Research Questions?!?

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Geoscience is a field focused on large scale questions, the answers to which often arise from small scale observations. From mapping vast field areas to trying to understand the dynamics of plate tectonics, geoscientists the world over have often thought on a grand scale.
 

Small features, however, can often tell us many things about large geologic questions, especially when they are combined with careful field observations to put them in context. For example, microstructures may offer insights into how a rock or mineral was deformed, and mineral inclusions may leave clues as to an area’s uplift history.
 

My group and I are part of a small group of geologists that has extensive experience in nano-scale analyses, both with high resolution electron microprobe analysis (HR-EPMA) and with atom probe tomography (APT).      We have developed a number of analytical techniques that allow these tools to unlock new and exciting insights into ore geology and metamorphic processes.

me. 

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Our sciences lives at the crossroads of geochemistry, petrology, and structural geology. We use these different branches of geology to investigate fluid movement in the deep earth, thermal histories, chemical signatures of rock deformation, and rates of geologic processes. The main research tools are field mapping, petrography, and forms of in situ microanalysis, including electron microprobe, electron-backscatter diffraction, and secondary ion mass spectrometry. 

 

For details about specific research projects, please visit the specific sub-pages.