Teaching Responsibilities
Lorraine W. Wolf teaches undergraduate courses in Physical Geology, Engineering Geology, and Applied Geophysics. On the graduate level, she teaches courses in Geophysics and Tectonics. The Applied Geophysics course places special emphasis on practical approaches to environmental and geotechnical problems. The laboratory component of the course offers geology and engineering students hands-on experience with modern geophysical equipment.

Research Interest & Current Projects
Professor Wolf's research interests are in earthquake and controlled-source seismology and in the use of geophysical methods in engineering and environmental assessments. She and her students have engaged in a number of geophysical investigations: 1) crustal structure and evolution of western Alaska and eastern Siberia using seismic data collected in the Bering Strait (supported by the ACS Petroleum Research Fund and collaborative with Stanford, the USGS, the Univ. of Alaska, and Michigan State Univ.);  2) earthquake-induced liquefaction in the New Madrid Seismic Zone (collaborative with Tuttle & Associates and Univ. of Memphis);  3) geophysical evidence of sulfate-reducing bacteria in Coastal Plain aquifers; 4) geophysical mapping of chemical pollutants at landfill sites; and 5) hydrologically-triggered seismicity.

Other Professional Activities
Dr. Wolf has participated in high school teacher training workshops organized by Georgia Tech and co-sponsored by the NSF, the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS), Princeton University, and the Eisenhower Foundation. Workshops provided Alabama and Georgia teachers with basic information in seismology and familiarized them with tools, software and techniques for use in their classrooms. Wolf has served on an NSF review panel for the Undergraduate Education Instrument and Laboratory Improvement Program. This program funded the purchase of the state-of-the-art geophysical equipment now being used for student research at Auburn.  Prof. Wolf continues as the AU representative to the IRIS Board of Directors.

Selected Publications

Wolf, L.W., McCaleb, R.C., Stone, D.B.,  Brocher, T.M.,  Fujita, K., and Klemperer, S., Crustal structure across the Bering Strait: Onshore recordings of a marine multichannel seismic survey, in Miller, E. L.,  and A. Grantz, eds., Tectonic Evolution of the Bering Shelf-Chukchi Sea-Arctic Margin and Adjacent Landmasses, Geological Society of America Special Paper, in press.

Gomberg, J., and L. Wolf, 1999, A possible cause for an improbable earthquake: The 1997 Mw 4.9 southern Alabama earthquake and hydrocarbon recovery: Geology, v. 27, p. 367-370.

Tuttle, M. P., J. Collier, L. W. Wolf, and R. H. Lafferty, 1999, New evidence for a large earthquake in the New Madrid seismic zone between A.D. 1400 and 1670: Geology, v. 27, p. 7771-7774.

Wolf, L., J. Collier, P. Bodin, and M. Tuttle, 1998, Geophysical reconnaissance of earthquake-induced liquefaction features in the New Madrid seismic zone:  Journal of Applied Geophysics, v. 39, p. 121-129. 

Lee, M-K., and L. W. Wolf, 1998, Analysis of fluid pressure propagation in heterogeneous rocks: Implications for hydrologically-induced earthquakes: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 25, p. 2329-2332.

Wolf, L. W., C. A. Rowe, and R. B. Horner, 1997, Periodic seismicity near Mt. Ogden on the Alaska-British Columbia border: A case for hydrologically-triggered earthquakes? Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, v. 87, p. 1473-1483.

Wolf, L. W., M. G. Steltenpohl, and J. Plescia, 1997, Geophysical investigation of a "suspect" impact crater in Wetumpka, Alabama, 1997, in Neathery, T. L., D. T. King, Jr., and L. W. Wolf, The Wetumpka Impact Structure and Related Features, Southeastern Section of the Geological Society of America Field Trip Guidebook, p. 57-68.

Saunders, J. A., R. C. Thomas, M-K. Lee, and L. W. Wolf, 1997, Geologic evidence for the utility of sulfate-reducing bacteria for in situ anaerobic bioremediation of heavy metal contaminated groundwater, in Proceedings of the Fourth International On Site and In Situ Bioremediation Symposium, New Orleans, LA, v. 3, p. 379-384.