Warren C. Grice

 

Post-graduate Research

Noble Gas Thermochronology

U-Pb Geochronology

Department of Geological Sciences  

University of Florida

241 Williamson Hall P.O. Box 112120

Gainesville, FL 32611-2120

Email: wgrice[at]ufl[dot]edu

 

Kazakhstan, Sept. 2006.

Research interests:

 

Thermochronology, geochronology, and structure/tectonics

          My main research interests involve using a combination of field mapping, 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology, and U-Pb geochronology to understand the timing and mechanics of large-scale crustal extension.  My recent master's research used these tools to constrain the tectonic exhumation and cooling history of the Early-Middle Eocene Anaconda metamorphic core complex in western Montana, USA (click here to view my master’s thesis).   

 

High grade metamorphism, plutonism, and orogenesis

          I am also interested in understanding how the Earth's crust responses to orogenic processes (e.g., crustal thickening followed by orogenic collapse).  I am interested in the temporal and spatial relationships between mid-crustal high-grade metamorphism and plutonism in the core of the orogen during phases of crustal shortening and extension.  I use a combination of field mapping, metamorphic petrology, thermobarometry, 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology, and U-Pb geochronology to address these geologic problems.

 

Low-latitude, low-elevation glaciations

          More recently, I have been involved in research based in Kazakhstan and Mongolia which aims to test the hypothesis of low-latitude, low-elevation glaciations (i.e., a Snowball or Slushball Earth) during the Late Precambrian to Earliest Paleozoic.  We are using a combination of field work, paleomagnetic studies, 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology, and U-Pb geochronology to test such hypotheses.

 

Some suggested links:

 

·      Center of Isotope Geosciences, Department of Geological Sciences,  University of Florida at http://web.geology.ufl.edu/isotopehome.html

·      Dave Water’s practical aspects of mineral thermobarometry at http://www.earth.ox.ac.uk/~davewa/pt/pt01.html

·      My other interests (under construction, but look anyway!)

 

Last Modified on 03/21/07

Deformed Lower Belt Supergroup rocks, footwall of the Anaconda MCC, western, MT.

Thin section view (XP light) of a migmatitic grt-sill-cord bearing Lower Belt paragneiss, from the footwall of the Anaconda MCC,

western, MT.