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Ronald B. Chase
Professor of Geology
Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology

0039 Rood Hall
Office Phone (269) 387-5500
FAX (269) 387-5513
ronald.chase@wmich.edu

Ph.D - University of Montana, 1968
M.A. - University of Montana, 1961
B.A. - DePauw University, 1958


Courses Taught

GEOS 3360 - Optical Mineralogy
GEOS 4400 - Petrology and Petrography

Field Geology in Michigan's Upper Peninsula
Field Geology in the northern Rocky Mountains
Field Geology in Colorado


A variety related to the content and presentation of geology in the K-12 classrooms.


Research

Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology

All of my research has evolved around displacements of materials and how they can be predicted or measured based on field data.In earlier days,I investigated the emplacement mechanisms for the northeastern sector of the Idaho batholith and how that emplacement affected the tectonic evolution of west-central Montana.This study involved field mapping in beautiful and rugged terrane, chemical and petrographic analyses,statistical structural analysis,and radiometric dating using U-Pb and Rb-Sr techniques.Funding came from three NSF Grants and two WMU Faculty Grants. I also studied for several years the effects of Precambrian basement-rock compositions and fabrics on the development of Mesozoic/Cenozoic, Rocky Mountain foreland folds.This study involved largely field investigations at a number of locations between Montana and New Mexico.Funding came from two NSF Grants.

Most recently, I am applying techniques of structural analysis and rock/soil mechanics to landslide problems. Current projects involve the application of new measuring and geometric reconstruction techniques,strength analysis of rocks and soil layers,and computer simulations of landslides and their structural evolution.Ongoing funding is from grants provided by the U.S.Army Research Office and the U.S.Army Corps of Engineers.


Ongoing Projects

Structural evolution of mass movements in Great Lakes coastal environments.
Development of slow slumps in ductile soils by processes of fault propagation folding.
Basement-rock controls on the structural evolution of the eastern Rocky Mountains
The relationships among igneous intrusion,fault movements,and crust-mantle evolution in the northern Rocky Mountains.



Recent Publications

Charey, T.L., Chase, R.B., and Schmidt, C.J., 2004 Precambrian influences on the development of the Royal Gorge arch, Colorado: A thick-skinned fault-propagation fold: The Mountain Geologist, Vol. 41, No. 1, p. 17-32.

Chase, R.B., and Kehew, A.E., 2003, Ground water and slope stabilitiy contributions in, Keillor, J.P., Living on the Coast: Protecting Investments in Shore Property on the Great Lakes, University of Wisconsin, Sea Grant Advisory Services, 49 pp.

Chase, R.B., Kehew, A.E., and Montgomery, W.W., 2001, Significance of ground water in triggering cohesive bluff failures, Lake Michigan case study: Proceedings of the Coastal Zone 01 Conference, NOAA, Cleveland, OH.

Chase, R.B., Kehew, A.E., and Montgomery, W.W., 2001, Determination of slope displacements and causes using geometric models and climate data: p. 57 - 87 in, Harmon, R.S., and Doe III, W.W., (eds), Landscape Erosion and Evolution Modeling: New York, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 540 pp.

Chase, R.B., Chase, K.E., Kehew, A.E., and Montgomery, W.W., 2001, Determining the kinematics of slope movements using low-cost monitoring and cross-section balancing: Environmental and Engineering Geoscience, v. VII, No. 2, p. 193 - 203.

 

   
   
   

Department of Geosciences
1187 Rood Hall
1903 West Michigan Ave
Kalamazoo, MI 49008
Phone: (269) 387-5485
Fax: (269) 387-5513
mohamed.sultan@wmich.edu

Any questions concerning the website should be directed to: johnson.haas@wmich.edu
©2007 Department of Geosciences, WMU