Current Students

This project focuses on the thermal history of the Triassic basins in North Carolina with a focus on their relationship to the distribution and development of critical mineral resources. We will be using apatite and zircon thermochronology to constrain the timing and magnitude of burial, heating, and exhumation within and around these basins. Ultimately, these data will provide a better understanding of the critical mineral systems in NC and contribute to large-scale resource assessment models across the region.

Katie will work on an EDMAP grant to map the northern McLeansville Quadrangle in the central NC Piedmont in order to reevaluate the currently mapped contact between the Carolina terrane and Charlotte terrane. The project will document lithotectonic and structural trends. Project will involve structural geology, geochemistry, and geochronology.

My project revolves around building a concise thermal history of Alleghanian tectonism within the central Appalachian Basin using a multitude of modern techniques in thermochronology. The collection of this data will allow us to better understand the timing of both the burial and exhumation of Paleozoic strata in the fold-thrust belt of central West Virginia. Ultimately we will use our thermal data as a basis to construct a large-scale structural restoration of the Alleghanian fold-thrust belt and assess the maturity of hydrocarbon source rock in the central Appalchians.

My research interests span the relationship between geomorphology and tectonics. My master’s research involves using field observations, topographic analysis, and erosional modeling to investigate the history of the lower Colorado River’s drainage basin in southeastern Nevada and how the relict landscape may have responded to the development of the Colorado River.