My main expertise and research centers on quantifying the temporal aspects and interplay between hinterland deformation and basin evolution. For the past years (both my M.S. and Ph.D. thesis research), my studies have focus on the intricate dynamic processes linking basin evolution and large-scale tectonics combining conventional field techniques and extensive laboratory work. My M.S. research at the University of Kansas investigated the timing and linkages of normal faulting and its influence on Early Miocene sedimentation in the Gulf of Suez rift-basin. Additionally, we employed detrital zircon (U-Th)/He analysis on the entire pre- and syn-rift Paleozoic to Cenozoic sedimentary package in the Gulf of Suez to track detrital provenance and its tectonic controls. Currently, as a PH.D student, I am working on the temporal aspects of thrust-belt and foreland basin interaction using U-Pb-He double dating on zircon grains derived from the Sevier hinterland and proximal parts of the foreland basin in Utah.
B.S. Universidad de Puerto Rico en Mayaguez
M.S. University of Kansas at Lawrence
Ph.D. candidate University of Texas at Austin
Senior Thesis and Master Thesis:
1. Geologic relations along the Rio Portugues near the Tibes stock contact aureole. [Senior Thesis] University of Puerto Rico. Mayaguez.
2. Petrographic constraints on contact metamorphism associated with the Tibes stock: First reported endoskarn in Puerto Rico. [Senior Thesis] University of Puerto Rico. Mayaguez
3. Geologic Map and tectonic history of northwest Rincon. Summer 2007, research.
4. Temporal and thermal evolution of extensional faulting in the central Gulf of Suez and detrital zircon (U-Th)/He constraints on the thermo-tectonic Paleozoic and Mesozoic history of the Sinai, Egypt [Master Thesis]
Información de proyecto:
(U-Th)/He and U-Pb double dating constraints on the interplay between thrust deformation and basin development, Sevier foreland basin, Utah
In thrust belts and foreland basins the intricate temporal progression of deformation, exhumation, clastic progradation and basin architecture as a cohesive system remains elusive.
This is due to the lack of analytical data that directly link the hinterland chronological progression and the resulting denudation to stratal packages in the foreland basin. This linkage becomes crucial when trying to distinguish the leading forcing factors, such as sediment transport and input, climate, eustasy, and flexural subsidence, controlling strata geometry and its evolution. This study aims to develop an unprecedented systematic U-Pb and (U-Th)/He detrital zircon double dating provenance record in the classic Sevier thrust belt and foreland basin. The produced data will be used to spatially and temporally frame the Sevier foreland sedimentary successions in a detailed stratigraphic context as a function of thrust progression and hinterland exhumation. The ultimate goal is to provide a better process-oriented understanding of syn-tectonic basin architecture, detrital provenance, and the temporal aspects of exhumation, erosion and subsequent deposition.