STRUCTURE LABORATORY

The Structure Lab is the Department of Geological Science's focal point for problems concerning the structural evolution of specific crustal features as well as research involving geologic processes of interest to structural geologists. Vicki Hansen and Doug Oliver are the principle investigators using the Laboratory, although the facility is available to other geoscientists. Areas currently under investigation inlcude the Yukon-Tanana terrance of east-central Alaska, the teslin suture zone of the Yukon Territory and the Proterozoic metamorphic complex of Arizona and Colorado. Processes related to ductile deformation and fabric development are of particular interest and include the use of quartz fabrics as a guide to cooling history, development of micro-kinematic indicators, and research into new applications of quartz c -axis and calcite e -twin fabrics.

Microscopy is an important tool in kinematic and petrofabric analysis. The Stucture Laboratory features and Olympus BHS, a wide-field Zeiss and two Leitz petrographic microscopes. Each of the Leitz microscopes are fitted with a Wetzlar Universal Stage and are used exclusively for quartz c -axis fabric analysis. Both of the Olympus BHS and the Zeiss microscopes are equipped with 35mm or Polaroid cameras. A Power Macintosh 7200/90 with 16 Mb RAM, an internal 512 Mb hard drive and CD-ROM drive, and Apple Scanner is housed in the Structure Lab. This computer is used extensively in reducing quartz c -axis data, stereographic analysis and generating figures for manuscripts. Finally, the Structure Lab has both drafting and light tables as well as ample space for spreading maps after (or before) a season in the field.