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GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES AT BROWN UNIVERSITY Structural Geology Structural Geology at Brown involves experimental, theoretical and field work. Emphasis is on obtaining an understanding of deformational processes over a range of scales from the sub-microscopic to the global. The use of continuum mechanics figures strongly in the theoretical work. Students with a strong undergraduate background in geology, physics, or engineering are well suited for study in structural geology. Coursework is individually tailored to match the background and interests of incoming graduate students. Courses are usually selected from many available in the Department of Geological Sciences, the Division of Engineering and the Applied Math Department. An important difference between undergraduate and graduate education is that original research plays an important role in graduate school. Students get involved in an individual research program in their first year. The importance of research compared to courses increases every year, as formal course work is completed and students become more experienced and able to conduct their research projects independently. Students normally undertake more than one research project in order to gain a variety of experience and background that will help them obtain the type of employment they each desire. STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY GROUP The structure group has built one of the best-equipped rock deformation labs in the country. Constitutive laws for frictional sliding of important rock types as well as the processes responsible for observed behavior can be determined in experiments on faulting and friction mechanics performed in a rotary shear gas apparatus. Field studies of faults help guide the laboratory experiments and test their applicability to nature. Theoretical modeling currently underway for Parkfield and Loma Prieta sections of the San Andreas investigates the reasons for earthquake instabilities to determine ways to attempt earthquake prediction. Experimental studies to determine grain-scale deformation mechanisms, microstructures, and flow laws operative in crustal rocks are conducted in 3 piston-cylinder apparatus capable of applying a wide range of temperatures, pressures, and strain rates. Specific studies concern the nature of the brittle-ductile transition, formation of mylonites and ductile shear zones, and the role of fluids in deformation. Collaborative studies with Prof. Emeritus Yund (mineralogy) investigate the interaction of chemical and mechanical processes in deforming metamorphic rocks. Field and theoretical studies of the tectonic history of New England involve collaboration with Prof. L. Peter Gromet (geochemistry). |
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