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Robert Witter Title: Research Geologist Address: 4210 University Dr., Anchorage, AK 99508-4626 Phone: (907) 786-7404 Fax: (907) 786-7401 Email: rwitter@usgs.gov Curriculum Vitae

Education and/or Training

Ph.D.	1999	University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon	Geological Sciences
B.A.	1991	Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington	Biology

Areas of Specialization and/or Research Interests

Megathrust paleoseismology: understanding the Holocene history of great (M >8) earthquakes at the Alaska-Aleutian and Cascadia subduction zones.

Active faulting in the Pacific Northwest: characterizing the recurrence interval, slip rate and style of deformation for shallow crustal faults in Alaska, Washington, Oregon and northern California.

Paleogeodesy: reconstructing tectonic displacements for megathrust earthquakes over multiple seismic cycles using relative sea-level indicators.

Tsunami geology: examining the sedimentary characteristics of tsunami deposits to estimate the recurrence interval and size of past tsunamis.

Geologic hazards education: improving the transfer of scientific knowledge to the public for the purpose of risk reduction.

Professional Experience

2011 - Present	Research Geologist, USGS, Alaska Science Center, Anchorage, Alaska
2006 - 2011	Regional Coastal Geologist, Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, Newport, Oregon
1999 - 2006	Senior Project Geologist, William Lettis & Associates, Inc., Walnut Creek, California
1994 - 1999	Research Fellow / Graduate Teaching Fellow, University of Oregon, Dept of Geological Sciences, Eugene, Oregon

Professional Activities and/or Memberships

Professional Geologist, California, P.G. #7565
Member, American Geophysical Union
Member, Geological Society of America
Member, Seismological Society of America

Significant Recent Publications

Allan, J., P. Komar, and R. C. Witter, 2011, The March 2011 Tohoku tsunami and its impacts along the U.S. West Coast: Journal of Coastal Research, Journal of Coastal Research, in press.

Witter, R. C., Y. J. Zhang, K. Wang, C. Goldfinger, and G. R. Priest, 2011, in review, Coseismic slip on the southern Cascadia megathrust implied by tsunami deposits in an Oregon lake: submitted to Journal of Geophysical Research.

Goto, K., C. Chague-Goff, S. Fujino, J. Goff, B. Jaffe, Y. Nishimura, B. Richmond, D. Suguwara, W. Szczucinski, D. R. Tappin, R. Witter, and E. Yulianto, 2011, New insights of tsunami hazard from the 2011 Tohoku-oki event: Marine Geology 290:46-50.

Horton, B.P., Sawai, Y., Hawkes, A.D., and Witter, R.C., 2011, Sedimentology and paleontology of a tsunami deposit accompanying the great Chilean earthquake of February 2010: Marine Micropaleontology 79(3-4):132-138.

Zhang, Y. J., R. C. Witter, and G. R. Priest, 2011, Tsunami-tide interaction in 1964 Prince William Sound tsunami: Ocean Modeling 40:246-259.

Witter, R. C., B. Jaffe, Y. Zhang, and G. R. Priest, 2011, Reconstructing hydrodynamic flow parameters of the 1700 tsunami at Cannon Beach, Oregon, USA: Natural Hazards, DOI 10.1007/s11069-011-9912-7.

Priest, G. R., C. Goldfinger, K. Wang, R. C. Witter, Y. Zhang, and A.M. Baptista, 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, DOI 10.1007/s11069-009-9453-5.

Carver, G., J. Sauber, W. Lettis, R. Witter, and B. Whitney, 2008, Active faults on northeastern Kodiak Island; in J. T. Freymueller, P.J. Haeussler, R.L. Wesson, and G. Ekstrom, eds., Active Tectonics and Seismic Potential of Alaska: Geophysical Monograph Series 179:167-184.

Witter, R. C., R. W. Givler, and R. J. Carson, 2008, Two post-glacial earthquakes on the Saddle Mountain West fault, southeastern Olympic Peninsula, Washington: Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 98(6):2894-2917.

Witter, R. C., Knudsen, K. L, Sowers, J. M., Wentworth, C. M., Koehler, R. D., Randolph, C. E., Brooks, S. K., Gans, K. D., 2006, Maps of Quaternary deposits and liquefaction susceptibility in the central San Francisco Bay region, California: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2006-1037.

Nelson, A. R., H. M. Kelsey, and R. C. Witter, 2006, Great earthquakes of variable magnitude at the Cascadia subduction zone: Quaternary Research, v. 65, p. 354-365.

Baldwin, J., R. C. Witter, J. D. Vaughn, J. B. Harris, J. L. Sexton, M. Lake, S. L. Forman, and A. D. Barron, 2006, Geological characterization of the Idalia Hill fault zone and its structural association with the Commerce geophysical lineament, Idalia, Missouri: Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 96(6):228-2303.

Kelsey, H. M., Nelson, A. R., Hemphill-Haley, E., and Witter, R. C., 2005, Tsunami history of an Oregon coastal lake reveals a 4,600 yr record of great earthquakes on the Cascadia subduction zone: Geological Society of America Bulletin 117(7/8):1009-1032.

Witter, R. C., H. M. Kelsey, and E. Hemphill-Haley, 2003, Great Cascadia earthquakes and tsunamis of the past 6,700 years, Coquille River estuary, southern coastal Oregon: Geological Society of America Bulletin 115(10):1289-1306.

Johnson, S. Y., Nelson, A. R., Personius, S. F., Wells, R. E., Kelsey, H. M., Sherrod, B. L., Okumura, K., Koehler, III., R., Witter, R. C., Bradley, L., and Harding, D. J., 2003, Maps and data from a trench investigation of the Utsalady Point fault, Whidbey Island, Washington: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map 2420, 1 plate.

Johnson, S. Y., Nelson, A. R., Personius, S. F., Wells, R. E., Kelsey, H. M., Sherrod, B. L., Okumura, K., Koehler, III, R., Witter, R. C., Bradley, L., and Harding, D. J., 2004, Evidence for Late Holocene Earthquakes on the Utsalady Point Fault, Northern Puget Lowland, Washington: Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 94(6):2299-2316.

Kelsey, H. M., R. C. Witter, and E. Hemphill-Haley, 2002, Plate-boundary earthquakes and tsunamis of the past 5,500 years, Sixes River estuary, southern Oregon: Geological Society of America Bulletin 114(3):298-314.

Knudsen, K. L., R. C. Witter, C. E. Garrison-Laney, J. N. Baldwin, and G. A. Carver, 2002, Past earthquake-induced rapid subsidence along the northern San Andreas Fault--A new paleoseismological method for investigating strike-slip faults: Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 92(7):2612-2636.

Lettis, W., J. Bachhuber, R. Witter, C. Brankman, C. E. Randolph, A. Barka, W. D. Page, and A. Kaya, 2002, Influence of releasing step-overs on surface fault rupture and fault segmentation--Examples from the 17 August 1999 Izmit earthquake on the north Anatolian fault, Turkey: Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 92(1):19-42.

Lettis, W. R., Bachhuber, J., Barka, A., Brankman, C., Somerville, P., and Witter, R., 2000, Seismicity, Fault Rupture, and Tsunami – Geology and Seismicity, in Youd, L.T., Bardet, J.-P., and Bray, J.D., 1999 Kocaeli, Turkey, earthquake reconnaissance report: Earthquake Spectra, Supplement A 16:1-9.

Lettis, W. R., Bachhuber, J., Barka, A., Witter, R., and Brankman, C., 2000, Surface fault rupture and segmentation during the Kocaeli earthquake, in A. Barka, O. Kozaci, S. Akyüz, and E. Altunel, eds., The 1999 Izmit and Düzce earthquakes--Preliminary results: Istanbul Technical University 31-54.

Lettis, W. R., Bachhuber, J., Witter, R., Barka, A., Bray, J., Page, W., Swan, F., and others, 2000, Seismicity, fault rupture, and tsunami–Surface fault rupture, in Youd, L.T., Bardet, J.-P., and Bray, J.D., 1999 Kocaeli, Turkey, earthquake reconnaissance report: Earthquake Spectra, Supplement A 16:11-53.

Witter, R. C., H. M. Kelsey, and E. Hemphill-Haley, 2001, Pacific storms, El Niño and tsunami--Competing mechanisms for sand deposition in a coastal marsh, Euchre Creek, Oregon: Journal of Coastal Research 17(3):563-583.

Witter, R. C., W. R. Lettis, J. L. Bachhuber, A. Barka, E. Evren, Z.Cakir, W. D. Page, J. V. Hengesh, and G. Seitz, 2000, Paleoseismic trenching study across the Yalova segment of the North Anatolian fault, Hersek Peninsula, Turkey, in A. Barka, O. Kazaci, S. Akyüz, and E. Altunel (eds.), The 1999 Izmit and Düzce earthquakes--Preliminary results: Istanbul Technical University 329-339.

Kelsey, H. M., R. C. Witter, and E. Hemphill-Haley, 1998, Response of a small Oregon estuary to coseismic subsidence and post-seismic uplift in the last 300 years: Geology 26:231-234.