Earth Surface Processes & Tectonics Department of Geological Sciences University of North Carolina
Led by Jason Barnes
 
 
Tectonics, climate, and surface processes operate on (and within) the Earth’s lithosphere, interacting to produce landscapes. We try to constrain the evolution of landscapes through a variety of methods and across a range of scales. We address questions about the (a) mechanisms, processes and rates of topographic development, (b) history of mountain and plateau growth, (c) surface response to climatic and tectonic perturbations, (d) influence of erosion on deformation, and (e) the link between topographic growth and orographic climate patterns.
Changing landscapes
Project sound bites (see research page for details): Tectonic/climatic controls on river incision patterns, Bolivia Deformation/erosion interactions, Sikkim Himalaya, NE India Evolution of rainfall patterns in the CA Sierra Nevada, USA Active folding and erosion, frontal Himalaya, NW India Deformation, erosion, and foreland deposition, Pyrenees, Spain Detrital record of Messinian Salinity Crisis initiation, Morocco Exhumation & subduction dynamics, S. Antarctic Peninsula Pre-Puna plateau exhumation, Eastern Cordillera, NW Argentina Linked uplift, rainfall, and exhumation, central Andes, Bolivia Himalayan front sediment dynamics & foreland rivers, Indiahttp://www.unc.edu/~barnesjb/esp/RESEARCH.htmlshapeimage_10_link_0
ReCENT NEWS:
"We take a handful of sand from the endless landscape of awareness around us and call that handful of sand the world."-R.M. Pirsig
Caitlin defended her MS and moved to a PhD (at Idaho State), good luck in Alaska! Maggie, Jason, and Jim are headed to the Nevada Basin & Range in June Jason & Tamlin are headed to the Canadian Rockies in July MS student Kevin Quinlan (from William & Mary) is joining the team this summer
If you are interested in joining the team, see this: [ UNC_Geoscigrads_poster.pdf ] and email Jason!HOME_files/UNC_Geoscigrads_poster.pdfshapeimage_15_link_0