Gold, R. D., Friedrich, A. M., Kuebler, S., and Salamon, M., 2017, Apparent late Quaternary fault slip rate increase in the southwestern Lower Rhine Graben, central Europe, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, v. 107, n. 2, doi: 10.1785/0120160197.

Gold, R. D., Cowgill, E., Arrowsmith, J. R., and Friedrich, A. M., 2017, Pulsed strain release on the Altyn Tagh fault, northwest China, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 459, p. 291-300, doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2016.11.024

2015

Reitman, N. G., Bennett, S. E. K., Gold, R. D., Briggs, R. W., and DuRoss, C. B., 2015, High resolution trench photomosaics with structure from motion: workflow and accuracy assessment, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, v. 105, no. 5, p. 2354-2366, doi: 10.1785/0120150041.

Levandowski, W., Boyd, O., Briggs, R., Gold, R.D., 2015, A random-walk algorithm for modeling lithospheric density and the role of body forces in the evolution of the Midcontinent Rift, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, v. 16, p. 1-24, doi: 10.1002/2015GC005961. IP-070530, approved 11/12/15.

Hayes, G.P., Briggs, R.W., Barnhart, W.D., Yeck, W.L., McNamara, D.E., Wald, D.J., Nealy, J.L., Benz, H.M., Gold, R.D., Jaiswal, K.S., Marano, K., Earle, P.S., Hearne, M.G., Smoczyk, G.M., Wald, L.A., and S.V. Samsonov, 2015. Rapid characterization of the 2015 Mw 7.8 Nepal (Gorkha) Earthquake Sequence and its Seismotectonic Context. Seismological Research Letters, v. 86, n. 6, p. 1557-1567, doi: 10.1785/0220150145.

Gold, R. D., N. G. Reitman, R. W. Briggs, W. D. Barnhart, and G. Hayes, 2015, On- and off-fault deformation associated with the September 2013 Mw7.7 Balochistan earthquake: implications for geologic slip rate measurements, Tectonophysics, v. 660, p. 65-78, doi: 10.1016/j.tecto.2015.08.019.

Barnhart, W. D., Briggs, R. W., Reitman, N., Gold, R. D., and Hayes, G. P., 2015, Evidence for Slip Partitioning and Bimodal Slip Behavior on a Single Fault: Surface Slip Characteristics of the 2013 Mw7.7 Balochistan, Pakistan Earthquake, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2015.03.027.

2014

Gold, R.D., Briggs, R.W., Personius, S.F., Crone, A.J., Mahan, S.A., and Angster, S.J., 2014, Latest Quaternary paleoseismology and evidence of distributed dextral shear along the Mohawk Valley fault zone, northern Walker Lane, California: Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, doi: 10.1002/2014JB010987.

DuRoss, C.B., Hylland, M.D., McDonald, G.N., Crone, A.J., Personius, S.F., Gold, R.D., and Mahan, S.A., 2014, Holocene and latest Pleistocene paleoseismology of the Salt Lake City segment of the Wasatch fault zone, Utah, at the Penrose Drive trench site, in DuRoss, C.B. and Hylland, M.D., Evaluating surface faulting chronologies of graben-bounding faults in Salt Lake Valley, Utah––new paleoseismic data from the Salt Lake City segment of the Wasatch fault zone and the West Valley fault zone––Paleoseismology of Utah, Volume 24: Utah Geological Survey Special Study 149, p. 1–39.

Barnhart, W. D., Hayes, G. P., Briggs, R. W., Gold, R. D., Bilham, R., 2014: Ball-and-socket tectonic rotation during the 2013 Mw7.7 Balochistan earthquake: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, no. 10, p. 210-216, doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2014.07.001.

2013

Gold, R.D., Stephenson, W. J., Odum, J. K., Briggs, R. W., Crone, A. J., and Angster, S. J., 2013, Concealed Quaternary strike-slip fault resolved with airborne LiDAR and seismic reflection: The Grizzly Valley fault system, northern Walker Lane, California: Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. doi: 10.1002/jgrb.50238.

Gold, R.D., dePolo, C. M., Briggs, R. W., Crone, A. J., and Gosse, J., 2013, Late Quaternary slip-rate variations along the Warm Springs Valley fault system, northern Walker Lane, California-Nevada border: Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. v. 103, no 1., p. 542-558, doi: 10.1785/0120120020.

2012

Cowgill, E., Bernardin, T., Oskin, M. E., Bowles, C., Yikilmaz, B., Kreylos, O., Elliot, A., Bishop, S., Gold, R. D., Morelan, A., Bawden, G. W., Hamann, B., and Kellogg, L. H., 2012, Interactive terrain visualization enables virtual fieldwork during rapid scientific response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake:Geosphere. v. 8, no. 4, p. 787-804, doi: 10.1130/GES00687.1.

Gold, P. O., Cowgill, E., Kreylos, O., and Gold, R. D., 2012, A terrestrial lidar-based workflow for determining three-dimensional slip vectors and associated uncertainties: Geosphere, v. 8, no. 2, p. 431-442, doi: 10.1130/GES00714.1.

2011

Gold, R., Cowgill, E., Arrowsmith, J. R., Chen, X., Sharp, W. D., Cooper, K. M., and Wang, X. F. 2011, Faulted terrace risers place new constraints on the late Quaternary slip rate for the central Altyn Tagh Fault, northwest Tibet. Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 123, no. 5-6, p. 958-978, doi:10.1130/B30207.1.

Gold, R., and Cowgill, E., 2011, Deriving fault-slip histories to test for secular variation in slip, with examples from the Kunlun and Awatere faults. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 301, no. 1-2, p. 52-64, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2010.10.011.

2010

Prentice, C. S., Mann, P., Crone, A. J., Gold, R. D., Hudnut, K. W., Briggs, R. W., Koehler, R. D., and Jean, P., 2010, Seismic hazard of the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault in Haiti inferred from paleoseismology. Nature Geoscience, doi:10.1038/ngeo991.

Hayes, G. P., Briggs, R. W., Sladen, A., Fielding, E. J., Prentice, C., Hudnut, K., Mann, P., Taylor, F. W., Crone, A. J., Gold, R. D., Ito, T., and Simons, M., 2010, Complex rupture during the 12 January 2010 Haiti Earthquake. Nature Geoscience, doi:10.1038/ngeo977.

2009

Cowgill, E., Gold, R., Xuanhua, C., Xiaofeng, W., Arrowsmith, J.R. & Southon, J. R., 2009, Resolving the slip-rate discrepancy along the longest active strike-slip fault in Tibet. Geology. v. 37, no. 7, p. 647-650, doi:10.1130/G25623A.1.

Gold, R., Cowgill, E., Arrowsmith, J. R., Gosse, J., Wang, X. & Chen, X., 2009, Riser diachroneity, lateral erosion, and uncertainty in rates of strike-slip faulting: A case study from Tuzidun along the Altyn Tagh Fault, NW China. Journal of Geophysical Research, B, Solid Earth and Planets. v. 114, B04401, doi:10.1029/2008JB005913.

2006

Gold, R., Cowgill, E., Wang, X.F., and Chen, X., 2006, Application of trishear fault-propagation folding to active reverse faults: examples from the Dalong Fault, Gansu Province, NW China: Journal of Structural Geology, v. 28, p. 200-219, doi:10.1016/j.jsg.2005.10.006.

Bernardin, T., Cowgill, E., Gold, R., Hamann, B., Kreylos, O., and Schmitt, A., 2006, Interactive mapping on 3-D terrain models: Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, v. 7, doi:10.1029/2006GC001335.