A study co-led by University of Washington researchers presents a new way to identify where landslides are most likely to block rivers and create dangerous natural dams. The approach estimates dam risk by combining how wide a river valley is with how big future landslides might be, using existing maps and automated measurements. When applied to Oregon’s Coast Range, the results show that about one‑third of river sections have a high chance of being blocked by landslides. Most of these…
Tag: College of the Environment
UW researchers assist in discovery of segmented Cascadia Subduction Zone map
New research from the University of Washington in Science Advances provided a detailed map of the Cascadia Subduction Zone, finding the megathrust fault to be divided into four segments and its future movement to be potentially insulated against the movements of other segments. UW researchers played a significant role in this multi-institutional effort, with co-authors Harold Tobin and Madeleine Lucas contributing to the study’s findings. The research team collected data offshore with a team of researchers in a 41-day cruise…