Peter DeCelles
Professor, Tectonics, Stratigraphy and Sedimentology
My research focuses on the origins of major mountain belts and associated sedimentary basins. I combine stratigraphy and sedimentology with field mapping and regional structural geology to understand the structure and kinematic history of major thrust belts in the Himalaya, Tibet, central Andes, western USA, and the central Mediterranean. I have also worked extensively on the sedimentology of foreland, extensional, strike-slip successor, and forearc basins. My students and I spend several months per year in the field, mapping, measuring sections, and collecting samples for various types of analyses. The collaborative nature of our Department allows us to work closely with other scientists in various fields, including radiogenic and stable isotope geochemistry, geochronology, seismology, petrology, thermochronology, and geodynamics. My current and recent PhD students are working on projects all over the world, including basin analysis, structural geology, stable isotope geochemistry, and geochronology.