Ryan D Gold, Ph.D.
Ryan Gold is the Director of the Geologic Hazards Science Center (GHSC) of the USGS.
In this position, he oversees GHSC’s efforts focused on earthquake, landslide, and geomagnetic hazards research and monitoring. Gold joined the USGS in 2009 after receiving a doctoral degree in geology from the University of California, Davis and a bachelor’s degree from Whitman College. He joined the USGS as a Mendenhall post-doctoral scholar and was hired permanently in 2011 as a Research Geologist within the Earthquake Geology Project at GHSC.
Gold’s research background focuses on active tectonics and natural hazards, with an emphasis on long-standing problems related to 1) earthquake recurrence and magnitude, 2) fault slip rate, and 3) patterns of surface displacement associated with modern earthquakes by applying a combination of field-based methods (e.g., paleoseismic trenching, neotectonic mapping) and remote sensing (e.g., lidar, satellite imagery, etc.). He has conducted field-based and remotely sensed earthquake studies across the United States, the Caribbean, the Indo-Asia Collision, central Europe, Pakistan, and Australia. He has played a key role in USGS field-based response to significant earthquakes, including the 2010 Haiti, 2013 Balochistan (Pakistan), and 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence. Gold has more than 60 publications in the areas of neotectonics, Quaternary geochronology, seismic imaging, and natural hazards.
Professional Experience
2021-present Director, Geologic Hazards Science Center, USGS
2011-2021 Research Geologist, USGS
2009-2011 Mendenhall Postdoctoral Research Fellow, USGS
Education and Certifications
Ryan Gold (Ph.D., University of California, Davis 2009)
Science and Products
Holocene earthquake history and slip rate of the southern Teton fault, Wyoming, USA
Relaxing segmentation on the Wasatch Fault Zone: Impact on seismic hazard
Variable normal-fault rupture behavior, northern Lost River fault zone, Idaho, USA
Surface rupture and distributed deformation revealed by optical satellite imagery: The intraplate 2016 Mw 6.0 Petermann Ranges earthquake, Australia
Preliminary report on engineering and geological effects of the July 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence
Vertical coseismic offsets from differential high-resolution stereogrammetric DSMs: The 2013 Baluchistan, Pakistan earthquake
A constant slip rate for the western Qilian Shan frontal thrust during the last 200 ka consistent with GPS-derived and geological shortening rates
Four major Holocene earthquakes on the Reelfoot fault recorded by sackungen in the New Madrid seismic zone, USA
Coseismic sackungen in the New Madrid seismic zone, USA
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
Modeling the Holocene slip history of the Wasatch fault (Utah): Coseismic and postseismic Coulomb stress changes and implications for paleoseismicity and seismic hazard
Combining conflicting Bayesian models to develop paleoseismic records—An example from the Wasatch Fault Zone, Utah
Science and Products
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 54
Holocene earthquake history and slip rate of the southern Teton fault, Wyoming, USA
The 72-km-long Teton normal fault bounds the eastern base of the Teton Range in northwestern Wyoming, USA. Although geomorphic surfaces along the fault record latest Pleistocene to Holocene fault movement, the postglacial earthquake history of the fault has remained enigmatic. We excavated a paleoseismic trench at the Buffalo Bowl site along the southernmost part of the fault to determine its HoloAuthorsChristopher DuRoss, Ryan D. Gold, Richard W. Briggs, Jaime E. Delano, Dean A. Ostenaa, Mark Zellman, Nicole Cholewinski, Seth Wittke, Shannon A. MahanRelaxing segmentation on the Wasatch Fault Zone: Impact on seismic hazard
The multisegment Wasatch fault zone is a well-studied normal fault in the western United States that has paleoseismic evidence of recurrent Holocene surface-faulting earthquakes. Along the 270-km-long central part of the fault, four primary structural complexities provide possible along-strike limits to these ruptures and form the basis for models of fault segmentation. Here, we assess the impactAuthorsAlessandro Valentini, Christopher DuRoss, Edward H. Field, Ryan D. Gold, Richard W. Briggs, Francesco Visini, Bruno PaceVariable normal-fault rupture behavior, northern Lost River fault zone, Idaho, USA
The 1983 Mw 6.9 Borah Peak earthquake generated ∼36 km of surface rupture along the Thousand Springs and Warm Springs sections of the Lost River fault zone (LRFZ, Idaho, USA). Although the rupture is a well-studied example of multisegment surface faulting, ambiguity remains regarding the degree to which a bedrock ridge and branch fault at the Willow Creek Hills influenced rupture progress. To explAuthorsChristopher DuRoss, Michael P. Bunds, Ryan D. Gold, Richard W. Briggs, Nadine G. Reitman, Stephen Personius, Nathan A. TokéSurface rupture and distributed deformation revealed by optical satellite imagery: The intraplate 2016 Mw 6.0 Petermann Ranges earthquake, Australia
High-resolution optical satellite imagery is used to quantify vertical surface deformation associated with the intraplate 20 May 2016 Mw 6.0 Petermann Ranges earthquake, Northern Territory, Australia. The 21 ╓ 1 km long NW-trending rupture resulted from reverse motion on a northeast-dipping fault. Vertical surface offsets of up to 0.7 ╓ 0.1 m distributed across a 0.5-to-1 km wide deformation zoneAuthorsRyan D. Gold, Dan Clark, William D. Barnhart, Tamarah King, Mark Quigley, Richard W. BriggsPreliminary report on engineering and geological effects of the July 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence
The Ridgecrest Earthquake sequence included a foreshock event on July 4 2019 (M6.4) and a M7.1 mainshock event on July 5 2019. These events occurred in the Eastern California Shear Zone, near Indian Wells Valley, south of China Lake and west of Searles Valley. GEER has partnered with several organizations to collect perishable data and document the important impacts of these events, including theAuthorsScott J Brandenberg, Pengfei Wang, Chukwuebuka C Nweke, Kenneth Hudson, Silvia Mazzoni, Yousef Bozorgnia, Kenneth W. Hudnut, Craig A. Davis, Sean K Ahdi, Farzin Zareian, Jawad Fayaz, Richard D Koehler, Colin Chupik, Ian Pierce, Alana Williams, Sinan Akciz, Martin B Hudson, Tadahiro Kishida, Benjamin A. Brooks, Ryan D. Gold, Daniel J. Ponti, Katherine Scharer, Devin McPhillips, Christopher DuRoss, Todd Ericksen, Janis Hernandez, Jay Patton, Brian Olson, Timothy E. Dawson, Jerome Treiman, Kelly Blake, Jeffrey Buchhuber, Chris L M Madugo, Joseph Sun, Andrea Donnellan, Greg Lyzenga, Erik ConwayVertical coseismic offsets from differential high-resolution stereogrammetric DSMs: The 2013 Baluchistan, Pakistan earthquake
The recent proliferation of high-resolution (< 3-m spatial resolution) digital topography datasets opens a spectrum of geodetic applications in differential topography, including the quantification of coseismic vertical displacement fields. Most investigations of coseismic vertical displacements to date rely, in part, on pre- or post-event lidar surveys that are intractable or non-existent in manyAuthorsWilliam D. Barnhart, Ryan D. Gold, Hannah N. Shea, Katherine E. Peterson, Richard W. Briggs, David J. HarborA constant slip rate for the western Qilian Shan frontal thrust during the last 200 ka consistent with GPS-derived and geological shortening rates
Active thrust faulting at the front of the Qilian Shan accommodates the northeastward growth of the Tibetan Plateau, however, the lifespan of individual faults and their slip history on different timescales remain largely unknown. Here, we show that the main range-bounding thrust fault of the western Qilian Shan has accrued tectonic slip at an almost constant rate during the last ∼200 ka, and possAuthorsRalf Hetzel, Andrea Hampel, Pia Gebbeken, Qiang Xu, Ryan D. GoldFour major Holocene earthquakes on the Reelfoot fault recorded by sackungen in the New Madrid seismic zone, USA
Three sequences of well-documented, major ~M7+ earthquakes (1811-1812 CE, ~1450 CE, and ~900 CE) in the New Madrid seismic zone, USA, contribute significantly to seismic hazard in the region. However, it is unknown whether thisAuthorsRyan D. Gold, Christopher DuRoss, Jaime E. Delano, Randall W. Jibson, Richard W. Briggs, Shannon A. Mahan, Robert Williams, D. Reide CorbettCoseismic sackungen in the New Madrid seismic zone, USA
High‐resolution lidar reveals newly recognized evidence of strong shaking in the New Madrid seismic zone in the central United States. We mapped concentrations of sackungen (ridgetop spreading features) on bluffs along the eastern Mississippi River valley in northwestern Tennessee that likely form or are reactivated during large earthquakes. These sackungen are concentrated on the hanging wall ofAuthorsJaime E. Delano, Ryan D. Gold, Richard W. Briggs, Randall W. JibsonPaleoseismic results from the Alpine site, Wasatch fault zone: Timing and displacement data for six holocene earthquakes at the Salt Lake City–Provo segment boundary
To improve the characterization of Holocene earthquakes on the Wasatch fault zone (WFZ), we conducted light detection and ranging (lidar)‐based neotectonic mapping and excavated a paleoseismic trench across an 8‐m‐high fault scarp near Alpine, Utah, located <1 km<1 km south of the boundary between the Salt Lake City and Provo segments (SLCS and PS). We document evidence for six paleoearthquakesAuthorsScott E. K. Bennett, Christopher DuRoss, Ryan D. Gold, Richard W. Briggs, Stephen Personius, Nadine G. Reitman, Joshua Devore, Adam Hiscock, Shannon A. Mahan, Harrison J. Gray, Sydney Gunnarson, William J. Stephenson, Elizabeth Pettinger, Jackson K. OdumModeling the Holocene slip history of the Wasatch fault (Utah): Coseismic and postseismic Coulomb stress changes and implications for paleoseismicity and seismic hazard
The Wasatch fault zone defines the eastern boundary of the actively extending Basin and Range Province (Utah, western United States) and poses a significant seismic hazard to the metropolitan areas along the Wasatch Range. A wealth of paleoseismological data documents ∼24 surface-rupturing Mw ≥ 7 earthquakes along the Wasatch fault during the past 6400 yr. Here, we simulated the Holocene earthquakAuthorsMeike Bagge, Hampel andrea, Ryan D. GoldCombining conflicting Bayesian models to develop paleoseismic records—An example from the Wasatch Fault Zone, Utah
Bayesian statistical analyses of paleoseismic data result in the probabilistic determination of earthquake times using geochronological data evaluated in the context of a stratigraphic model. However, a fundamental problem in paleoseismology is how to use the Bayesian approach to model sparse and/or conflicting geochronological datasets, such as those derived from sites exhibiting episodic sedimenAuthorsChristopher DuRoss, Scott E. K. Bennett, Richard W. Briggs, Stephen Personius, Ryan D. Gold, Nadine G. Reitman, Adam I. Hiscock, Shannon A. Mahan - Science
- Data
Filter Total Items: 22No Result Found
- Multimedia
- Software
- News