A Half-Billion Years of Plate Tectonics in the Western United States, or How the West was Made

Tanya Atwater

Professor of Tectonics
University of California
Santa Barbara

Using computer animations, maps, and landscape images, Professor Atwater will explore the broad-scale evolution of the western United States. She will describe three general plate tectonic eras: (1) rifted/passive continental margin (like our present Atlantic coasts), then (2) subduction and collisions (like the present Andes and Alaska) and then, finally, (3) growth of the San Andreas fault system. In this context, she explains many of our best known and beloved geological landscapes, especially those seen in the western U.S. National Parks and Monuments.

About the Lecturer

Dr. Tanya Atwater was educated at M. I. T., U. C. Berkeley, and Scripps Institute of Oceanography, earning her PhD in 1972. She was a professor at M.I.T., then joined the U.C.S.B. faculty in 1980. Atwater's research in tectonics has taken her to the bottoms of the oceans and to mountains on many continents. She is especially well known for her works on the plate tectonic history of western North America and the San Andreas fault system.

Atwater teaches geology and tectonics at all levels, and is deeply involved in public education, working with the media, museums, and teachers to bring Earth information and excitement to all. Atwater serves on numerous national and international committees. She is a fellow of various professional societies, a co-winner of the A.A.A.S. Newcomb Cleveland Prize, and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1997.

In 2002, Dr. Atwater was awarded an N.S.F. Director's Award for Distinguished Teaching Scholars. With this funding she establish the UCSB Educational Multimedia Visualization Center which produces educational geo-animations and visualizations. Her animations can be downloaded for educational use and/or you can come for a visit and create your own. Go to emvc.geol.ucsb.edu for downloads and information.

More Information

http://www.geol.ucsb.edu/faculty/atwater/

Tanya Atwater