Paleoseismic trenching on the Leech River fault. Photo: Kristin Morell
Fault slickenlines formed on electrum, a gold-silver alloy, at the Brucejack Mine, northwestern British Columbia.
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About me.At ISTerre, I study active faults in Turkey and the Northern Andes to understand both tectonic processes and seismic hazard. I am using Pleiades satellite data to construct high-resolution digital elevation models that I use to map active faults and to understand their kinematics. These maps are then the basis for targeted field studies to determine earthquake histories, fault kinematics and slip rates, and fault geometry. The results of these studies are integral for input in seismic hazard assessments, and can be used to assess regional active tectonics. More specifically in terms of tectonics, I am interested in how inherited geologic structures, arc volcanism, and subduction processes control active deformation.
Additionally, I am using fault source models to assess how uncertainty in geologic slip rates translates to uncertainty in earthquake hazard estimation. To do this, I have been using SHERIFS software to model earthquake recurrence rates on the Pallatanga-Puna fault system in Ecuador, and testing how different slip rates (geodetic, long-term geomorphic, paleoseismic) affect the results. Our results show that slip rates that incorporate deformation away from the main central fault strands, such as geodetic rates, produce earthquake rates that compare more favourably with the earthquake catalogue. This result suggests these faster slip rates should be more heavily weighted in seismic hazard models and that off-fault deformation (e.g., damage zone) needs to be considered when assessing the seismogenic potential of a fault. My PhD involved studying both the active tectonics, and geologic history of northern Cascadia on southern Vancouver Island, Canada. By understanding how this region, which is located in the forearc of the Cascadia subduction zone, deforms, we can further understand processes on the subduction zone megathrust, and help assess seismic hazard in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. To characterize deformation, I analyzed both active and ancient fault systems to determine their kinematic history and their recent rupture history, which we can use to estimate current and historical forearc stress regimes. I compared these results to stress regimes predicted using numerical modelling to understand how processes in the subduction zone are related to forearc deformation. In addition, the rupture history of active faults I studied are an important input for probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA) models. For my MSc, I studied the structural setting of electrum-bearing quartz-carbonate veining at the Brucejack mine in northwestern British Columbia, and Dixie Valley, Nevada. Our studies showed that these hydrothermal systems were controlled by normal faulting, and that electrum (a gold-silver alloy) may have been transported as suspended nanoparticles, also known as a colloid. EDUCATION
PhD (Earth Sciences) - UC Santa Barbara MSc (Earth and Planetary Sciences) - McGill University BSc (Earth Science Honours) - University of Victoria |