My Ph.D. focuses on understanding how strike-slip faults modify and create topography in interaction with surface processes. I use a suite of techniques from geodesy, geomorphology, geochronology, and numerical simulations to address a range of timescales. My study area is in the hyper-arid core of the Atacama Desert but I also work with synthetic landscapes.

I’m part of two research groups: advised by Dr. Alison Duvall in the Geoscapes Lab and co-advised by Dr. Brendan Crowell in the Seismogeodesy Lab.

Salar Grande Fault, Northern Chile

  • Slow strike-slip faulting in a hyper-arid landscape: Assessing the geomorphic response to the Salar Grande Fault, Atacama Desert, Chile. Aránguiz-Rago, T. F., Duvall, A. R., Crowell, B. W., Henderson, S. T., & Schmidt, D. A. (2025). Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 130, e2024JF008018.

  • Holocene evidence of co-seismic deformation of the Salar Grande Fault using IRSL dating of alluvial deposits. Aránguiz-Rago, T., Duvall, A., Estay, J., Gray. H. (in prep).

Landscape Evolution Models for Strike-Slip Faults

  • Oscillatory fluvial activity in strike-slip fault landscapes: insights from numerical simulations. Aránguiz-Rago, T., Duvall, A., Tucker, G., Campforts, B. (in prep). For Geophysical Research Letters (GRL).

  • Sediment cover hinders ridge and valley migration in strike-slip fault models. Aránguiz-Rago, T., Duvall, A. (in prep).

Fault-driven exhumation in Chilean Coastal Cordillera

  • Exploring the Importance of Cenozoic Fault-driven Erosion in the Hyperarid Atacama using (U-Th)/He Cooling Histories from Coastal Cordillera Rocks. This project is in sample-prep and analysis stage. Aránguiz-Rago, T., Duvall, A.