Seismology and tectonics. The rupture process of large inter- and intraplate earthquakes with a focus on the temporal and spatial fault heterogeneity, rupture initiation and termination, and the role of foreshocks and after-shocks. Fault segmentation and the earthquake cycle at plate boundaries. Wave propagation and geophysical inverse modeling.
Magnetic polarity stratigraphy of upper Cretaceous and Tertiary continental sedimentary sequences in North America and South America. North American apparent polar wander during the Jurassic. Microplate tectonics.
Global and regional tectonics. Mountain building and relation between tectonics and surface processes, paleoaltimetry, and modeling of large scale erosional and depositional processes. Crustal-scale faulting and flexural isostasy. Synthetic stratigraphy. Tectonics of western North America. Mantle and crustal isotopic evolution.
Reflection seismology. Crustal and upper mantle structure and genesis. Seismic reflection data acquisition, processing and interpretation. Two and three dimensional seismic and gravity modeling of complex crustal structure. Exploration seismology, processing of vertical seismic profiling data, gravity studies.
Tectonic geophysics. The driving forces for plate tectonics. Intraplate stresses. Strain accumulation and release at plate boundaries. Finite element and inverse modeling.
Seismology. Earth structure and the seismic source process. Quantification of historic earthquakes and the prediction of strong ground motion. Wave propagation theory and synthetic seismograms.
Seismic investigations of Earth structure with applications to tectonics; Orogenic systems, especially the large-scale structure and evolution of the North and South American Cordilleras, and the Himalayas-Tibetan Plateau.