Phone: (650) 329-4810
e-mail: thatcher@usgs.gov

Mailing address:
345 Middlefield Rd MS 977
Menlo Park, CA-94025

Wayne Thatcher

My research applies space geodetic measurements of Earth's surface movements around active faults and volcanoes to understand the processes that lead to earthquakes and eruptions. Satellite geodesy is revolutionizing our ability to map surface movements in space and time.

Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements permit us to make point measurements at critical locations, either using periodic surveys or continuously at permanent sites.

Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) techniques provide complete spatial mappings of deformation over time intervals of months or years.

Our group is actively applying these methods to view how the interior western U. S. is deforming and to image the patterns of ground movements around volcanoes, both when eruptions appear imminent and when volcanoes are apparently quiescent. Using the observed movements, we construct models of the sources of deformation. We integrate geodetic data and models with results from active process geology, geomorphology, seismology and geophysics to better understand the physics of earthquake faulting and volcanism.

My research is funded by the USGS's Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program, the Volcano Hazards Program, and NASA's Solid Earth and Natural Hazards Program.