Dr. Jeff Marshall
Undergraduate Research Advising

 

Student:

Terri Amborn

Research Project:

Evidence for active tectonics along the Australian passive margin: Quaternary marine terraces of Waratah Bay, Victoria

 

File written by Adobe Photoshop® 4.0

File written by Adobe Photoshop® 4.0

File written by Adobe Photoshop® 4.0

Terri Amborn and field assistants (Crimson Rosellas) using differential GPS to measure marine terrace elevations along the Waratah fault, Cape Liptrap, Victoria, Australia (Keck Geology Consortium Undergraduate Research Program, June 2002)

Terri Amborn and Dr. Jeff Marshall presenting Terri’s research results at the 16th Annual Keck Geology Consortium Undergraduate Research Symposium, Beloit, Wisconsin (May 2003).

Terri Amborn (r) with fellow Keck Consortium students Rob Tunnell (F&M College) and Claudia Pezzia (Trinity U.) surveying marine terraces with differential GPS along the Waratah fault, Cape Liptrap, Victoria, Australia (June 2002)

 

Images:  Project photos and illustrations

 

Project Overview:

During the summer of 2002, Terri participated in a Keck Geology Consortium undergraduate research project in southeast Australia. She was one of nine undergraduate students from across the U.S. selected to participate in this project. Under the direction of Dr. Tom Gardner, Dr. Dorothy Merritts, and Dr. John Webb, the students conducted field investigations of tectonic deformation, faulting, marine terrace uplift, and aeolianite stratigraphy at Cape Liptrap, Victoria (see project summary below). As Terri’s research advisor, I was able to join her in the field for the first two weeks of the project and visited the field site of all nine students.

Terri’s research focused on an uplifted flight of Plio-Pleistocene marine terraces at Waratah Bay along the southeast coastline of Cape Liptrap. She mapped terrace treads on aerial photographs, and used differential GPS surveying to determine terrace elevations along three, coast-perpendicular transects. Terri also described stratigraphic sections in terrace deposits and collected samples for OSL dating. This data allowed her to determine paleo-shoreline elevations, constrain terrace ages, and estimate uplift rates. One particularly intriguing discovery was the recognition of a potentially active fault (Waratah fault) that offsets the terrace sequence in her study area. Terri presented her research results in abstracts and posters at the 16th Annual Keck Geology Consortium Undergraduate Research Symposium in Beloit, Wisconsin, the Geological Society of America Cordilleran Section Meeting in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and the Southern California Conference on Undergraduate Research at U.C. Irvine.

 

Australia Project Summary: [pdf file: 2.8 Mb] 16th Annual Keck Geology Consortium Undergraduate Research Symposium , 2003

Cal Poly Newspaper Article on Australia Project: [pdf file: 1.2 Mb] The Poly Post Special Polytechnics Issue,  January 21, 2003

 

Research Abstracts:

Keck Geology Consortium Extended Abstract: [pdf file: 500 kb]  16th Keck Geology Consortium Research Symposium , Beloit, WI, 2003

Cordilleran GSA Abstract 2003: Geological Society of America Cordilleran Section Meeting, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, 2003

SCCUR Abstract 2003: Southern California Conference on Undergraduate Research, U.C. Irvine, 2003

GSA Abstract 2006: Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, 2006

INQUA Abstract 2007: International Quaternary Association Meeting, Cairns, Australia, 2007

 

Senior Thesis:

Amborn, T., 2003, Evidence for active tectonics along the Australian passive margin: Quaternary marine terraces of Waratah Bay, Victoria: [B.S. Thesis] Cal Poly Pomona University, Pomona, California, xx p.

 

Honors and Awards:

·       Margaret Van Buskirk Memorial Scholarship (2003): Geological Sciences Department, Cal Poly Pomona University

·       University President’s Recognition (2005): Bronco Student Success Story, Cal Poly Pomona 2005 Fall Conference