Hilary Clement Olson
Telephone 512-471-0455
email: olson@utig.ig.utexas.edu

Research Associate
Ph.D., Stanford University (1988)
B.S., University of Notre Dame (1983)
Diplôme de Langue Français, mention honorable, UNIVERSITÉ CATHOLIQUE DE L'OUEST, Angers, France.

Marine Geology and Educational Outreach
Biostratigraphic and paleoenvironmental analysis using foraminifera, quantitative biostratigraphy, seismic stratigraphy, seismic facies analysis and basin analysis, K-12 educational activities on paleontology, geology/geophysics and ocean sciences.

Research Activities
Research focuses on using the biostratigraphic and paleoenvironmental analysis of foraminifera to address geological problems. Past research projects involve problems in sequence stratigraphy of the New Jersey margin, biostratigraphy of Kamchatka, computational stratigraphy and deep-water seismic facies of the Gulf of Mexico and Faeroe Basin. The quantitative analysis of foraminiferal census data to improve paleoenvironmental and biostratigraphic interpretations is of particular interest. Several of these analytical techniques have been the subject of short courses on sequence biostratigraphy presented to industry and at national scientific meetings. Current research in the Gulf of Mexico and ongoing outreach activities are detailed below.

For more information on activities in micropaleontology see the website for the North American Micropaleontology Section (NAMS) of SEPM

Current Research Projects and Educational Outreach

Gulf of Mexico Intraslope Basins Project (see adjacent echo-character map)

Gulf of Mexico Depositional Synthesis Project

TXESS (TeXas Earth and Space Science) Revolution - educational outreach (environments-PDA#1)

Past Research Projects and Educational Outreach

STRATAFORM

Biostratigraphy of ODP Leg 174A Sampling

K-12 Outreach Activities:

professional development workshops and curriculum development for High School Teachers of "Geology, Meteorology and Oceanography" courses in Texas (sponsored by the Institute for Geophysics and the Charles Dana Center, The University of Texas at Austin)

activities/curriculum development for Middle School Students in micropaleontology (a joint effort with the Museum of Paleontology, University of California at Berkeley)

professional development workshops for Middle School Teachers in Texas (sponsored by Texas A&M University and the Ocean Drilling Program)

ocean drilling activities for Middle School Teachers (sponsored by Texas A&M University and the Ocean Drilling Program)

teacher-in-the-field program at the Institute for Geophysics

Class presentations with Casey and Galindo elementary school 5th graders in Austin, TX for UTIG Adopt-A-School Program in association with the Austin Science Fun Day at The University of Texas at Austin

Geology merit badge counselor, Boy Scouts of America Hornaday weekend, Lost Pines Scout Ranch

Scientific Cruises

Marion Dufresne, JOI-ONR Funding, 1999, Calypso Coring for Stratigraphic Research, New Jersey Margin, Paleontologist, 3.5kHz Seismic Data Collection, 2 weeks.

Onrust, NSF Funding, 1998, Grab Sampling to Calibrate Geophysical Signals, New Jersey Margin, Paleontologist, 1 week.

Joides Resolution, Ocean Drilling Program, Leg 174A, 1997, Stratigraphic Objectives, New Jersey Margin, Paleontologist, 4 weeks.

Employment Overview

Academic Research, marine geology and geophysics, biostratigraphy, The University of Texas at Austin, current.

Consultant - Geological Training Workshops for Oil Company Employees and University Faculty (Conoco, BP, Pennzoil, Texaco, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras, Chinese National Oil Company).

Editing of Science Textbooks, Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Middle and High School Instruction (5th grade-French, 6th grade-French, 7th grade-science, 8th grade-math, 10th grade-French), Greenhill School, Dallas, Texas and The Oakridge School, Arlington, Texas.

Industry Research and Training, Mobil Oil Company.

Publications

Olson, H. C., and P. R. Thompson, Sequence biostratigraphy with examples from the Plio-Pleistocene and Quaternary, in Applied Stratigraphy, edited by E. A. M. Koutsoukos, Kluwer Acad. Pub.,   229-245, 2005 

Goff, J. A., J. A. Austin, S. Gulick, S. Nordfjord, B. Christensen, C. Sommerfield, H. Olson, and C. Alexander , Recent and modern marine erosion on the New Jersey outer shelf, Marine Geol., 216, 275-296, 2005

Goff, J.A., A. Mayer, P. Traykovski, I. Buynevich, R. Wilkens, R. Raymond, G. Glang, R.L. Evans, H. Olson, and C. Jenkins, Detailed investigation of sorted bedforms, or 'rippled scour depressions', with the Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory, Massachusetts, Continental Shelf Res., 25, 461-484, 2005

Olson, H. C., and C. W. Smart, Pleistocene climatic history reflected in planktonic foraminifera from ODP site 1073 (Leg 174A), New Jersey margin, NW Atlantic Ocean, Mar. Micropaleontology, 51, 213-238, 2004

Goff, J. A., B. J. Kraft, L. A. Mayer, S. G. Schock, C. K. Sommerfield, H. C. Olson, S. P. S. Gulick, and S. Nordfjord , Seabed characterization on the New Jersey middle and outer shelf: Correlability and spatial variability of seafloor sediment properties, Marine Geol., 209, 147-172, 2004

Olson, H. C., A. Gary, and G. Jones, Similarity curves as indicators of stratigraphic discontinuities, in Micropaleontological Proxies for Sea-Level Changes and Stratagraphic Discontinuities, edited by H. C. Olson and R. M. Leckie, SEPM spec. publ.,  75, 89-96, 2003

Leckie, R. M., and H. C. Olson, Foramnifera as proxies of sea-level change on siliciclastic margins, in Micropaleontological Proxies for Sea-Level Changes and Stratigraphic Discontinuities, SEPM Special Publication 75,   5-20, 2003

Olson, H. C., and R. M. Leckie, Preface: Micropaleontological proxies for sea-level changes and stratagragraphic discontinuities, in Micropaleontological Proxies for Sea-Level Changes and Stratagraphic Discontinuities, edited by H. C. Olson and R. M. Leckie, SEPM Spec. Publ.,  75, 1-4, 2003

Olson, H. C., and R. M. Leckie (editors), Micropaleontological Proxies for Sea-Level Changes and Stratagraphic Discontinuities, SEPM Spec. Pulb. 75,   383 pp., 2003 

Damuth, J. E. and H. C. Olson, Neogene-Quaternary contourite and related deposition on the West Shetland Slope and Faeroe-Shetland channel revealed by high-resolution seismic studies, Mar. Geophys. Res., 22, 369-399, 2002 

McHugh, C. M. G., and H. C. Olson, Pleistocene chronology of continental margin sedimentation: New insights into traditional models, New Jersey, Mar. Geol., 186, 389-411, 2001 

Savrda, C. E., H. Krawinkel, F. M. G. McCarthy, F. M. G. McHugh, H. C. Olson, and G. Mountain, Ichnofabrics of a Plesitocene slope succession, New Jersey margin: Relations to climate and sea-level dynamcs, Paleogeography, Paleoclimatology and Paleoecology, 171, 41-61, 2001

Olson, H. C., J. E. Damuth, P. E. Ganey-Curry, and G. Moss, Intraslope basins reveal U. S. Gulf of Mexico secrets, Offshore, 6, 112-114, 2000 

Goff, J. A., H. C. Olson, and C. S. Duncan, Correlation of sidescan backscatter intensity with grain-size distribution of shelf sediments, Geo-Marine Lett., 20, 43-49, 2000

Goff, J.A., Olson, H., Schuur, C.L., Moss, G., and J.A. Austin, Jr., 1999, "Does grain size determine acoustic backscatter on the New Jersey continental shelf?" JOI newsletter, v. 12, no. 2, p. 1-3.

Marsaglia, K. M., P. Mann, R. J. Hyatt, and H. C. Olson, Evaluating the influence of aseismic ridge subduction and accretion of the detrital modes of forearc sandstone: An example from the Kronotsky Peninsula in the Kamchatka forearc, Lithos, 46, 17-42, 1999

Buck, K. F., H. C. Olson, and J. A. Austin, Paleoenvironmental evidence for latest Pleistocene sea-level fluctuations on the New Jersey outer continental shelf: Combining high-resolution sequence stratigraphy and foraminiferal analysis, Mar. Geol., 154, 287-304, 1999

Lagoe, M. B., T. A. Davies, J. A. Austin, and H. C. Olson, Foraminiferal constraints on very high-resolution seismic stratigraphy and late Quaternary glacial history, New Jersey continental shelf, Palaios, 12, 249-266, 1997

Olson, H.C., 1996, "Foraminifera in the middle school classroom," in Scotchmoor, J., and F.K. McKinney (eds.), Learning from the Fossil Record: Paleontological Society Papers 2, p. 247-261.

Armentrout, J.M., Bloch, R.B., Olson, H.C., and B.F. Perkins, eds., 1993, Rates of Geologic Processes, Tectonics, Sedimentation, Eustasy and Climate, Implications for Hydrocarbon Exploration, GCSSEPM Foundation Research Conference, 306p.

Mitchell, S.M., Beamish, G.W.J., Wood, M.V., Malacek, S.J., Armentrout, J.M., Damuth, J.E., and H.C. Olson, 1993, "Paleogene sequence stratigraphic framework of the Faeroe Basin," in Parker, J.R. (ed.) Petroleum Geology of Northwest Europe: Proceedings of the 4th Conference, Geological Society, London, p. 1011-1023.

Damuth, J.E. and H.C. Olson, 1993, "Preliminary observations of Neogene-Quaternary depositional processes in the Faeroe-Shetland Channel revealed by high-resolution seismic facies analysis," in Parker, J.R. (ed.) Petroleum Geology of Northwest Europe: Proceedings of the 4th Conference, Geological Society, London, p. 1035-1045.

Olson, H.C., 1990, "Early and middle Miocene foraminiferal paleoenvironments, southeastern San Joaquin Basin, California," Journal of Foraminiferal Research, v. 20, no. 4, p. 289-311.

Bloch, R. B. and H.C. Olson, 1990, "Stratigraphy and structural history of the Lower and Middle Miocene Section, eastside San Joaquin Valley," in Kuespert, J. G. and S. A. Reid, eds., 1990, Structure, stratigraphy and hydrocarbon occurrences of the San Joaquin Basin, California, p. 287-291.

Olson, H.C.,1988, Middle Tertiary stratigraphy, depositional environments, paleoecology and tectonic history of the southeastern San Joaquin basin, California, Stanford University Ph.D. Dissertation, 351p.

Olson, H.C., 1988, "Oligocene-middle Miocene depositional systems north of Bakersfield, California: Eastern basin equivalents of the Temblor Formation," in Graham, S. A. ed., 1988, Studies of the geology of the San Joaquin basin, Pacific Section, Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, v. 60, p. 189-205.

Olson, H.C., 1988, "Significance of variations within the Walker Formation north and south of the Bakersfield arch, San Joaquin basin, California," in Filewicz, M. V., and Squires, R. L., eds., 1988, Paleogene Stratigraphy, West Coast of North America, Pacific Section, Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, West Coast Paleogene Symposium v. 58, p. 167-181.

Olson, H.C., Miller, G.E., and J.Alan Bartow, 1986, "Stratigraphy, paleoenvironment and depositional setting of Tertiary sediments, southeastern San Joaquin basin," 1986 Guidebook Pacific Section American Association of Petroleum Geologists meeting, Bakersfield, California, p.18-54.

Olson, H.C. and B.J. Welton, 1986, "Foraminifera and fishes of Tertiary units in the Bakersfield, California area," 1986 Guidebook Pacific Section American Association of Petroleum Geologists meeting, Bakersfield, California, p.47-49.

Clement, M. A., Olson, H.C., and J.E. Olson, 1986, "Oil and gas economic analysis with Lotus 1-2-3," Geobyte v. 1, no.2, p. 32-36.

Olson, H.C., 1985, "Miocene Molluscan guide, San Joaquin Valley: Geologic ranges, habitats, geographic ranges, formations, taxonomic updates and references," in Graham, Steve A., 1985, Geology of the Temblor Formation, Western San Joaquin Basin, California: Pacific Section S.E.P.M., V. 44, p. 121-177.

Abstracts/Presentations

Olson, H.C and J.E. Damuth, 2001, Latest Quaternary Depositional Processes in Texas-Louisiana Intraslope Basins, Northern Gulf of Mexico: Integration of High-Resolution Seismic Facies, Piston Cores and Biostratigraphy, abstract, 2001 GCSSEPM Meeting, Houston, Texas.

Austin, J.A., Duncan, L., Fulthorpe, C.S., Goff, J.A., and Olson, H.C., 2000, Reaping the Benefits of More Than a Decade of "Nesting" on the New Jersey Shelf and Upper Slope, abstract, 2000 AGU Fall Meeting.

Duncan, C.S., Goff, J.A., Austin, J.A., Driscoll, N.W. and Olson, HC, 2000, Chirp Seismic and Swath Sonar Investigation of Latest Quaternary Stratigraphy, New Jersey Inner Continental Shelf, abstract, 2000 AGU Fall Meeting.

Mountain, G.S., Monteverde, D., McHugh, C., and H.C. Olson, 2000, Late Pleistocene Glacioeustatic Controls of Stratigraphic Development Offshore New Jersey, GSA 2000 Annual Meeting.

Duncan, C., Goff, J., Austin, J., and H. Olson, 1999, Icebergs off New Jersey! Latest Quaternary Seafloor Morphology and Shallow Stratigraphy of the Outer Continental Shelf, Southern Hudson Apron, abstract, AGU 1999 Annual Meeting.

McHugh, C.M.G., and H.C. Olson, 1999, "The Quaternary Record: Isotopic Calibration of Sea-Level Change and Paleoclimate, New Jersey," abstract, AGU 1999 Annual Meeting.

Olson, H.C. and A.C. Gary, 1999, "Integrated Approaches to Studying Sea-Level Changes: Examples from the Gulf of Mexico and the New Jersey margin using IPS software," AAPG 1999 Annual Meeting.

McHugh, C.M.G., Olson, H.C., Damuth, J.E. and W.Balsam, 1999, "Integrated Climate Record from Pleistocene Sediments of the New Jersey Margin," AAPG 1999 Annual Meeting.

Gary, A.C., Olson, H.C. and Shogren, G., 1999, "Knowledge-based Applications in Computational Stratigraphy," GCAGS 1999 Meeting, Lafayette.

Damuth, J.E. and H.C. Olson, 1998, "High-resolution seismic facies analysis of latest Quaternary slope sediments, Gulf of Mexico," AAPG 1998 Annual Meeting.

Marsaglia, K.M., Hyatt, R., Mann, P., and H.C. Olson, 1997, "Development of a sand provenance model for volcaniclastic units associated with hotspot island chains and submarine plateaus and application to a possible accreted terrane in the Kamchatka forearc," Geological Society of America 1997 Annual Meeting Abstracts.

Buck, K., Olson, H.C., and J.A. Austin, 1996, "Paleoenvironmental evidence for latest Pleistocene sea-level fluctuations on the New Jersey outer continental shelf: Combining high-resolution sequence stratigraphy and foraminiferal analysis," Abstracts for Fall AGU Meeting.

Olson, H.C. and M.B. Lagoe, 1994, "Multivariate quantitative analysis of micropaleontologic data: Sequence and systems-tract calibration in the Faeroe Basin and southeast Texas," PaleoBios, v.16, supplement to n. 2, p. 51.

Olson, H.C., Fearn, L.B., and R.B. Bloch, 1993, "Integrated data display: An aid to biostratigraphic characterization of Paleogene sequences, Faeroe Basin, United Kingdom," American Association of Petroleum Geologists 1993 Annual Convention Program, p. 161.

Damuth, J.E., and H.C. Olson, 1992, "Neogene depositional processes in the Faeroe Basin revealed by seismic facies analysis," 4th Conference on Petroleum Geology of NW Europe.

Damuth, J.E., Olson, H.C., and D.C. Twichell, 1991, "Neogene depositional processes on the Texas-Louisiana continental slope revealed by high-resolution seismic studies," American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 75, no. 3, p. 560-561.

Olson, H.C., 1990, "Oligocene-Middle Miocene evolution of the southeastern San Joaquin Basin, California," abstract, American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 74, no. 5, p. 733.

Olson, H.C., 1990, "Integrated paleobathymetric calibration of Miocene foraminiferal faunas, southeastern San Joaquin Basin, California," abstract, Program and abstracts of fourth international symposium on benthic foraminifera, 1990, Sendai, Japan, p. 36-37.

Olson, H.C. and J.C. Ingle, 1987, "Response of Middle Miocene benthic foraminifera to paleoceanographic events," ed: R. Tsuchi, 1987 Report I.G.C.P. #246.

Olson, H.C., 1987, "Biofacies zonation of Middle Miocene benthic foraminifera, southeastern San Joaquin basin, California," American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 71, no. 5, p. 599.

Olson, H.C., 1986, "Paleoenvironment and depositional environment of the Miocene Olcese Sand, Bakersfield, California," American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 70, no. 4, p. 475.

Rigby, J. Keith, Jr. and H.C. Clement, 1983, "A large Chondrichthian fauna from the Pictured Cliffs Sandstone, Cretaceous (Campanian), San Juan Basin, New Mexico," 1983 Geological Society of America North-Central Section meeting, Madison, Wisconsin.