Graduate Studies in Metamorphic Geology & Tectonics at the University of Minnesota

Current graduate students - Fall 2008

Eric T. Goergen (Ph.D. candidate) - petrologic and microstructural study of metamorphic reaction textures (symplectites and coronas); tectonic significance of reaction textures; interaction of metamorphism and deformation: role of deformation in polymorphic transformations (Al2SiO5); applications of EBSD to metamorphic textures.

Stacia M. Gordon (Ph.D. candidate) - partial melting and continental tectonics; development of migmatite domes and core complexes (Valhalla Complex, BC; North Cascades, Washington); dating high-T petrologic and tectonic events, including duration and rates of crustal melting and extension.

Raphael Gottardi (Ph.D. student) - arrived Fall 2008

Seth C. Kruckenberg (Ph.D. candidate) - partial melting and continental tectonics; interaction of partially molten crust and detachment systems; 3D dynamics of doming (Naxos, Greece); dating high-T petrologic and tectonic events, including durations and rates of crustal melting and extension (Okanogan dome, Washington).

Rory McFadden (Ph.D. candidate) - melt networks in migmatite domes and core complexes; interaction of small- and large-scale structures in melt transport processes and textures; timing of melt crystallization in relation to deformation (Fosdick Mountains, Antarctica; Pioneer Range, Idaho).

Val Morgan (M.S. student) - metamorphic and structural geology of the Karkin Meta-Ophiolite, Turkey (advisor: Annia Fayon)

Erkan Toraman (Ph.D. student) - interaction of fluids and deformation during exhumation of metamorphic rocks

students who graduated in Spring 2008: Peter Davis (Ph.D), Michelle Sutherland (M.S.)

General Information

Grad students in the metamorphic geology and tectonics group work on projects that include various components of petrology, geochemistry, materials science and/or structural geology, and that involve many different methods (field, analytical, experimental, modeling). Some students work on projects that are part of a general theme (e.g., crustal flow, metamorphic textures) or on projects that are more unique. Many students are co-advised -- most with Christian Teyssier, but some with faculty in geophysics or materials science.

Tectonics Research Group 2007-08

The tectonics research group, sensu lato, at the September 2007 Chocolate Fondue. Back, left to right: Peter Hudleston, Seth Kruckenberg, Eric Goergen; Middle, left to right: Nick Olds, Eileen Weigel, Stacia Gordon, Aude Gebelin, Donna Whitney, Val Morgan, Annia Fayon, Sylvie Demouchy, Christian Teyssier, Denis Cohen; Front, left to right: Elisa Fitz Diaz, Karen Kleinspehn, Rory McFadden, Erkan Toraman; Person in Rory's lap: Peter Davis. Not pictured: Michelle Sutherland.

Historical Photographs of Ancient Research Groups

ABOVE: Spring 2006, Structure, Tectonics, and Metamorphic Petrology (STAMP) group outside Pillsbury Hall. Left to right (back): Eric Goergen, Seth Kruckenberg, Graham Baird, Rory McFadden, Karen Kleinspehn, Jessica Till. (front) Donna Whitney, Christian Teyssier, Peter Davis, Fawna Korhonen, Stacia Gordon. Missing: Annia Fayon, Peter Hudleston.   LEFT: Summer 2005, STAMP group, outside Pillsbury Hall. Left to right: Peter Davis, Stacia Gordon, Christian Teyssier, Annia Fayon, Donna Whitney, Leonardo Cruz, Graham Baird, Rory McFadden. On the rock (Ely greenstone): Seth Kruckenberg, Eric Goergen, Lindsay Iredale.