Mary Leech's Home Page

Research

Publications

HKT-25

Students

Facilities

Teaching

 [The Tibetan plateau and the high Himalaya]


NEWS

Science Partners in K-12 Education (SPIKE) program at SF State starting Fall 2009

Deb Shulman awarded a 2009-2010 ARCS scholarship!

Erika Amir, Willie Hassett, and Deb Shulman all awarded Geological Society of America Research Grants for 2009!

*** New EPSL paper about the role of the Karakoram fault in Miocene mid-crustal channel flow ***
*** New NSF Major Research Instrumentation grant to purchase a high-resolution scanning electron microscope ***
*** New NSF CAREER grant to fund research on the petrogenetic affinity of Miocene granites to test the mid-crustal channel flow model in the Himalaya ***

*** Graduate research opportunities ***

RESEARCH
My current research includes collisional processes of the Himalaya and gneiss domes of southern Tibet, coexisting pseudotachylite and eclogite-facies shear zones in northern Norway, the tectonic evolution of the ultrahigh-pressure Qinling-Dabie-Sulu orogen in eastern China, and the tectonometamorphic history of subduction complexes in the Ural Mountains of Russia. I am a field geologist with research interests in geochronology, igneous and metamorphic petrology, structural geology and tectonics, and geochemistry.

Curriculum vitae and Publications

25th HIMALAYA-KARAKORAM-TIBET & NSF GEO WORKSHOPS

Updated website for the 25th Himalaya-Karakoram-Tibet Workshop - San Francisco - June 8-10, 2010

E-mail hkt25sf "at" gmail.com for more information but please note that the website is updated as new information becomes available.

Download the first circular for HKT-25

Download the pre-registration form for HKT-25

NSF GEO workshop on "Future directions for NSF-sponsored geoscience research in the Himalaya/Tibet" - Tiburon - June 11-12, 2010

GRADUATE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
I have current (2009-2014) NSF-supported graduate research opportunities for field-based study of the petrogenetic affinity of Miocene granites to test the mid-crustal channel flow model in the Himalaya. Projects would also involve laboratory analyses including U-Pb SHRIMP geochronology, 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology, or MC-ICP-MS analysis of Pb and Nd isotopes. I am always looking for students interested in research involving hard-rock petrology, geo/thermochronology, geochemistry, and tectonics on topics related to large-scale orogenic processes. Please contact me for more information or see the Geosciences Department web site or the Graduate Studies web site for program details and admissions requirements. The deadline for admission for Fall semester is March 15. Women and people from diverse backgrounds are particularly encouraged to apply.

CURRENT STUDENTS






Erika Amir Erika Amir: Plio-Pleistocene exhumation rate of the Black Mountains footwall block, central Death Valley, using (U-Th)/He thermochronology (co-advisor John Caskey)
Steve Dutra Steve Dutra: Metamorphic processes in eclogite-facies shear zones, Flakstadøy, Norway
Willie Hassett Willie Hassett: U-Pb geochronology and geochemistry of leucogranites from the Indian Himalaya
Forrest Horton Forrest Horton
Pariskeh Hosaini Pariskeh Hosaini
Deb Shulman Deborah Shulman: EBSD and 40Ar/39Ar study of eclogite-facies shear zones and pseudotachylites, Lofoten Islands, Norway
John Sommerfeld John Sommerfeld

FORMER STUDENT(S)
  • Christina Polito (B.S. 2006) - Eclogitization of Proterozoic gabbros in the Lofoten Islands, Norway (Now at the Berkeley Geochronology Center)
  • Molly Cornell (B.S. 2009) - Characterization of anomalous graphite from the Maksyutov ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic complex, Russia

LABORATORY FACILITIES IN GEOSCIENCES
New in 2009! Field emission scanning electron microscope with BSE, EBSD, STEM, EDS and CL capabilities
X-ray diffractometer lab
Transmission electron microscopes (in the Cell and Molecular Imaging Center)
Sample preparation lab - Rock saws, thin sectioning equipment, jaw crusher, lap wheels, seives (currently being renovated)

COURSES TAUGHT
Currently offered:
Volcanology * (Fall semesters)
Mineralogy and Petrology I * (Spring semesters)
Science Partners in K-12 Education (Fall semesters)

Offered in the past:
Geochemistry *
Mineralogy and Petrology II *
Tectonic Geomorphology *
The Violent Earth
Earthquakes and the San Andreas fault *
Geology of the National Parks
California Rocks!
* External users can contact me via e-mail for access to course materials on iLearn

CLASSROOM EXERCISES
Geologic provinces of the U.S. (with David Howell at the U.S. Geological Survey)


** Updated 2 October 2009 **

Department of Geosciences
San Francisco State University


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