Contiential margins on plate boundaries are complex systems with morphologies and characteristics dictated by the interplay of sediment deposition and erosion, tectonic faulting, folding, and strong ground motion generating mass wasting events. With ever increasing advances in high-resolution remote sensing techniques these systems are increasingly becoming illuminated.
A ~120 km...
The Eastern California Shear Zone (ECSZ) is a broad zone of dextral shear inboard of the North American - Pacific plate boundary. Despite decades of study, the significance of a mismatch between geodetic velocities and geologic fault slip rates across the ECSZ remains incompletely understood. Geodetically determined interseismic strain across...
The Cook-Austral island chain has been the center of debate for many years. Contrary to the classical hotspot hypothesis, this volcanic island chain does not exhibit a linear age progression with a single node of active volcanism, but instead shows evidence of young volcanism at several points along the chain....
Plate boundaries are commonly regions of complex, diffuse deformation with
the motion across the boundary accommodated by numerous structural systems, rather
than being narrow, discrete zones of deformation. One such boundary occurs where
the North American plate makes contact with Juan de Fuca, Gorda, and Pacific plates
along the west...
Two examples of Pacific rim plate boundary deformation are presented. In the first
part of the thesis crustal models are derived for the northwestern part of the Vizcaino
block in California using marine seismic and gravity data collected by the Mendocino
Triple Junction Seismic Experiment. A northwest-southeast trending kink in...
Magnetic and gravity modelling was completed along two E-W transects offshore central Oregon. These models indicate that the backstop-forming western edge of the Siletz terrane has a seaward dip of approximately 40° to 49° at 44°48'N, shallowing to ~28° at 44°1 1 'N. This is a well-determined result, given available...
This thesis presents elastic finite difference simulations of two dimensional wavefield propagation for line-9, recorded during the 1993 part of the multi-institutional, multi-year Mendocino Triple Junction (MTJ) Seismic Experiment. Line-9 is a high-resolution, large-aperture seismic profile oriented in north-south direction, extending from the subduction regime north of the MTJ to...
Surface-geology, oil-well, seismic-reflection, and magnetostratigraphic data are
integrated to evaluate structural style and shortening rate at the Himalayan front (Sub-Himalaya) of northwest India. The Sub-Himalaya, between the Main Boundary thrust
and the Himalayan Frontal fault, is the actively deforming front of the Himalaya. At
certain locations, the Himalayan Frontal fault...