Current Research
My Master's Thesis involves investigating the means by which fresh magma intrudes and travels through the Earth's crust. The movement of magma is a crucial component of the rock cycle as it is a means by which rocks are recycled, and it is also part of a driving mechanism for plate tectonics. This problem is known as the space problem because space has to be made in already existing rock for the magma to intrude. This problem has and continues to puzzle geologists ever since the 1700s.
As a case study, I am looking at a cooled body of magmatic rock, known as a pluton, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains called the Jackass Lakes Pluton. The pluton itself is located close to Yosemite National Park. What makes this pluton important is that it consists of several different magma bodies and inclusions of host crustal rock that are relatively well exposed and in close proximity to each other. In other words, there is a lot going on in such a relatively small area. Naturally, I am looking at all these cool geological exposures to help figure out how the magma got where it currently is located.
A folded leucogranite dike, this shows how much shortening occured in the pluton due to regional strain
This picture shows the process of stoping, whereby older host rock is heated up and broken up by younger hotter magma. This is one mechanism by which magma intrudes the crust.
Here is shown a contact between two plutons. The interactions between the two bodies is preserved in the solid rock.
A shear zone is formed when minerals are deformed when they are solid. This zone preserves kinematic information related to stress directed crust movement.