Larry Syu-Heng Lai, Ph.D.
– An ethusiastist of sedimentary processes and landform development –
I’m a field geologist passionate about the Earth’s surface and shallow-crust geological processes that drive landscape evolution and sediment dynamics in mountainous regions (erosional “source”) and form clastic stratigraphy in sedimentary basins (depositional “sink”). When I’m not immersed in research, I enjoy hiking, playing basketball, and snowboarding.
Me on the main drainage divide of Taiwan
Everything I am studying in a nutshell!
At the University of Washington, I work with Dr. Alison Duvall and the Cascadia COPEs Hub team on landslide-related geomorphology questions. My current research focuses on landslide history and post-landslide landform recovery in the Pacific Northwest, as well as how river sediment influences landscape evolution in landslide-prone terrains like the mountains of Taiwan and New Zealand.
In December 2024, I will begin a new chapter at the University of Texas at Austin, where I will collaborate with Dr. Jacob Covault, Dr. Zoltán Sylvester, and researchers at the Bureau of Economic Geology, and shift my focus from “source” to “sink.” Upcoming projects include investigating deep-water depositional processes and signals of slope instability, stratigraphy of turbidites and mass-transport deposits in the Cascadia Subduction Zone, Gulf of Mexico, and possibly eastern Taiwan, as well as examining their implications for source-to-sink sediment dynamics and paleoseismology reconstruction.
Expertise
Sedimentology
& Stratigraphy
& Stratigraphy
A study to understand the origin, transport, and deposition of sediments, and their spatio-temporal patterns and variations. It helps us to understand the net result of ancient surface processes, depict paleo-geography, and offer future predictions.
Sedimentary Basin
Analysis
Analysis
A synthetic geological study to understand the developement of sedimentary basins and related near-surface crustal dynamics. It provides the basis for geo-history research, geological resource exploration, and regional tectonic activities.
Tectonic
Geomorphology
Geomorphology
The study to understand the interplay between surface processes, climate change, and tectonic activities. It combines merits of field observation and numerical modeling to investigate the controls of landscape evolution in tectonically active regions.
Other Research Skills/Tools
Field Mapping & Observation
Field geological mapping and observations provide both quantitative and qualitative constraints of the real world and offer direct insights to the geospatial problems and relative chronology of the geohistory.
Rock Paleomagnetism
Magnetic properties and mineralogy of rocks and sediments, which provide archives of paleomagnetic polarity changes, depositional time, and particle alignment due to tectonic and sedimentological processes.
Calcareous Nannofossil
Calcareous Nannoplankton are tiny (2.5-30 μm) oceanic phytoplankton that emerge around late Triassic. Their skeletons are not only significant contributors of rock-forming processes but also valuable biostratigraphic age markers.
Topographic Analysis
Quantitative measurements and analysis of the geomorphic metrics using digital eleveation models and other remote-sensing data. The results offer a better understanding of the large-scale landform patterns and their relationship with other natural factors (bedrock variabilities, climate change, tectonic deformation, biosphere activities).
Numerical Modeling
A computational and theoretical approach to simulate topographic evolution, basin subsidence, and sediment dynamics at the surface. This tool allows us to investigate the long-term effect of different natural variables and their relative importance in controlling topographic changes.