Here are examples of projects that are ongoing by my students and me, some are mostly finished, others are just getting started:
| A distinct and well known change in climate at the end of the Paleocene (the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum) provides an opportunity to study if and how fluvial systems responded to a relatively short lived climatic event. Sections studied so far include northern Wyoming, western Colorado, western Washington and Alberta. Status: basis for Ph.D. by Brady Foreman. |
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| I am beginning a project on quantifying geometries of preserved fluvial sand bodies with the goal of understanding the controls on river avulsion and how avulsion processes impact the stratigraphic architecture of fluvial deposits. Two types of 'end-member' avulsions have been proposed - aggradational and abrupt - each with a distinctive stratigraphic signature. This study focuses on the distribution of these avulsion styles among a variety of ancient alluvial successions. The Morrison Formation in east-central Utah is the main focus point of this study. Status: First paper is in prep. Student(s) needed to build on this work. |
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The mechanisms of formation and maintance of anastomosed river patterns is the subject of a proposal submitted with Neil Humphrey (Dept of Geology) and Scott Miller (Dept of Renewable Resources). The study will combine a theoretical study of channel migration, an experimental study of river avulsion and anastomosis, with a field study of a nearby anastomosed river. Approaches include: airborne LIDAR acquisition, channel flow monitoring, ground-penetrating radar mapping of past channel positions, as well as experimental channel formation in large flume facility. Status: basis of M.S. by Austin Andrus.
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Oblique airphoto of anastomosed river near Laramie, Wyoming. |
| Recently completed a flexural study of the Great Divide Basin in order to understand why such a large, closed basin is presently straddling the U.S. Continental Divide. Status: article in Geological Society of America Bulletin. |
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| The central Rocky Mountains contain a series of thin, but relatively widespread conglomerate units in Utah, Colorado and northern New Mexico all formed near the Cretaceous/Paleocene boundary. Several students and I are trying to understand the tectonic/climatic significance of these units, and whether they represent a distinctive recognizable stratigraphic style associated with orographically generated precipitation. Status: paper in prep, no students working on this problem at the moment. Recent M.S. thesis by Genevive Mathers. |
Dark Canyon Formation in the Book Cliffs of Utah. |
