Ben van der Pluijm


Ben A. van der Pluijm (say what?)
Professor of Geology and of the Environment
Director of the Global Change Program
University of Michigan
Department of Geological Sciences
4534b C.C. Little Building
1100 North University Ave Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1005, U.S.A. Office phone: 734.763.0373 Department phone: 734.764.1435 Fax: 734.763.4690
Senior Counselor to the Provost
Accreditation 2010
University of Michigan, Office of the Provost
4012 Fleming Administration Building
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1340, U.S.A.
Phone: 734.647.8788; Fax: 734.764-3988
Email: vdpluijm@umich.edu

Opportunities for graduate students, click here
Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Tectonophysics, click here

President's Multidisciplinary Learning and Team Teaching Initiative
PPT presentation on "Interdisciplinarity before Disciplinarity"

Research and Teaching Interests

Structural Geology, Tectonics, Tectonophysics

field areas: the northern Appalachians, the USA continental interior, southern Ontario and western New York’s Grenville, western Brazil’s Grenville, northern Michigan’s Penokean, northern Spain’s Cantabria, US-Canadian Rockies, San Andreas (CA) and Alpine (NZ) faults.
topical areas: brittle and ductile faults, deep-crustal architecture, fault gouge and pseudotachylyte, intraplate stresses, oroclines, clay microstructures and textures, magnetic anisotropy, X-ray goniometry, paleomagnetism, geochronology, physical oceanography

Teaching

Interdisciplinary undergraduate teaching (Global Change Program, MLTT) IT-supported classroom education (LectureTools^TM, GeoPocket), IT-supported field-based education (GeoPad^TM).

Current Research Projects

A variety of research projects are carried out in the S&T Group, which consists of ~6 students (PhD and MSc), several faculty, PDFs and research associates. For a general listing of faculty, graduate students, research associates, associated faculty and other information go to the PaSTeL page. Other links to structure and tectonics activities at the University of Michigan is through the TSG page.
Brief descriptions of some of my current research projects are given below.

Fault Gouge
An integrated study on the formation and mechanical role of clay-bearing fault gouge is carried out in collaboration with mineralogist Laurence Warr, Ar geochronologist Chris Hall and stable isotope geochemist KC Lohmann. We are studying mineralogic reactions and transformation, deformation mechanisms, deformation textures and dating of ancient clay gouges (currently faults of the Canadian and US Rockies, normal faults in SW US, thrusts of the Pyrenees and Rwenzori flank uplifts) and San Andreas fault drilling core (SAFOD).

Pseudotachylytes
Textural, chemical, geochronologic and thermo-mechanical modeling studies of pseudotachylyte, formed by friction melting, in collaboration with Univ. Strasbourg (France) mineralogist Laurence Warr and UM seismologist Larry Ruff. We are currently focusing on exhumed samples from New Zealand's Alpine Fault.

Tertiary Paleoclimate
In collaboration with oceanographers Ted Moore and David Rea and rock magnetist Josep Pares we are using the magnetic anisotropy signature of ocean drilling core to determine depositional environments and paleocurrents in various Tertiary sequences, as a proxy of ancient climate change. Currently our work focuses on the Southern Ocean.

Crustal Architecture
We work on aspects of the evolution of the Proterozoic Grenville and Penokean orogens in southern Ontario and northern New York, Rondônia (Brazil) and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Our interests concentrate on ductile shear zones (mylonites) and D-P-T-t histories. Research topics have included, shear zone evolution, crystallographic fabrics, fluids in shear zones (using C-O isotopes and electron microbeam techniques), and geochronology. These studies are carried out in collaboration with petrologist Eric Essene, Ar geochronologist Chris Hall and U/Pb geochronologist Klaus Mezger at Univ. Munster (Germany). Generally, these studies involve topical field mapping and a variety of lab work.

Plate Stresses
Calcite twinning in coarse-grained limestones and rock magnetic methods are used to determine the Paleozoic stress and strain patterns in the frontal portion of the Appalachians and the cratonic cover sequence of North America. In particular we examine the process of oroclinal bending in the Appalachians, North American Rockies, and Cantabrian Mountains of Spain, in collaboration with paleomagnetist Rob Van der Voo.

Other Studies
Processes associated with the formation of ductile and brittle shear zones and foliations are studied using optical microscopy, electron microbeam (microprobe, SEM, AEM/STEM) and rock magnetic techniques. Optical microscopy is used to determine crystallographic preferred fabrics, whereas EM studies focus on defect analysis and microchemical variation in deformed rocks. Aspects of this work are carried out in collaboration with other faculty and researchers. Modern rock magnetic techniques, some of which we recently developed, are used in conjunction with traditional structural analysis to quantify depositional and deformation fabrics. In addition, we are maintaining a high-resolution X-ray texture goniometer for clay fabric analysis.

Facilities

The Department of Geological Sciences is well equipped for modern structural/tectonic studies. This distributed structural geology laboratory cluster consists of a workroom and lounge (4534 CCL) with several research optical microscopes, including a Leitz Ortholux with photographic attachment, a dedicated Zeiss U-stage microscope with computer, facilities for real-time, microscope-based deformation experiments of analogs, and map analysis. In addition to a group of networked computers with peripherals, the laboratories host a TabletPC-based field computing (GeoPad) and classroom handheld (GeoPocket) facility (4505F CCL). A texture goniometer, using an Enraf-Nonius single-crystal diffractometer, is located in the X-ray Laboratory (2005 CCL), which also houses a Scintag diffractometer for powder samples, and several magnetic fabric analysis devices (including a Kappabridge and SI2 bridges) are housed in the Paleomagnetics Laboratory (4538 CCL). The EMAL houses a Philips 120 kV STEM, a Hitachi SEM and two Cameca microprobes for micro-structural and micro-chemical analysis. Higher-voltage electron microscopes are located in EMAL-North Campus. A dedicated sampling laboratory is equipped with separation and preparation equipment (5553 CCL). Other departmental facilities offer stable and radiogenic isotope analysis, ICP and other geochemical facilities. Extensive technical support is available for all these facilities.

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A Selection of Recent Publications, Current and Past Projects

A complete list of hotlinked publications can be found on my publications page. A selection of some work is below.

Ong, P.F., van der Pluijm, B.A., Van der Voo, R., 2007. Early rotation and late folding in the Pennsylvania Salient (US Appalachians): Evidence from calcite-twinning analysis of Paleozoic carbonates. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 119, 796-804.

Warr, L.N., van der Pluijm, B.A., Tourscher, S., 2007. The age and depth of exhumed friction melts along the Alpine Fault, New Zealand. Geology, 35, 603-606.

Schleicher, A.M., van der Pluijm, B.A., Solum, J.G., Warr, L.N., 2006. Origin and significance of clay-coated fractures in mudrock fragments of the SAFOD borehole (Parkfield, California). Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, doi:10.1029/2006GL026505.

Solum, J.G., Hickman, S., Lockner, D., Moore, D., van der Pluijm, B.A., Schleicher, A.M., Evans, J.P., 2006. Mineralogical characterization of protolith and fault rocks from the SAFOD Main Hole. Geophys. Res. Letters. 33, doi:10.1029/2006GL027285.

Tohver, E., Teixeira, W., van der Pluijm, B., Geraldes, M.C., Bettencourt, J.S., Rizotto, G., 2006. Restored transect across the exhumed Grenville orogen of Laurentia and Amazonia, with implications for crustal architecture. Geology, 34, 669-672.

van der Pluijm, B.A., Vrolijk, P.J., Pevear, D.R., Hall, C.M., Solum, J.G., 2006. Fault dating in the Canadian Rocky Mountains: evidence for late Cretaceous and early Eocene orogenic pulses. Geology, 34, 837-840.

Solum, J.G., van der Pluijm, B.A., Peacor, D.R., 2005. Neocrystallization, fabrics and age of clay minerals from an exposure of the Moab Fault, Utah. J. Struct. Geol., 27, 1563-1576. (125)

Streepey, M.M., Lithgow-Bertelloni, C., van der Pluijm, B.A., Essene, E.J., Magloughlin, J.F., 2004. Exhumation of a collisional orogen: a perspective from the North American Grenville Province. Geol. Soc. Am. Memoir, 197, 391-410.

Pares, J.M, van der Pluijm, B.A., 2003. Magnetic fabrics in low-strain mudrocks: AMS of pencil structures in the Knobs Formation, Valley and Ridge Province, US Appalachians. J. Struct. Geol., 25, 1349-1358. (114)

van der Pluijm, B.A. and Marshak, S., 2003. Earth Structure - An Introduction to Structural Geology and Tectonics (2nd edition). WW. Norton, 674 p.

Warr, L.N., van der Pluijm, B.A., Peacor, D.R., Hall. C.M., 2003. Cyclic melting and crystallization of fault rock during a ~1.1 Ma earthquake. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 209, 39-52. (116)

Joseph, L.H., Rea, D.R., van der Pluijm, B.A., Gleason, J.D., 2002. Antarctic environmental variability since the Late Miocene: ODP site 745, the East Kerguelen sediment drift. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 201, 127-142. (106)

Pares, J.M, van der Pluijm, B.A., 2002. Phyllosilicate fabric characterization by Low-Temperature Magnetic Anisotropy (LT-AMS). Geophys. Res. Lett. 10.1029/2002GL015459 (Dec). (109)

Tohver, E., van der Pluijm, B.A., Van der Voo, R., Rizotto, G., Scandolara, J.E., 2002. Paleogeography of the Amazon craton at 1.2 Ga: early Grenvillian collision with the Llano segment of Laurentia. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 199, 185-200. (111)

van der Pluijm, B.A., Hall, C.M., Vrolijk, P., Pevear, D.R., Covey, M., 2001 The dating of shallow faults in the Earth’s crust. Nature, 412, 172-174. (103)

Weil, A.B., Van der Voo, R., van der Pluijm, B.A., 2001. Oroclinal bending and evidence against the Pangea megashear: the Cantabria-Asturias Arc (northern Spain). Geology, 29, 991-994. (104)

Ho, N.C., Peacor, D.R., van der Pluijm, B.A., 1999. Preferred orientation of phyllosilicates in Gulf Coast mudstones and relation to the smectite-illite transition. Clays and Clay Minerals, 47, 495-504. (87)

Howell, P.D., van der Pluijm, B.A., 1999. Structural sequences and styles of subsidence in the Michigan basin. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 111, 974-991. (88)

Parés, J.M., van der Pluijm, B.A., Dinarès-Turell, J., 1999. Evolution of magnetic fabrics during incipient deformation of mudrocks (Pyrenees, northern Spain). Tectonophysics, 307, 1-14. (90)

Vrolijk, P., van der Pluijm, B.A., 1999. Clay gouge. J. Struct. Geol., 21, 1039-1048. (92)

Joseph, L.H., Rea, D.K., van der Pluijm, B.A., 1998. Use of grain size and magnetic fabric analyses to distinguish among depositional environments. Paleoceanography, 13, 491-501. (81)

van der Pluijm, B.A., and Marshak, S., 1997. EarthStructure - An Introduction to Structural Geology and Tectonics. WCB-McGraw-Hill, 495p.

Busch, J.P, Mezger, K., and van der Pluijm, B.A., 1997. Suturing and extensional reactivation in the Grenville Orogen, Canada. Geology, 25, 507-510. (72)

Mac Niocaill, C., van der Pluijm, B.A., and Van der Voo, R., 1997. Ordovician paleogeography and the evolution of the Iapetus Ocean. Geology, 25, 159-162. (74)

van der Pluijm, B.A., Craddock, J.P., Graham. B.R., and Harris, J.H., 1997. Paleostress in cratonic North America: implications for deformation of continental interiors. Science, 277, 794-796. (75)

Busch, J.P., and van der Pluijm, B.A., 1995. Calcite textures, microstructures and rheological properties of marble mylonites in the Bancroft shear zone, Ontario, Canada. J. Struct. Geol., 17, 677-688. (56)

Richter, C., and van der Pluijm, B.A., 1994. Separation of paramagnetic and ferrimagnetic susceptibilities using low-temperature magnetic susceptibilities and comparison with high field methods. Phys. Earth Planet. Inter., 82, 113-123. (52)

van der Pluijm, B.A., Mezger, K., Cosca, M.A., and Essene, E.J., 1994. Determining the significance of high-grade shear zones by using temperature-time paths, with examples from the Grenville Orogen. Geology, 22, 743-746. (55)

Mezger, K., Essene, E.J., van der Pluijm, B.A., and Halliday, A.N., 1993. U-Pb geochronology of the Grenville Orogen of Ontario and New York: constraints on ancient crustal tectonics. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., 114, 13-26. (45)

Housen, B.A. and van der Pluijm, B.A., 1991. Slaty cleavage development and magnetic anisotropy fabrics. J. Geoph. Res. (B), 96, 9937-9946. (31)

Mezger, K., van der Pluijm, B.A., Essene, E.J., and Halliday, A.N., 1991. Synorogenic collapse: a perspective from the middle crust, the Proterozoic Grenville orogen. Science, 254, 695-698. (34)

Reports and Websites

Integrated Solid Earth Sciences (ISES), 2002: http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/Ben/SES/index.html

San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) samples mini-workshop, 2004: http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/Ben/SAFOD/SAFOD_workshop_website.htm

GeoTraverse Concept mini-workshop, 2005: http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/Ben/geotraverse/GeoTraverse05.htm

GeoSwath workshops, 2007: http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/ben/geoswath/

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