For a list of publications with citation metrics, see my Google Scholar page.
Douglas, M.M., Li, G.K., West, A.J., Ke, Y., Rowland, J.C., Brown, N.D., Schwenk, J., Kemeny, P.C., Piliouras, A., Fischer, W.W., Lamb, M.P., 2024. Permafrost formation in a meandering river floodplain. AGU Advances.
Major finding:
Permafrost formation can take thousands of years. In a warming climate, banks will be more susceptible to erosion, further slowing permafrost establishment.
Brown, N.D., 2024. Luminescence and ESR dating applied to cobbles and bedrock. Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science, 3rd Edition, 782-791.
Major finding:
Trapped charge measurements of solid rock reveal Earth surface processes at previously unmeasurable scales.
Argueta, M.O., Moon, S., Blisniuk, K., Brown, N.D., Corbett, L.B., Bierman, P.R., Zimmerman, S.R.H., 2023. Examining the influence of disequilibrium landscape on millennial-scale erosion rates in the San Bernardino Mountains, California, USA. Geological Society of America Bulletin.
Major finding:
Cosmogenic 10Be-derived erosion rates show that the San Bernardino Mountains are in topographic disequilibrium, with low-relief regions currently being cannibalized due to tectonic uplift.
Balco, G., Brown, N.D., Nichols, K., Venturelli, R.A., Adams, J., Braddock, S., Campbell, S., Goehring, B., Johnson, J.S., Rood, D.H., Wilcken, K., Hall, B., Woodward, J., 2023. Reversible ice sheet thinning in the Amundsen Sea Embayment during the Late Holocene. The Cryosphere 17, 1787-1801.
Major finding:
Bedrock from beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has cosmogenic Al-26, C-14 and Be-10 concentrations and luminescence profiles indicating recent thinning but not absence at drill site.
Mahan, S.A., Rittenour, T.M., Nelson, M.S., Ataee, N., Brown, N.D., DeWitt, R., Durcan, J., Evans, M., Feathers, J., Frouin, M., Guerin, G., Heydari, M., Huot, S., Jain, M., Keen-Zebert, A., Li, B., Lopez, G.I., Neudorf, C., Porat, N., Rodrigues, K., Sawakuchi, A.O., Spencer, J.Q.C., Thomsen, K., 2023. Guide for interpreting and reporting luminescence dating results. Geological Society of America Bulletin 135, 1480-1502. https://doi.org/10.1130/B36404.1
Major finding:
We present a guide for collecting, publishing and archiving luminescence datasets.
Brown, N.D., Rhodes, E.J., 2022. Developing an internally consistent methodology for K-feldspar MAAD TL thermochronology. Radiation Measurements 153, 106751.
Major finding:
Dose response and fading TL measurements are compared against numerical simulations to yield mutually consistent kinetic parameters.
Higa, J.T., Brown, N.D., Moon, S., Stock, J.M., Sabbeth, L., Bennett, S.E.K., Martín-Barajas, A., Argueta, M.O., 2022. Microcontinent Breakup and Links to Possible Plate Boundary Reorganization in the Northern Gulf of California, México. Tectonics 41, e2021TC006933.
Major finding:
Faults exposed on the Isla Ángel de la Guarda microcontinent rupture late Quaternary sediments and aligned with an active offshore spreading center, suggesting plate boundary reorganization.
Goehring, B.M., Brown, N.D., Moon, S., Blisniuk, K., 2021. The transport history of alluvial fan sediment inferred from multiple geochronometers. Journal of Geophysical Research Letters: Earth Surface 126, e2021JF006096.
Major finding:
By combining in situ produced C-14 and Be-10 ages from boulders, single-grain IRSL ages and U-series ages of pedogenic carbonates, we describe a history of sediment storage and mobilization in an alluvial fan.
Zinke, R.W., Dolan, J.F., Rhodes, E.J., Van Dissen, R.J., Hatem, A.E., McGuire, C.P., Brown, N.D., Grenader, J.R., 2021. Latest Pleistocene-Holocene incremental slip rates of the Wairau fault: Implications for long-distance coordination of faulting between North and South Island, New Zealand. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 22, e2021GC009656.
Major finding:
Nine fault offsets from the Wairau fault in New Zealand are constrained by luminescence ages in a Bayesian age model to develop a record of pronounced variation in incremental slip over several millennia.
Saha, S., Moon, S., Brown, N.D., Rhodes, E.J., Scharer, K.M., McPhillips, D., McGill, S.F., Castillo, B.A., 2021. Holocene depositional history inferred from single-grain luminescence ages in southern California, North America. Geophysical Research Letters 48, e2021GL092774.
Major finding:
Analysis of 754 single-grain ages from 17 sediment samples within a paleoseismic trench cluster about several depositional events. These depositional events correspond to wet periods during the Holocene.
Pagonis, V., Brown, N.D., Peng, J., Kitis, G., Polymeris, G.S., 2021. On the deconvolution of promptly measured luminescence signals in feldspars. Journal of Luminescence 239, 118334.
Major finding:
R scripts are presented to deconvolute feldspar TL, CW-IRSL and LM-IRSL signals. All three signals within many natural samples are well described by the superposition of several components.
Castillo, B.A., McGill, S.F., Scharer, K.M., Yule, D., McPhillips, D., McNeil, J., Saha, S., Brown, N.D., Moon, S., 2021. Prehistoric earthquakes on the Banning strand of the San Andreas fault, North Palm Springs, California. Geosphere 17, 685-710.
Major finding:
The first detailed record of ground-breaking earthquakes along the Banning strand of the San Andreas fault reveals an average recurrence interval for the Holocene that is slighty less than the time since the most recent event on the strand.
Hatem, A.E., Dolan, J.F., Zinke, R.W., Langridge, R.M., McGuire, C.P., Rhodes, E.J., Brown, N.D., Van Dissen, R.J., 2020. Holocene to latest Pleistocene incremental slip rates from the east-central Hope fault (Conway segment) at Hossack Station, Marlborough fault system, South Island, New Zealand: Towards a dated path of earthquake slip along a plate boundary fault. Geosphere 16, 1558-1584.
Major finding:
The Hope fault within the Marlborough fault system of New Zealand exhibits slip rate variability since the latest Pleistocene, with greatest variability in the youngest time intervals.
Brown, N.D., 2020. Which geomorphic processes can be informed by luminescence measurements? Geomorphology 367, 107296.
Major finding:
Luminescence signals from grains, clasts and outcrops can record a variety of geomorphic phenomena, including wildfire and lava exposures, storms, bedrock erosion, tectonic exhumation and soil mixing.
Peltzer, G., Brown, N.D., Meriaux, A.-S., van der Woerd, J., Rhodes, E.J., Finkel, R.C., Ryerson, F.J., Hollingsworth, J., 2020. Stable rate of slip along the Karakax section of the Altyn Tagh Fault from observation of inter-glacial and post-glacial offset morphology and surface dating. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 125, e2019JB018893.
Major finding:
A consistent slip-rate for the Altyn Tagh fault is obtained for the Eemian through the Holocene by combining high-resolution DEM data, scarp diffusion analysis, CRN dating and luminescence dating of offset alluvial fans.
Brown, N.D., Moon, S., 2019. Revisiting erosion rate estimates from luminescence profiles in exposed bedrock surfaces using stochastic erosion simulations. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 528, 115842.
Major finding:
Previously measured erosion rates for boulders are consistent with very regular stochastic erosion punctuated by occasional rock chipping. Erosion characteristics can be estimated.
Brown, N.D., Rhodes, E.J., 2019. Dose-rate dependence of natural TL signals extracted from bedrock samples. Radiation Measurements 128, 106188
Major finding:
We have previously measured that changes in burial temperature affect the natural TL signal by modulating the loss rate. Here, we observe that differences in bedrock radioactivity can also affect the natural TL signal by changing the accumulation rate.
Pagonis, V., Brown, N.D., 2019. On the unchanging shape of thermoluminescence peaks in preheated feldspars: Implications for temperature sensing and thermochronometry. Radiation Measurements 124, 19-28
Major finding:
When feldspars are heated in the lab, their thermoluminescence signal shifts but does not change shape. We present an analytical equation to extract kinetic parameters, which is useful for thermochronometry.
Pagonis, V., Brown, N.D., Polymeris, G.S., Kitis, G., 2019. Comprehensive analysis of thermoluminescence signals in MgB4O7:Dy,Na dosimeter. Journal of Luminescence 213, 334-342
Major finding:
By analogy with a synthetic material, we suggest an explanation for why the position of feldspar TL curves are temperature dependent when undergoing natural irradiation but not during laboratory irradiation.
Zinke, R., Dolan, J., Rhodes, E.J., Van Dissen, R., McGuire, C.P., Hatem, A.E., Brown, N.D., Langridge, R.M.,, 2019. Multimillennial incremental slip rate variability of the Clarence Fault at Tophouse Road Site, Marlborough Fault System, New Zealand. Geophysical Research Letters 46, 717-725
Major finding:
The slip rate on the Clarence fault has varied by a factor of four during the past 11 ka, which includes multiple earthquake cycles.
Charreau, J., Saint-Carlier, D., Lave, J., Dominguez, S., Blard, P.-H., Avouac, J.-P., Brown, N.D., Malatesta, L.C., Wang, S., Rhodes, E.J., 2018. Late Pleistocene acceleration of deformation across the northern Tianshan piedmont (China) evidenced from the morpho-tectonic evolution of the Dushanzi anticline. Tectonophysics 730, 132-140
Major finding:
The Dushanzi anticline experienced accelerated shortening over the past 100 ka, consistent with either a redistribution of slip or a broad-scale increase in deformation.
Salisbury, J.B., Arrowsmith, J.R., Brown, N.D., Rockwell, T., Akciz, S., Ludwig, L.G., 2018. The age and origin of small offsets in the Carrizo Plain, California. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 108, 639-653
Major finding:
In the context of paleoseismic studies, small catchments may not produce sediment regularly, so correlating offset units may require a combination of topographic and trench-based observations.
Malatesta, L.C., Avouac, J.P., Brown, N.D., Breitenbach, S., Pan, J., Chevalier, M.-L., Rhodes, E.J., Saint-Carlier, D., Zhang, W., Poisson, B., 2018. Lag and mixing during climate-driven aggradation-incision cycles. Basin Research 30, 613-635
Major finding:
Sediments can move from glaciated mountains through the piedmont and eventually into a basin in multiple episodes, sometimes resting for long periods of time.
Charreau, J., Saint-Carlier, D., Dominguez, S., Lave, J., Blard, P.-H., Avouac, J.-P., Jolivet, M., Yan, C., Wang, S., Brown, N.D., Malatesta, L., Rhodes, E.J., ASTER team, 2017. Denudation outpaced by crustal thickening in the eastern Tianshan. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 479, 179-191
Major finding:
The central eastern region of the Tian Shan mountains is growing because crustal thickening is more rapid than denudation.
Brown, N.D., Rhodes, E.J., Harrison, T.M., 2017. Using thermoluminescence signals from feldspars for low-temperature thermochronology. Quaternary Geochronology 42, 31-41
Major finding:
K-feldspars taken from three drill cores give luminescence signals directly related to burial temperature. This can be explained by a simple model that also approximates lab heating data.
Stockmeyer, J.M., Shaw, J., Brown, N.D., Rhodes, E.J., Richardson, P.W., Wang, M., Lavin, L.C., Guan, S., 2017. Active thrust sheet deformation over multiple rupture cycles: a quantitative basis for relating terrace folds to fault slip rates. Geological Society of America Bulletin 129, 1337-1356
Major finding:
Slip on the Southern Junggar Thrust has decreased by about 70% since the end of the Pleistocene. This suggests a recent change in this fault's role in accommodating shortening.
Brown, N.D., Rhodes, E.J., 2017. Thermoluminescence measurements of trap depths in alkali feldspars extracted from bedrock samples. Radiation Measurements 96, 53-61
Major finding:
Thermoluminescence measurements from feldspar comprise a range of overlapping stabilities and it is therefore difficult to estimate individual kinetic parameters. We offer a simple measurement to circumvent this problem.
Antinao, J.-L., McDonald, E.V., Rhodes, E.J., Brown, N.D., Barrera, W., Gosse, J.C., Zimmerman, S., 2016. Late Pleistocene-Holocene alluvial stratigraphy of southern Baja California, Mexico. Quaternary Science Reviews 146, 161-181
Major finding:
High-resolution chronology and detailed sedimentological analysis reveal multiple depositional regimes, driven by the shifting balance between tropical Pacific cyclones, ENSO strength and the North American Monsoon.
Brown, N.D., Rhodes, E.J., Antinao, J.-L., McDonald, E.V., 2015. Single-grain post-IR IRSL signals of K-feldspars from alluvial fan deposits in Baja California Sur, Mexico. Quaternary International 362, 132-138
Major finding:
The depositional chronology of alluvial fans suggests a dichotomy between recent (past 500 yrs), spatially restricted deposits and Late Pleistocene upper-regime aggradation events. This may relate to a local reduction in tropical cyclone intensity and ENSO-enhanced winter storms.
Brown, N.D., Forman, S.L., 2012. Evaluating a SAR TT-OSL protocol for dating fine-grained quartz within Late Pleistocene loess deposits in the Missouri and Mississippi river valleys, United States. Quaternary Geochronology 12, 87-97
Major finding:
We applied an extended-range dating technique to estimate the depositional age of the Crowley's Ridge Silt, a midcontinental loess deposit related to changes in Laurentide Ice Sheet dynamics.
