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Telephone 512-471-0433 |
Marine Geophysics
Marine geophysics, plate tectonics, magnetics, gravity, heat flow, and seismic studies.
Lawrence currently focuses his research on paleogeographic reconstructions of Gondwana, the Polar Regions, East Asia, and the Western Pacific, the development of paleo-seaways and their impact on climate, and the aerogeophysics of the Arctic region. He is particularly interested in two of the remaining problems in the study of plate tectonics: understanding the timing and process of the opening of the Canada Basin of the Arctic region, and the impact of plate tectonics on long-term climate change. Lawver uses marine magnetic anomaly, heat flow, and aerogeophysical data, as well as computer graphics, to aid in understanding the break-up and evolution of the Polar Regions. He has acquired heat flow, marine magnetic, and seismic data during cruises to the Antarctic Peninsula and the Ross Sea region of Antarctica. Recent work with his colleague Marta Ghidella of the Instituto Antartico Argentino has led to a new understanding of the early break-up history of the Weddell Sea region of Antarctica. As one of the principal investigators of UTIG’s PLATES project, Lawver uses the PLATES global databases as an investigative tool in carrying out his research.
Check out the B-15A Iceberg, Ross Sea wanderings. |
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Currently Funded Research Projects
PLATES
Central Scotia Seafloor and the Drake Passage Deep Ocean Current Gateway
Collaborative Research: Neotectonic Structure of Terror Rift, Western Ross Sea
Antarctic Tectonics Evolution: CD-Rom
(Check out "Antarctica: Keystone of Gondwana" PowerpointTM animation!)
Selected Publications
Lawver, L. A., M. B. Davis, T. J. Wilson, and shipboard scietific party, Neotectonic and other features of the Victoria Land basin, Antarctica,interpreted from multibeam bathymetry data, in A Keystone in a Changing World, Online Proc. 10th ISAES, edited by A. K. Cooper, C. R. Raymond, et al., USGS Open-File Rept. 2007-1047, Extended Abstract 017, 4 p., doi:10.3133/of007-1047.ea017, 2007
Ghidella, M. E., L. A. Lawver, and L. M. Gahagan, Break-up of Gondwana and opening of the South Atlantic: Review of existing plate tectonic models, in A Keystone in a Changing World, Online Proc. 10th ISAES, edited by A. K. Cooper, C. R. Raymond, et al., USGS Open-File Rept. 2007-1047, Short Research Paper 055, 5 p., doi:10.3133/of007-1047.srp055, 2007
Lawver, L.A., Grantz, A. and Gahagan, L.M., 2002, Plate kinematic evolution of the present Arctic region since the Ordovician. In: E.L. Miller, A. Grantz and S.L. Klemperer (Editors), Tectonic Evolution of the Bering Shelf-Chukchi Sea-Arctic Margin and Adjacent Landmasses, Special Paper. Geological Society of America, Boulder, CO, p. 333-358.
Lawver, L.A., Gahagan, L.M., and Dalziel, I.W.D, 1999. A Tight fit-Early Mesozoi c Gondwana, a Plate Reconstruction Perspective, in Motoyoshi, Y. and Shiraishi, K. (editors), Origin and Evolution of Continents: Proceedings of the International Symposium "Origin and Evolution of Continents," 13-14 October, 1997, Tokyo, Memoirs of National Institute of Polar Research, Specia l Issue, No. 53, p354.. 214-229. (PDF)
Lawver, L.A., and Gahagan, L.M., 1998. The Initiation of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and its impact on Cenozoic climate, in Crowley, T. and Burke, K., eds., Tectonic Boundary Conditions for Climate Model Simulations, Oxford Univ. Press, 213-226.
Lawver, L.A., et al., Distributed, Active Extension in Bransfield Basin, Antarctic Peninsula: Evidence from Multibeam Bathymetry, GSA Today, 1996, v. 6, 1-6 plus centerfold, p. 16-17.
Lawver, L. A., R. A. Keller, M. R. Fisk, and J. A. Strelin, Bransfield Strait, Antarctic Peninsula: Active extension behind a dead arc, in B. Taylor (editor), Back Arc Basins: Tectonics and Magmatism Volume, Plenum Press, Holland, 315-342, 1995.
Lee, Tung-yi, and Lawver, L.A., 1995. Cenozoic plate reconstruction of the Southeast Asia region, Tectonophysics, 251, 85-138.
Lawrence's UTIG Contributions (Publications)
