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Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

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Faculty Profile

Alexander RobinsonAlexander Robinson

Associate Professor of Geology, Structural Geology and Tectonics

Curriculum Vitae

Office: Science & Research 1, 315B (Office Hours: M | 1 – 2 PM)
Contact: acrobinson@uh.edu - 713-743-2547

Education: Ph.D., 2005, Geology, University of California Los Angeles

Google Scholar Profile
ResearchGate Profile

Accepting Graduate Students? Yes

My research interests are in understanding the tectonic evolution of orogenic belts and the deformational processes involved in their development. My approach to studying tectonics involves integrating field-based mapping and structural geology studies with various analytical techniques (40Ar/39Ar thermochronology, (U-Th)/Pb and Sm/Nd geochronology, metamorphic petrology) in order to understand the spatial and temporal distribution of deformation in mountain belts, and better determine the processes involved in their evolution. Currently, my research is focused on the tectonic evolution of the Pamir at the western end of the Himalayan-Tibetan orogenic belt.

Recent Meeting Abstracts

  • *Villarreal, Robinson, Worthington, Chapman, Carrapa, Oimahmadov, McDonald, Gadoev, 2017, Sedimentological Evidence For Early Mesozoic Crustal Suturing Of The Pamir. GSA Fall Meeting.
  • *Li, Robinson, Lapen, Righter, 2017, Metamorphic P-T-t Paths Record The Lower Crustal Reworking Of The Muztaghata Dome, Northeastern Pamir. GSA Fall Meeting.
  • *Villarreal, Robinson, Oimahmadov, McDonald, Carrapa, Gadoev, 2016, Assessing Pre-Cenozoic Shortening of the Southern Pamir. GSA Fall Meeting.
  • Chapman, Robinson, Carrapa, Kapp, Worthington, *Villarreal, Gadoev, Oimahmadov, 2016, Decoupled Upper and Lower Crustal Deformation Mechanisms in the Pamir Mountains: Implications for Lower Crustal Flow in Orogenic Plateaus. AGU Fall Meeting
  • Chen, Schoenbohm, Owen, Li, Yuan, Li, Robinson, Sobel, Caffee, 2016, Late Quaternary arc-parallel extension of the Kongur Extensional System (KES), Chinese Pamir. AGU Fall Meeting
  • *Imrecke, D.B., Robinson, A.C., 2015, Zircon U-Pb and Hf Isotopes Provide Insights into Triassic Magmatism in the Chinese Pamir. AGU Fall Meeting.
  • *Villarreal, D. Robinson, A.C., Oimahmadov, I., McDonald, B., Carrapa, B., Gadoev, M., 2015, Assessing Pre-Cenozoic Shortening of the Southern Pamir. AGU Fall Meeting.
  • Chapman, J.B., Robinson, A.C., Worthington, J., Carrapa, B., Kapp, P., Gadoev, M., Oimahmadov, I., 2015 Mesozoic Shortening And Syn-Tectonic Sedimentation In The Southern Pamir: Implications For Gneiss-Dome Metamorphism And Crustal Thickening. GSA Fall Meeting.
  • Robinson, A.C., Dustin Villarreal, Eric Bungee, 2014, Reassessing the Timing and Magnitude of Upper Crustal Shortening in the Pamir, DARIUS Symposium.
  • Hedrick, K., Owen, L.A., Chen, J., Robinson, A., Yuan, X., Yang, Z., Imrecke, D.B., Li, W., Caffee, M., Schoenbohm, L., 2017, Quaternary history and landscape evolution of a high-altitude intermountain basin, Waqia Valley, Chinese Pamir; Geomorphology, v. 284, p. 156-174.
  • Robinson, A.C., Owen, L. A., Chen, J., Schoenbohm, L. M., Hedrick, K. A., Blisniuk, K., Sharp, W. D., Imrecke, D. B., Li, W., Yuan, Z., Caffee, M. W., and Mertz-Kraus, R., 2015, No late Quaternary strike-slip motion along the northern Karakoram fault, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 409, no. 1, p. 290-298.
  • Robinson, A.C., 2015, Mesozoic tectonics of the Gondwanan terranes of the Pamir plateau, Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, v. 102, p. 170-179.
  • Raterman, N.S., Robinson, A.C., and Cowgill, E.S., 2014, Structure and detrital zircon geochronology of the Domar fold-thrust belt: Evidence of pre-Cenozoic crustal thickening of the western Tibetan Plateau, in Nie, J., Horton, B. K., and Hoke, G. D., eds., Toward an Improved Understanding of Uplift Mechanisms and the Elevation History of the Tibetan Plateau, Geological Society of America Special Paper 507, p. 89-114, doi:10.1130/2014.2507(05).
  • Sanchez, V.I., Murphy, M.A., Robinson, A.C., Lapen, T.J., Heizler, M.T., 2013, Tectonic evolution of the India-Asia suture zone since Middle Eocene time, Lopukangri area, south-central Tibet, Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, v. 62, p. 205-220
  • Robinson, A.C. , Ducea, M., Lapen, T.J., 2012, Detrital Zircon and Isotopic Constraints on the Tectonic Evolution and Crustal Architecture of the Northeastern Pamir, Tectonics, v. 31, 16 p.
  • Owen, L.A., Chen, J., Hedrick, K.A., Caffee, M.W., Robinson, A.C., Schoenbohm, L.M., Yuan, Z., Li, L., Imrecke, D.B., 2012, Quaternary glaciation of the Tashkurgan Valley, Southeast Pamir, Quaternary Science Reviews, v. 47, p. 56-72.
  • Robinson, A.C. , 2009, Geologic offsets across the northern Karakorum fault: Implications for its role and terrane correlations in the western Himalayan-Tibetan orogen, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 279, p. 123-130.
  • Robinson, A.C., Yin, A., Manning, C.E., Harrison, M.T., Zhang, S.-H., Wang, X.-F., 2007, Cenozoic evolution of the eastern Pamir region and implications for strain-accommodation mechanisms at the western end of the Himalayan-Tibetan orogen during the Indo-Asian collision, Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 119, p. 882-896.
  • Robinson, A.C., Yin, A., Manning, C.E., Harrison, M.T., Zhang, S.-H., Wang, X.-F., 2004, Tectonic evolution of the northeastern Pamir: Constraints from the northern portion of the Cenozoic Kongur Shan extensional system, western China, Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 116, p. 953-973.