Professor of Tsunami Research

James Goff

 

 

I am particularly interested in tsunamis – all aspects of tsunamis - hazard, risk and vulnerability assessment, disaster and emergency management – but in studying this particular natural hazard my interests have quite naturally extended to include a vast range of others. During my career I have worked in environments from the high mountains to the deep ocean and therefore all natural hazards and the associated human-environment interactions are of interest to me.

I have worked on natural hazards such as tsunamis, earthquakes, cyclones, volcanic eruptions, river floods, glacial outbursts, and landslides in Australia, the Antarctic, New Zealand, Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Japan, Solomon Islands, Cook Islands, Chile, Mexico, The Maldives, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, Hawaii, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Pacific Northwest, Canada, UK, France, Greece, Belize, and Wallis and Futuna.

Not surprisingly my research covers a variety of topics right now and a reasonable geographic range across the Asia-Pacific region. This involves collaboration with members of the Natural Hazards Research Laboratory and an assortment of international colleagues.

I have been Adjunct Professor at the University of Hawaii, Visiting Professor at Arizona State University, and currently Honorary Research Associate at the University of Auckland, and “Scientist-in-Residence” at the Pacific Tsunami Museum, Hawaii.

 

 

 

María del Rocío Castillo Aja, PhD candidate, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico - Los Tsunamis en las Costas de Jalisco y Colima: una aproximación histórico-geográfica(co-supervisor)

Claire Cain, PhD candidate, University of Canterbury, New Zealand – Palaeotsunami deposits of Okains Bay, New Zealand (co-supervisor – main supervisor: Dr. Christopher  Gomez)

Darren King, PhD candidate – Tsunami disturbance, recurrence and risk along the New Zealand’s coast: learning from differences in knowledge, practice and belief.

Jak McCarroll, PhD candidate, A physical examination of topographic rip currents (co-supervisor – main supervisor: Dr. Rob Brander)

Cameron Tarbotton, PhD candidate - A new approach for assessing the vulnerability of buildings to tsunamis.

Todd Walton, PhD candidate - Australian rip currents, community knowledge and implications for surf drowning, rescues and education (co-supervisor – main supervisor: Dr. Wendy Shaw)

Shaun Williams, PhD candidate, University of Canterbury, New Zealand – Tsunami hazard, Samoa Islands: Palaeotsunami investigation, numerical source modelling and risk implications (co-supervisor – main supervisor: Professor Tim Davies).

Karina Judd, Honours candidate – Geochemical mapping of the inundation limit of three historical tsunamis in New Zealand (joint supervised with Dr. Catherine Chagué-Goff)

Jodie McClintock, Honours candidate – Geoarchaeology of the Kapiti coast, New Zealand (joint supervised with Dr. Catherine Chagué-Goff)

 

 

 

Contributions to:

GEOS1211           Environmental Earth Science

GEOS2641           Australian Cultural & Social Environments

GEOS2721           Australian Surface Environments & Landscapes

GEOS3291           Coastal Resource Management

GEOS3621           Natural Hazards and their Management (field course)

 

 

ACADEMIC CAREER

 

2008     Professor, School of BEES, University of New South Wales

2005     Group Manager, National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research, New

              Zealand

2000     Director, GeoEnvironmental Consultants, New Zealand

1998     Senior Scientist, Institute of Geological & Nuclear Sciences, New Zealand

1995     Lecturer, Department of Geography,Victoria University of Wellington, New

              Zealand

 

 

AWARDS/PROFESSIONAL DUTIES

 

- Committee Member

Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Environment

International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) Tsunami Commission

- Distinguisher Visiting Professor, National University of Singapore, 2013

- Erskine Fellow, University of Canterbury, 2013

- Guest editor:

Special Issue, Earth-Science Reviews “The South Pacific Tsunami of September 2009”, 2011

Special Publication, Geological Society “Natural Hazards in the Asia–Pacific Region”, 2012

Special Issue, Sedimentary Geology “The 2011 Tohoku-oki tsunami”, 2011-2012

Special Issue, Marine Geology “In the wake of the 2011 Tohoku-oki tsunami – two years on”, 2013-2014

 

 

 

Dominey-Howes, D. and Goff, J. (in press) Tsunami Risk Management in Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) – Some Issues, Challenges and Ways Forward. Pure and Applied Geophysics. DOI: 10.1007/s00024-012-0490-8.

Goff, J. and Dominey-Howes, D. (in press) Tsunami. In: Shroder, J., Jr., James, L.A., Harden, C., Clague, J., (Eds.), Treatise on Geomorphology. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, vol. 13, pp. xx–xx.

Specht, J., Denham, T., Goff, J. and Terrell, J.E. (in press) Deconstructing the Lapita cultural complex in the Bismarck Archipelago. Journal of Archaeological Research.

Terry, J.P. and Goff, J. (in press) One hundred and thirty years since Darwin: reshaping the theory of atoll formation. The Holocene. DOI: 10.1177/0959683612463101.

Alam, E., Dominey-Howes, D., Chagué-Goff, C. and Goff, J. (2012) Tsunamis of the northeast Indian Ocean with a particular focus on the Bay of Bengal Region-A synthesis and review. Earth-Science Reviews, 114, 175-193. DOI: org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2012.05.002.

Chagué-Goff, C., Andrew, A., Szczuci?ski, W., Goff, J. & Nishimura, Y. (2012b) Geochemical signatures up to the maximum inundation of the 2011 Tohoku-oki tsunami – implications for the 869 AD Jogan and other palaeotsunamis. Sedimentary Geology, 282, 65-77. DOI: 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2012.05.021.

Chagué-Goff, C., Goff, J., Dudley, W, Nichol, S., Mooney, S., Zawadzki, A., Bennett, J.W., Heijnis, H., Dominey-Howes, D. and Courtney, C. (2012). Multi-proxy evidence for trans-Pacific tsunamis in the Hawaiian islands.  Marine Geology, 299-302, 77-89. DOI: 10.1016/j.margeo.2011.12.010.

Chagué-Goff, C., Niedzielski, P., Wong, H.K., Szczuci?ski, W., Sugawara, D. and Goff, J. (2012) Environmental impact assessment of the 2011 T?hoku-oki tsunami on the Sendai plain. Sedimentary Geology, 282, 175-187. DOI: 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2012.06.002.

Courtney, C., Dominey-Howes, D., Goff, J., Chagué-Goff, C., Switzer, A.D. and McFadgen, B. (2012) A synthesis and review of the geological evidence for palaeotsunamis along the coast of SE Australia: the evidence, issues and potential ways forward. Quaternary Science Reviews, 54, 99-125. DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.06.018.

Drozdzewski, D., Shaw, W., Dominey-Howes, D., Brander, R., Walton, T., Gero, A., Sherker, S., Goff, J.and Edwick, B. (2012). Surveying rip current survivors: preliminary insights into the experiences of being caught in rip currents. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 12, 1201-1211. DOI: 10.5194/nhess-12-1-2012.

Goff, J. (2012) Tsunamis and stranded vessels: Up Ship Creek without a paddle? Geographical Research, 50, 102-107. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-5871.2011.00705.x.

Goff, J. and Chagué-Goff, C. (2012) A review of palaeotsunamis for the Christchurch region, New Zealand. Quaternary Science Reviews, 57, 136-156. 10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.10.004.

Goff, J., Chagué-Goff, C., Archer, M., Dominey-Howes, D. and Turney, C. (2012) The Eltanin asteroid impact – possible South Pacific palaeotmegasunami footprint and potential implications for the Pliocene-Pleistocene transition. Journal of Quaternary Science, 27, 660-670. DOI: 10.1002/jqs.2571.

Goff, J., Chagué-Goff, C. McFadgen, B.G. and Nichol, S.L. (2012) Palaeotsunamis and their influence on Polynesian settlement. The Holocene, 22, 1061-1063. DOI: 10.1177/0959683612437873.

Goff, J., Chagué-Goff, C., Nichol, S.L., Jaffe, B. and Dominey-Howes, D. (2012) Progress in palaeotsunami research. Sedimentary Geology 243-244, 70-88. DOI: 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2011.11.002.

Goff, J., Chagué-Goff, C. and Terry, J.P. (2012) The value of a Pacific-wide tsunami database for risk reduction – putting theory into practice. Geological Society Special Publication No 361, 209-220, DOI: 10.1144/SP361.17.

Goff, J. and Terry, J.P. (2012) Living with natural hazards in the Asia-Pacific region. Geological Society Special Publication No 361, 1-2, DOI: 10.1144/SP361.1.

Goto, K., Chagué-Goff, C., Goff, J. and Jaffe, B. (2012) The future of tsunami research following the 2011 Tohoku-oki event. Sedimentary Geology, 282, 1-13. DOI: 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2012.08.003.

Johnston, J, Bird, D., Goff, J. and Dudley, W. (2012) An examination of hazard communication logs and public response during the 1946 and 1960 tsunamis that impacted Hilo, Hawai‘i. Geological Society Special Publication No. 361, 91-105, DOI: 10.1144/SP361.8.

Pilarczyk, J.E., Horton, B.P., Witter, R.C., Vane, C.H., Chagué-Goff, C. and Goff, J. (2012) Sedimentary and foraminiferal evidence of the 2011 Tôhoku-oki tsunami on the Sendai coastal plain, Japan. Sedimentary Geology, 282,78-89. DOI: 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2012.08.011.

Ramírez-Herrera, M.-T., Lagos, M., Hutchinson, I., Kostoglodov, V., Machain, M.L., Caballero, M., Gogichaisvili, A., Aguilar, B., Chagué-Goff, C., Goff, J., Ruiz-Fernández, A.-C., Ortiz, M., Nava, H., Bautista, F., Lopez, G.I. and Quintana, P. (2012) Extreme wave deposits on the Pacific coast of Mexico: tsunamis or storms? - A multi-proxy Approach. Geomorphology, 139-140, 360-371. DOI:10.1016/j.geomorph.2011.11.002.

Richmond, B., Szczuci?ski, W., Chagué-Goff, C., Goto, K., Sugawara, D., Witter, R., Tappin, D.R., Jaffe, B., Fujino, S., Nishimura, Y., and Goff, J. (2012) Erosion, deposition and landscape change on the Sendai coastal plain, Japan, resulting from the March 11, 2011 Tohoku-oki tsunami. Sedimentary Geology, 282, 27-39. DOI: 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2012.08.005.

Schallenberg, M., Goff, J. and Harper, M.A. (2012) Gradual, catastrophic and human induced environmental changes from a coastal lake, southern New Zealand. Sedimentary Geology, 273-274, 48-57. DOI: 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2012.06.010.

Tarbotton, C., Dominey-Howes, D., Goff, J.,Papathoma-Kohle, M., Dall’Osso, F. and Turner, I. (2012) GIS-based techniques for assessing the vulnerability of buildings to tsunami – current approaches and future steps. Geological Society Special Publication No 361, 115-125, DOI: 10.1144/SP361.10.

Terry, J.P. and Goff, J. (2012a) The special vulnerability of islands to natural hazards.Geological Society Special Publication No 361, 3-5, DOI: 10.1144/SP361.2.

Chagué-Goff, C., Schneider, J.-L., Goff, J.R., Dominey-Howes, D. and Strotz, L. (2011). Expanding the proxy toolkit to help identify past events - Lessons from the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and the 2009 South Pacific Tsunami. Earth-Science Reviews 107, 107-122.doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2011.03.007.

Dominey-Howes, D. and Goff, J. (2011a). Tsunami risk management in the context of the Pacific Islands. EAP DRM KnowledgeNotes. Disaster Risk Management in East Asia and the Pacific. World Bank and Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), Working Paper Series No. 25, 12 pp.

Etienne, S., Buckley, M., Paris, R., Nandasena, A.K., Clark, K., Strotz, L., Chagué-Goff, C., Goff, J. & Richmond, B. (2011). The use of boulders for characterising past tsunamis: Lessons from the 2004 Indian Ocean and 2009 South Pacific tsunamis. Earth-Science Reviews, 107, 76-90. 10.1016/j.earscirev.2010.12.006.

Goff, J. (2011). Evidence of a previously unrecorded local tsunami, 13 April 2010, Cook Islands: Implications for Pacific Island Countries. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 11, 1371-1379.

Goff, J., Chagué-Goff, C., Dominey-Howes, D., McAdoo, B., Cronin, S., Bonté-Grapetin, M., Nichol, S., Horrocks, M., Cisternas, M., Lamarche, G., Pelletier, B., Jaffe, B. and Dudley, W. (2011). Palaeotsunamis in the Pacific. Earth-Science Reviews, 107, 141-146. doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2010.10.005.

Goff, J. and Dominey-Howes, D. (2011). The 2009 South Pacific tsunami. Earth-Science Reviews, 107, v-vii. doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2011.03.006.

Goff, J., Lamarche, G., Pelletier, B. Chagué-Goff, C. and Strotz L. (2011). Palaeotsunami precursors to the 2009 South Pacific tsunami in the Wallis and Futuna archipelago. Earth-Science Reviews, 107, 91-106. doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2010.11.003.

Goto, K., Chagué-Goff, C., Goff, J., Jaffe, B., Szczucinski, W., Fujino, S., Sugawara, D., Nishimura, Y., Richmond, B., Witter, R., Tappin, D. and Yulianto, E. (2011). Preliminary results for the inundation heights, current velocities, and deposits of the 2011 Tohoku tsunami. Japan Geoscience Union Meeting 2011, 27 May 2011, Chiba, Japan. MIS036-P128.

Goto, K., Chagué-Goff, C., Fujino, S., Goff, J., Jaffe, B., Nishimura, Y., Richmond, B., Suguwara, D., Szczuci?ski, W., Tappin, D.R., Witter, R. and Yulianto, E. (2011) New insights into tsunami risk from the 2011 Tohoku-oki event. Marine Geology, 290, 46-50. doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2011.10.004.

Jaffe, B., Buckley, M., Richmond, B., Strotz, L., Etienne, S., Clark, K., Watt, S., Gelfenbaum, G. and Goff, J. (2011). Flow speed estimated by inverse modeling of sandy sediment deposited by the 29 September 2009 tsunami near Satitoa, east Upolu, Samoa. Earth-Science Reviews, 107, 23-37.

Moore, A., Goff, J., McAdoo, B., Fritz, H., Gusman, A., Kalligeris, N., Kalsum, K., Susanto, A., Suteja, D. and Synolakis, C. (2011) Sedimentary deposits from the 17 July 2006 Western Java tsunami, Indonesia – use of grain size analyses to assess tsunami flow depth, speed, and traction carpet characteristics. Pure and Applied Geophysics, 168, 1951-1961. DOI 10.1007/s00024-011-0280-8.

Richmond, B., Buckley, M., Etienne, S., Chagué-Goff, C., Clark, K., Goff, J., Doniney-Howes, D. and Strotz, L. (2011). Deposits, Flow Characteristics, and Landscape Change Resulting from the September 2009 South Pacific Tsunami in the Samoan Islands. Earth-Science Reviews, 107, 38-51.

Sugawara, D., Goto, K., Chagué-Goff, C., Fujino, S., Goff, J., Jaffe, B., Nishimura, Y., Richmond, B., Szczucinski, W., Tappin, D., Witter, R., and Yulianto, E. (2011). Initial field survey report of the 2011. (2011). East Japan Tsunami in Sendai, Natori and Iwanuma Cities, 2011/07/10. UNESCO-IOC International Tsunami Survey Team, 16 pp.

Terrell, J.E., Pope, K.O. and Goff, J. (2011) Chapter 3: Context and relevance. In: Terrell, J.E. and Schechter, E.M. (Eds). Archaeological Investigations on the Sepik Coast, Papua New Guinea. Fieldiana Anthropology, 42, 21-28. doi: 10.3158/0071-4739-42.1.21.

Williams, S., Goff, J., Chagué-Goff, C., Prasetya, G., Cheung, K.F., Davies, T. and Wilson, T. (2011a) Characterising diagnostic proxies for identifying palaeotsunamis in a tropical climatic regime, Samoan Islands. In: Proceedings of the MTS/IEEE Oceans 2011 Conference, Kona, Hawaii, 19-22 September 2011, 10 pp. ISBN CD-ROM: 978-0-933957-39-8.

Williams, S.P., Goff, J.R., Sale, F., Ah Kau, J., Prasetya, G., Davies, T., Cheung, K.F. and Wilson, T. (2011c) Sands of Time: Evidence for palaeotsunamis and/or palaeostorms in Samoa, and what this means for tsunami risk reduction. In: Malua, T.L. (ed), 2011. Proceedings of the Samoa National Environment Forum 2010. pp. 15-22.

Dominey-Howes, D. and Goff, J. (2010a) Tsunami: unexpected blow foils flawless warning system. Nature, 464, 350.

Goff, J. and Dominey-Howes, D. (2010b) Eltanin asteroid megatsunami deposits in Australia? Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 10, 713-715.

Goff, J., Dominey-Howes, D. Chagué-Goff, C. and Courtney, C. (2010) Analysis of the Mahuika comet impact tsunami hypothesis. Marine Geology, 271, 292-296. 10.1016/j.margeo.2010.02.020.

Goff, J., Nichol, S.L., Chagué-Goff, C., Horrocks, M., McFadgen, B., and Cisternas, M. (2010) Predecessor to New Zealand’s largest historic trans-South Pacific tsunami of 1868AD. Marine Geology, 275, 155-165. 10.1016/j.margeo.2010.05.006.

Goff, J., Nichol, S.L. and Kennedy, D. (2010) Development of a palaeotsunami database for New Zealand. Natural Hazards, 54, 193-208. doi: 10.1007/511069-009-9461-5.

Goff, J., Pearce, S., Nichol, S.L., Chagué-Goff, C., Horrocks, M. and Strotz, L. (2010) Multi-proxy records of regionally-sourced tsunamis, New Zealand. Geomorphology, 118, 369-382. doi: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2010.02.005.

Goff, J., Weiss, R., Courtney, C. and Dominey-Howes, D. (2010) Testing the hypothesis for tsunami boulder deposition from suspension. Marine Geology, 277, 73-77. doi: 10.1016/j.margeo.2010.08.003.

King, D. and Goff, J. (2010) Benefitting from differences in knowledge, practice and belief: M?ori oral traditions and natural hazards science. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 10, 1927-1940. doi: 10.5194/nhess-10-1-2010.

Lamarche, G., Pelletier, B. and Goff, J. (2010) The 29 September 2009 South Pacific Tsunami in Wallis and Futuna. Marine Geology, 271, 297-302. doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2010.02.012.

Nichol, S.L., Chagué-Goff, C. Goff, J., Horrocks, M., McFadgen, B.G. and Strotz, L. (2010) Geomorphology and accommodation space as limiting factors on tsunami deposition: Chatham Island, southwest Pacific Ocean. Sedimentary Geology, 229, 41-52. 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2010.06.001.

Weinstein, P., Goff, J. and Skelly, C. (2010). Do post-disaster public health interventions impede malaria eradication? Medical Hypotheses, 74, 403-405.

Dominey-Howes, D. and Goff, J. (2009a) “Hanging on the line” - on the need to assess the tsunami risk to Australia’s critical submarine telecommunications infrastructure at the Hawaiian bottleneck. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 9, 605-607.

Dudley, W., Goff, J., Chagué-Goff, C. and Johnston, J. (2009) Capturing the next generation of cultural memories - video interviewing of tsunami survivors. Science of Tsunami Hazards 28, 154-170.

Goff, J. and Chagué-Goff, C. (2009b) Cetaceans and tsunamis – whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth? Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 9, 855-857.

Goff, J. and Dominey-Howes, D. (2009) Australasian palaeotsunamis – Do Australia and New Zealand have a shared Trans-Tasman prehistory? Earth Science Reviews, 97, 159-166.

Goff, J., Lane, E.M. and Arnold, J. (2009) The tsunami geomorphology of coastal dunes. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 9, 847-854.

Goff, J. (2008a) The New Zealand Palaeotsunami Database. NIWA Technical Report 131, ISSN 1174-2631, 24pp + Appendix.

Goff, J. (2008c) The Effects of Rapid and Catastrophic Sedimentation in Tectonically Active Areas. Sediment Dynamics in Changing Environments. IAHS Publication, 325.

Goff, J., Charley, D., Haruel, C. and Bonte-Grapentin, M. (2008) Preliminary findings of the geological evidence and oral history of tsunamis in Vanuatu. SOPAC Technical Report No.416, 49 pp.

Goff, J., McFadgen, B.G., Wells, A., and Hicks, M. (2008) Seismic signals in coastal dune systems. Earth Science Reviews, 89, 73-77.

Morton, R.A., Goff, J. and Nichol, S. (2008) Hydrodynamic implications of textural trends in sand deposits of the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka. Sedimentary Geology, 207, 56-64.

Regnauld, H., Planchon, O. and Goff, J. (2008) Contrôle de l’évolution du littoral de l’Archipel des Malouines: rôle d’un tsunami (Controls on coastal geomorphology of the Falklands Archipelago:  importance of a tsunami on coastal evolution). Geomorphologie: Relief, Processus, Environnement, 1, 33-44.

Fritz, H.M., Kongko, W., Moore, A., McAdoo, B., Goff, J., Harbitz, C., Uslu, B., Kalligeris, N., Suteja, D., Kalsum, K., Titov, V., Gusman, A., Latief, H., Santoso, E., Sujoko, S., Djulkarnaen, D., Sunendar, H. and Synolakis, C.E. (2007) Extreme runup from the 17 July 2006 Java tsunami. Geophysical Research Letters, 34, L12602, doi:10.1029/2007GL029404.

Goff, J. (2007) Dune morphology as an indicator of palaeotsunamis. Coastal Sediments 2007, American Society of Civil Engineers, New Orleans, 1-14.

King, D., Goff, J. and Skipper, A. (2007) M?ori Environmental Knowledge and natural hazards in New Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 37, 59-73.

McFadgen, B.G. and Goff, J. (2007) Tsunamis in the archaeological record of New Zealand. Sedimentary Geology, 200, 263-274.

Morton, R.A., Goff, J. and Nichol, S. (2007) Impacts of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami on the southwest costs of Sri Lanka. Coastal Sediments 2007, American Society of Civil Engineers, New Orleans, 1-14.

Nichol, S.L., Goff, J., Devoy, R.J., Chagué-Goff, C., Hayward, B. and James, I. (2007) Lagoon subsidence and tsunami on the West Coast of New Zealand. Sedimentary Geology, 200, 248-262.

Nichol, S., Lian, O.B., Horrocks, M. and Goff J. (2007) Holocene Record of Gradual, Catastrophic, and Human-Influenced Sedimentation from a Backbarrier Wetland, Northern New Zealand. Journal of Coastal Research, 23, 605-617.

Regnauld, H. Goff, J., Nichol, H.L., Chagué-Goff, C. and Proust, J.-N. (2007) Littoraux et volcanisme en Nouvelle Zélande : du forçage direct au contrôle en relais. In:Paris, R. and Etienne, S. (eds.) Les Littoraux Volcaniques: Une Approche Environnementale. Coll. Volcaniques, PUBP, Clermont-Ferrand, 57-72.

Wells, A. and Goff, J. (2007) Coastal dunes in Westland, New Zealand, provide a record of paleoseismic activity on the Alpine fault. Geology, 35, 731-734.

 

 

Staff Profile

James Goff

Contact Details

Room:	637
Phone:	+61 2 9385 8431
Fax:	+61 2 9385 1558
Email:	j.goff@unsw.edu.au