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Jenna C. Hill @chillocean.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Back in our happy #science place. Mapping earthquake-triggered submarine landslides in Prince William Sound, Alaska 🧪⚒️🌊 #USGS

Photo of a research vessel in Prince William Sound, Alaska

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Jenna C. Hill @chillocean.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Btw, for all you submarine landslide and Cascadia enthusiasts - a new GIS data release of seafloor failure scarps w/ >9000 features! 🧪⚒️🌊 doi.org/10.5066/P1M8... This is a companion to our 2022 paper: doi.org/10.1016/j.ep... +ICMYI: Check out our related 2026 paper here: doi.org/10.1126/scia...

Map of the Cascadia subduction zone showing multibeam bathymetry coverage and seafloor failure scarps.

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Jenna C. Hill @chillocean.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

ICYMI: Our #USGS #scicomm put together a great video about our research into #earthquake records in the Cascadia subduction zone. 🧪⚒️🌊 You can read our new paper in Science Advances here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

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Jenna C. Hill @chillocean.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

We propose a new geologic model for subduction zone marine paleoseismology that emphasizes uplift & recycling of the abyssal seafloor. Accretion and oversteepening on the lower slope sets the stage for landslides and provides a perpetual source of material to fail during each earthquake cycle. 🧪⚒️🌊

A new geologic model for subduction zone marine paleoseismology. See https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adx6028 for details.

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Jenna C. Hill @chillocean.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

Our study shows that large megathrust earthquakes generate widespread landslides on the seafloor, with characteristic deposits called turbidites that can reliably be used to reconstruct earthquake history. 🧪⚒️🌊 Check out this USGS video describing our new findings:

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Jenna C. Hill @chillocean.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

Our research team from USGS & MBARI used autonomous underwater& remotely operated vehicles to collect detailed seafloor bathymetry, sediment cores and subbottom data. Together, these data allow us to examine the shape of the seafloor and the layers of sediment beneath that record earth history. 🧪⚒️🌊

AUV Bathymetry and subbottom data across landslides on the deformation front in the Cascadia subduction zone. See https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adx6028 for more details.

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Jenna C. Hill @chillocean.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

An important reminder from the US National Weather service regarding the US west coast tsunami advisories following today’s M8.8 Kamchatka quake:

“Friends please be aware, a Tsunami is a series of waves carrying a large extra mass of water to our coast.

This will NOT be a single wave.
Do NOT try to go to the coast to take photos.

You're not just putting yourself at risk, you will also put the people that have to rescue you at risk.”

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Jenna C. Hill @chillocean.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

Rain or shine, it’s always a good day to survey submarine landslides in #Alaska! #USGS #Coastal & #Marine #Geohazards 🧪⚒️🌊

Two people deploying chirp sonar from small boat in Alaska.

View of mountains and water through window on a boat with a subbottom data processing computer screen in the foreground.

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Jenna C. Hill @chillocean.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

Another curious specimen from marine sediment cores - anyone have thoughts on what these copper brown coils might be? Could be terrestrial (from ice age) or marine. 👽, 🐌, 💩 have all been suggested… This sample is from the Bering Shelf in about 40m of water. 🧪⚒️🌊

Microscope photo of sediment aggregate from the Bering Shelf with copper, brown coils of unknown origin.

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Jenna C. Hill @chillocean.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

Seafloor enthusiasts! We now have a complete set of high resolution seafloor bathymetry grids for the Cascadia subduction zone (offshore Washington, Oregon & northern California) available for download! #USGS #data #science #mapping #MarineGeohazards 🧪⚒️🌊 www.usgs.gov/programs/cmh...

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Jenna C. Hill @chillocean.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

Do you like submarine canyons? Check out this nice pilot study we did in Astoria Canyon, offshore Washington and Oregon - led by graduate student Evan Lahr - that shows a dynamic sedimentary environment. 🤓 🧪⚒️ Just published in Marine Geology: authors.elsevier.com/c/1kqiT5mVe1...

Bathymetric map of Astoria Canyon, located offshore of the Columbia River.

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Jenna C. Hill @chillocean.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

Did someone say World Glacier Day? I still love this shot of our boat from field work in Prince William Sound, Alaska last summer. We were up there up there studying submarine landslides and will hopefully be back this summer. 🧪⚒️

Photo of USGS research vessel with the Yale Glacier in the background in Prince William Sound, Alaska

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Jenna C. Hill @chillocean.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

Peeking at a little bit of sedimentological history 🧪⚒️ IYKYK…and if you don’t know these are old marine sediment cores with some famous names. #geologynerds

Photograph of D-tube containers with marine sediment core samples from 1976.

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Jenna C. Hill @chillocean.bsky.social · 25/01/2025

Faculty and staff at Sonoma State University were just notified of the closing of the Geology Department - they are organizing an email letter writing campaign for Monday 1/27 to rally support - see below🧪⚒️ It’s awful to see the closing of another Geology department and big loss for the community.

Here’s how you can help:

On Monday, January 27th, we’re launching a campaign to rally support for the Geology Department. To maximize impact, we are asking you to email or call a list of influential community members (provided below).

We’ve included a template letter at the bottom of this email that you can use as is, or you can personalize it with your own thoughts and experiences—whatever works best for you. The most important thing is that you send something.

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Jenna C. Hill @chillocean.bsky.social · 07/12/2024

Colleagues happened to be en route to field work in Eel River when M7 #earthquake happened yesterday near Cape Mendocino, so they got a great opportunity to document some co-seismic landslides. Here’s a couple of nice pics they snapped on the beach before the tides take it away. 🧪⚒️

Beach bluff failure from yesterday’s earthquake.

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Jenna C. Hill @chillocean.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Interesting! I love the the call to collect cores on the shelf - that is exactly what we did! We have lots of exciting new data that suggests the shelf was not an arid steppe tundra, but rather a wetland like the modern Y-K delta. I’d be curious to see how/if that changes the methane fluxes.

Screenshot of text: To improve our understanding of the Beringian paleo-environment, collecting cores from the Beringian shelf that capture the marine-terrestrial transgression would help constrain the timing of flooding and help characterize past Beringian climate and landscapes not only for the Bering Land Bridge but also for the other regions of Beringia. Better characterization of Beringian paleoenvironments would help constrain paleo-coastal wetland CH4 fluxes during the deglacial sea-level transgression

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Jenna C. Hill @chillocean.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

Making plans for field work in Alaska next summer and looking forward to more spectacular scenery at sea! This was from one our anchorages in Prince William Sound last year. #FieldWorkFriday

Cove in Prince William Sound, Alaska. View of mountains, clouds and sky reflected in water.

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Jenna C. Hill @chillocean.bsky.social · 12/11/2024

Show me a picture, new or old of #AlaskaSky Dutch Harbor,September 2023

Spiraled lenticular cloud in Dutch Harbor, Alaska

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Jenna C. Hill @chillocean.bsky.social · 30/10/2024

Another microscope 🔬 mystery! Any ideas what this fossil might be? It’s about 1.5cm long. It was buried in about 2m of marine mud in 570m water depth, offshore of Washington. We think the mud is 10,000ish years old. #SciSky 🧪⚒️

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Jenna C. Hill @chillocean.bsky.social · 18/10/2024

Hey #scisky, anyone know what these bits of organic matter in the #microscope photos below might be? 🧪⚒️🔬I feel like we see this a lot but don’t know what it is. These particular samples are from marine sediment cores on the Bering Shelf.

Photo of sand grains and organic matter taken under a microscope.

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Jenna C. Hill @chillocean.bsky.social · 01/09/2024

Just recovered the last of our instruments from the Washington shelf. We’ve been instrumenting 2 submarine canyons for the past year to examine the oceanographic triggers of sediment gravity flows and compare these with deposits from turbidity currents generated by #earthquakes. 🧪⚒️ #geohazards

Photograph of a tripod frame with oceanographic instruments.

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Jenna C. Hill @chillocean.bsky.social · 01/07/2024

We just wrapped up an excellent round of field work full of beautiful scenery and beautiful data in Prince William Sound, Alaska - mapping submarine landslides to investigate earthquake and tsunami hazards. This region saw major impacts in the 1964 M9.2 Great Alaska Earthquake. #USGS ⚒️🧪

Photo of research vessel Alaskan Gyre in Yale Arm, Prince William Sound, Alaska

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Jenna C. Hill @chillocean.bsky.social · 04/05/2024

We had a great time at #SSA in Anchorage this week with our Faults to Fjords onshore-offshore paleoseismology session and an amazing field trip to Prince William Sound, including an up close look at Barry Arm - an active landslide with a massive tsunami potential. ⚒️🧪

Active landslide on the left flank of Barry Arm glacier, Prince William Sound, Alaska.

Glaciers in Prince William Sound, Alaska

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Jenna C. Hill @chillocean.bsky.social · 16/02/2024

We collect a lot of sediment cores offshore and in lakes to study coastal and marine geohazards like earthquakes, landslides and tsunamis. Ever wonder what happens to all that mud? Here’s a great video tour of our USGS PCMSC core lab in Santa Cruz: ow.ly/bja250QCQM1 🧪⚒️

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