ABOUT ME

Tectonics, structure, and thermochronology

An ever-present feature of the Earth’s surface, orogenic systems or mountain belts provide a record of the dynamic processes which have shaped the planet over the last 4.5 billion years. Understanding orogenic systems provides insights into the feedbacks among the relative contributions of plate-tectonic, rheology, and climatic processes which have shaped the Earth through geological time. To address this relationship, I investigate how and, crucially, when major structures bring rocks to the surface and form mountain belts. Here I use thermochronology, which records the time at which a rock cools through a specific temperature window corresponding to a certain depth in the Earth’s crust. Rock cooling is facilitated by the removal of overlying material via structural or erosional processes.

Chango Real
Catamarca Province, Argentina, 2022

RESEARCH

Current Projects

  • The temporal and structural development of collisional and cordilleran tectonics in North America and Central Asia.
  • Improving our tectonic/ thermochronological toolbox by developing new methods, expanding traditional ones, and seeking novel applications
  • Do plate-tectonic interactions (rifting/collision) or changes to atmospheric circulation and the hydroclimate exert a first order control on the life-cycle of orogenic systems?
If any of these topics seem interesting or adjacent to your own research interests, please reach out. I will be joining the University of Oklahoma as an assistant professor in January 2023 and will be looking for students to explore these topics and many more!

Thermochronology
At the University of Arizona, I manage the Arizona Fission-Track Laboratory to produce apatite, zircon, titanite, and monazite fission-track, associated U-Pb geochronology, and trace and rare earth element geochemistry.

We are always looking for new projects and collaborations!