Current Research
 
 
All of the recent research I have conducted has been in Iceland. Iceland can be considered a "natural laboratory" for studying geologic processes and phenomena. Because it is the only part of the world-wide mid-ocean ridge system that is widely exposed above sea level, it provides a unique opportunity to study the tectonics of an active constructional plate boundary. My current research involves the study of recent earthquake rupture, specifically how what we can see at the surface relates to what is happening at depth.  Much of my work involves the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to integrate the field data I collect with the available geophysical and geodetic data. My summers are spent mapping in the field, and my winters are spent in  front of the computer. 
reyjanes grid
Iceland (in red) sits on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) between Greenland and Scotland The MAR splits into 4 segments (in red) when it comes onshore in Iceland: Reykjanes Peninsula (RP), Western Volcanic Zone (WVZ), Eastern Volcanic Zone (EVZ) and Northern Volcanic Zone (NVZ). (Map revised from Einarsson and Sæmundsson, 1992) The Reykjanes Peninsula rift zone is the southwesternmost ridge segment in Iceland.   The boxes are, from east to west, the Hengill triple junction, the Central Reykjanes Peninsula, and  the Reykjanes onshore-offshore transition zone.

Another project I worked on was mapping recent earthquake rupture in the South Iceland Seismic Zone

Past Research


My Ph.D research at Rutgers University, under the supervision of Dr. Roy Schlische, was a study of oblique rifting using experimental models and field data collected on the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland. The models were made using equipment designed by Dr. Martha Withjack.The photo I use on my website as a link to "home" was taken during a rainy day of field work on the south coast of Reykjanes Peninsula in August 1997. We were using an Electronic Total Station (laser based surveying instrument) to map small fractures in a young lava flow. I am holding the prism pole steady while Roy was siting on it with the instrument (and taking my picture, of course). 

I have published three papers on this research:

Clifton, Amy E. and Schlische, R.W., 2003, Fracture populations on the Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland: Comparison with experimental clay models of oblique rifting. Journal of Geophysical Research, 108(B2), 2074, doi:10.1029/2001JB000635 PDF file

Clifton, Amy E., Roy W. Schlische, 2001, Nucleation, growth, and linkage of faults in oblique rift zones:Results from experimental clay models and implications for maximum fault size.Geology, 29: 455-458. (212) PDF file

Clifton, Amy E., Roy W. Schlische, Martha O. Withjack, Rolf V. Ackermann, 2000, Influence of rift obliquity on fault-population systematics: results of experimental clay models.  Journal of Structural Geology, 22, 1491-1510.PDF file
 
Fracture population studies at Rutgers University  home