Thesis (M.Sc.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2004. / Bibliography: leaves 244-253. Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alberta, 2010. / Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on June 28, 2010). A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Geophysics, Department of Physics, University of Alberta. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S. in Geology)--Vanderbilt University, Aug. 2006. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--Freie Universität Berlin, 2005. / "April 2006"--P. [2] of cover. Vita. DVD in pocket contains supplementary data. Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-127). Text is also available via the World Wide Web.

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Archean greenstone belts typically form narrow sheared basins separating bulbous tonalo-trondjhemo-granodioritic (TTG) batholiths. The role played by gravity in the development of such dome-and-keel structures is a key question in Archean tectonics. The Pukaskwa batholith - Hemlo shear zone (HSZ) is a representative example of the dome-and-keel structures that are common in Archean terrains. This region has received considerable attention because the HSZ hosts several major gold deposits that are currently being mined. Late dextral strike-slip kinematics of the HSZ are well recorded by abundant strain markers in greenstone rocks, whereas the quartzofeldspathic coarse-grained rocks of the Pukaskwa batholith bear no macroscopically visible fabric. The goal of this study is to understand the structural history of this greenstone belt-batholith system. The Pukaskwa batholith is a heterogeneous assemblage of TTG gneisses bounded by the Hemlo greenstone belt to the north. The density of the Pukaskwa batholith rocks (density = 2700 kg/m3) is on average less than that of the Hemlo greenstone rocks (density = 3000 kg/m3). Since Archean geotherms were considered higher than modern equivalents, the effective viscosity of the TTG rocks might have been sufficiently low to allow their diapiric ascent through denser greenstone rocks. Alternatively, the emplacement of the TTG batholith might have been driven primarily by transpressive tectonics. The anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) provides valuable information on the internal fabric of the Pukaskwa batholith. This study provides the kinematic information needed to support either the diapiric or the transpressive tectonic model. AMS recorded east-west trending prolate and plano-linear fabrics across the northern section along the contact, suggesting that transpressional forces from the Hemlo shear zone affected the emplacement of the Pukaskwa batholith. Away from the contact, fabrics are generally flattened, indicative of doming through diapiric processes. Also, in order to fully evaluate the diapiric hypothesis, it is necessary to obtain reliable data on rock densities across the Pukaskwa batholith. The density of about 360 representative specimens from the Pukaskwa batholith has been measured and will constitute a valuable database for future gravimetric investigations by mining companies. The significant degree of correlation between high-field magnetic susceptibility and density in the Pukaskwa batholith should be taken into account in geophysical exploration in Archean terrains, only as a proxy for iron content.

abstract: Understanding the evolution of the Himalayan-Tibetan orogen is important because of its purported effects on global geodynamics, geochemistry and climate. It is surprising that the timing of initiation of this canonical collisional orogen is poorly constrained, with estimates ranging from Late Cretaceous to Early Oligocene. This study focuses on the Ladakh region in the northwestern Indian Himalaya, where early workers suggested that sedimentary deposits of the Indus Basin molasse sequence, located in the suture zone, preserve a record of the early evolution of orogenesis, including initial collision between India and Eurasia. Recent studies have challenged this interpretation, but resolution of the issue has been hampered by poor accessibility, paucity of robust depositional age constraints, and disputed provenance of many units in the succession. To achieve a better understanding of the stratigraphy of the Indus Basin, multispectral remote sensing image analysis resulted in a new geologic map that is consistent with field observations and previously published datasets, but suggests a substantial revision and simplification of the commonly assumed stratigraphic architecture of the basin. This stratigraphic framework guided a series of new provenance studies, wherein detrital U-Pb geochronology, 40Ar/39Ar and (U-Th)/He thermochronology, and trace-element geochemistry not only discount the hypothesis that collision began in the Early Oligocene, but also demonstrate that both Indian and Eurasian detritus arrived in the basin prior to deposition of the last marine limestone, constraining the age of collision to older than Early Eocene. Detrital (U-Th)/He thermochronology further elucidates the thermal history of the basin. Thus, we constrain backthrusting, thought to be an important mechanism by which Miocene convergence was accommodated, to between 11-7 Ma. Finally, an unprecedented conventional (U-Th)/He thermochronologic dataset was generated from a modern river sand to assess steady state assumptions of the source region. Using these data, the question of the minimum number of dates required for robust interpretation was critically evaluated. The application of a newly developed (U-Th)/He UV-laser-microprobe thermochronologic technique confirmed the results of the conventional dataset. This technique improves the practical utility of detrital mineral (U-Th)/He thermochronology, and will facilitate future studies of this type. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Geological Sciences 2011

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Convection in the Earth's mantle is a complicated phenomenon that causes various tectonic activities and affects mantle evolution on geologic time scales (billions of years). It is a subject as yet not fully understood. The early success of the high Rayleigh number constant viscosity theory was later tempered by the absence of plate motion when the viscosity is more realistically strongly temperature dependent. A similar problem arises if the equally strong pressure dependence of viscosity is considered, since the classical isothermal core convection theory would then imply a strongly variable mantle viscosity, which is inconsistent with results from postglacial rebound studies. We consider a mathematical model for Rayleigh-Bénard convection in a basally heated layer of a fluid whose viscosity depends strongly on both temperature and pressure, defined in an Arrhenius form. The model is solved numerically for extremely large viscosity variations across a unit aspect ratio cell, and steady solutions are obtained. To improve the efficiency of numerical computation, we introduce a modified viscosity law with a low temperature cut-off. We demonstrate that this simplification results in markedly improved numerical convergence without compromising accuracy. Continued numerical experiments suggest that narrow cells are preferred at extreme viscosity contrasts. We are then able to determine the asymptotic structure of the solution, and it agrees well with the numerical results. Beneath a stagnant lid, there is a vigorous convection in the upper part of the cell, and a more sluggish, higher viscosity flow in the lower part of the cell. We then offer some comments on the meaning and interpretation of these results for planetary mantle convection.

Critical inputs to evaluate fault behavior models include the frequency of large earthquakes on plate boundary faults, amount of displacement, style of deformation in these events, and how these earthquakes are associated with adjacent sites and broader segments. Paleoseismic data provide these inputs and allow the characterization of hazard posed by individual faults. This dissertation presents results from paleoseismic studies at Hazel Dell and Frazier Mountain that provide new earthquake chronologies and slip estimates for the San Andreas Fault (SAF). These data provide new insights into the recurrence and style of coseismic deformation for surface rupturing earthquakes on the SAF. The Hazel Dell site provides the first definitive paleoseismic evidence of two pre-1906, 19th century earthquakes on the Santa Cruz Mountains section of the SAF. I correlate these paleoseismic findings with the historic record of ground shaking associated with earthquakes in that period and combine the style of deformation in the last 3 events at the site with results from nearby paleoseismic sites to estimate earthquake rupture lengths and magnitudes for these early historic events. These findings increase the frequency of historic surface rupturing earthquakes on the northern SAF three-fold. At the Frazier Mountain site, on the southern SAF, I mapped deformation across a releasing step on the fault for the last five surface rupturing earthquakes to estimate deformation per-event. I compare the geometry and amount of vertical relief generated across the step-over by retrodeforming 3D surfaces interpolated from paleoseismic data step-wise for stratigraphic units deformed by each of those earthquakes. I find that structural relief is similar in four of the last five events, so slip on the fault must be within the same range for these earthquakes to generate approximately equivalent structural relief across the step-over. These results suggest displacement on the fault is comparable at the Frazier Mountain site for the last 4 events, including deformation resulting from 4-5 m lateral displacements in the historic M 7.9 1857 earthquake. This dissertation includes previously published and unpublished coauthored material. Supplemental file Plate A includes additional trench logs for the Hazel Dell site, presented in Chapters II and III.