Dr. Alexis Ault is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geosciences at Utah State University. After receiving her BA in Geology and Political Science at Wellesley College, she earned her MSc at University of New Mexico and PhD at the University of Colorado Boulder, followed by a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Arizona. Alexis is the recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER award and the Early Career Award from the International Standing Committee of Thermochronology. Alexis' research leverages earthquake geology and thermochronometry to understand the spectrum of fault slip behavior and how Earth materials deform during the earthquake cycle. Her foray into earthquake geology emerged through developing new thermochronometry tools in hematite-rich fault rocks. Her new research pairs textural and thermochemical observations of fault rocks down to the atomic scale with deformation experiments to document if and how earthquake energy is dissipated in shallow fault rocks. This research provides a bridge to geophysical observations of near surface deformation and has direct societal implications for seismic hazard assessment.
Moser, A. C., Evans, J. P., Ault, A. K., Bradbury, K. K., & Janecke, S. U. (2016). Spatiotemporal evaluation of the San Andreas Fault-related deformation in the Mecca Hills, southern California, from integrated fault zone characterization and low-temperature thermo-chronology. Oral Presentation at Geological Society of America Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 7085
DiMonte, A. A., Ault, A. K., Hirth, G., & Meyers, C. (2024). Hematite frictional behavior and He loss from comminution during deformation experiments at slow slip rates. Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth, 129, e2023JB027514. doi: 10.1029/2023JB027514. SCEC Contribution 13410
Odlum, M., Ault, A. K., & Rittenour, T. M. (2023, 09). Novel approaches to identifying earthquakes along bedrock fault scarps using quartz luminescence: an example from the Hurricane Fault, UT . Poster Presentation at 2023 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 13281
DiMonte, A. A., Ault, A. K., Hirth, G., & Meyers, C. D. (2023, 09). On-fault damage along the southern San Andreas fault: material characterization from natural and experimental clay-rich faults. Poster Presentation at 2023 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 13233
Ault, A. K., Akciz, S. O., Newell, D. L., Balkaya, M., DiMonte, A. A., Hirth, G., & Zabcı, C. (2023, 09). The 2023 Kahramanmaraş, Turkey, earthquake sequence surface ruptures modified multi-earthquake cycle fault damage and spring hydrology. Poster Presentation at 2023 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 13144
Bailey, L. R., Ault, A. K., Hemming, S., DiMonte, A. A., & Hirth, G. (2023, 09). What can clay minerals tell us about fault mechanics and deformation during the earthquake cycle? Insights from the Hidden Spring fault. Poster Presentation at 2023 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 12818
Armstrong, E. M., & Ault, A. K. (2022, 09). Evaluating high spatial resolution zircon (U-Th)/He thermochronometry as a fault slip paleothermometer . Poster Presentation at 2022 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 12295
Ault, A. K., DiMonte, A. A., Jensen, J. L., Hirth, G., Meyers, C. D., & Bradbury, K. K. (2022, 09). Shallow, transient slow slip in the southern San Andreas fault system: insights from natural and experimental hematite and hematite-clay slip surfaces. Poster Presentation at 2022 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 12289
DiMonte, A. A., Ault, A. K., Hirth, G., & Meyers, C. D. (2021, 08). Characterizing shallow slow slip with natural and experimental hematite fault surfaces . Poster Presentation at 2021 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 11520
Ault, A. K. (2021, 08). What can hematite (U-Th)/He thermochronometry tell us about fault mechanics in the shallow crust?. Oral Presentation at 2021 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 11142
DiMonte, A. A., Ault, A. K., Bradbury, K. K., & Hirth, G. (2020, 08). Evidence for slow slip in Mecca Hills, CA, from microstructural and (U-Th)/He analysis of heterogeneous hematite coatings on shallow fault surfaces. Poster Presentation at 2020 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 10564
Calzolari, G. V., Ault, A. K., & Hirth, G. (2018, 08). Preliminary data on detecting asperity flash heating on hematite faults with laboratory experiments and hematite (U-Th)/He thermochronometry. Poster Presentation at 2018 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 8533
McDermott, R., Ault, A. K., & Evans, J. P. (2017, 08). Examining earthquake processes with microtextural analysis and (U-Th)/He thermochronometry: a case study from hematite fault mirrors in the Wasatch fault zone. Poster Presentation at 2017 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 7438
Moser, A. C., Evans, J. P., Ault, A. K., Janecke, S. U., Bradbury, K. K., & Reiners, P. (2017). (U-Th)/He thermochronometry reveals Pleistocene punctuated deformation and synkinematic hematite mineralization in the Mecca Hills, southernmost San Andreas Fault zone. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 476, 87-99. SCEC Contribution 7223
Evans, J. P., Prante, M. R., Janecke, S. U., Ault, A. K., & Newell, D. L. (2014). Hot faults: Iridescent slip surfaces with metallic luster document high-temperature ancient seismicity in the Wasatch fault zone, Utah, USA. Geology, 42(7), 623-626. doi: 10.1130/G35617.1. SCEC Contribution 6054