Initial Publication Date: February 21, 2013

A Decade of Research Findings about Rupturing Continental Lithosphere

Rebecca J. Dorsey, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Oregon

Schedule

Date: Thursday, Feb 28

Time: This webinar will take place at 10:30 am PST | 11:30 am MST | 12:30 pm CST | 1:30 pm EST and will last for 90 minutes.

Format: Capacity is limited to 40 people, on a first come, first served basis. Registration has closed.

Platform:

We will use Adobe Connect for presentations, screen sharing, and instant chat.

Audio will be through a conference call line.

Web support will be through workspace web pages and a discussion board.

Topics

Role of magmatism in rifting: controls on rift architecture, crustal composition, strain localization, upper mantle structure and viscosity
Feedbacks between sedimentation, rift architecture, and melting: influence of sediments on thermal blanketing, melt flux, fault stresses, structural evolution
Distribution of strain through space and time: role of plate-motion obliquity, microplate coupling, strain partitioning, controls on strain localization
A new type of continent-ocean transition: recognizing the importance of heavily sedimented rifted margins

Presenter

Rebecca J. Dorsey, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Oregon

My research is focused on field studies of tectonically active sedimentary basins, with the goal of understanding the complex tectonic, sedimentary, and geomorphic evolution of active regions. Stratigraphy provides unique insights into past environments and tectonic events that often cannot be gained from other disciplines. Integrated basin analysis informs us about the dynamic interplay between ancient fault systems that create sedimentary basins, and the surface processes that fill them with sediment. Stratigraphy also provides a useful tool for analyzing the complex evolution of streams and geomorphology in active fault zones. I am working primarily in two areas: (1) Miocene to Pleistocene evolution of basins along the San Andreas plate boundary system in southern California and NW Mexico; and (2) Mesozoic stratigraphy and regional tectonics related to accretion and translation of oceanic terranes in central and eastern Oregon.