Alternate phone: 541-737-5214

Website: Active Tectonics Lab

Specialty

Marine Geology and Geophysics, Paleoseismology

Research Interests

Subduction earthquakes; Paleoseismology. Mechanics of oblique subduction, Structural Geology, Accretion and erosion of active margins; Seafloor imaging, mapping, and visualization techniques; Seafloor drilling technology.

Current Research

Submarine Paleoseismology offshore, and lacustrine paleoseismology, earthquake recurrence; active oblique faulting and block rotation in the Cascadia subduction zone; relationship of forearc deformation to earthquake potential in convergent margins; earthquake potential of plate boundary fault zones including Cascadia, Sumatra, Chile, the Northern San Andreas; Habitat mapping and Bayesian modeling of habitat suitability probability.

Education

BA, Humboldt State University (Geology), 1980
BS, Humboldt State University (Geologic Oceanography), 1980
MS, Oregon State University (Structural Geology), 1990
PhD, Oregon State University (Structural Geology), 1994

Publications

(Peer Reviewed )

Appelgate, B., Goldfinger, C., Kulm, L.D., MacKay, M., Fox, C.G., Embley, R.W., and Meis, P.J., 1992, A left lateral strike slip fault seaward of the central Oregon convergent margin: Tectonics, v. 11, p. 465-477.

Bellman, M., Heppell, S., Goldfinger C., 2005, Evaluation of a U.S. West Coast Groundfish Habitat Conservation Regulation via Analysis of Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Trawl Fishing Effort, in Greene and Todd, eds., Marine Geological and Benthic Habitat Mapping, Canadian Journal of Fisheries Aquatic Science, v. 62, p. 2886–2900.

Chaytor, J.D., Goldfinger, C., Dziak, R.P., and Fox, C.G., 2004, Active deformation of the Gorda plate: Constraining deformation models with new geophysical data: Geology, v. 32, p. 353-356.

Chaytor, J. D., Chris Goldfinger, C., Meiner, M. A., Huftile, G. J., Romsos, C. G., and Legg, M. R., 2008, Measuring Vertical Tectonic Motion at the Intersection of the Santa Cruz-Catalina Ridge and Northern Channel Islands Platform, California Continental Borderland, Using Submerged Paleoshorelines, Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, v. 120. P. 1053-1071.

Copps, S., Parkes, G., Wakefield, W., Yoklavich, M., Bailey, A., Goldfinger, C., Greene, G., 2008, Integration of Geology and Fish Ecology to Assess West Coast Essential Fish Habitat for Groundfishes at the Scale of the Exclusive Economic Zone: in Todd, B.J., and Greene, G., eds., Mapping the Seafloor for Habitat Characterization: Geological Association of Canada Special Paper 47, p. 439-450.

Dziak, R.P., Fox, C.G., Bobbitt, A., and Goldfinger, C., 2001, Bathymetric Map of the Gorda Plate: Structural and Geomorphological Processes Inferred from Mulitbeam Surveys, Marine Geophysical Researches, v. 22, p. 235-250.

Goldfinger, C., Kulm, L.D., Yeats, R.S., Appelgate, B., MacKay, M., and Moore, G.F., 1992, Transverse structural trends along the Oregon convergent margin: implications for Cascadia earthquake potential: Geology, v. 20, p. 141-144.

Goldfinger, C., 1994, Active deformation of the Cascadia forearc: Implications for great earthquake potential in Oregon and Washington [PhD thesis]: Corvallis, Oregon State University, 202 pp.
Goldfinger, C., Kulm, L.D., Yeats, R.S., Hummon, C., Huftile, G.J., Niem, A.R., Fox, C.G., and McNeill, L.C., 1996, Oblique strike-slip faulting of the Cascadia submarine forearc: The Daisy Bank fault zone off central Oregon, in Bebout, G.E., Scholl, D., Kirby, S., and Platt, J.P., eds., Subduction top to bottom, AGU Geophysical Monograph 96, Washington, D. C., American Geophysical Union, p. 65-74.

Goldfinger, C., Kulm, L.D., Yeats, R.S., Appelgate, B., MacKay, M., and Cochrane, G.R., 1996, Active strike-slip faulting and folding of the Cascadia plate boundary and forearc in central and northern Oregon, in Rogers, A.M., Walsh, T.J., Kockelman, W.J., and Priest, G., eds., Assessing and reducing earthquake hazards in the Pacific Northwest, Volume I, U.S.G.S. Professional Paper 1560, U.S. Geological Survey.

Goldfinger, C., Kulm, L.D., Yeats, R.S., McNeill, L.C., and Hummon, C., 1997, Oblique strike-slip faulting of the central Cascadia submarine forearc: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 102, p. 8217-8243.

Goldfinger, C., and McNeill, L.C., 1997, Case study of GIS data integration and visualization in submarine tectonic investigations: Cascadia subduction zone: Marine Geodesy, v. 20, p. 267-289.

Goldfinger, C., 1999, Active Tectonics: Data Acquisition and Analysis with Marine GIS , in Wright, D. J., and Bartlett, D. J., eds., Marine and Coastal Geographic Information Systems: London , Taylor and Francis, Research Monographs in GIS, p. 237-254.

Goldfinger, C., Kulm, L.D., McNeill, L.C., and Watts, P., 2000, Super-scale failure of the southern Oregon Cascadia margin: Pure and Applied Geophysics, v. 157,. p. 1189-1226.

Goldfinger, C., Dziak, R., and Fox, C., 2002 Offshore structure of the Juan de Fuca Plate from marine seismic and sonar studies, in: Kirby, Stephen, Wang, Kelin, and Dunlop, Susan, eds., 2002, The Cascadia Subduction Zone and Related Subduction Systems-Seismic Structure, Intraslab Earthquakes and Processes, and Earthquake Hazards: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 02-328, 169 p. on 1 CD-ROM, and Geological Survey of Canada Open File 4350 p. 23-26.

Goldfinger, C., Romsos, C., Robison, R., Milstein, R., and Myers, S. A, 2002, Interim Seafloor Lithology Maps for Oregon and Washington, Oregon State University Active Tectonics and Seafloor Mapping Laboratory Publication 02-01, 1 digital multilayer map on CD, and text, 11 pp.

Goldfinger, C., Nelson, C.H., and Johnson, J.E., 2003, Deep-Water Turbidites as Holocene Earthquake Proxies: The Cascadia Subduction Zone and Northern San Andreas Fault Systems: Annali Geofisica, v. 46, p. 1169-1194.

—, 2003, Holocene Earthquake Records From the Cascadia Subduction Zone and Northern San Andreas Fault Based on Precise Dating of Offshore Turbidites: Annual Reviews of Earth and Planetary Sciences, v. 31, p. 555-577.

Goldfinger, C., Morey, A.E., Nelson, C.H., Gutiérrez-Pastor, J., Johnson, J.E., Karabanov, E., Chaytor, J., Ericsson, A., and shipboard scientific party, 2007, Rupture lengths and temporal history of significant earthquakes on the Offshore and Northcoast segments of the Northern San Andreas Fault based on turbidite stratigraphy, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 254, p. 9-27.

Goldfinger, C., Grijalva, K., Burgmann, R., Morey, A.E., Johnson, J.E., Nelson, C.H., Gutierrez-Pastor, J., Karabanov, E., Chaytor, J.D., Patton, J., and Gracia, E., 2008, Late Holocene Rupture of the Northern San Andreas Fault and Possible Stress Linkage to the Cascadia Subduction Zone, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, v. 98, p. 861-889.

Goldfinger, C., Patton, J.R., Morey, A.M., 2009, Reply to comment on "Late Holocene Rupture of the Northern San Andreas Fault and Possible Stress Linkage to the Cascadia Subduction Zone, Goldfinger, C., Grijalva, K., Burgmann, R., Morey, A., Johnson, J.E., Nelson, C.H., Ericsson, A., Gutiérrez-Pastor, J., Patton, J., Karabanov, E., Gracia, E.", Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, v. 98, p. 861-889, 8 pp.

Goldfinger, C., 2009, Subaqueous Paleoseismology, in Mcalpin, J., ed., Paleoseismology, 2nd edition, Elsevier, p. 119-169.

Goldfinger, C., 2011, Submarine Paleoseismology Based on Turbidite Records, Annual Reviews of Marine Science, v. 3, p. 35-66.

Goldfinger, C., Nelson, C.H., Morey, A., Johnson, J.E., Gutierrez-Pastor, J., Eriksson, A.T., Karabanov, E., Patton, J., Gracia, E., Enkin, R., Dallimore, A., Dunhill, G., and Vallier, T., 2012, Turbidite Event History: Methods and Implications for Holocene Paleoseismicity of the Cascadia Subduction Zone, USGS Professional Paper 1661-F, Reston, VA, U.S. Geological Survey, p. 184 p, 64 Figures. doi:10.3133/pp1661F

Goldfinger, C., Ikeda, Y., Yeats, R.S., and Ren, J., 2013, Superquakes and Supercycles, Seismological Research Letters, v. 84, no. 1, p. 24-32 Online supplement

Goldfinger, C., Morey, A., Black, B., Beeson, J. and Patton, J., 2013, Spatially Limited Mud Turbidites on the Cascadia Margin: Segmented Earthquake Ruptures?, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 13, 2109-2146. doi:10.5194/nhess-13-1-2013 ( electronic supplement)

Goldfinger, C., Ikeda, Y., Yeats, R.S., Superquakes, Supercycles and Global Earthquake Clustering, 2013, EARTH Vol. 58 (No. 1), p. 34.

Goldfinger, C., Patton, J., Van Daele, M., Moernaut, J., Nelson, C.H., De Batist, M., and Morey, A.M., 2015, Comment on “Can Turbidites be Used to Reconstruct a Paleoearthquake Record for the Central Sumatran Margin?, Geology, v. 42, p. e344, doi: 10.1130/G35558C.1.

Goldfinger, C., Galer, S., Beeson, J.W., Hamilton, T.S, Black, B., Romsos, C., Patton, J., Nelson, C.H., Hausmann, R., Morey,A., 2016, The Importance of Site Selection, Sediment Supply, and Hydrodynamics: A Case Study of Submarine Paleoseismology on the Northern Cascadia margin, Washington USA, Marine Geology, In Press.

Gracia, E., Vizcaino, A., Escutia, C., Asioli, A., Rodes, A., Palla, R., Garcia-Orellana, J., Lebreiro, S., Goldfinger, C., 2010, Holocene Earthquake Record Offshore Portugal (SW Iberia): Testing turbidite paleoseismology in a slow-convergence margin, Quaternary Science Reviews, v. 29, p. 1156-1172.

Gutierrez-Pastor, J., Nelson, C.H., Goldfinger, C., Johnson, J.E., Escutia, C., Eriksson, A., and Morey, A., 2009, Earthquake Control of Holocene Turbidite Frequency Confirmed by Hemipelagic Sedimentation Chronology on The Cascadia and Northern California Active Continental Margins, in Kneller, B., Martinsen, O.J., and McCaffrey, W., eds., External Controls on Deep-Water Depositional Systems, Society for Sedimentary Geology Special Publication, Volume 92: London, Society for Sedimentary Geology p. 179-197.

Gutierrez-Pastor, J., Nelson, C.H., Goldfinger, C., Escutia, C., 2012, Sedimentology of Seismo-Turbidites off the Cascadia and Northern California Active Tectonic Continental Margins, Northwest Pacific Ocean, Marine Geology, doi: 10.1016/j.margeo.2012.11.010.

Havron, A., Goldfinger, C., Henkel, S., Marcot, B.G., Romsos, C., Gilbane, L., 2016 submitted, Mapping marine habitat suitability and uncertainty using Bayesian networks: a case study of northeastern Pacific benthic macrofauna.

Johnson, J.E., Goldfinger, C., Bangs, N.L., Tréhu, A.M. and Chevallier, J., In revision, Structural vergence variation and clockwise block rotation in the Hydrate Ridge region, Cascadia accretionary wedge offshore Oregon.

Johnson, J.E., Goldfinger, C., and Suess, E., 2003, Geophysical constraints on the surface distribution of authigenic carbonates aross the Hydrate Ridge region, Cascadia margin: Marine Geology, v. 202, p. 79-110.

Johnson, J.E., Goldfinger, C, Trehu, A.M., Bangs, N., Torres, M.E., and Chevallier, J., 2005, North-south variability in the history of deformation and fluid venting across hydrate ridge, Cascadia margin, Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program Scientific Results, Volume 204.

Kulkarni, R., Wong, I., Zachariasen, J., and Goldfinger, C., 2013, Statistical Analyses of Great Earthquake Recurrence Along the Cascadia Subduction Zone, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Vol. 103, No. 6, pp. 1–17, December 2013, doi: 10.1785/0120120105.

Lanier, A., Romsos, C., and Goldfinger, C., 2007, Seafloor Habitat Mapping on the Oregon Continental Margin: A Spatially Nested GIS Approach to Mapping Scale, Mapping Methods, and Accuracy Quantification, Marine Geodesy, v. 30, p. 1-26

Milstein, R., Kamerling, M., 2004 Large Enigmatic Crater Structures Offshore Southern California: Geophysical Journal International, v.159, n.2, p.803-815.

Legg, M.R., Goldfinger, C., Kamerling, M.J., Chaytor, J.D., 2007, Morphology, structure and evolution of California Continental Borderland restraining bends, in Cunningham, W. D. & Mann, P. (eds) Tectonics of Strike-Slip Restraining and Releasing Bends, Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 290, 143–168.

McCaffrey, R., and Goldfinger, C., 1995, Forearc deformation and great earthquakes: Implications for Cascadia earthquake potential: Science, v. 267, p. 856-859.

McCaffrey, R., Long, M., Goldfinger, C., Nabelek, J., Johnson, C., Zwick, P., and Smith, C., 2000, Rotation and plate locking at the southern Cascadia subduction zone: Geophys. Res. Letts., v. 27, p. 3117-3120.

McNeill, L.C., Goldfinger, C., Kulm, L.D., and Yeats, R.S., 2000, Tectonics of the Neogene Cascadia forearc basin: Investigations of a deformed late Miocene unconformity: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 112, p. 1209-1224.

McNeill, L.C., Goldfinger, C., Yeats, R.S., and Kulm, L.D., 1998, The effects of upper plate deformation on records of prehistoric Cascadia subduction zone earthquakes, in Stewart, I.S., and Vita-Finzi, C., eds., Coastal Tectonics, Volume Special Publications 146: London, Geological Society, p. 321-342.

McNeill, L.C., Piper, K.A., Goldfinger, C., Kulm, L.D., and Yeats, R.S., 1997, Listric normal faulting on the Cascadia continental margin: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 102, p. 12,123-12,138.

Miller, M., Dragert, H., Endo, E., Freymueller, J.T., Goldfinger, C., Kelsey, H.M., Humphreys, E.D., Johnson, D.J., McCaffrey, R.M., Oldow, J.S., Qamar, A., and Rubin, C.M., 1998, Precise measurements help gauge Pacific Northwest's Earthquake potential: EOS, v. 79, p. 269-275.

Miller, M.M., Johnson, D.J., Rubin, C.M., Dragert, H., Wang, K., Qamar, A., and Goldfinger, C., 2001, GPS-determination of along-strike variation in Cascadia margin kinematics: Implications for relative plate motion, subduction zone coupling, and permanent deformation: Tectonics, v. 20, p. 161-176.

Morey, A. E., Mix, A.C., Pisias, N.G., 2005, Planktonic foraminiferal assemblages preserved in surface sediments correspond to multiple environmental variable, Quaternary Science Reviews, v. 24, p. 925-950.

Morey, A. E., Goldfinger, C., Briles, C. E., Gavin, D. G., Colombaroli, D., and Kusler, J. E.,2013, Are great Cascadia earthquakes recorded in the sedimentary records from small forearc lakes?, Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences,v. 13, 1–23.

Nelson, C.H., Goldfinger, C., Johnson, J.E., and Dunhill, G., 2000, Variation of modern turbidite systems along the subduction zone margin of Cascadia Basin and implications for turbidite reservoir beds, in P.W. Weimer, R.M. Slatt, J. Coleman, N.C. Rosen, C.H. Nelson, A.H. Bouma, M.J. Styzen, D.T. Lawrence, eds., Deep-water Reservoirs of the World: 20th Annual Research Conference, Gulf Coast Section Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, p. 31 pp.

Nelson, C.H., Escutia, C., Goldfinger, C., Karabanov, E., Gutierrez-Pastor, J., and De Batist, M., 2009, External controls on modern clastic turbidite systems: three case studies, in Kneller, B., Martinsen, O.J., and McCaffrey, W., eds., Society for Sedimentary Geology Special Publication, Volume 92: London, Society for Sedimentary Geology, p. 57-76.

Nelson, C.H., Escutia, C., Damuth, J.E., and Twitchell, D.C., 2011, Interplay of mass-transport and turbidite-system deposits in different active tectonic and passive continental margin settings: external and local controlling factors: Society for Sedimentary Geology Special Publication, v. 96, p. 39–66.

Nelson, C.H., Gutiérrez-Pastor, J., Goldfinger, C., and Escutia, C., 2012, Great earthquakes along the Western United States continental margin: implications for hazards, stratigraphy and turbidite lithology: Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., v. 12, p. 3191-3208.

Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, 2004, Western Oregon Seismic Reflection Data Imagery, Open-File Report O-12-04, 2 plates, seismic imagery. (4 gb!)

Patton, J.R., Goldfinger, C., Morey, A., Ikehara, K., Romsos, C., Stoner, J., Djadjadihardja, Y.S., Udrekh, Ardhyastuti, S., Gaffar, E., Viscaino, A.,2015, 6.5 ka earthquake history in the region of the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake, Geosphere, v. 11, no. 6, p. 2067-2129. doi:10.1130/GES01066.1

Patton, J.R., Goldfinger, C., Morey, A., Romsos, C., Black, B., Djadjadihardja, Y.S., and Udrekh, U., 2013, Seismoturbidite Record as Preserved at Core Sites at the Cascadia and Sumatra-Andaman Subduction Zones, Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, v. 13,p. 833–867. online supplement

Priest, G. R., Goldfinger, C., Wang, W., Witter, R. C. Zhang, Y., 2009, Confidence levels for tsunami-inundation limits in northern Oregon inferred from a 10,000-year history of great earthquakes at the Cascadia subduction zone, Natural Hazards v. 54, p. 27-73. DOI 10.1007/s11069-009-9453-5.

Priest G.R, Goldfinger C, Wang K, Witter RC, Zhang Y, Baptista A.M., 2009, Tsunami hazard assessment of the Northern Oregon coast: a multi-deterministic approach tested at Cannon Beach, Clatsop County, Oregon. Oregon Department of Geology Mineral Industries Special Paper 41, 89p. plus Appendix and GIS files.

Priest, G.R., Zhang, Y., Witter, R.C., Wang, K., Goldfinger, C., and Stimely, L., 2014, Tsunami impact to Washington and northern Oregon from segment ruptures on the southern Cascadia subduction zone, Natural Hazards, v. 72, p, 849–870.

George R. Priest, Robert C. Witter, Y. Joseph Zhang, Kelin Wang, Chris Goldfinger, Laura L. Stimely, John T. English, Sean G. Pickner, Kaleena L.B. Hughes, Taylore E. Wille, and Rachel L. Smith, 2013, Tsunami Inundation Scenarios for Oregon, Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, Open-File Report O-13-19, 14 pp, GIS datasets.

Romsos, C., Goldfinger, C., C., Robison, R., Milstein, R., Chaytor, J., 2007, Development of a Regional Seafloor Surficial Geologic Habitat Map for the Continental Margins of Oregon and Washington, USA in Todd, B.J., and Greene, G., eds., Mapping the Seafloor for Habitat Characterization: Geological Association of Canada Special Paper 47, p. 209-234.

Rong, Y., Jackson, D.D., Magistrale, H., and Goldfinger, C., 2014, Magnitude Limits of Subduction Zone Earthquakes, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, v. 104, no. 5, p. 2359-2377, doi: 10.1785/0120130287

Salisbury, M.J., Patton, J.R., Kent, A.J.R., Goldfinger, C., Djadjadihardja, Y., and Hanifa, U.,2012, Deep-sea ash layers reveal evidence for large, late Pleistocene and Holocene explosive activity from Sumatra, Indonesia, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (2012), doi: 10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2012.03.007

Scholz, C., 2014, Holocene Earthquake History of Cascadia: A Quantitative Test, v. 104, no. 4, p. 2120-2124, doi: 10.1785/0120140002

Suess, E., Torres, M., Bohrmann, G., Collier, R.W., Rickert, D., Goldfinger, C., Linke, P., Heuser, A., Sahling, H., Heeschen, K., Jung, C., Nakamura, K., Greinert, J., Pfannkuche, O., Trehu, A., Klinkhammer, G., Whiticar, M.J., Eisenhauer, A., Teichert, B., and Elvert, M., 2001, Sea Floor methane hydrates at Hydrate Ridge, Cascadia Margin: American Geophysical Union Monograph 124, p. 87-98.

Tolimieri, N., Clarke, M.E., Singh, H. and Goldfinger, C., 2008, Development of the SeaBED AUV to monitor populations of west coast groundfish in untrawlable habitat: an example with Rosethorn rockfish, Sebastes helvomaculatus in Reynolds, J.R., and H.G. Greene, eds. 2008. Marine habitat mapping technology for Alaska. Alaska Sea Grant College Program, University of Alaska Fairbanks, doi:10.4027/mhmta.2008.09.

Trehu, A., Lin, G., Maxwell, E., and Goldfinger, C., 1995, A seismic reflection profile across the Cascadia subduction zone offshore central Oregon:New constraints on methane distribution and crustal structure, Journal of Geophysical Research v. 100, p. 15,101-15,116.

Van Lanningham, S., Meigs, A., Goldfinger, C., 2006, The effects of rock uplift and rock resistance on river morphology in a subduction zone forearc,
Oregon, USA, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, v. 31, p. 1257-1279.

Witter, R.C., Zhang, Y., Wang, K., Priest, G.R., Goldfinger, C., Stimely, L., English, J.T., and Ferro, P.A., 2011, Simulating tsunami inundation at Bandon, Coos County, Oregon, using hypothetical Cascadia and Alaska earthquake scenarios, Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries Special Paper 43, Salem, Oregon, 63 p. and GIS files

Witter, R. C., Zhang, Y., Wang, K., Goldfinger, C., Priest, G. R., and Allan, J. C., 2012, Coseismic slip on the southern Cascadia megathrust implied by tsunami deposits in an Oregon lake and earthquake-triggered marine turbidites: J. Geophys. Res., v. 117, no. B10, p. B10303.

Witter, R. C., Zhang, Y., Wang, K., Priest, G. R., Goldfinger, C., Stimeley, L., English, J.T., and Ferro, P.A., 2013, Simulated tsunami inundation for a range of Cascadia megathrust earthquake scenarios at Bandon, Oregon, USA: Geosphere, v. 9, no. 6, p. 1783-1803. Plate 1

Yeats, R.S., Graven, E.P., Werner, K.S., Goldfinger, C., and Popowski, T.A., 1996, Tectonics of the Willamette Valley,Oregon, in Rogers, A.M., Walsh, T.J., Kockelman, W.J., and Priest, G., eds., Assessing and reducing earthquake hazards in the Pacific Northwest, Volume I, Professional Paper 1560, U.S. Geological Survey, 47 p., 10 plates. Plates

Yeats, R.S., Kulm, L.D., Goldfinger, C., and McNeill, L.C., 1998, Stonewall anticline: An active fold on the Oregon continental shelf: Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, v. 110, p. 572-587.