Skip to main content
Working in GPS
Access
Directory
Quick Links Click here to open the "Quick Links" submenu Down arrow
Quick Links for Faculty Quick Links for Staff Quick Links for Students
Caltech Logo
Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences
  • People
    • Professorial Faculty
    • Emeritus Faculty
    • Research Faculty
    • Visiting Faculty and Visitors
    • Postdoctoral Scholars
    • Graduate Students
    • Undergraduate Students
    • JPL Scientist
    • Member of Professional Staff
    • Research Staff
    • Support Staff
    • In Memoriam
  • Research
    • Research Programs Open Research Programs Submenu
      • Geology
      • Geobiology
      • Geochemistry
      • Geophysics
      • Planetary Sciences
      • Environmental Science and Engineering
    • Research Centers Open Research Centers Submenu
      • The Bruce Murray Lab
      • Caltech Center for Comparative Planetary Evolution (3CPE)
      • Climate Modeling Alliance (CliMA)
      • Geomechanics and Mitigation of Geohazards (GMG)
      • The Linde Center
      • Seismological Laboratory
    • Research Lab Schedule
    • Research Facilities - On Campus
    • Research Facilities - Off Campus
    • Research Administration
  • Academics
    • Undergraduate Program Open Undergraduate Program Submenu
      • Program Requirements
    • Graduate Program Open Graduate Program Submenu
      • Program Requirements
      • Grad Program FAQs
      • Admissions
      • Advising
      • Information for new grad students
      • Master's Degree
      • Doctoral Degree
    • Student Resources Open Student Resources Submenu
      • Past Abstracts
    • Courses Open Courses Submenu
      • GPS Courses (2023-24)
      • ESE Courses (2023-24)
    • Field Trips Open Field Trips Submenu
      • Contact Information Form for Class Field Trips
      • Contact Information Form for Research Field Trips
      • Field Vehicle Availability
    • Postdoc Information
  • Diversity
  • Resources
    • Libraries Open Libraries Submenu
      • GPS Library
      • Caltech Library
      • Mineral Collection
    • Meeting Facilities
    • Safety Resources Open Safety Resources Submenu
      • GPS Emergency Procedures
      • Emergency Action Plan (PDF)
      • Safety Contacts
      • Workplace Safety Form
      • Evacuation Map
    • Quick Links
  • News & Events
    • GPS Events this Week Open GPS Events this Week Submenu
      • GPS Group Calendar
    • Award Announcements
    • News
    • Calendar
  • About
    • GPS History
    • GPS at a Glance
    • Contact Open Contact Submenu
      • Administrative and Grants Management Contact List (PDF)
      • GPS Directory (PDF)
      • Academic Leadership
    • Visit
    • Positions Available Open Positions Available Submenu
      • Faculty Positions
      • Postdoctoral Positions
      • GPS Prize Postdoc Information
      • Staff Positions
      • Lecturer Positions
    • External Fellowship Opportunities Open External Fellowship Opportunities Submenu
      • Graduate Student Fellowship Opportunities
      • Post Doctoral Fellowship Opportunities
    • Support
    • In the News
Open search form
Menu Main Menu
Close
  • People Click here to open the "People" Submenu
  • Research Click here to open the "Research" Submenu
  • Academics Click here to open the "Academics" Submenu
  • Diversity
  • Resources Click here to open the "Resources" Submenu
  • News & Events Click here to open the "News & Events" Submenu
  • About Click here to open the "About" Submenu
Working in GPS
Access
Directory
Quick Links
Quick Links for Faculty Quick Links for Staff Quick Links for Students
People
Back
  • Professorial Faculty
  • Emeritus Faculty
  • Research Faculty
  • Visiting Faculty and Visitors
  • Postdoctoral Scholars
  • Graduate Students
  • Undergraduate Students
  • JPL Scientist
  • Member of Professional Staff
  • Research Staff
  • Support Staff
  • In Memoriam
Research
Back
  • Research Programs
    • Geology
    • Geobiology
    • Geochemistry
    • Geophysics
    • Planetary Sciences
    • Environmental Science and Engineering
  • Research Centers
    • The Bruce Murray Lab
    • Caltech Center for Comparative Planetary Evolution (3CPE)
    • Climate Modeling Alliance (CliMA)
    • Geomechanics and Mitigation of Geohazards (GMG)
    • The Linde Center
    • Seismological Laboratory
  • Research Lab Schedule
  • Research Facilities - On Campus
  • Research Facilities - Off Campus
  • Research Administration
Academics
Back
  • Undergraduate Program
    • Program Requirements
  • Graduate Program
    • Program Requirements
    • Grad Program FAQs
    • Admissions
    • Advising
    • Information for new grad students
    • Master's Degree
    • Doctoral Degree
  • Student Resources
    • Past Abstracts
  • Courses
    • GPS Courses (2023-24)
    • ESE Courses (2023-24)
  • Field Trips
    • Contact Information Form for Class Field Trips
    • Contact Information Form for Research Field Trips
    • Field Vehicle Availability
  • Postdoc Information
Resources
Back
  • Libraries
    • GPS Library
    • Caltech Library
    • Mineral Collection
  • Meeting Facilities
  • Safety Resources
    • GPS Emergency Procedures
    • Emergency Action Plan (PDF)
    • Safety Contacts
    • Workplace Safety Form
    • Evacuation Map
  • Quick Links
News & Events
Back
  • GPS Events this Week
    • GPS Group Calendar
  • Award Announcements
  • News
  • Calendar
About the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences
Back
  • GPS History
  • GPS at a Glance
  • Contact
    • Administrative and Grants Management Contact List (PDF)
    • GPS Directory (PDF)
    • Academic Leadership
  • Visit
  • Positions Available
    • Faculty Positions
    • Postdoctoral Positions
    • GPS Prize Postdoc Information
    • Staff Positions
    • Lecturer Positions
  • External Fellowship Opportunities
    • Graduate Student Fellowship Opportunities
    • Post Doctoral Fellowship Opportunities
  • Support
  • In the News
Open search form
Brian Wernicke
Email: [email protected]
Administrative Assistant
Name: Sandi Parra
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 626-395-8372
link Research Website
Curriculum Vitae
Home  /  People  /  Brian P. Wernicke

Brian P. Wernicke

Chandler Family Professor of Geology
B.S., University of Southern California, 1978; Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1982. Visiting Professor, Caltech, 1990; Professor, 1992-2001; Chandler Professor, 2001-.
  • Profile
  • Publications
  • Teaching
Research Summary
Evolution of the continental lithosphere through judicious combination of field observation and geophysical and geochemical methods: Physical processes governing the large-scale structural evolution of mountain belts using GPS geodesy and neotectonics, especially earthquakes and slow episodic deformations revealed through comparison of geodetic and geologic measurements; Neoproterozoic climate change using chemostratigraphic methods; paleoaltimetry and geomorphology using low-temperature thermometric techniques, including carbonate clumped-isotope thermometry and (U-Th)/He thermochronometry.

Research Options

Geology; 

Research Areas

Tectonics; 

Profile

The research by Wernicke and his group is primarily observational, and is strongly multidisciplinary and collaborative. Current projects include studying large-scale intracontinental extension, mainly in the Basin and Range province of the western United States; studies of high-temperature evolution of the deeper parts of collision zones; and studies of active tectonics of diffuse zones of intracontinental deformation. With field observation and geological mapping as a foundation, students and postdocs in the group address problems using a wide spectrum of methods, including sequence stratigraphy, paleomagnetism, geochronology, petrologic thermobarometry, remote sensing and GPS geodesy.

Large-Scale Intracontinental Extension

The tectonics of horizontal contraction of the earth's continental lithosphere have been well studied for more than a century, in orogens such as the Alps, Caledonides and Appalachians. Equivalent understanding of extension has arisen mainly over the last decade, spurred by geologic field studies in the Basin and Range province of western North America, the earth's best exposed region of large-scale intracontinental extension. Recent work by Wernicke and postdoctoral fellow J.K. Snow in the central Basin and Range (lat 37N) demonstrates about 250 km of west-northwest translation of the Sierra Nevada relative to the Colorado Plateau since 20 Ma, accommodated along both normal and strike-slip fault systems.

Geological reconstructions show the principal zones of extension, now 100-150 km wide, are nearly completely stripped of their upper 12-15 km of crust. The lack of major topographic or gravity anomalies over the extended zones has prompted two major projects, BARGE (Basin and Range Geoscientific Experiment) and the Southern Sierra Nevada Continental Dynamics Project, aimed at understanding how the deep crust responds to extension by imaging the deep structure of the eastern and western boundaries, respectively, of the central Basin and Range. These projects involve explosion seismology, "marine" deep reflection profiling (off barges in Lake Mead), magnetotelluric imaging, xenolith studies, geologic mapping, thermochronology and thermobarometry, and paleomagnetism. One of the main results coming from this work is that the complex patchwork of extended upper crustal blocks are floating on a fluid deep crustal layer, which is appears to have been "pumped" into the region between the separating blocks, completely reconstituting the upper crust. Modeling studies suggest this layer may be as much as four to five orders of magnitude less viscous than the upper mantle.

cenozoic

Cross-sectional evolution of extended upper continental crust, after Wernicke (1992).

Deep Structure of Collision Zones

A largely unsolved problem in geology is the role of deeper crustal layers during mountain building. Physical models of the deep crust have largely outpaced our ability to test them, especially for rock assemblages deformed and metamorphosed beyond the greenschist facies. Wernicke and colleagues are undertaking studies that combine thermobarometric results with high temperature thermochronometers (especially the Sm/Nd system) in the collisional belts of the Pacific Northwest. The Sm/Nd system has proved particularly effective, because major metamorphic phases such as garnet, plagioclase and hornblende close to diffusion of rare earths at upper amphibolite facies conditions (600-700 C). Thus events that may be difficult to date with traditional methods, either because of high diffusivity (closure below 500 C) or restriction to trace phases, may be resolved to within 1-2 million years.

crust

Horizontal normal fault cutting Mississippian Redwall Limestone, Gold Butte area, southern Nevada. Dark layer above fault has been displaced to the left. Cliff face is approximately 250 m high.

Active Tectonics of Diffuse Continental Deformation

The advent of Global Positioning System (GPS) geodesy over the last five years is revolutionizing the study of actively deforming regions of the earth's crust. Understanding the relationship between elastic strain accumulation and release has generally been focused on major plate-boundary faults such as the San Andreas. Less is known, however, about how earthquakes and strain accumulation are related in wide, diffusely deforming belts of continental crust away from the major plate-boundary faults. As recent events such as the Landers and Northridge earthquakes attest, understanding the non-San Andreas components of strain accumulation is both a scientifically and societally relevant problem. Wernicke's group is investigating strain accumulation using GPS along a zone of three widely-spaced Holocene strike-slip fault zones in the southwestern Great Basin. The westernmost zone is by far most active seismically (e.g. 1872 M~7.5 Owens Valley earthquake). This study should resolve whether strain accumulation is focused on the western, seismically active zone or across the entire zone of major Holocene faulting.

Publications

For a complete publications list, see feeds.library.caltech.edu
Ge 101. Introduction to Geology and Geochemistry. 9 units (3-0-6); first term, 2022-23. Prerequisites: graduate standing or instructor's permission. A broad, high-level survey of geology and geochemistry with emphasis on quantitative understanding. Historical deduction in the geological and planetary sciences. Plate tectonics as a unifying theory of geology. Igneous and metamorphic processes, structural geology and geomorphology; weathering and sedimentary processes. Nucleosynthesis and chemical history of the solar system; distribution of the elements in the earth; isotopic systems as tracers and clocks; evolution of the biosphere; global geochemical and biogeochemical cycles; geochemical constraints on deep Earth structure. One mandatory overnight field trip, selected laboratory exercises, and problem sets.
Instructor: Wernicke
Ge 11 a. Introduction to Earth and Planetary Sciences: Earth as a Planet. 9 units (3-3-3); first term, 2022-23. Systematic introduction to the physical and chemical processes that have shaped Earth as a planet over geological time, and the observable products of these processes-rock materials, minerals, land forms. Geophysics of Earth. Plate tectonics; earthquakes; igneous activity. Metamorphism and metamorphic rocks. Rock deformation and mountain building. Weathering, erosion, and sedimentary rocks. The causes and recent history of climate change. The course includes an overnight field trip and a weekly laboratory section focused on the identification of rocks and minerals and the interpretation of topographic and geological maps. Although Ge 11 abcd is designed as a sequence, any one term may be taken as a standalone course.
Instructor: Wernicke
Ge 121 abc. Advanced Field Geology. 12 units (0-9-3); first, second, third terms, 2022-23. Prerequisites: Ge 120 or equivalent, or instructor's permission. Field mapping and supporting laboratory studies in topical problems related to the geology of the southwestern United States. Course provides a breadth of experience in igneous, metamorphic, or sedimentary rocks or geomorphology. Multiple terms of 121 may be taken more than once for credit if taught by different instructors.
Instructors: Avouac (a), Kirschvink (b), Wernicke (c)
Ge 270. Continental Tectonics. 9 units (3-0-6); third term, 2022-23. Prerequisites: ACM 95/100 or ACM 113; Ge 11 ab, Ge 106, Ge 162, or Ge 161. The nature of nonplate, finite deformation processes in the evolution of the continental lithosphere, using the Alpine orogen as an example. Rheological stratification; isostatic and flexural response to near-vertical loads; rifting and associated basin development; collision and strike-slip tectonics; deep crustal processes. Given in alternate years; offered 2022-23.
Instructor: Wernicke
Ge 101. Introduction to Geology and Geochemistry. 9 units (3-0-6); first term, 2021-22. Prerequisites: graduate standing or instructor's permission. A broad, high-level survey of geology and geochemistry with emphasis on quantitative understanding. Historical deduction in the geological and planetary sciences. Plate tectonics as a unifying theory of geology. Igneous and metamorphic processes, structural geology and geomorphology; weathering and sedimentary processes. Nucleosynthesis and chemical history of the solar system; distribution of the elements in the earth; isotopic systems as tracers and clocks; evolution of the biosphere; global geochemical and biogeochemical cycles; geochemical constraints on deep Earth structure. One mandatory overnight field trip, selected laboratory exercises, and problem sets.
Instructor: Wernicke
Ge 11 a. Introduction to Earth and Planetary Sciences: Earth as a Planet. 9 units (3-3-3); first term, 2021-22. Systematic introduction to the physical and chemical processes that have shaped Earth as a planet over geological time, and the observable products of these processes-rock materials, minerals, land forms. Geophysics of Earth. Plate tectonics; earthquakes; igneous activity. Metamorphism and metamorphic rocks. Rock deformation and mountain building. Weathering, erosion, and sedimentary rocks. The causes and recent history of climate change. The course includes an overnight field trip and a weekly laboratory section focused on the identification of rocks and minerals and the interpretation of topographic and geological maps. Although Ge 11 abcd is designed as a sequence, any one term may be taken as a standalone course.
Instructor: Wernicke
Ge 270. Continental Tectonics. 9 units (3-0-6); third term, 2021-22. Prerequisites: ACM 95/100 or ACM 113; Ge 11 ab, Ge 106, Ge 162, or Ge 161. The nature of nonplate, finite deformation processes in the evolution of the continental lithosphere, using the Alpine orogen as an example. Rheological stratification; isostatic and flexural response to near-vertical loads; rifting and associated basin development; collision and strike-slip tectonics; deep crustal processes. Given in alternate years; not offered 2021-2022.
Instructor: Wernicke
Caltech Torch
Caltech Logo
California Institute of Technology
map marker
1200 East California Boulevard
Pasadena, California 91125
Contact Us Report a Copyright Infringement Website Feedback Privacy Notice Site Content Copyright © 2023 Log In