Tom Parsons
I conduct research aimed at improving our ability to forecast hazardous events like earthquakes and tsunamis. Specifically, I study how earthquakes trigger others, how crustal movements cause earthquake stresses, and how to convert geologic observations of earthquake and tsunami processes into quantitative forecasts of use to planners, insurers, and builders.
Professional Experience
1994-Present: Research Geophysicist, U. S. Geological Survey, Moffett Field, CA
1992-1994: National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow
Education and Certifications
1992 – Ph.D. in Geophysics, Stanford University
1990 – M.S. in Geophysics, Stanford University
1988 – B.S. in Applied Geophysics, UCLA
Affiliations and Memberships*
Editor, AGU Advances, 2019-2022
Member: Executive Committee, Council of Senior Science Advisors (COSSA), 2015-present
Editor in Chief, Journal of Geophysical Research, Solid Earth, 2009-2015
Editor in Chief, Tectonophysics, 2007-2009
Editorial Board, Tectonophysics, 2005-2007
Editorial Board, Geology, 1995-2000, 2005-2008
Member: Executive Committee, Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities 2005-2014
Member: SCEC Planning Committee, 2007-2009
Honors and Awards
Senior Scientist (ST): 1/15
Fellow American Geophysical Union, Elected 1/12
Fulbright Mutual Educational Exchange Grant USA-Greece: 2007-2008
Alumni Pillar of Achievement: Golden West College Outstanding Alumni Award (10/07)
Fellow Geological Society of America, Elected 10/97
Shoemaker Communication Award (10/00)
National Association of Government Communicators Gold Screen Award (12/00)
National Research Council Post-Doctoral Fellow (8/92)
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 120
Dipping San Andreas and Hayward faults revealed beneath San Francisco Bay, California Dipping San Andreas and Hayward faults revealed beneath San Francisco Bay, California
The San Francisco Bay area is crossed by several right-lateral strike-slip faults of the San Andreas fault zone. Fault-plane reflections reveal that two of these faults, the San Andreas and Hayward, dip toward each other below seismogenic depths at 60° and 70°, respectively, and persist to the base of the crust. Previously, a horizontal detachment linking the two faults in the lower...
Authors
T. Parsons, P. E. Hart
Stress sensitivity of fault seismicity: A comparison between limited-offset oblique and major strike-slip faults Stress sensitivity of fault seismicity: A comparison between limited-offset oblique and major strike-slip faults
We present a new three-dimensional inventory of the southern San Francisco Bay area faults and use it to calculate stress applied principally by the 1989 M = 7.1 Loma Prieta earthquake and to compare fault seismicity rates before and after 1989. The major high-angle right-lateral faults exhibit a different response to the stress change than do minor oblique (right-lateral/thrust) faults
Authors
T. Parsons, R.S. Stein, R.W. Simpson, P.A. Reasenberg
More than one way to stretch: A tectonic model for extension along the plume track of the Yellowstone hotspot and adjacent Basin and Range Province More than one way to stretch: A tectonic model for extension along the plume track of the Yellowstone hotspot and adjacent Basin and Range Province
The eastern Snake River Plain of southern Idaho poses a paradoxical problem because it is nearly aseismic and unfaulted although it appears to be actively extending in a SW-NE direction continuously with the adjacent block-faulted Basin and Range Province. The plain represents the 100-km-wide track of the Yellowstone hotspot during the last ∼16–17 m.y., and its crust has been heavily...
Authors
Tom Parsons, George A. Thompson, R.P. Smith
A new view into the Cascadia subduction zone and volcanic arc: Implications for earthquake hazards along the Washington margin A new view into the Cascadia subduction zone and volcanic arc: Implications for earthquake hazards along the Washington margin
In light of suggestions that the Cascadia subduction margin may pose a significant seismic hazard for the highly populated Pacific Northwest region of the United States, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Research Center for Marine Geosciences (GEOMAR), and university collaborators collected and interpreted a 530-km-long wide-angle onshore-offshore seismic transect across the...
Authors
T. Parsons, A.M. Trehu, J.H. Luetgert, K. Miller, F. Kilbride, R.E. Wells, M. A. Fisher, E. Flueh, Uri S. ten Brink, N.I. Christensen
New seismic images of the cascadia subduction zone from cruise SO 108-ORWELL New seismic images of the cascadia subduction zone from cruise SO 108-ORWELL
In April and May 1996, a geophysical study of the Cascadia continental margin off Oregon and Washington was conducted aboard the German R/V Sonne. This cooperative experiment by GEOMAR and the USGS acquired wide-angle reflection and refraction seismic data, using ocean-bottom seismometers (OBS) and hydrophones (OBH), and multichannel seismic reflection (MCS) data. The main goal of this...
Authors
E.R. Flueh, M. A. Fisher, J. Bialas, J.R. Childs, D. Klaeschen, Nina Kukowski, T. Parsons, D.W. Scholl, Uri S. ten Brink, A.M. Trehu, N. Vidal
Seismic-reflection evidence that the hayward fault extends into the lower crust of the San Francisco Bay Area, California Seismic-reflection evidence that the hayward fault extends into the lower crust of the San Francisco Bay Area, California
This article presents deep seismic-reflection data from an experiment across San Francisco Peninsula in 1995 using large (125 to 500 kg) explosive sources. Shot gathers show a mostly nonreflective upper crust in both the Franciscan and Salinian terranes (juxtaposed across the San Andreas fault), an onset of weak lower-crustal reflectivity beginning at about 6-sec two-way travel time...
Authors
T. Parsons
Non-USGS Publications**
1992, by Parsons, T. et al., Department of Geophysics, Stanford University
1992, by Parsons, T., et al., Department of Geophysics, Stanford University
1991, by Howie, J.M., et al., Department of Geophysics, Stanford University
1991, by Parsons, T., and Thompson, G.A., Department of Geophysics, Stanford University
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 120
Dipping San Andreas and Hayward faults revealed beneath San Francisco Bay, California Dipping San Andreas and Hayward faults revealed beneath San Francisco Bay, California
The San Francisco Bay area is crossed by several right-lateral strike-slip faults of the San Andreas fault zone. Fault-plane reflections reveal that two of these faults, the San Andreas and Hayward, dip toward each other below seismogenic depths at 60° and 70°, respectively, and persist to the base of the crust. Previously, a horizontal detachment linking the two faults in the lower...
Authors
T. Parsons, P. E. Hart
Stress sensitivity of fault seismicity: A comparison between limited-offset oblique and major strike-slip faults Stress sensitivity of fault seismicity: A comparison between limited-offset oblique and major strike-slip faults
We present a new three-dimensional inventory of the southern San Francisco Bay area faults and use it to calculate stress applied principally by the 1989 M = 7.1 Loma Prieta earthquake and to compare fault seismicity rates before and after 1989. The major high-angle right-lateral faults exhibit a different response to the stress change than do minor oblique (right-lateral/thrust) faults
Authors
T. Parsons, R.S. Stein, R.W. Simpson, P.A. Reasenberg
More than one way to stretch: A tectonic model for extension along the plume track of the Yellowstone hotspot and adjacent Basin and Range Province More than one way to stretch: A tectonic model for extension along the plume track of the Yellowstone hotspot and adjacent Basin and Range Province
The eastern Snake River Plain of southern Idaho poses a paradoxical problem because it is nearly aseismic and unfaulted although it appears to be actively extending in a SW-NE direction continuously with the adjacent block-faulted Basin and Range Province. The plain represents the 100-km-wide track of the Yellowstone hotspot during the last ∼16–17 m.y., and its crust has been heavily...
Authors
Tom Parsons, George A. Thompson, R.P. Smith
A new view into the Cascadia subduction zone and volcanic arc: Implications for earthquake hazards along the Washington margin A new view into the Cascadia subduction zone and volcanic arc: Implications for earthquake hazards along the Washington margin
In light of suggestions that the Cascadia subduction margin may pose a significant seismic hazard for the highly populated Pacific Northwest region of the United States, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Research Center for Marine Geosciences (GEOMAR), and university collaborators collected and interpreted a 530-km-long wide-angle onshore-offshore seismic transect across the...
Authors
T. Parsons, A.M. Trehu, J.H. Luetgert, K. Miller, F. Kilbride, R.E. Wells, M. A. Fisher, E. Flueh, Uri S. ten Brink, N.I. Christensen
New seismic images of the cascadia subduction zone from cruise SO 108-ORWELL New seismic images of the cascadia subduction zone from cruise SO 108-ORWELL
In April and May 1996, a geophysical study of the Cascadia continental margin off Oregon and Washington was conducted aboard the German R/V Sonne. This cooperative experiment by GEOMAR and the USGS acquired wide-angle reflection and refraction seismic data, using ocean-bottom seismometers (OBS) and hydrophones (OBH), and multichannel seismic reflection (MCS) data. The main goal of this...
Authors
E.R. Flueh, M. A. Fisher, J. Bialas, J.R. Childs, D. Klaeschen, Nina Kukowski, T. Parsons, D.W. Scholl, Uri S. ten Brink, A.M. Trehu, N. Vidal
Seismic-reflection evidence that the hayward fault extends into the lower crust of the San Francisco Bay Area, California Seismic-reflection evidence that the hayward fault extends into the lower crust of the San Francisco Bay Area, California
This article presents deep seismic-reflection data from an experiment across San Francisco Peninsula in 1995 using large (125 to 500 kg) explosive sources. Shot gathers show a mostly nonreflective upper crust in both the Franciscan and Salinian terranes (juxtaposed across the San Andreas fault), an onset of weak lower-crustal reflectivity beginning at about 6-sec two-way travel time...
Authors
T. Parsons
Non-USGS Publications**
1992, by Parsons, T. et al., Department of Geophysics, Stanford University
1992, by Parsons, T., et al., Department of Geophysics, Stanford University
1991, by Howie, J.M., et al., Department of Geophysics, Stanford University
1991, by Parsons, T., and Thompson, G.A., Department of Geophysics, Stanford University
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
*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