- B528 Portland Square, Drake Circus , Plymouth, PL4 8AA
- andy.parsons@plymouth.ac.uk
Profiles
Dr Andrew Parsons
Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Marine Geoscience
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (Faculty of Science and Engineering)
Biography
Biography
My research uses multi-disciplinary analyses of the geological record to investigate the processes that facilitate and control the tectonic evolution of Earth. My research interests include mid-ocean ridges, subduction, orogenesis, rifting, ophiolites, paleomagnetism, petrology, structural and microstructural deformation, the Himalaya and Tethys Ocean(s) and the North American Cordillera.
Currently, I am investigating mamatic flow and crustal accretion processes in the Oman ophiolite. I use paleomagnetic, petrographic and geochemical analyses to constrain the kinematics of magma flow and crystallization processes. This research provides an ocean ridge segment-scale understanding of how oceanic crust forms at fast-spreading ridges, such as the East pacific Rise. I also study the tectonic evolution of the North American Cordillera and the eastern Tethys oceans, through collaboration with external researchers (Geological Survey of Canada, University of Oxford, Université Côte d'Azur) with particular focus on terrane accretion events and subduction zone configurations, through integration of bedrock datasets, plate reconstruction modelling and tomographic imaging of subducted slabs in the deep mantle .
I enjoy fieldwork in challenging terrain and have worked in a variety of tectonic settings including ophiolites (Oman; Yukon, North American Cordillera ), metamorphic terranes and orogenic cores (Yukon, North American Cordillera; Nepal Himalaya; Norway, Western Gneiss Region) and fold-and-thrust belts (Spanish Pyrenees), continental/island arcs (Yukon, North American Cordillera), strike-slip zones (Karakoram Fault Zone, NW India; Eskişehir Fault Zone, NW Turkey), and passive margins (East Greenland).
I am also involved in research projects that investigate intracrystalline deformation and rheology in geological materials using scanning electron microscopy – electron backscatter diffraction (SEM-EBSD) techniques (collaborations with researchers at iCRAG, University of Leeds, University of Graz, and others).
NEW PAPERS:
Qualifications
PhD – UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS – (awarded Jun 2015)
MSci – IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON (awarded 2010)
MSci – IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON (awarded 2010)
Previous roles:
Jan 2018-Jul 2021. Postdoctoral Research Assistant, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
- Kinematic plate reconstructions of Mesozoic subduction histories of Tethys
- Integration of seismic tomography with geological datasets to test plate reconstructions for Tethys
2016-2017. Postdoctoral Researcher, GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA (GSC)
- Tectonic processes in accretionary orogens, NW Cordillera, Yukon, Canada
- Subduction zone dynamics, ophiolite petrogenesis and obduction
2010-2011. Geologist, CASP (Cambridge Arctic Shelf Programme, UNIV. CAMBRIDGE).
- Structural evolution of NE Greenland continental passive margin
- Integrated field and GIS based study to create structural maps and cross sections
Jan 2018-Jul 2021. Postdoctoral Research Assistant, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
- Kinematic plate reconstructions of Mesozoic subduction histories of Tethys
- Integration of seismic tomography with geological datasets to test plate reconstructions for Tethys
2016-2017. Postdoctoral Researcher, GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA (GSC)
- Tectonic processes in accretionary orogens, NW Cordillera, Yukon, Canada
- Subduction zone dynamics, ophiolite petrogenesis and obduction
2010-2011. Geologist, CASP (Cambridge Arctic Shelf Programme, UNIV. CAMBRIDGE).
- Structural evolution of NE Greenland continental passive margin
- Integrated field and GIS based study to create structural maps and cross sections
Roles on external bodies
- Associate Editor for 'Tektonika' (2022-2023)
- Editorial board member for ‘Geology’ (GSA – 2020 to 2023)
- Editorial board member for ‘Frontiers in Earth Sciences’ (2021 to present)
Publications
Publications
Key publications
Key publications are highlighted
Journals
Articles
(2022) 'U‐Pb zircon geochronology from the Northern Cordillera, central Yukon, with implications for its tectonic assembly' Tectonics , DOI Open access
(2021) 'Australian Plate Subduction is Responsible for Northward Motion of the India‐Asia Collision Zone and ∼1,000 km Lateral Migration of the Indian Slab' Geophysical Research Letters 48, (18) , DOI Open access
(2020) 'EBSD‐based criteria for coesite‐quartz transformation' Journal of Metamorphic Geology 39, (2) 165-180 , DOI
(2020) 'Geological, geophysical and plate kinematic constraints for models of the India-Asia collision and the post-Triassic central Tethys oceans' Earth-Science Reviews 208, 103084-103084 , DOI
(2020) 'Secular change and the onset of plate tectonics on Earth' Earth-Science Reviews 207, 103172-103172 , DOI
(2019) 'Quantifying geometrically necessary dislocations in quartz using HR-EBSD: Application to chessboard subgrain boundaries' Journal of Structural Geology 125, 235-247 , DOI
(2019) 'The impact of water on slip system activity in olivine and the formation of bimodal crystallographic preferred orientations' Earth and Planetary Science Letters 508, 51-61 , DOI
(2018) 'Structural evolution of a crustal-scale shear zone through a decreasing temperature regime: The Yukon River shear zone, Yukon-Tanana terrane, Northern Cordillera' Lithosphere , DOI
(2018) 'Age and setting of Permian Slide Mountain terrane ophiolitic ultramafic-mafic complexes in the Yukon: Implications for late Paleozoic-early Mesozoic tectonic models in the northern Canadian Cordillera' Tectonophysics 744, 458-483 , DOI
(2018) 'Petrogenesis of the Dunite Peak ophiolite, south-central Yukon, and the distinction between upper-plate and lower-plate settings: A new hypothesis for the late Paleozoic–early Mesozoic tectonic evolution of the Northern Cordillera' GSA Bulletin 131, (1-2) 274-298 , DOI
(2017) 'Structural evolution and basin architecture of the Traill Ø region, NE Greenland: A record of polyphase rifting of the East Greenland continental margin' Geosphere 13, (3) 733-770 , DOI
(2016) 'Orogen‐parallel deformation of the Himalayan midcrust: Insights from structural and magnetic fabric analyses of the Greater Himalayan Sequence, Annapurna‐Dhaulagiri Himalaya, central Nepal' Tectonics 35, (11) 2515-2537 , DOI
(2016) 'Mid-crustal deformation of the Annapurna-Dhaulagiri Himalaya, central Nepal: An atypical example of channel flow during the Himalayan orogeny' Geosphere 12, (3) 985-1015 , DOI
(2016) 'Thermo‐kinematic evolution of the <scp>A</scp>nnapurna‐<scp>D</scp>haulagiri <scp>H</scp>imalaya, central <scp>N</scp>epal: The <scp>C</scp>omposite <scp>O</scp>rogenic <scp>S</scp>ystem' Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 17, (4) 1511-1539 , DOI
(2016) 'Spatial variation in exhumation rates across Ladakh and the Karakoram: New apatite fission track data from the Eastern Karakoram, NW India' Tectonics 35, (3) 704-721 , DOI
(2015) 'Low effective fault strength due to frictional-viscous flow in phyllonites, Karakoram Fault Zone, NW India' Journal of Structural Geology 77, 45-61 , DOI
(2014) 'Geology of the Dhaulagiri-Annapurna-Manaslu Himalaya, Western Region, Nepal. 1:200,000' Journal of Maps 12, (1) 100-110 , DOI
(2014) 'Comment on “Interplay of deformation and magmatism in the Pangong Transpressional Zone, Eastern Ladakh, India: Implications for remobilization of the trans-Himalayan magmatic arc and initiation of the Karakoram Fault” by K. Sen, B.K. Mukherjee and A.S. Collins, Journal of Structural Geology 62 (2014) 13–24' Journal of Structural Geology 65, 117-119 , DOI
(2012) 'Grain-size trends reveal the late orogenic tectonic and erosional history of the south–central Pyrenees, Spain' Journal of the Geological Society 169, (2) 111-114 , DOI
'The geodynamic significance of continental UHP exhumation: New constraints from the Tso Morari Complex, NW Himalaya' Tectonics Open access
Reports
(2021) Architecture of pericratonic Yukon-Tanana terrane in the northern Cordillera. Natural Resources Canada/CMSS/Information Management Publisher Site , DOI
(2020) The composite nature of pericratonic Yukon-Tanana Terrane and its distinction from parautochthonous North American rocks in west-central Yukon. Natural Resources Canada/CMSS/Information Management , DOI
(2019) Detrital-zircon age-distribution correlations between Snowcap Assemblage basement of the Yukon-Tanana Terrane and Proterozoic to Devonian stratigraphy of the Laurentian Margin platformal strata, Yukon-British Columbia. Natural Resources Canada/CMSS/Information Management , DOI
(2018) Bedrock geology, Klaza River area, Yukon. Natural Resources Canada/CMSS/Information Management , DOI
(2017) Report of activities, 2017: Dunite Peak area, Big Salmon Range, south-central Yukon: GEM2 Cordillera Project. Natural Resources Canada/CMSS/Information Management , DOI
(2016) 2016 report of activities for ancient faults and their controls on mineralization in northern British Columbia and southern Yukon: GEM2 Cordillera Project. Natural Resources Canada/CMSS/Information Management , DOI
(2016) 2016 report of field activities in the Dunite Peak area, Big Salmon Range, south central Yukon: GEM2 Cordillera Project. Natural Resources Canada/CMSS/Information Management , DOI
Other Publications
Dataset for Parsons et al 2022: U-Pb zircon geochronology from the Northern Cordillera, central Yukon, with implications for its tectonic assembly. Tectonics. Open access
Exhumation History of the Western Gneiss Region Revealed Through Symplectite Thermobarometry. , DOI
Integration of bedrock, seismic tomographic and plate kinematic constraints to test models of the India-Asia collision. , DOI
Plate kinematic and mantle seismic tomography constraints for the India-Asia collision, Part II: Insights from Myanmar to Sulawesi. , DOI
Tomotectonic constraints on the assembly of the western Arctic region and central Alaska: progress, problems and future direction. , DOI