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Alison Duvall
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Project: Landscape response to strike-slip faulting: a case study of the Marlborough Fault Zone, South Island, New ZealandAlison Duvall is working within Greg Tucker’s geomorphology and landscape-evolution group and also is collaborating with Peter Molnar’s group (mountain range formation and continental lithosphere deformation) and Roger Bilham’s group (earthquakes and tectonic plate motions). She is investigating how strike-slip faulting—when two blocks of the Earth’s crust slide past each other—changes hill slopes, river channels, and other landscape features. Tectonically active strike-slip faults pose a major earthquake hazard, especially in heavily populated areas such as the West Coast of the United States and much of Asia. Unfortunately, measuring the activity of these faults is difficult with standard techniques. By learning to correlate specific strike-slip fault characteristics to specific landscape features, Duvall hopes to develop new ways of recognizing and analyzing fault activity. For her research, she is conducting a case study of New Zealand’s Marlborough Fault System, which contains faults with widely varying slip rates. She will combine field data (geomorphic mapping, field surveys and analysis of digital topographic data) with computer modeling of landscape evolution to explore how the Earth’s surface responds to strike-slip faulting. Along with studying rocks, Duvall loves to climb on them. “I am counting down the days until I move west from the flatlands of Michigan to the highlands of Colorado,” she says. “Not only is the topography more rugged, but the weather promises to be a big improvement as well. I am really looking forward to soaking up the sunshine!” Sponsor: Greg Tucker Email: duvall@umich.edu |
