Basin Evolution & Thermal History Analysis
Research focuses on sedimentary processes in modern and ancient basins in marine and lacustrine environments. We follow a multidisciplinary approach to understand the stratigraphic signatures of climatic and tectonic processes on crustal to lithospheric scales. Research involves a wide range of techniques that include geologic field mapping, 2D and 3D seismic imaging, facies and provenance studies, quantitative basin modeling, thermochronology, fluid inclusion microthermometry, and paleomagnetic techniques.
Faculty
 | High-resolution X-ray computed tomography, CT scanning, 3D image analysis, fission-track dating, thermochronology, thermal history inversion, structural geology, tectonics, digital morphology, trabecular bone
|
 | Sedimentary Geology, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Geomorphology, Rivers, Deltas, Coastlines, Submarine Channels, Geohazards, Sediment-Gravity Currents, Sediment Transport, Seismic Interpretation, Basin Analysis
|
Research Faculty
 | Stratigraphic evolution of a wide range of marine and lacustrine environments around the world
|
 | |
 | sedimentology, stratigraphy, marine geology
|
| Basin stratigraphic modeling; Landscape evolution modeling; Tectonic geomorphology;
|
| |
 | Fluids in diagenetic and hydrothermal systems, Fluid inclusions, Fractures, Structural diagenesis
|
 | Salt tectonics, 3-D computer modeling, kinematic models for evolution and growth of salt structures, structural geology, cross-section restoration and balancing, seismic interpretation
|
| Source Rock Characterization
Geochemistry (Organic, Biomarker, Gas Isotope)
Mudrock Characterization
Petrography, SEM
|
 | Research in carbonate, sandstone, and mudrock stratigraphy, sedimentology, diagenesis, reservoir characterization, and pore network analysis.
|
 | Sedimentology, geomorphology, and stratigraphy of clastic sedimentary systems. Rivers, deltas, coasts, and turbidite systems. Stratigraphic forward modeling. Seismic stratigraphy and interpretation of three-dimensional seismic data. Reproducible scientific computing in geology.
|
 | Fracture analysis and structural diagenesis
Brittle structural petrology
Fractured carbonate rocks
Tectonics and metamorphism of subduction zones
|
 | Van Avendonk is an active-source seismologist who specializes in the acquisition and inversion of seismic refraction data on land and at sea. Often these seismic refraction data are used for a tomographic inversion. The resultant seismic velocity models help us to interpret the composition of the Earth’s crust and ...
|
Research Scientists
 | Petrography and geochemistry of siliciclastic rocks; diagenesis; electron microbeam methods: X-ray mapping, cathodoluminescence imaging; micro-scale reservoir characterization
|
Research Staff
 | Natural fracture / vein systems in sedimentary and metamorphic rocks; structural geology; tectonics
|
 | Gulf of Mexico Basin global expert, Sequence Stratigraphy, Sedimentology, Reservoir Development and Connectivity, Petroleum Geoscience
|