Deforming Rivers

Speaker - Sanjeev Gupta, Imperial College London

Entry to all lectures is free to all, but by ticket only. To obtain a ticket please contact Alys Hilbourne (see contact details below).

The meeting format for each lecture will be as follows:

17.30 Lecture begins
18.30 Short reception
19.30 Depart

Abstract

Ancient river deposits in rift basins are important hydrocarbon reservoirs and aquifers. The evolution of these rivers is strongly influenced by the basin-bounding fault systems. This lecture will explore how we can use ‘deforming’ rivers to understand the growth of fault systems, and conversely how the growth of faults systems influences the spatial distribution of river sediments. The talk will focus on our recent work on the interaction of rivers with a spectacular population of actively growing normal faults in the Canyonlands Graben in Utah, USA. Here we use the geomorphology of rivers cross-cutting fault systems together with cosmogenic isotope surface exposure dating techniques to understand how the fault population grows. We will then apply these and other recent results to understanding patterns of sediment dispersal in rift basins in general.

Speaker Biography

Sanjeev Gupta is a Reader in Sedimentology at Imperial College London and currently a Royal Society-Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellow. He is a geologist with broad interests in sedimentology, geomorphology and stratigraphy with the focus on understanding the large-scale factors influencing sedimentary systems. He studied for a BA and DPhil at Oxford University followed by postdoctoral appointments at Columbia University and Edinburgh University. His research interests include the role of active faulting on river systems, catastrophic flooding in the English Channel and on Mars, and the evolution of river systems and the Harappan civilisation in western India.