Earth
and Space Sciences Faculty |
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Eric
S. Cheney |
Areas of Interest:
Economic and Regional Geology, Sequence Stratigraphy
Research Groups:
Astrobiology
Economic Geology
Sedimentology/Stratigraphy/Sedimentary
Petrology
Education:
Ph.D., Yale University, 1964
B.S., Yale University, 1956
Current Research and
Graduate Students:
Eric Cheney received his
B.S. (1956) and Ph.D. (1964) from Yale University and has been at the University
of Washington since 1964. His early research was on the stable isotopic (S,
C, and O) composition of various types of ore deposits and on the economic,
political, and environmental aspects of natural resources. His teaching and
research are now on regional geology and on the geology of ore deposits, including
their regional lithologic, stratigraphic, and structural controls.
Since 1985 he has pioneered the recognition of unconformity-bounded stratigraphic sequences (synthems) in the Archean and Proterozoic rocks of southern Africa. Recognition of these synthems has major implications on depositional and tectonic models, mineral exploration of many of the region's world-class ore deposits, emplacement of the famous Bushveld igneous complex, and the reconstruction of a pre-1.4 Ga continent, Vaalbara, which included the Kaapvaal province of southern Africa and the Pilbara province of Western Australia.
For the past three decades he and his students have been studying the ore deposits and regional geology of Washington, especially of Quesnellia, one of the easternmost of the accreted terranes of the northern Cordillera. Currently, he is applying regional sequence stratigraphy (including mapping at 1:24,000) to terrestrial Tertiary rocks as an alternative to the popular notion that these volcanic and sedimentary rocks were deposited in local grabens. Such regional sequence stratigraphy reveals the post-Miocene structure of the Pacific Northwest.
Graduate Students:
Selected Publications:
Orr, K. E. and Cheney, E.
S., 1987, Kettle and Okanogan domes [metamorphic core complexes], northeastern
Washington and southern British Columbia, Washington Division of Geology and
Earth Resources Bulletin, v. 77, p. 55-71.
Cheney, E. S., 1991, Structure and age of the Cerro de Pasco Cu-Zn-Pb-Ag deposit, Peru, Mineralium Deposita, v. 26, p. 2-10.
Cheney, E. S., 1994, Cenozoic unconformity-bounded sequences of central and eastern Washington, Washington Division of Geology and Earth Resources Bulletin, v. 80, p. 115-139.
Cheney, E. S., Rasmussen, M. G., and Miller, M. G., 1994, Major faults, stratigraphy, and identity of Quesnellia in Washington and adjacent British Columbia, Washington Division of Geology and Earth Resources Bulletin, v. 80, p. 49-71.
Cheney, E. S., 1996, Sequence stratigraphy and plate tectonic significance of the Transvaal succession of southern Africa and its equivalent in Western Australia, Precambrian Research, v. 79, p. 3-24.
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Earth and Space Sciences (Geology, Geophysics, Geological Sciences) University of Washington Johnson Hall 070 • Box 351310 4000 15th Avenue NE • Seattle, WA 98195-1310 Phone 206-543-1190 • Fax 206-543-0489 • Site Info: webmaster@ess.washington.edu • ESS Advising: advising@ess.washington.edu |