Geology and Geological Engineering

Structure and Tectonics

Structural Geology

  • Structural evolution of the Black Hills Precambrian
  • Investigation of structural controls on gold mineralization (Nevada and Black Hills region of South Dakota)
  • Regional structure of the Niobrara Formation South Dakota, Wyoming, and Nebraska
  • Structural geology of the Slim Butte area, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota
  • Structural evolution of metamorphic core complexes and detachment faults (Western Turkey and Basin and Range - USA)

Seismology

  • Subduction zones dynamics
  • Cordilleran tectonics and cyclicity in orogenic systems
  • Characterizing the nature and evolution of crustal magma reservoirs
  • Advancing joint seismic imaging methods
  • Imaging the magmatic plumbing beneath active volcanoes

Tectonics

  • Laramide tectonics
  • Geotectonic evolution of supradetachment basins (Western Turkey and Basin and Range - USA)
  • Kinematics of extensional and extension-parallel faulting
  • Computational thermodynamic/phase equilibria modeling research in convergent plate margins
  • Role of volatiles (Cl, F, S, H2O) in silicate melts during crustal formation and differentiation (fractionation, degassing, high-T metamorphism, and fluid/rock interaction)

Faculty

  • Zeynep Baran
    Basin analysis, Structural geology and tectonics, Extensional deformation     
  • Kevin Ward
    Seismic imaging, Geophysical inverse problems, Broadband and nodal geophone deployments


Research Focus Areas

Energy Resources

Energy and Mineral Resources

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Geomechanics

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Geophysics

Groundwater and Environment

Groundwater and Environment

Paleontology

Paleontology

Petrology and Mineral Resources

Petrology and Mineralogy

Structure, Tectonics and Geodynamics

Structure and Tectonics