I am currently involved in several out-of-this world projects: Investigating large volcanic features (called "coronae") on Venus (with Northwestern's Donna Jurdy), looking at the history of rifting on Europa, one of the large moons of Jupiter (with graduate student Alexa Teipel), and investigating the evolution of the Martian atmosphere by looking at the relationship between sand dunes and craters.
Also with Donna Jurdy, is a project investigating the possible influence of volcanoes on Io's spin axis. These results have been published in Geophysical Research Letters.
A project with NIU Geography's Wei Luo has me looking at comparative hypsography of Venus, Earth and Mars.
Back on Earth, I am involved in a project with Tom Shoberg of Pittsburg (KS) State University. We are looking at a series of structures in Missouri, including the Crooked Creek (MO) structure, a suspected impact crater.
One main thrust of my Earth-bound research is determining the relative strengths of plate driving forces such as "slab-pull" and "ridge-push," by comparing such plate features as velocity, area, and lengths of boundaries. Detailed examination of the basal lithosperic drag force, considering the effects of cratonic keels has led to some surprising results.
Another long-standing interest has been oceanic plate deformation, specifically the Gorda plate. Aspects of this project include finite element modeling (with Dennis Bebel), seismic studies, and studies of near-ridge processes, asymmetric spreading processes, and ridge evolution due to plate deformation.
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