My research focuses on quantifying tectonic and morphological processes and their impacts on the assessments of tsunami, landslide, and earthquake hazards. I am also interested in bridging gaps between disciplines in earth sciences. I am the Project Chief of the USGS Marine Geohazards Sources and Probability Project and in charge of the USGS Ocean Bottom Seismometers.
FIELD EXPERIENCE
41 cruises (26 as chief scientist)
3 over-ice land traverses, Antarctica (co-chief scientist)
4 Airborne magnetic, land gravity, and land seismic surveys (co-chief scientist)
Professional Experience
1991-present Research geophysicist, USGS, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
2015-2019 Editor in Chief, Journal of Geophysical Research-Solid Earth
1999-present Adjunct Scientist, The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
2013-2016 Professor and Chairman, Department of Marine Geosciences, University of Haifa
2016-present Affiliate Professor, University of Haifa
Education and Certifications
1981-1986 Ph.D. Geological Sciences Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University
1977-1980 B.Sc. Geology and Physics, The Hebrew University, Israel
1991-1996 Consulting Associate Professor, Stanford University
1987-1991 Post-doctoral scholar, Stanford University
1986-1987 Post-doctoral scholar, Tel Aviv University
Affiliations and Memberships*
Chairman, U.S.-Israel Bi-National Science Foundation panel for Earth and Atmospheric sciences, 2015
Member - Netherlands Science Foundation panel on Caribbean natural and social sciences, 2014
Member, ITU-WMO-UNESCO/IOC Joint Task Force on Submarine Cables for Tsunami Warnings and Scientific Research, 2013
Co-convenor, Workshop on landslide tsunami probability, 2011
Member, NSF panel evaluating the management structure of the ocean bottom seismometer facilities, 2011
Guest editor- Marine Geology "Assessment of tsunami hazards to the U.S. Atlantic coast", 2009
Honors and Awards
2016 – Fellow, American Geophysical Union
2010 – Senior Scientist (ST), Federal government
2007/8 – Distinguished Lecturer – Seismological Society of America/ IRIS
1996 - Fellow, Geological Society of America
1990 - Royal Society of New Zealand annual prize for Geophysics
Science and Products
Puerto Rico Natural Hazards: Tsunamis | Peligros naturales de Puerto Rico: Maremotos
Puerto Rico Natural Hazards: Earthquakes | Peligros naturales de Puerto Rico: Terremotos
Seismic Reflection and Refraction Methods
Quantifying Morphological Processes
Tectonic Processes
Significant Earthquakes on a major fault system in Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Lesser Antilles, 1500–2010: Implications for Seismic Hazard
Caribbean Tsunami and Earthquake Hazards Studies- Models
Caribbean Tsunami and Earthquake Hazards Studies-Tsunami Potential
Caribbean Tsunami and Earthquake Hazards Studies- Stress Changes and Earthquake Hazard
Caribbean Tsunami and Earthquake Hazards Studies- Seafloor Map
Caribbean Tsunami and Earthquake Hazards Studies
Peace and Science in the Middle East
Multibeam bathymetry and backscatter data collected in the eastern Gulf of Alaska during USGS Field Activity 2016-625-FA using a Reson 7160 multibeam echosounder
Multichannel seismic-reflection and navigation data collected using SIG ELC1200 and Applied Acoustics Delta Sparkers and Geometrics GeoEel digital streamers during USGS field activity 2020-014-FA.
Multibeam and multichannel sparker seismic-reflection data between Cross Sound and Dixon Entrance, offshore southeastern Alaska, collected from 2016-05-17 to 2016-06-12 during field activity 2016-625-FA
Systematic mapping of the ocean-continent transform plate boundary of the Queen Charlotte fault system, southeastern Alaska and western British Columbia—A preliminary bathymetric terrain model
Mature diffuse tectonic block boundary revealed by the 2020 southwestern Puerto Rico seismic sequence
Distributed faulting typically tends to coalesce into one or a few faults with repeated deformation. The progression of clustered medium-sized (≥Mw4.5) earthquakes during the 2020 seismic sequence in southwestern Puerto Rico (SWPR), modeling shoreline subsidence from InSAR, and sub-seafloor mapping by high-resolution seismic reflection profiles, suggest that the 2020 SWPR seismic sequence was dist
Earthquake magnitude distributions on northern Caribbean faults from combinatorial optimization models
On-fault earthquake magnitude distributions are calculated for northern Caribbean faults using estimates of fault slip and regional seismicity parameters. Integer programming, a combinatorial optimization method, is used to determine the optimal spatial arrangement of earthquakes sampled from a truncated Gutenberg-Richter distribution that minimizes the global misfit in slip rates on a complex fau
On the use of statistical analysis to understand submarine landslide processes and assess their hazard
The role of pre-magmatic rifting in shaping a volcanic continental margin: An example from the Eastern North American Margin
Numerical characterization of cohesive and non-cohesive ‘sediments’ under different consolidation states using 3D DEM triaxial experiments
Mysterious tsunami in the Caribbean Sea following the 2010 Haiti earthquake possibly generated by dynamically triggered early aftershocks
Dynamically triggered offshore aftershocks, caused by passing seismic waves from main shocks located on land, are currently not considered in tsunami warnings. The M7.0 2010 Haiti earthquake epicenter was located on land 27 km north of the Caribbean Sea and its focal mechanism was oblique strike-slip. Nevertheless, a tsunami recorded on a Caribbean Deep-Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (D
Along-strike segmentation in the northern Caribbean plate boundary zone (Hispaniola sector): Tectonic implications
The North American (NOAM) plate converges with the Caribbean (CARIB) plate at a rate of 20.0 ± 0.4 mm/yr. towards 254 ± 1°. Plate convergence is highly oblique (20–10°), resulting in a complex crustal boundary with along-strike segmentation, strain partitioning and microplate tectonics. We study the oblique convergence of the NOAM and CARIB plates between southeastern Cuba to northern Puerto Rico
Semi-automated bathymetric spectral decomposition delineates the impact of mass wasting on the morphological evolution of the continental slope, offshore Israel
Offshore landslide hazard curves from mapped landslide size distributions
Slope failure and mass transport processes along the Queen Charlotte Fault, southeastern Alaska
The Queen Charlotte Fault defines the Pacific–North America transform plate boundary in western Canada and southeastern Alaska for c. 900 km. The entire length of the fault is submerged along a continental margin dominated by Quaternary glacial processes, yet the geomorphology along the margin has never been systematically examined due to the absence of high-resolution seafloor mapping data. Hence
Deformation of the Pacific/North America plate boundary at Queen Charlotte Fault: The possible role of rheology
Non-USGS Publications**
**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
- Science
Puerto Rico Natural Hazards: Tsunamis | Peligros naturales de Puerto Rico: Maremotos
Tsunamis are long waves formed from a sudden displacement of the sea floor due to a fault rupture, landslide, or volcanic activity. Given that Puerto Rico lies above a subduction zone in the Caribbean Sea, it is especially susceptible to large earthquakes and tsunamis. The greatest tsunami ever recorded in Puerto Rico occurred from an earthquake off the Mona Passage in 1918. The USGS Earthquake...Puerto Rico Natural Hazards: Earthquakes | Peligros naturales de Puerto Rico: Terremotos
USGS provides real-time earthquake data, information on historic earthquakes, resources for the most significant earthquakes, and seismicity and ground motions to support future updates to the seismic hazard models for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Our seismic research can help establish better building regulations that mitigate earthquake risks and improve public safety. The USGS...Seismic Reflection and Refraction Methods
Seismic reflection and refraction methods are major tools in natural hazard assessments. Useful tools were developed to aid in processing and modeling of these data.Quantifying Morphological Processes
Quantifying Morphological Processes lays the foundation for a better assessment of landslide hazard and sediment transport for resource utilization.Tectonic Processes
Geophysical research utilizes analytical and numerical tools to quantify tectonic processes. Basic geophysical research lays the ground for understanding of Earth processes, which affect natural hazards and resource estimation.Significant Earthquakes on a major fault system in Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Lesser Antilles, 1500–2010: Implications for Seismic Hazard
Earthquakes have been documented in the northeastern Caribbean since the arrival of Columbus to the Americas; written accounts of these felt earthquakes exist in various parts of the world. To better understand the earthquake cycle in the Caribbean, the records of earthquakes in earlier catalogs and historical documents from various archives, which are now available online, were critically...Caribbean Tsunami and Earthquake Hazards Studies- Models
The Puerto Rico trench exhibits great water depth, extremely low gravity anomaly, and a tilted carbonate platform between (reconstructed) elevations of +1300 m and -4000 m. we suggest that these features are manifestations of large vertical movements of a segment of the Puerto Rico Trench, its forearc, and the island of Puerto Rico that took place 3.3 m.y. ago over a time period as short as 14-40...Caribbean Tsunami and Earthquake Hazards Studies-Tsunami Potential
Newly-acquired multibeam bathymetry of the entire Puerto Rico trench reveals numerous retrograde slope failures at various scales at the edge of the carbonate platform north of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The slumped material comprises carbonate blocks, which are cohesive and the edge of the carbonate platform is steeper than most continental slopes, resulting in a higher potential runup...Caribbean Tsunami and Earthquake Hazards Studies- Stress Changes and Earthquake Hazard
Strike-slip faults in the forearc region of a subduction zone often present significant seismic hazard because of their proximity to population centers. We explore the interaction between thrust events on the subduction interface and strike-slip faults within the forearc region using 3-D models of static Coulomb stress change.Caribbean Tsunami and Earthquake Hazards Studies- Seafloor Map
To help understand the origin of the unusual bathymetry, gravity, and vertical tectonics of the plate boundary and to provide constraints for hazard assessment, the morphology of the entire 770-km-long trench from the Dominican Republic in the west to Anguilla in the east was mapped with multibeam echosounder during three cruises in 2002 and 2003. Parts of the Puerto Rico Trench were previously...Caribbean Tsunami and Earthquake Hazards Studies
Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are located at an active plate boundary between the North American plate and the northeast corner of the Caribbean plate. Plate movements have caused large magnitude earthquakes and devastating tsunamis. The USGS has an ongoing program to identify and map the faults in this region using various geophysical and geological methods in order to estimate the location...Peace and Science in the Middle East
This project is complete and the website is archived and no longer updated.The ancient cultures of the Middle East and the modern political conflicts there are shaped by a surprisingly diverse and youthful landscape. The landscape of the region is dominated by a narrow elongate (20-30 km wide) valley, that is surrounded by the western highlands of Israel and the Palestinian Territories, and the... - Data
Multibeam bathymetry and backscatter data collected in the eastern Gulf of Alaska during USGS Field Activity 2016-625-FA using a Reson 7160 multibeam echosounder
Marine geophysical mapping of the Queen Charlotte Fault in the eastern Gulf of Alaska was conducted in 2016 as part of a collaborative effort between the U.S. Geological Survey and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to understand the morphology and subsurface geology of the entire Queen Charlotte system. The Queen Charlotte fault is the offshore portion of the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather FaultMultichannel seismic-reflection and navigation data collected using SIG ELC1200 and Applied Acoustics Delta Sparkers and Geometrics GeoEel digital streamers during USGS field activity 2020-014-FA.
In March 2020, the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez (UPRM) Department of Marine Sciences conducted a marine seismic-reflection experiment focused on observing geophysical evidence of submarine faulting and mass wasting related to the southwestern Puerto Rico seismic sequence of 2019-20. The seismic sequence culminated with a magnitude 6.4 earthquake centered beneatMultibeam and multichannel sparker seismic-reflection data between Cross Sound and Dixon Entrance, offshore southeastern Alaska, collected from 2016-05-17 to 2016-06-12 during field activity 2016-625-FA
Multibeam bathymetry and multisparker data were collected along the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather Fault between Icy Point and Dixon Entrance, offshore southeastern Alaska from 2016-05-17 to 2016-06-12. - Maps
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 136
Systematic mapping of the ocean-continent transform plate boundary of the Queen Charlotte fault system, southeastern Alaska and western British Columbia—A preliminary bathymetric terrain model
In 2015, U.S. Geological Survey scientists in collaboration with scientists from other institutions began a study of the Queen Charlotte fault—the first systematic study of the fault in more than three decades. The primary goal of the study was to gain a better understanding of the earthquake, tsunami, and underwater-landslide hazards throughout southeastern Alaska, as well as gather data to develMature diffuse tectonic block boundary revealed by the 2020 southwestern Puerto Rico seismic sequence
Distributed faulting typically tends to coalesce into one or a few faults with repeated deformation. The progression of clustered medium-sized (≥Mw4.5) earthquakes during the 2020 seismic sequence in southwestern Puerto Rico (SWPR), modeling shoreline subsidence from InSAR, and sub-seafloor mapping by high-resolution seismic reflection profiles, suggest that the 2020 SWPR seismic sequence was dist
Earthquake magnitude distributions on northern Caribbean faults from combinatorial optimization models
On-fault earthquake magnitude distributions are calculated for northern Caribbean faults using estimates of fault slip and regional seismicity parameters. Integer programming, a combinatorial optimization method, is used to determine the optimal spatial arrangement of earthquakes sampled from a truncated Gutenberg-Richter distribution that minimizes the global misfit in slip rates on a complex fau
On the use of statistical analysis to understand submarine landslide processes and assess their hazard
Because of their inaccessibility, submarine landslides are typically studied individually and at great effort and expense to provide knowledge of the specific site conditions where these landslides occur. Statistical analysis of submarine landslide scars can offer generalized perspectives on the processes that initiate submarine landslides and can help toward hazard assessment in areas that have nThe role of pre-magmatic rifting in shaping a volcanic continental margin: An example from the Eastern North American Margin
Both magmatic and tectonic processes contribute to the formation of volcanic continental margins. Such margins are thought to undergo extension across a narrow zone of lithospheric thinning (~100 km). New observations based on existing and reprocessed data from the Eastern North American Margin contradict this hypothesis. With ~64,000 km of 2‐D seismic data tied to 40 wells combined with publishedNumerical characterization of cohesive and non-cohesive ‘sediments’ under different consolidation states using 3D DEM triaxial experiments
The Discrete Element Method has been widely used to simulate geo-materials due to time and scale limitations met in the field and laboratories. While cohesionless geo-materials were the focus of many previous studies, the deformation of cohesive geo-materials in 3D remained poorly characterized. Here, we aimed to generate a range of numerical ‘sediments’, assess their mechanical response to stressMysterious tsunami in the Caribbean Sea following the 2010 Haiti earthquake possibly generated by dynamically triggered early aftershocks
Dynamically triggered offshore aftershocks, caused by passing seismic waves from main shocks located on land, are currently not considered in tsunami warnings. The M7.0 2010 Haiti earthquake epicenter was located on land 27 km north of the Caribbean Sea and its focal mechanism was oblique strike-slip. Nevertheless, a tsunami recorded on a Caribbean Deep-Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (D
Along-strike segmentation in the northern Caribbean plate boundary zone (Hispaniola sector): Tectonic implications
The North American (NOAM) plate converges with the Caribbean (CARIB) plate at a rate of 20.0 ± 0.4 mm/yr. towards 254 ± 1°. Plate convergence is highly oblique (20–10°), resulting in a complex crustal boundary with along-strike segmentation, strain partitioning and microplate tectonics. We study the oblique convergence of the NOAM and CARIB plates between southeastern Cuba to northern Puerto Rico
Semi-automated bathymetric spectral decomposition delineates the impact of mass wasting on the morphological evolution of the continental slope, offshore Israel
Understanding continental slope morphological evolution is essential for predicting depositional systems and reservoirs in the adjacent basin. However, present-day slope seafloor-morphology is complicated by shaping processes, which are not readily separable through pure bathymetric analysis. This study aims to explore the utility of bathymetric spectral decomposition in order to separate and charOffshore landslide hazard curves from mapped landslide size distributions
We present a method to calculate landslide hazard curves along offshore margins based on size distributions of submarine landslides. The method analyzes ten different continental margins, that were mapped by high-resolution multibeam sonar with landslide scar areas measured by a consistent GIS procedure. Statistical tests of several different probability distribution models indicate that the lognoSlope failure and mass transport processes along the Queen Charlotte Fault, southeastern Alaska
The Queen Charlotte Fault defines the Pacific–North America transform plate boundary in western Canada and southeastern Alaska for c. 900 km. The entire length of the fault is submerged along a continental margin dominated by Quaternary glacial processes, yet the geomorphology along the margin has never been systematically examined due to the absence of high-resolution seafloor mapping data. Hence
Deformation of the Pacific/North America plate boundary at Queen Charlotte Fault: The possible role of rheology
The Pacific/North America (PA/NA) plate boundary between Vancouver Island and Alaska is similar to the PA/NA boundary in California in its kinematic history and the rate and azimuth of current relative motion, yet their deformation styles are distinct. The California plate boundary shows a broad zone of parallel strike slip and thrust faults and folds, whereas the 49‐mm/yr PA/NA relative plate motNon-USGS Publications**
**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.
- News
- Multimedia
*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