Jeffrey S. Marshall
Ph.D. Dissertation
Marshall, J.S., 2000, Active tectonics and
Quaternary landscape evolution across the western Panama block, Costa Rica,
Central America, Pennsylvania State University, 304 p. Abstract Contents Figures Photos Full Text Publications Advisors: Dr. Thomas
W. Gardner and Dr.
Donald M. Fisher Overview: I earned my Ph.D. in 2000 from the Geosciences Department at Penn State University.
My dissertation is an integrated investigation of late Cenozoic geology,
active tectonics, and landscape evolution in Costa Rica, Central America. This research project combined field techniques of
tectonic geomorphology, structural geology, stratigraphy, and geochronology
to investigate upper plate deformation along the southern Middle America
convergent margin, inboard of the subducting Cocos Ridge. Chapter 1 examines fault kinematics along a
seismically active deformation front that is propagating into the upper plate
(Central Costa Rica deformed belt). Chapter 2 establishes new stratigraphic and
geochronologic constraints on late Cenozoic landscape evolution in central
Costa Rica, and describes the history of volcanic arc retreat related to shallowing
of subduction. Chapter 3 investigates the tectonic geomorphology of
the Costa Rican coastal forearc, and develops a correlation framework for
uplifted Quaternary marine and fluvial terraces along the southern Middle
America margin.
Back to Home Page
|