Shawn Morrish's senior thesis research examines Quaternary river terraces along the Rio Ora on the central Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica. His study involves mapping terrace surfaces, describing fluvial deposits and soils, and generating longitudinal terrace profiles. He is also correlating the Rio Ora terraces with marine terraces along the coast and other fluvial terraces within the peninsula's interior. The goal of this investigation is to unravel the late Quaternary history of terrace formation, tectonic uplift, and stream capture. This project is part of a larger regional investigation of Nicoya Peninsula neotectonics and paleogeodesy directed by Dr. Marshall.
Shawn coauthored a talk on apects of his research at the 2008 GSA Annual Meeting in Houston Texas. The presentation was entitled "Coastal Tectonics of the Nicoya Peninsula Seismic Gap, Costa Rica" To view an abstract of the presentation CLICK HERE.
