Joann M. Stock

Professor of Geology and Geophysics

B.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1981; M.S., 1981; Ph.D., 1988. Visiting Assistant Professor, Caltech, 1990; Associate Professor, 1992-98; Professor, 1998-.

Research Areas: Geology; Geophysics; Marine Geophysics; Seismology; Tectonics

Research Interests

Plate tectonics; structural geology; evolution of plate boundaries; stress and deformation in the lithosphere; physical volcanology; tectonics and regional structure of the Pacific-North America plate boundary and continent-ocean transition in the Gulf of California and Salton Trough.

Ongoing Research in Tectonics

Joann Stock's research interests involve a wide range of tectonic problems, including global and regional plate tectonic questions, and geological and geophysical field studies related to plate boundary evolution. Examples of several studies being pursued by her research group can be found by clicking on the links under "More Information" to the right.

One Recent Project

I sailed as co-chief scientist on IODP Expedition 367 to the South China Sea Rifted Margin (Feb. 9 to April 9, 2017). This was a two-expedition project, followed by Expedition 368 for the 2nd half of the work now. Due to mechanical problems during Expedition 368, one of the drill holes will be drilled this Nov.-Dec. 2018, to finish the data acquisition for the project. The recent publication with highlights of the results is Larsen et al., 2018.

Another Recent Project

I sailed on Marcus Langseth cruise 1803 in Feb. and March 2018, south of the South Island of New Zealand. The chief scientist, Dr. Michael Gurnis, is the lead investigator on the South Island Subduction Initiation Experiment (SISIE). This is a collaboration with scientists and students from UT Austin and Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand). Four Caltech students sailed on this cruise, and some results will be presented at the December 2018 meeting of the American Geophysical Union.

Ongoing Geology Project

We have a collaboration with Seulgi Moon of UCLA and Arturo Martin of CICESE to study the process of continental microplate formation on Isla Angel de la Guarda, Gulf of California, Mexico. This involves field mapping of faults and faulted bedrock and terrace surfaces; OSL dating of the offset surfaces; and drone flights to collect air photos for use in constructing high resolution DEMs using structure-from-motion.

Note to undergraduate students interested in applying for summer internships:
I cannot take any new interns in the months of May or June. If you send me an email asking about this, I will know you have not read my web site.

If you are an undergraduate (NOT in a combined master's program) and you are available to come for an internship during the time of the Caltech SURF program (mid June to mid August) then you have to apply through the SURF program in January or early February each year. I do not have any SURF opportunities posted right now.

Selected Publications

For a complete publications list, see

/options/geology/Faculty/Stock_Publications.html