People | George
Davis
Research Interests
My area of interest and expertise is field-oriented
structural geology, with particular emphasis on the study of faults,
folds, shear zones, and fracture systems within mountain belts and
plateau provinces. I
am also vitally interested in the formation of geologic structures
today in the context of active plate tectonics. Currently I am
particularly attracted to the earthquake geology and tectonics of the
Aegean region.
My main regions of inquiry have been the Colorado
Plateau and Basin and Range tectonic provinces of the American Southwest. Throughout
my career I have found it useful to work at the interface of structural
geology and regional tectonics, both in the formulation of problems,
and in creating the research strategies. This has been true of
the work that I have done on metamorphic core complexes and detachment
faults, as well as investigations on the Colorado Plateau. It
has been insightful to comparatively think hard about regions of ancient
structures and their modern counterparts in regions of contemporary
or active structures. Thus, to a modest extent, I have expanded
my research in the Colorado Plateau to include selective field work
in the Altaplano region of the Andes; and to a greater extent have
expanded my research on Basin and Range and metamorphic core complex
research to include investigations in the Aegean region.
In fact my current research is in the southern
Peloponnesus of Greece, where I am part of the Mt. Lykaion Excavation
and Survey team addressing the Sanctuary of Zeus in Arcadia, Greece. I am responsible
for analysis of the geological dimensions of the archaeology and history
of the Sanctuary of Zeus in the ancient Greek region of Arcadia, southern
Peloponnesus. Principal investigators are archaeologists Dr.
David Gilman Romano (Research Archaeologist, University of Pennsylvania)
and Dr. Mary E. Voyatzis (Department Head of Classics, University of
Arizona), working in cooperation with and permission of the 5th Ephorate
of Antiquities, Sparta, and the American School of Classical Studies,
Athens. A seven year project, my field work began July, 2004. My
main find of this summer was active faulting within the Sanctuary.
I find that research is inseparable from teaching. Part
of the extension of my teaching is the textbook Structural Geology of
Rocks and Regions, published by John Wiley and Sons. First
edition was 1984. Second edition, with Steve Reynolds, was 1996. Third
edition, in preparation, is with Steve Reynolds and Chuck Kluth. In
approaching the third edition, I am particularly intrigued with the
concept of evaluating active tectonic settings as ‘natural laboratories’ in
which geologic structures are forming ‘before our very eyes’ and
under conditions that are measurable. Historically active tectonic
settings have been examined for insight into plate tectonics, regional
tectonics, and hazards. Yet, there are abundant opportunities
for extracting nitty-gritty ‘structural geological’ insight
from actively deforming regions.
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