Teresa Jordan

Last updated
Teresa Eileen Jordan
BornApril 14, 1953 [1]
Alma materStanford University
Scientific career
InstitutionsCornell University
Thesis Evolution of the late Pennsylvanian - early Permian, western Oquirrh basin, Utah  (1979)

Teresa (Terry) Jordan is a sedimentary geologist known for her research on the geology and hydrology of the Atacama Desert and the use of water and geothermal heat from sedimentary rocks.

Contents

Education and career

Jordan has a B.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (1974) and earned a Ph.D. from Stanford University (1979). [3] Following her Ph.D. she moved to Cornell University initially in a research position, and then she joined the faculty in 1984 where she was named the J. Preston Levis Professor of Engineering in 2005. [4]

In 2014, Jordan was named a fellow of the American Geophysical Union, and the citation was "for integration of geodynamic principles and stratigraphic data that has led to understanding of the coupling of continental basins to mountain belts." [5]

Research

Jordan's research spans geology and engineering. In Chile, she works on the climate and hydrology of the Atacama Desert, [6] [7] with a particular focus on the impact of large rainfall events on the region. [8] She also examines the tectonic history of the Central Andes Plateau. [9] More locally, Cornell University is working to use geothermal heat as an energy source, and Jordan is co-investigator on the effort to drill a research borehole to inform the project about the region's geologic conditions. [10] [11]

Selected publications

Awards and honors

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sedimentary basin</span> Regions of long-term subsidence creating space for infilling by sediments

Sedimentary basins are region-scale depressions of the Earth's crust where subsidence has occurred and a thick sequence of sediments have accumulated to form a large three-dimensional body of sedimentary rock. They form when long-term subsidence creates a regional depression that provides accommodation space for accumulation of sediments. Over millions or tens or hundreds of millions of years the deposition of sediment, primarily gravity-driven transportation of water-borne eroded material, acts to fill the depression. As the sediments are buried, they are subject to increasing pressure and begin the processes of compaction and lithification that transform them into sedimentary rock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transverse Ranges</span> Group of mountain ranges of southern California

The Transverse Ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region in North America. The Transverse Ranges begin at the southern end of the California Coast Ranges and lie within Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside and Kern counties. The Peninsular Ranges lie to the south. The name Transverse Ranges is due to their east–west orientation, making them transverse to the general northwest–southeast orientation of most of California's coastal mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Los Angeles Basin</span> Sedimentary basin located along the coast of southern California

The Los Angeles Basin is a sedimentary basin located in Southern California, in a region known as the Peninsular Ranges. The basin is also connected to an anomalous group of east-west trending chains of mountains collectively known as the Transverse Ranges. The present basin is a coastal lowland area, whose floor is marked by elongate low ridges and groups of hills that is located on the edge of the Pacific Plate. The Los Angeles Basin, along with the Santa Barbara Channel, the Ventura Basin, the San Fernando Valley, and the San Gabriel Basin, lies within the greater Southern California region. The majority of the jurisdictional land area of the city of Los Angeles physically lies within this basin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antler orogeny</span> Tectonic event from the Late Devonian into the Mississippian and early Pennsylvanian

The Antler orogeny was a tectonic event that began in the early Late Devonian with widespread effects continuing into the Mississippian and early Pennsylvanian. Most of the evidence for this event is in Nevada but the limits of its reach are unknown. A great volume of conglomeratic deposits of mainly Mississippian age in Nevada and adjacent areas testifies to the existence of an important tectonic event, and implies nearby areas of uplift and erosion, but the nature and cause of that event are uncertain and in dispute. Although it is known as an orogeny, some of the classic features of orogeny as commonly defined such as metamorphism, and granitic intrusives have not been linked to it. In spite of this, the event is universally designated as an orogeny and that practice is continued here. This article outlines what is known and unknown about the Antler orogeny and describes three current theories regarding its nature and origin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tempestite</span>

Tempestites are storm deposits that can be recognized throughout the geologic record. They are studied in the scientific disciplines of sedimentary geology and paleotempestology. The deposits derive their meaning from the word tempest, a violent storm. Tempestites are preserved within a multitude of sedimentary environments including delta systems, estuarian systems, coastal environments, deep sea environments, and fresh water lacustrine environments. Tempesites most often form in wave-dominated delta systems and preserve, within the sedimentary record, evidence of events and processes below fair weather wave base and above storm weather wave base. They are commonly characterized by hummocky cross-stratified beds that have an erosive base, and can form under combined flow regimes. This erosive base is often seen in the form of gutter casts.

Burrell Clark Burchfiel is an American structural geologist. Born in Stockton, California, he earned his Ph.D. in 1961 at Yale University. His first academic appointment was to the Geology department at Rice University. He is the Schlumberger Professor Emeritus of Geology at MIT. Research interests: Origin, development, and structural evolution of the continental crust. His current work involves study of the geological history and evolution of the Tibetan plateau.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andean orogeny</span> Ongoing mountain-forming process in South America

The Andean orogeny is an ongoing process of orogeny that began in the Early Jurassic and is responsible for the rise of the Andes mountains. The orogeny is driven by a reactivation of a long-lived subduction system along the western margin of South America. On a continental scale the Cretaceous and Oligocene were periods of re-arrangements in the orogeny. The details of the orogeny vary depending on the segment and the geological period considered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Rock Desert volcanic field</span> Cluster of volcanic features in Millard County, Utah

The Black Rock Desert volcanic field in Millard County, Utah, is a cluster of several volcanic features of the Great Basin including Pahvant Butte, The Cinders, and Tabernacle Hill. The field's Ice Springs event was an explosive eruption followed by lava flows that were Utah's most recent volcanic activity. which overlapped the older flows of Pavant Butte.

Sharon Mosher is an American geologist. She did her undergraduate work at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. After earning an MSc from Brown University, she returned to the University of Illinois to get her PhD in Geology in 1978. Since 2001 she has held the William Stamps Farish Chair at University of Texas, and, since 2009 she has served as the dean of the Jackson School of Geosciences at Texas. In 2013 she became the president of the American Geosciences Institute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lawrence Alexander Hardie</span> American geologist (1933–2013)

Lawrence Alexander Hardie was an American geologist, sedimentologist, and geochemist.

The Shady Dolomite is a geologic formation composed of marine sedimentary rocks of early Cambrian age. It outcrops along the eastern margin of the Blue Ridge province in the southeastern United States and can be found in outcrops in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia. It can also be found in the subsurface of Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia. The Shady is predominantly composed of dolomite and limestone with lesser amounts of mudrock. It contains fossils of trilobites, archaeocyathids, algae, brachiopods, and echinoderms, along with the enigmatic fossil Salterella. The Shady Dolomite was first described by Arthur Keith in 1903 and was named for exposures in the Shady Valley of Johnson County in the state of Tennessee. Near Austinville, Virginia, the Shady hosts ore deposits that have been mined extensively for lead and zinc ore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Altiplano Basin</span> Sedimentary basin within the Andes in Bolivia and Peru

The Altiplano Basin is a sedimentary basin within the Andes in Bolivia and Peru. The basin is located on the Altiplano plateau between the Cordillera Occidental and the Cordillera Oriental. Over-all the basin has evolved through time in a context of horizontal shortening of Earth's crust. The great thickness of the sediments accumulated in the basin is mostly the result of the erosion of Cordillera Oriental.

Laguna Colorada is an ignimbrite shield of the Altiplano-Puna volcanic complex at an altitude of 5,000 metres (16,000 ft) in the Potosi Department of Bolivia.

Laurence L. Sloss was an American geologist. He taught geology at Northwestern University from 1947 until his retirement in 1981.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Junggar Basin</span> Sedimentary basin in Xinjiang, China

The Junggar Basin, also known as the Dzungarian Basin or Zungarian Basin, is one of the largest sedimentary basins in Northwest China. It is located in Dzungaria in northern Xinjiang, and enclosed by the Tarbagatai Mountains of Kazakhstan in the northwest, the Altai Mountains of Mongolia in the northeast, and the Heavenly Mountains in the south. The geology of Junggar Basin mainly consists of sedimentary rocks underlain by igneous and metamorphic basement rocks. The basement of the basin was largely formed during the development of the Pangea supercontinent during complex tectonic events from Precambrian to late Paleozoic time. The basin developed as a series of foreland basins – in other words, basins developing immediately in front of growing mountain ranges – from Permian time to the Quaternary period. The basin's preserved sedimentary records show that the climate during the Mesozoic era was marked by a transition from humid to arid conditions as monsoonal climatic effects waned. The Junggar basin is rich in geological resources due to effects of volcanism and sedimentary deposition. According to Guinness World Records it is a land location remotest from open sea with great-circle distance of 2,648 km from the nearest open sea at 46°16′8″N86°40′2″E.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Montana Alkalic Province</span> Geologic area in Montana

The central Montana Alkalic Province is located in the United States in central Montana. Montana is bordered by Idaho, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Canada to the north. Central Montana is unique when compared to the rest of the Rocky Mountains due to its east-west trend of tectonic features, including thrust fault zones, anticlines, and domes. The area of tectonic activity experienced conditions of plastic deformation, which affected the whole region. The Montana Alkalic Province consist of Cretaceous intrusions of monzonite and syenite as well as Cambrian limestone, sandstone, and siltstone. Most of the sedimentary rocks are a result of deposition from a terrestrial fluvial environment. Deposition included more than 13,000 feet of clastics that were later uplifted. The peak of this uplifting occurred during the Devonian. Deposition, uplift, and traps of carbonate shales have made central Montana prime for small-scale oil and gas production. Other geologic formations in this area include Judith Mountains, Crazy Mountains, Highwood Mountains, and Bears Paw Mountains. These areas include various igneous formations including xenoliths, laccoliths, and veins. Each mountain exhibits similar but unique geologic features.

The Catharpin Creek Formation is a Late Triassic geologic formation in Maryland and Virginia. It is found along the western edge of the Culpeper Basin, one of the largest sedimentary basins in the Newark Supergroup. Compared to the underlying Bull Run Formation, the Catharpin Creek Formation is dominated by much coarser sedimentary rocks such as sandstone and conglomerate. The base of the formation is reddish arkosic sandstone, which grades into drabber thin-bedded siltstone and shale in cyclical sequences.

Cynthia Ebinger is an American geoscientist at Tulane University known for her research on continental rifts and the movement of continental plate boundaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Espanola basin</span> Structural basin in northern New Mexico, US

The Espanola basin is a structural basin in northern New Mexico. It is located in the Rio Grande watershed and is part of the Rio Grande rift. The definition of its boundaries is not fully settled, but the basin is usually defined such that it includes the cities of Santa Fe, Los Alamos, and Espanola.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Allmendinger</span> American geologist

Richard Waldron Allmendinger is a structural geologist and Professor Emeritus of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell University.

References

  1. Gates, Alexander E. (2003). A to Z of earth scientists. New York: Facts on File. pp. 132–134. ISBN   978-1-4381-0919-0. OCLC   234234247.
  2. Gates, Alexander E. (2003). A to Z of earth scientists. New York: Facts on File. pp. 132–134. ISBN   978-1-4381-0919-0. OCLC   234234247.
  3. Jordan, Teresa Eileen (1979). Evolution of the late Pennsylvanian - early Permian, western Oquirrh basin, Utah (Thesis).
  4. "Teresa Eileen Jordan | Cornell Engineering". www.engineering.cornell.edu. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  5. "Jordan". Honors Program. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  6. "Architecture of aquifers: Chile's Atacama Desert". ScienceDaily. August 20, 2015. Retrieved 2021-08-01.
  7. Jordan, Teresa; Lameli, Christian Herrera; Kirk-Lawlor, Naomi; Godfrey, Linda (2015-10-01). "Architecture of the aquifers of the Calama Basin, Loa catchment basin, northern Chile". Geosphere. 11 (5): 1438–1474. Bibcode:2015Geosp..11.1438J. doi: 10.1130/GES01176.1 . ISSN   1553-040X.
  8. Jordan, Teresa E.; Lohman, Rowena B.; Tapia, Lorenzo; Pfeiffer, Marco; Scott, Chelsea P.; Amundson, Ronald; Godfrey, Linda; Riquelme, Rodrigo (February 2020). "Surface materials and landforms as controls on InSAR permanent and transient responses to precipitation events in a hyperarid desert, Chile". Remote Sensing of Environment. 237: 111544. Bibcode:2020RSEnv.23711544J. doi:10.1016/j.rse.2019.111544. S2CID   214173663.
  9. Cosentino, Nicolás J.; Jordan, Teresa E. (2017). "87 Sr/ 86 Sr of calcium sulfate in ancient soils of hyperarid settings as a paleoaltitude proxy: Pliocene to Quaternary constraints for northern Chile (19.5–21.7°S)". Tectonics. 36 (1): 137–162. Bibcode:2017Tecto..36..137C. doi: 10.1002/2016TC004185 . ISSN   0278-7407.
  10. Jordan, Teresa; Fulton, Patrick; Tester, Jefferson; Asanuma, Hiroshi; Bruhn, David (September 10, 2020). "Exploring by Boring: Geothermal Wells as Research Tools". Eos. 101. doi: 10.1029/2020eo148771 . S2CID   225200034 . Retrieved 2021-08-01.
  11. "$7.2M grant funds exploratory research into Earth Source Heat". Cornell Chronicle. August 6, 2020. Retrieved 2021-08-01.
  12. "GSA Fellowship". www.geosociety.org. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  13. "Laurence L. Sloss Award - Sedimentary Geology Division". community.geosociety.org. Retrieved 2021-08-01.
  14. "Jordan". Honors Program. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  15. "2021 SEPM Science Awards Winners". www.sepm.org. Retrieved 2021-07-30.