Prospective students:

I am recruiting graduate students at USU at the MSc and PhD level. My research spans a wide range of methods, from spending time in the field collecting data (for example, mapping fracture distributions), to running numerical simulations in an external computer server (for example, to model fault interactions over timescales longer than those we can observe in the paleoseismic record). Ongoing projects reflect this breadth and I am happy and excited to bring in students with different training and backgrounds to the group, whether they want to spend their time in the field, processing remote sensing data in GIS, writing code, or doing a bit of it all! Send me an email if you're interested in working together and include your CV and a brief statement of your interests and how they align with my research program. You can reach me at alba.rodriguez@usu.edu .

Collaborations

Get in touch via email if you would like to collaborate!

The erasure of earthquakes from the landscape: implications for PFDHA

Probabilistic fault displacement hazard analysis (PFDHA) relies on knowledge of the magnitude and distribution of coseismic surface displacements. For old events, this information hides in the landscape, modified by the action of surface processes which begin to reshape the record immediately post-earthquake so that the time elapsed since the most recent event, and the conditions under which these surface processes operate will dictate the information available for mapping a fault from the modern landscape. In this work led by PhD candidate Mindy Zuckerman (ASU), we apply a suite of 2D surface process models to high-resolution digital elevation models from environments in southern California with different time elapsed since a well-constrained most recent earthquake to quantify the decrease of information available for mapping as a function of time since the event.

Collaborators: Ramon Arrowsmith (ASU), Mindy Zuckerman (ASU)

The distribution of surface strain in the 2021 Maduo earthquake (China)

In this work led by colleagues at the China Earthquake Administration, we use dense, high-resolution geologic and geodetic data from the 2021 Maduo earthquake in the Tibetan Plateau to investigate the effect of fault maturity and stress orientation, and rupture branching, on the mechanics of the event.

Collaborators: Jing Liu-Zeng (China Earthquake Administration) and Wenqian Yao (IPGP)

Publications: Liu-Zeng et al. (2023), Yao et al. (2024)

Automated mapping of fault scarps and fractures

I am collaborating in the efforts led by fellow Caltech postdoc Dr. Zhiang Chen to automate the detection and mapping of fault scarps and fractures from aerial imagery.

Collaborators: Zhiang Chen (Caltech), Kate Scharer (USGS), Devin McPhillips (USGS)

Active tectonics of Peru

I was lucky to do research under the guidance of Dr. Sarah Hall at College of the Atlantic when I was an undergraduate there, working on two projects related to active tectonics in Peru: [1] The Incapuquio Fault System in southern Peru accommodates some of the Naza-South America convergence and produces surface rupturing earthquakes that threaten nearby populations. A group led by Dr. Carlos Benavente at The Instituto Geológico, Minero y Metalúrgico (INGEMMET) works to understand the mechanics and paleoseismic history of the different faults within the Incapuquio system. I participated in field efforts during my undergraduate thesis at College of the Atlantic, under the supervision of Dr. Sarah Hall. [2] The Cordillera Blanca in the northern Andes of Peru hosts some of the highest peaks in the mountain range and is bounded by a 200 km long detachment fault on its western flank, the Cordillera Blanca deatchment fault. I contributed to a book chapter reviewing the geology and tectonic setting of the Cordillera Blanca, also led by Dr. Sarah Hall at COA.

Collaborators: Sarah Hall (College of the Atlantic), Carlos Benavente (INGEMMET)

Publications: Benavente et al. (2022), Hall et al. (2024)