Positions

Overview

  • Prof. John Hughes-Clarke joined the departments of Earth Sciences and Mechanical Engineering in the Fall of 2015. His primary fascination is with marine sediment transport, particularly in deep water. To investigate these processes, he has specialized in the use of acoustic swath sonar systems. His original exposure to swath systems was in 1984 looking at the record of the 1929 turbidity current. Since that time he has increasingly focused on the information content available from those systems (bathymetry, seabed and water column scattering). Since 1991, he was part of, and for the last fifteen years the chair of, the Ocean Mapping Group at the University of New Brunswick in Canada. At UNH his predominant role is as part of the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping where he teaches, supervises and conducts research in ocean mapping.
  • Selected Publications

    Academic Article

    Year Title
    2021 Submarine landslides triggered by iceberg collision with the seafloorNature Geoscience.  14:599-+. 2021
    2021 Underwater noise from submarine turbidity currents.JASA Express Lett.  1:070801. 2021
    2021 Quantifying the three-dimensional stratigraphic expression of cyclic steps by integrating seafloor and deep-water outcrop observationsSedimentology.  68:1465-1501. 2021
    2020 Rapidly-migrating and internally-generated knickpoints can control submarine channel evolution.Nature Communications.  11:3129. 2020
    2020 Lessons learned from the monitoring of turbidity currents and guidance for future platform designsGeological Society Special Publication.  500:605-634. 2020
    2019 Direct Monitoring Reveals Initiation of Turbidity Currents From Extremely Dilute River Plumes.Geophysical Research Letters.  46:11310-11320. 2019
    2019 Daily bathymetric surveys document how stratigraphy is built and its extreme incompleteness in submarine channelsEarth and Planetary Science Letters.  515:231-247. 2019
    2019 Retreat Pattern of Glaciers Controls the Occurrence of Turbidity Currents on High-Latitude Fjord Deltas (Eastern Baffin Island)Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface.  124:1559-1571. 2019
    2019 What controls submarine channel development and the morphology of deltas entering deep‐water fjords?Earth Surface Processes and Landforms.  44:535-551. 2019
    2019 How turbidity current frequency and character varies down a fjord‐delta system: Combining direct monitoring, deposits and seismic dataSedimentology.  66:1-31. 2019
    2018 How to recognize crescentic bedforms formed by supercritical turbidity currents in the geologic record: Insights from active submarine channelsGeology (Boulder).  46:563-566. 2018
    2018 The Impact of Acoustic Imaging Geometry on the Fidelity of Seabed Bathymetric ModelsGeosciences.  8:109-109. 2018
    2018 Which Triggers Produce the Most Erosive, Frequent, and Longest Runout Turbidity Currents on Deltas?Geophysical Research Letters.  45:855-863. 2018
    2017 Seafloor features delineate Late Wisconsinan ice stream configurations in eastern Parry Channel, Canadian Arctic ArchipelagoQuaternary Science Reviews: the international multidisciplinary research and review journal.  160:67-84. 2017
    2016 Preconditioning and triggering of offshore slope failures and turbidity currents revealed by most detailed monitoring yet at a fjord-head deltaEarth and Planetary Science Letters.  450:208-220. 2016
    2016 First wide-angle view of channelized turbidity currents links migrating cyclic steps to flow characteristics.Nature Communications.  7:11896. 2016
    2016 Crag-and-tail features, Amundsen Gulf, Canadian Arctic ArchipelagoGeological Society Memoir.  46:53-54. 2016
    2016 Glacial lineations in Navy Board Inlet, Nunavut, CanadaGeological Society Memoir.  46:49-50. 2016
    2016 Mega-scale glacial lineations, Peel Sound, Canadian Arctic ArchipelagoGeological Society Memoir.  46:47-48. 2016
    2016 Moat features, Amundsen Gulf, Canadian Arctic ArchipelagoGeological Society Memoir.  46:51-52. 2016
    2016 Pockmarks in Passamaquoddy Bay, New Brunswick, CanadaGeological Society Memoir.  46:111-112. 2016
    2015 Active mud volcanoes on the continental slope of the Canadian Beaufort SeaG3: Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems: an electronic journal of the earth sciences.  16:3160-3181. 2015
    2015 New marine evidence for a Late Wisconsinan ice stream in Amundsen Gulf, Arctic CanadaQuaternary Science Reviews: the international multidisciplinary research and review journal.  114:149-166. 2015
    2015 Integrated seabed mapping of Frobisher Bay, Nunavut, to support infrastructure development, exploration, and natural hazard assessmentSummary of Activities 2014, Canada-Nunavut Geoscience Office2015
    2015 Key future directions for research on turbidity currents and their depositsJournal of Sedimentary Research2015
    2015 Reconnaissance seabed mapping around the Hall and Cumberland Peninsulas, Nunavut: Opening up the SE Baffin coastline to geological investigationsSummary of Activities 2014, Canada-Nunavut Geoscience Office2015
    2014 Influence on present-day coastal dynamics and evolution of a relict subaqueous delta lobe: Sol de Riu lobe, Ebro DeltaContinental Shelf Research.  74:94-104. 2014
    2014 Imaging Active Mass-Wasting and Sediment Flows on a Fjord Delta, Squamish, British ColumbiaAdvances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research.  37:249-260. 2014
    2014 Multiple failure styles related to shallow gas and fluid venting, upper slope Canadian Beaufort Sea, northern CanadaMarine Geology2014
    2012 Shallow stratigraphic control on pockmark distribution in north temperate estuariesMarine Geology.  329:34-45. 2012
    2011 Understanding sediment dynamics of two large submarine valleys from seafloor data: Blanes and La Fonera canyons, northwestern Mediterranean SeaMarine Geology.  280:20-39. 2011
    2010 Ice keel seabed features in marine channels of the central Canadian Arctic Archipelago: evidence for former ice streams and iceberg scouringQuaternary Science Reviews: the international multidisciplinary research and review journal.  29:2280-2301. 2010
    2009 Re-examining Rejected Lidar Waveforms, Filling in the Blanks: Seabed Depth, Extinction Depth or Opaque Depth?Hydrographic Journal2009
    2008 Timing and patterns of basin infilling as documented in Lake Powell during a droughtGeology (Boulder).  36:843-846. 2008
    2008 Extending the multibeam angular sector to improve seafloor classificationSea Technology.  49:17-+. 2008
    2008 Extending the multibeam angular sector to improve seafloor classification, A three-step process to explore the outermost beams of multibeam backscatterSea Technology2008
    2007 Drowned shelf-edge deltas, barrier islands and related features along the outer continental shelf north of the head of De Soto Canyon, NE Gulf of MexicoGeomorphology.  89:370-390. 2007
    2007 Overwintering habitat use of shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum): defining critical habitat using a novel underwater video survey and modeling approachCanadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.  64:1248-1257. 2007
    2007 Long-term development and current status of the Barcelona continental shelf: A source-to-sink approachContinental Shelf Research.  27:1779-1800. 2007
    2007 Sediment undulations on the Llobregat prodelta: Signs of early slope instability or sedimentary bedforms?Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth.  112. 2007
    2007 Determination of precise instantaneous height at multibeam transducerGeo-spatial Information Science.  10:250-254. 2007
    2006 Morphogenetic mesoscale analysis of the northeastern Iberian margin, NW Mediterranean BasinMarine Geology.  234:3-20. 2006
    2006 Relationship between continental rise development and palaeo-ice sheet dynamics, Northern Antarctic Peninsula Pacific marginQuaternary Science Reviews: the international multidisciplinary research and review journal.  25:933-944. 2006
    2006 Applications of Multibeam Water Column Imaging for Hydrographic SurveyHydrographic Journal2006
    2006 ArcticNet: The Current and Future Vision of its Seabed Mapping ProgramHydrographic Journal2006
    2005 Application of spatial cross correlation to detection of migration of submarine sand dunesJournal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface.  110:n/a-n/a. 2005
    2005 Shelf-edge deltas and drowned barrier-island complexes on the northwest Florida outer continental shelfGeomorphology.  64:133-166. 2005
    2004 Shallow slides and pockmark swarms in the Eivissa Channel, western Mediterranean SeaSedimentology.  51:837-850. 2004
    2004 Underway sensor alignment within vessel coordinate systems - A dynamic method for testing misalignment between the ship's reference frame and motion sensor coordinate frameSea Technology.  45:47-+. 2004
    2004 Acoustic detection of organic enrichment in sediments at a salmon farm is confirmed by independent groundtruthing methodsMarine Ecology: Progress Series.  267:99-105. 2004
    2004 Application of surface sound speed measurements in post-processing for multi-sector multibeam echosoundersInternational Hydrographic Review2004
    2004 CCGS Amundsen: A New Mapping Platform for Canada's NorthLighthouse, Journal of the Canadian Hydrographic Association2004
    2004 Detecting migration of sand dunes using spatial correlationSea Technology2004
    2004 Establishing a Seamless Vertical Reference along the Tidal Segment of the Saint John RiverLighthouse, Journal of the Canadian Hydrographic Association2004
    2004 On the fly GPS tide measurement along the Saint John RiverInternational Hydrographic Review2004
    2004 Underway Sensor Alignment within Vessel Coordinate SystemsSea Technology2004
    2003 Dynamic motion residuals in swath sonar data: Ironing out the creasesInternational Hydrographic Review2003
    2003 Geomorphology, acoustic backscatter, and processes in Santa Monica Bay from multibeam mapping.Marine Environmental Research.  56:15-46. 2003
    2002 Seafloor imagery from the BIG'95 debris flow, western MediterraneanGeology (Boulder).  30:871-874. 2002
    2002 The July 1996 flood deposit in the Saguenay Fjord, Quebec, Canada: implications for sources of spatial and temporal backscatter variationsMarine Geology.  184:41-60. 2002
    2001 Ocean Mapping, a slantendicular look aheadSea Technology2001
    2000 Morphology and processes in Lake Tahoe (California-Nevada)Geological Society of America Bulletin.  112:736-746. 2000
    2000 Acoustic Seabed Surveying – Meeting the new demands for Accuracy, Coverage and Spatial ResolutionGeomatica.  54:473-485. 2000
    2000 Groundtruthing Multibeam Bathymetric Surveys of Finfish Aquaculture Sites in the Bay d’Espoir Estuarine Fjord, NewfoundlandMarine Technology Society Journal: the international, interdisciplinary society devoted to ocean and marine engineering, science and policy2000
    1999 High-resolution swath sonar investigation of sand ridge, dune and ribbon morphology in the offshore environment of the New Jersey marginMarine Geology.  161:307-337. 1999
    1999 Side scan versus Multibeam Echosounder object detection: A comparative analysisInternational Hydrographic Review.  76:21-34. 1999
    1999 Acoustic backscatter of the 1995 flood deposit on the Eel shelfMarine Geology.  154:197-210. 1999
    1999 Detailed investigation of continental shelf morphology using a high-resolution swath sonar survey: the Eel margin, northern CaliforniaMarine Geology.  154:255-269. 1999
    1999 High resolution swath sonar investigation of sand ridge, dune and ribbon morphology in the offshore environments of the New Jersey marginMarine Geology1999
    1998 High-resolution multibeam bathymetry of East and West Flower Gardens and Stetson Banks, Gulf of MexicoGulf of Mexico Science.  16:131-143. 1998
    1998 Mapping US continental shelvesSea Technology.  39:10-17. 1998
    1998 Combining AIRSAR data of Huon peninsula and Hawaii MR1 data of Huon Gulf, Papua New Guinea, for studies of tectonic and sedimentary processesMarine Geodesy.  21:111-128. 1998
    1998 Detecting small seabed targets using high frequency multibeam sonarSea Technology1998
    1998 High-resolution multibeam bathymetry of East Flower Gardens and Stetson Bank, Gulf of MexicoGulf of Mexico Science1998
    1997 How Effectively Have You Covered Your Bottom?Hydrographic Journal1997
    1997 Ocean Surface Feature Detection with the CCRS Along-Track InSARCanadian Journal of Remote Sensing1997
    1996 Shallow-water imaging multibeam sonars: A new tool for investigating seafloor processes in the coastal zone and on the continental shelfMarine Geophysical Researches: an international journal for the study of the earth beneath the sea.  18:607-629. 1996
    1996 Swath mapping on the continental shelf and slope: The Eel river basin, Northern CaliforniaOceanography.  9:178-182. 1996
    1996 Extracting and classifying spatial variations in the angular response of seabed backscatter strengthJournal of the Acoustical Society of America.  100:2667-2667. 1996
    1995 SUBMARINE FEATURES OF MODERN OPEN-SEA FAN DELTAS, HUON PENINSULA, PAPUA-NEW-GUINEASedimentary Geology.  98:63-77. 1995
    1994 Classification of seafloor geology using multibeam sonar data from the Scotian ShelfMarine Geology.  121:143-160. 1994
    1994 Integrating Geographic Information and Image Analysis Functionality into a Single Spatial Analysis SystemSchriftenreihe des Studientgangs Vermessungswesen1994
    1994 Sonography of a glaciated continental shelfGeology (Boulder).  22:747-747. 1994
    1994 THE WESTERN FIJI TRANSFORM-FAULT AND ITS ROLE IN THE DISMEMBERMENT OF THE FIJI PLATFORMMarine Geology.  116:57-68. 1994
    1994 Toward remote seafloor classification using the angular response of acoustic backscattering: a case study from multiple overlapping GLORIA dataIEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering1994
    1993 TECTONIC ACTIVITY AND PLATE BOUNDARIES ALONG THE NORTHERN FLANK OF THE FIJI PLATFORMGeo-Marine Letters: an international journal of marine geology.  13:98-106. 1993
    1993 Slope morphology adjacent to the cool‐water carbonate shelf of South Australia: GLORIA and Seabeam imagingAustralian Journal of Earth Sciences1993
    1991 Ocean mapping: from where? to what?Geomatica.  45:505-518. 1991
    1990 GIANT FLUTE-LIKE SCOUR AND OTHER EROSIONAL FEATURES FORMED BY THE 1929 GRAND-BANKS TURBIDITY-CURRENTSedimentology.  37:631-645. 1990
    1990 LARGE-SCALE CURRENT-INDUCED EROSION AND DEPOSITION IN THE PATH OF THE 1929 GRAND-BANKS TURBIDITY-CURRENTSedimentology.  37:613-629. 1990
    1990 LATE STAGE SLOPE FAILURE IN THE WAKE OF THE 1929 GRAND BANKS EARTHQUAKEGeo-Marine Letters: an international journal of marine geology.  10:69-79. 1990
    1990 Late-stage mass-wasting in the wake of the 1929 Grand Banks earthquakeGeo-Marine Letters: an international journal of marine geology1990
    1988 DENSE BIOLOGICAL COMMUNITIES AT 3850-M ON THE LAURENTIAN FAN AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO THE DEPOSITS OF THE 1929 GRAND BANKS EARTHQUAKEDeep-Sea Research, Part A: Oceanographic Research Papers.  35:1235-1246. 1988
    1988 Dense biological communities at 3850 m on the Laurentian Fan and their relationship to the deposits of the 1929 Grand Banks earthquakeDeep-Sea Research Part 1: Oceanographic Research Papers1988

    Chapter

    Year Title
    2018 Multibeam Echosounders.  25-41. 2018
    2012 Measurement of Bedload Transport in a Coastal Sea Using Repeat Swath Bathymetry Surveys: Assessing Bedload Formulae Using Sand Dune Migration.  249-271. 2012
    2012 Optimal Use of Multibeam Technology in the Study of Shelf Morphodynamics.  1-28. 2012
    2012 Erosional and Depositional Features of Glacial Meltwater Discharges on the Eastern Canadian Continental Margin 2012
    2012 Safety in Travel and Navigation : in From Science to Policy in the Western and Central Canadian Arctic 2012
    2012 Temporal progression and spatial extent of mass wasting events on the Squamish prodelta slope 2012
    2000 Present-Day Methods of Depth Measurement 2000
    1992 Western Nova Scotia Continental Rise: Relative Importance of Mass Wasting and Deep Boundary-Current Activity.  266-281. 1992
    1989 Pisces IV submersible observations in the epicentral region of the 1929 Grand Banks earthquake 1989
    1988 The 1929 “Grand Banks” earthquake, slump, and turbidity currentSpecial Paper of the Geological Society of America. 77-92. 1988

    Conference Paper

    Year Title
    2013 Proper environmental reduction for attenuation in multi-sector sonars2013 IEEE/OES Acoustics in Underwater Geosciences Symposium. 1-6. 2013
    2007 Along slope variations in mass failures and relationships to major plio-pleistocene morphological elements, SW Labrador SeaSUBMARINE MASS MOVEMENTS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES. 37-+. 2007
    1999 Using multibeam sonar surveys for submarine landslide investigationsSLOPE STABILITY ENGINEERING, VOLS 1 & 2. 127-134. 1999
    1998 Multibeam sonar: Potential applications for fisheries researchThe Journal of Shellfish Research. 1463-1467. 1998
    1998 The limits of spatial resolution achievable using a 30kHz multibeam sonar: model predictions and field results.OCEANS'98 - CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS, VOLS 1-3. 1823-1827. 1998
    1997 Detecting small seabed targets using a high frequency multibeam sonar: Geometric models and test resultsOCEANS '97 MTS/IEEE CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS, VOLS 1 AND 2. 815-819. 1997
    1997 Multibeam bathymetric data for regional assessment of marine geologyOCEANS '97 MTS/IEEE CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS, VOLS 1 AND 2. 1475-1480. 1997
    1993 PROCESSING AND INTERPRETATION OF 95 KHZ BACKSCATTER DATA FROM SHALLOW-WATER MULTIBEAM SONARSOCEANS 93 - PROCEEDINGS, VOLS 1-3. B437-B442. 1993

    Teaching Activities

  • Doctoral Research Taught course 2023
  • Marine Geosci for Hydrography Taught course 2023
  • Oceanography for Hydrography Taught course 2023
  • Oceanography for Hydrography Taught course 2023
  • Seabed Mapping Taught course 2022
  • Seabed Mapping Taught course 2022
  • Doctoral Research Taught course 2022
  • Doctoral Research Taught course 2022
  • Marine Geosci for Hydrography Taught course 2022
  • Oceanography for Hydrography Taught course 2022
  • Oceanography for Hydrography Taught course 2022
  • Seabed Mapping Taught course 2021
  • Seabed Mapping Taught course 2021
  • Doctoral Research Taught course 2021
  • Geological Oceanography Taught course 2021
  • Geological Oceanography Taught course 2021
  • Top/Geol Oce Hydro Surveyors Taught course 2021
  • Top/Applied Oce Hydro Surveyor Taught course 2020 - 2021
  • Top/Applied Oce Hydro Surveyor Taught course 2020 - 2021
  • Doctoral Research Taught course 2020
  • Seabed Mapping Taught course 2020
  • Seabed Mapping Taught course 2020
  • Seminar in Earth Sciences Taught course 2020
  • Doctoral Research Taught course 2020
  • Top/Geol Oce Hydro Surveyors Taught course 2020
  • Top/Applied Oce Hydro Surveyor Taught course 2020
  • Seabed Mapping Taught course 2019
  • Seabed Mapping Taught course 2019
  • Seminar in Earth Sciences Taught course 2019
  • Doctoral Research Taught course 2019
  • Top/Geol Oce Hydro Surveyors Taught course 2019
  • Top/Applied Oce Hydro Surveyor Taught course 2019
  • Top/Applied Oce Hydro Surveyor Taught course 2019
  • Seabed Mapping Taught course 2018
  • Seabed Mapping Taught course 2018
  • Top/Geol Hydro Surveyors Taught course 2018
  • Top/Applied Oce Hydro Surveyor Taught course 2018
  • Ocean Mapping I Taught course 2017
  • Ocean Mapping I Taught course 2017
  • Seabed Mapping Taught course 2017
  • Top/Phys Ocean Top Ocean Map Taught course 2017
  • Ocean Mapping I Taught course 2016
  • Ocean Mapping I Taught course 2016
  • Education And Training

  • B.A. Geology/Earth Science, Oxford Univ-Eng
  • M.S. Oceanography(Chem.&Physical), Southampton University
  • PHD Oceanography(Chem.&Physical), Dalhousie University
  • Full Name

  • John Hughes Clarke