Texas A&M University
Halbouty Rm 157
Department of Geology and Geophysics,
College Station, Texas 77843
Dr. Julie Newman
Ph.D., University of Rochester
My research is in the fields of structural geology and tectonics. My students and I carry out field, microstructural and experimental studies of crustal and upper mantle rocks to investigate the rheology, or strength and behavior, of the earth’s lithospheric layers. Currently, we are working on ultramafic rocks from mantle massifs in western Washington and New Zealand, and low-temperature thrust faults from the foreland of the southern Appalachians. We are also carrying out a combined experimental and field study of dolomite, comparing experimentally deformed dolomite with naturally deformed dolomite shear zones.
When studying rocks from different crustal and upper mantle environments, we investigate deformation processes, such as mechanisms of strain localization, the influence of fluid-rock interactions on deformation, and interactions between deformation and metamorphism. By combining field data and deformation microstructures with the geochemistry of deformed rocks, we can determine the conditions of deformation, including pressures, temperatures, stresses and strain-rates.
Some of the tools we use to carry out this work include fieldwork, optical microscopy and electron microscopy, including the electron microprobe and the scanning electron microscope with electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD).
- Davis, N.E., J. Newman, P. Wheelock, A.K. Kronenberg (2011) Grain growth kinetics of dolomite and magnesite. Physics and Chemistry of Minerals 38, 123-138, doi:10.1007/s00269-010-0389-9.
- Webber, C., J. Newman, C. Holyoke, T. Little, B. Tikoff (2010) Fabric development in cm-scale shear zones in ultramafic rocks, Red Hills, New Zealand. Tectonophysics 489, 55-75, doi: 10.1016/j.jsg.2010.06.001.
- Toy, V., J. Newman, W.M. Lamb, B. Tikoff (2010) Ultramafic ultramylonite resulting from a two-stage process of shear localization. Journal of Petrology 51, 55-80, doi: 10.93/petrology/egp059.
- Tikoff, B., Larson, C.E., Newman, J., Little, T. (2010) Field-based constraints on rheology of the lithospheric mantle, Twin Sisters, Washington. Lithosphere 2, 418-422, doi: 10.1130/L97.1.
- Newman, J., Drury, M.R. (2010) Control of shear zone location and thickness by initial grain size variations in upper mantle peridotites. Journal of Structural Geology, 32, 832-842, doi: 10.1016/j.jsg.2010.06.001.
- Carlson, R.L., D.J. Miller, J. Newman (2009) The olivine enigma: Why olivine content does not affect the seismic properties of oceanic gabbros. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 10, Q03O16, doi:10.1029/2008GC002263.
- Webber, C., T. Little, J. Newman, B. Tikoff (2008) Fabric superposition in upper mantle peridotite, Red Hills, New Zealand, Journal of Structural Geology, 30, 1412–1428.
- Davis, N.E., A.K. Kronenberg, and J. Newman (2008) Plasticity and diffusion creep of dolomite, Tectonophysics, 456, 127-146, doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2008.02.002.
- Dijkstra, A.H., M.R. Drury, J. Newman, H. van Roermund, R.L.M. Vissers, (2004) Development of shear zones in mantle rocks: Evidence from alpine and ophiolitic peridotite massifs. In: (ed. Alsop, G, Holdsworth, R., McCaffrey, K and Handy, M.) Geological Society of London, Special Publication 224. Flow Processes in Faults and Shear Zones.
- NSF-EAR, Collaborative Research: Effects of structural and compositional heterogeneity on upper mantle deformation and rheology. March 1, 2011-Feb. 28, 2014. Co-PI W. Lamb, Collaborative with B. Tikoff and S. Kruckenberg, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
- NSF-EAR-0911586, Experimental and Natural Deformation of Magnesian Carbonates, June 23, 2009 - June 22, 2013, $399,744, Co-PIs Dr. A.K. Kronenberg, Dr. C. Holyoke.