U-Pb geochronology
Uranium-lead geochronology is one of the most widely used and robust tools currently available for dating minerals such as zircons, apatites and mozanites. U-Pb analysis are used for determining crystallization ages, multiple crystallization evets (zoning), provenance age distributions, maximum depositional ages of sedimentary rocks, among other uses. The accuracy and precision of this technique makes it ideal for addressing a variety of geologic questions. I usually incorporate this technique for placing time constraints in basement rocks and sedimentary deposits as well as for source to sink studies.
(U-Th)/He and fission track thermochronology
Low temperature thermochronology in apatites constrains cooling between ca. 120-60 °C. Cooling can reflect changes in the geothermal gradient, the presence of hydrothermal fluids and exhumation due to erosion in the upper 4-5 km of the Earth surface. These techniques are usually combined with thermal modeling for determining cooling histories (time-temperature paths) of samples and evaluating possible drivers for heating and cooling in time, thus, they can used to quantify thermal a variety of interesting processes in the upper crust. I have used these techniques to constrain cooling in the source of sedimentary basins (provenance signatures), heating due to burial and later cooling due to the exhumation of basin deposits and cooling driven by exhumation and erosion in the hanging-wall of structures in thrust belts. I am interested in continuing to use thermochronologic techniques to study fault zones and quantify both long- and short- term heating/colling processes in the upper crust. Photo source: https://www.geo.arizona.edu/~thomson/FTLab.html
Structural modelling and balancing cross-sections
I use the software MOVE from Midland Valley to construct structural cross-sections and restore deformation to test geometrical solutions and kinematic models that integrate the data available in regions. Other data—such as kinematic indicators, deformation mechanisms, stratigraphy, provenance, subsidence, and cooling ages—can be integrated during the process of building cross-sections. Structural models that integrate these data allow identifation of plausible solutions for the structural architecture in the subsurface and interrogate questions about shortening/extension, thickening/thinning, deformation rates, possible connections between dynamic processes in active regions, etc.
