Side Projects
Structural Analysis and Mechanical Stratigraphy
The fold-and-thrust belt in southwestern Montana displays different deformation styles in different rock units during upper crustal shortening. The great exposure of bedrock at a site in the Dillon area provides an opportunity to investigate how the structures accommodate different deformation styles in different rock units and different structural positions. To do this, I conduct detailed geological mapping and intense data collection and construct 3D structural models. The fieldwork was conducted while I was teaching the geology field camp in several field seasons.
With my dissertation advisor, Dr. Michael Murphy, using the data and images I collected, we developed a virtual mapping project (with structural data analysis) for online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic-affected summer field camp in 2020.
Some Mini Projects/Tests/Ideas
Application of remote sensing technique in geological mapping in south Tibet (a final project for a Remote Sensing course I took) project website
Investigation of the timing of shortening in the Lhasa terrane: testing crustal deformation models for the Tibetan orogen (GSA Graduate Student Research Grant): Some low-temperature thermochronologic ages were obtained to test the model proposed by my earlier work, Fan et al. (2017). Too busy with other projects to write this paper.
Did the Chirikof fault slip during an Mw 8.2 earthquake that occurred SW of it? I find that the InSAR data shows a slight discontinuity (only zero to several centimeters) in the displacement map of Chirikof Island along the fault.
