Suppe Home

John Suppe
Blair Professor of Geosciences Emeritus

Distinguished Chair Research Professor National Taiwan University

Department of Geosciences 
309 Guyot Hall 
Princeton University 
Princeton, NJ 08544

Department of Geosciences
National Taiwan University
No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road
Taipei 106, Taiwan

E-Mail:

Publications

Books and Monographs

1973    Geology of the Leech Lake Mountain - Ball Mountain Region, California:  A cross-section of the northeastern Franciscan belt and its tectonic implications:  Univ. Calif. Publ. Geol. Sci., v. 107, 120 pp.

1977    (with J. G. Liou, C. Y. Lan, and W. G. Ernst) The East Taiwan Ophiolite:  its occurrence, petrology, metamorphism, and tectonic setting:  Mining Research and Service Organization, Taipei, Special Paper, no. 1, 213 p.

1985    Principles of Structural Geology:  Prentice-Hall Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J.,
537 pp.

1985    (with N. B. Woodward and S. E. Boyer) An Outline of Balanced Cross-Sections:  Univ. Tenn. Dept. Geol. Sci., Studies in Geology no. 11, 2nd ed.,
170 pp.

1988    (with S.P. Clark, Jr. and B.C. Burchfiel), eds, Processes in  Continental Lithospheric Deformation: Geological Society of America  Special Paper 218, 212p.

2005    (with J. H. Shaw and C. D. Connors), editors, Seismic Interpretation of Contractional Fault-Related Folds. American Association of Petroleum Geologists, 156 pp.

2005    (with Dengfa He) Guidebook for fieldtrip in souh and north Tianshan foreland basin, Xinjiang Uygur Autonimous Region, China: International Conference on Theory and Application of Fault-Related Folding in Foreland Basins, 78 pp.

2007    Folding in the Upper Crust: Princeton University Press (in preparation).

2007    (with K. McClay and J. H. Shaw), editors, Thrust-Related Folding, American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir (in preparation).

Journal Articles and Chapters in Books

1969    Times of metamorphism in the Franciscan Terrain of northern Coast Ranges, California:  Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull., v. 80, p. 135-142.

1970    Relationship between low-angle faulting and metamorphism in Franciscan tectonics, California (Discussion Paper):  Geol. Soc. Amer. Abstr. w/Programs, p. 3253-3258.

1970    Offset of Late Mesozoic basement terrains by the San Andreas fault system:   Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull., v. 81, p. 3253-3258.

1972    (and R. L. Armstrong) Potassium-argon dating of Franciscan metamorphic rocks:  Amer. Jour. Sci., v. 272, p. 217-233.  (Reprinted in W. G. Ernst, ed., 1975, Subduction Zone Metamorphism, Benchmark Series, Dowden, Hutchinson and Ross).

1972    Interrelationships of high pressure metamorphism, deformation, and  sedimentation in Franciscan tectonics U.S.A.: XXIV International  Geological Congress, Montreal, Reports Section 3 (Tectonics),  p.552-559  (Reprinted in W. G. Ernst, ed., 1975, Subduction Zone Metamorphism, Benchmark Series, Dowden, Hutchinson and Ross).

1973    (with R. L. Armstrong) Potassium-argon geochronometry of Mesozoic igneous rocks in Nevada, Utah, and southern California:  Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull., v. 84, p. 1375-1392.

1973    (with C. Powell and R. Berry) Regional topography, seismicity, volcanism, and the present-day tectonics of the western United States:  Proceedings of the Conference on Tectonics Problems of the San Andreas Fault System, R. L. Kovach and A. Nur, eds., Stanford Univ. Publ., Geol. Sci., v. 13, p. 181-185.

1975    (with C. Powell and R. Berry) Regional topography, seismicity, volcanism, and the present-day tectonics of the western United States: American Journal of Science, vol. 275-A, p.397-436.

1976    (with Y. Wang, J. G. Liou and W. G. Ernst) Observation of some contacts between basement and Cenozoic cover in the Central Mountains, Taiwan:  Proc. Geol. Soc. China, V. 19, p. 59-70.

1976    Decollement folding in southwestern Taiwan: Petroleum Geology of  Taiwan, no.13, p.25-35.

1977    (with J. G. Liou and W. G. Ernst) Conglomerates and pebbly mudstones in the Lichi Melange:  Geol. Soc. China, Memoir 2, p. 115-128.

1977    (and C.Y. Lan, E.M. Hendel, and J.G. Liou) Paleogeographic  interpretation of red shales within the East Taiwan Ophiolite: Petroleum  Geology of Taiwan, no.14, p. 109-120.

1977    (with J. H. Wittke) Abnormal pore-fluid pressures in relation to stratigraphy and structure in the active fold-and-thrust belt of northwestern Taiwan:  Petroleum Geology of Taiwan, no.14, p. 11-24.

1978    Blueschist metamorphism:  McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Geological Sciences, McGraw-Hill, New York, p. 62-64.

1978    (with K. Foland) The Goat Mountain Schist and Pacific Ridge Complex:  A redeformed but still-intact late Mesozoic Franciscan schuppen complex, in Howell, D. and McDougall, K., eds., Mesozoic Paleogeography of the Western United States: Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists Pacific Section, Pacific Coast Paleogeography Symposium 2, p. 431-451.

1978    Cross section across southern part of northern Coast Ranges and Sacramento Valley, California:  (1:250,000 with map, gravity models, and 6 p. text), Geological Society of America, Map and Chart Series, MC-28B.

1979    Structural interpretation of the southern part of the northern Coast Ranges and Sacramento Valley, California:  Summary: Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull., Part I, v. 90, p. 327-330.

1979    (with J. G. Liou and C. Y. Lan) Field Trip Guide to East Taiwan Ophiolite:  Field Guidebook ROC-ROK Workshop on Regional Stratigraphical and Structural Studies, National Science Council, ROC, p. 13-21.

1979    (with J. G. Liou) Tectonics of the Lichi Melange and East Taiwan Ophiolite:  Geol. Soc. China, Memoir 3, p. 147-153.

1979    (with J. Namson) Fault-bend origin of frontal folds of the western Taiwan fold-and-thrust belt:  Petroleum Geology of Taiwan, no. 16, p. 1-18.

1980    A retrodeformable cross section of northern Taiwan:  Geol. Soc. China Proc., no. 23, p. 46-55.

1980    Imbricated structure of western foothills belt, southcentral Taiwan:  Petroleum Geology of Taiwan, no. 17, p. 1-26.

1981    (with B. M. Page) The Pliocene Lichi Melange of Taiwan: its olistostromal and plate-tectonic origin:  Amer. Jour. Sci., v. 281, p. 193-227.

1981    (with J. G. Liou and W. G. Ernst) Paleogeographic origins of the East Taiwan Ophiolite:  Amer. Jour. Sci., v. 281, p. 228- 246.

1981    Mechanics of mountain building and metamorphism in Taiwan: Geol. Soc. China Mem. 4, p. 67-89.

1981    (with Chi Wen-Rong and Jay Namson) Stratigraphic record of plate interactions in Coastal Range, eastern Taiwan:  Geol. Soc. China Mem. 4, p. 491-530.

1983    Geometry and kinematics of fault-bend folding:  Amer. Jour. Sci., v. 283, p. 684-721.  [Reprinted in Amer. Assoc. Petroleum Geol., Treatise of Petroleum Geology, Reprint Series no. 9, N.H. Foster and E.A. Beaumont, eds., Structural Concepts and Techniques II., p. 422-461, 1988]

1983    (with D. Davis and F. A. Dahlen) Mechanics of fold-and-thrust belts and accretionary wedges:  Journal of Geophysical Res., vol. 88, p. 1153-1172.  [Best Publication Award, Structural Geology and Tectonics Division, Geological Society of America, 1986]

1983    (and Y. L. Chang) Kink method applied to structural interpretation of seismic sections, western Taiwan:  Petroleum Geology of Taiwan, no. 19, p. 29-49.

1984    (with F. A. Dahlen and D. Davis) Mechanics of fold-and-thrust belts and accretionary wedges:  cohesive Coulomb theory: Journal of Geophysical Res., v. 89, p. 10087-10101.

1984    Seismic interpretation of compressively reactivated normal fault near Hsinchu, western Taiwan:  Petroleum Geology of Taiwan, no. 20, 85-96.

1984    Kinematics of arc-continent collision, flipping of subduction, and back-arc spreading near Taiwan:  Geological Society of China, Mem. 6, p. 21-33.

1985    (with Chi Wen-Rong) Tectonic implications of Miocene sediments of Lan-Hsu Island, northern Luzon arc:  Petroleum Geology of Taiwan, no. 21, p. 93-106.

1985    (and Hu Chao-Tsang and Chen Yu-Jy) Present-day stress directions in western Taiwan inferred from borehole elongation:  Petroleum Geology of Taiwan, no. 21, p. 1-12.

1986    Reactivated normal faults in the western Taiwan fold-and-thrust belt:  Geol. Soc. China Mem. no. 7, p. 187-200.

1986    (with W.L. Zhao, D. Davis, and F. A. Dahlen) The origin of convex accretionary wedges:  evidence from Barbados:  Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 91, p. 10246-10258.

1987    The Active Taiwan Mountain Belt:  Chapt. 15 in J. P. Schaer and J. Rodgers, eds., Anatomy of Mountain Chains:  Princeton University Press, p. 277-293.

1987    (with V. S. Mount) State of stress near the San Andreas fault: implications for wrench tectonics:  Geology, v.15, p.1143-1146.  [Reprinted in Amer. Assoc. Petroleum Geol., Treatise of Petroleum  Geology, Reprint Series no. 10, N.H. Foster and E.A. Beaumont, eds.,  Structural Concepts and Techniques II., p. 441-444, 1988]  

1987    (with M.D. Zoback, M.L. Zoback, V.S. Mount, J.P. Eaton, J.H. Healy, D. Oppenheimer, P. Reasenberg, L. Jones, C.B. Raleigh, I.G. Wong, O. Scotti, and C. Wentworth) New evidence on the state of stress of the San Andreas fault system: Science, v.238, p.1105-1111.

1988    (with F. A. Dahlen) Mechanics, growth and erosion of mountain belts: Geological Society of America Special Paper 218, p. 161-178.

1988    Tectonics of arc-continent collision on both sides of the South China Sea:  Taiwan and Mindoro: Acta Geologica Taiwanica, no.26, p. 1-18.

1989    (with H.B. Xiao) Role of compaction in the listric shape of growth normal faults: American Assoc. Petroleum Geol. Bull., v. 73, p. 777-786.

1990    (with R.E. Bischke and R. Del Pilar) A new branch of the Philippine fault system as observed from aeromagnetic and seismic data: Tectonophysics, v. 183, p. 243-264.

1990    (with V.S. Mount and S.C. Hook) A forward modeling strategy for balanced cross sections: Amer. Assoc. Petroleum Geol. Bull., v. 74, p. 521-531.

1990    (with R.E. Bischke) Calculating sandstone-shale ratios from growth normal fault dips on seismic profiles: Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies, v. 40, p. 39-50.

1990    (and D. A. Medwedeff) Geometry and kinematics of fault-propagation folding: Eclog. Geol. Helv., v. 83 (Laubscher vol.) p. 409-454.

1991    (with H.B. Xiao and F.A. Dahlen) Mechanics of extensional wedges and their relationship to compressional wedges: Jour. Geophys. Res., v. 96, p. 10,301-10,318..

1991    (and G. T.  Chou and S.P. Hook)  Rates of folding and faulting determined from growth strata: in K. R. McClay, ed., Thrust Tectonics:Chapman & Hall, London, p. 105-121.  [Best Publication Award, Structural Geology and Tectonics Division, Geological Society of America, 1996]

1991    (with J. Mosar) Role of shear in fault-propagation folding:  in K. R. McClay, ed., Thrust Tectonics: Chapman & Hall, London, p. 123-132.

1991    (with W. Narr) Joint spacing in sedimentary rocks: Journal of Structural Geology , v. 13, p. 1037-1048.

1992    (with H.B. Xiao) Origin of rollover: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 76, p. 509-529.

1992    (with V. S. Mount) Present-day stress orientations adjacent to active strike-slip faults: California and Sumatra: Journal of Geophysical Research, 97, 11,995-12,031.

1992    (and Chris Connors) Critical-taper wedge mechanics of fold-and-thrust belts on Venus: initial results from Magellan: Journal of Geophysical Research, 97, 13,545-13,561

1993    (with J. K. Crouch) Neogene tectonic evolution of the Los Angeles basin and inner borderland:  A model for core complex-like crustal extension.  Geol. Soc. America Bull. v. 105, p. 1415-1434.

1994    (with J. H. Shaw and S. C. Hook) Structural trend analysis by axial surface mapping. Amer. Assoc. Petroleum Geol. Bull., v. 78, p. 700-721.

1994    (with J. H. Shaw) Active faulting and growth folding in the eastern Santa Barbara Channel, California.  Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 106, p. 607-626.

1994    (with J. H. Shaw and R. E. Bischke) Relationships between folding and faulting in the Loma Prieta epicentral zone: Strike-slip fault-bend folding.  in NEHRP report to Congress, The Loma Prieta, California, Earthquake of October 17, 1989, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper  1550-F, p. 3-22.

1994    (with E. Novoa), Solving structures caused by wedging and imbrications: Example in the northeastern Santa Barbara Channel, California. Memorias del VII Congreso Venezolano de Geofisica, p. 478-485.

1994    (with W. Narr) Kinematics of basement-involved compressive structures: American Journal of Science, v. 294, p. 802-860.

1994    (with C. A. Williams, C. Connors, F. A. Dahlen, and E. J. Price) Effect of brittle-plastic transition on the topography of compressive mountain belts on Earth and Venus. Jour. Geophysical Res., 99, p. 19,947-19,974.

1994    (with M. Price) Mean age of rifting and volcanism on Venus deduced from impact crater densities. Nature, v. 372, p. 756-759.  (With cover photo and News & Views discussion p.729-730 by Jim Head).

1995    (with J. Dolan, Sieh, K., Rockwell, T. K., Yeats, R. S., Shaw, J., Huftile, G., and Gath, E.) Prospects for larger or more frequent earthquakes in the Los Angeles metropolitan region, California. Science, v. 267, p. 199-205.

1995    (with M. Price) Constraints on the resurfacing history of Venus from the hypsometry and distribution of volcanism, tectonism, and impact craters.  Earth Moon and Planets, v. 71, p. 99-145..

1996    (with J. H. Shaw) Earthquake hazards of active blind-thrust faults under the central Los Angeles basin, California.  Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 101, p. 8623–8642.

1996    (with M. Price, Watson, G., and Brankman, C.) Dating Venusian rifting and volcanism using impact crater densities.  Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 101, p. 4657–4671.

1997    (and F. Sabat, J. A. Muños, J. Poblet, E. Roca, and J. Verges) Bed-by-bed fold growth by kink-band migration: Sant Llorenç de Morunys, eastern Pyrenees.  Journal of Structural Geology, v. 19, 443-461.

1997    (with D. A. Medwedeff) Multibend fault-bend folding.  Journal of Structural Geology, v. 19, 279-292.

1997    (with K. Mueller) Growth of Wheeler Ridge anticline, California: Implications for short-term folding behavior during earthquakes.  Journal of Structural Geology , v. 19, 383-396.

1997    (with D. T. Sandwell, C. L. Johnson, and F. Bilotti)  Driving forces for limited tectonics on Venus.  Icarus, v. 129, 232-244.

1998    (with E. Novoa and V. Mount) Map-view interference of monoclinal folds.  Journal of Structural Geology, v. 20, 339-353.

1999    (with Frank Bilotti) The global distribution of Wrinkle Ridges on Venus.  Icarus, v. 139, 137-157

2000    (with Gregg Erickson and Stuart Hardy) Sequential restoration and unstraining of structural cross sections: applications to extensional . Bulletin American Association of Petroleum Geologists, v. 84, p. 234-249.

2000    (with E. Novoa and J. H. Shaw) Inclined-shear restoration of growth folds. Bulletin American Association of Petroleum Geologists, v. 84, p. 787-804.

2000    (with Delphine Rouby and Hongbin Xiao) Folding and faulting mechanism in 3D—Restoration of folded and faulted surfaces. Bulletin American Association of Petroleum Geologists, v. 84, p.805-829.

2001    (with Erickson, S. G., and Strayer, L. M.) Initiation and reactivation of faults during movement over a thrust-fault ramp: Numerical mechanical models. Journal of Structural Geology, v. 23, p. 11-23.

2001    (with Chris Connors) Constraints on magnitudes of extension on Venus from slope measurements. Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 106, 3237-3260.

2001    (with Erickson, S. G., and Strayer, L. M.) Mechanics of extension and inversion in the hanging walls of listric normal faults. Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 106, 26,655-26,670.

2002    (with L. M. Strayer) 3D mechanical modeling of thrust propagation : distinct-element method. Journal of Structural Geology, v. 24, p. 637-650.

2002    (with S. Carena) 3D imaging of active structures using earthquake aftershocks: the Northridge thrust. Journal of Structural Geology, v. 24, p. 887-904.

2002    (with S. Carena and H. Kao) The active detachment of Taiwan illuminated by small earthquakes and its control on first-order topography. Geology, v. 30, 935-938

2002    Exponential growth of geology, mathematics, and the physical sciences for the last two hundred years and prospects for the future. Journal of Nanjing University, v. 38, p. 76-86.

2004    (with S. Carena, and H. Kao) Lack of continuity of the San Andreas fault in southern California: Three-dimensional fault models and earthquake scenarios. Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 109, B04313, 17 pp.

2004    Essay Review of John Rodgers “The Company I Kept.”  American Journal of Science, v. 304, p. 285-286.

2004    (with Erickson, S. G., and  Strayer, L. M.) Numerical modeling of hinge-zone migration in fault-bend folds. . In McClay, K. ed., “Thrust Tectonics and Hydrocarbon Systems” American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 82, p. 438-452.

2004    (with L. M. Strayer and S. G. Erickson)  Influence of growth strata on the evolution of fault-related folds: Distinct-element models. . In McClay, K. ed., “Thrust Tectonics and Hydrocarbon Systems” American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 82, p. 413-437.

2004    (and Chris Connors and Yikun Zhang) Shear fault-bend folding. In McClay, K. ed., “Thrust Tectonics and Hydrocarbon Systems” American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 82, p. 303-323.

2005    (with A. Hubert-Ferrari, X. Wang and C. Jia) The Yakeng detachment fold, China. In  J. Shaw, C. Connors, J. Suppe, editors, Seismic Interpretation of Contractional Fault-Related Folds. American Association of Petroleum Geologists, p. 110-113.

2005    (with J. H. Shaw and S. C. Hook) Pitas Point anticline, California, USA. In  J. Shaw, C. Connors, J. Suppe, editors, Seismic Interpretation of Contractional Fault-Related Folds. American Association of Petroleum Geologists, p. 60-62.

2005    (with J. H. Shaw and C. D. Connors) Part 1: Structural Interpretation Methods. In  J. Shaw, C. Connors, J. Suppe, editors, Seismic Interpretation of Contractional Fault-Related Folds. American Association of Petroleum Geologists, p. 1-58.

2005    (with F. Corredor and J. H. Shaw) Shear fault-bend fold, deep water Niger Delta. In  J. Shaw, C. Connors, J. Suppe, editors, Seismic Interpretation of Contractional Fault-Related Folds. American Association of Petroleum Geologists, p. 87-92.

2005    (with A. Hubert-Ferrari and Jerome Van Der Woerd) Irregular earthquake cycle along the southern Tianshan front, Aksu area, China.  Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 110, B06402, doi:10.1029/2003JB002603.

2005    (with Li-Fan Yue and Jih-Hao Hung) Structural geology of a classic thrust belt earthquake: the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake Taiwan (Mw7.6).  Journal of Structural Geology, v. 27, 2058-2083.

2006    (with Kauan-Yin Lai,Yue-Gau Chen, Jih-Hao Hung and Ya-Wen Chen) Fault geometry related surface deformation of an active fault: evidence from geomorphic features and coseismic slip. Quaternary International, v. 147, 44-54.

2006    (with Ramon Gonzalez-Mieres) Relief and shortening in detachment folds.  Journal of Structural Geology, v. 28, 1785-1807.

2007    (with A. Hubert-Ferrari, Ramon Gonzalez-Mieres, X. Wang) Mechanisms of active folding of the landscape (Southern Tianshan, China).  Journal of Geophysical Research. v. 112, B03S09, doi:10.1029/2006JB004362, 39 pp.

2007    (with Yue-Gau Chen, Kuang-Yin Lai, Yuan-Hsi Lee, John Suppe, Wen-Shan Chen, Yu-Nung N. Lin, Yu Wang, Jih-Hao Hung) Coseismic fold scarps and their kinematic behavior in the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake Taiwan.  Journal of Geophysical Research v. 112, B03S02, doi:10.1029/2006JB004388, 15 pp.

2007    Absolute fault and crustal strength from wedge tapers. Geology v. 35, 1127-1130, doi: 10.1130/G24053A.1.

2006    Mass balance and thrusting in detachment folds. (In K. McClay, J. H. Shaw and J. Suppe, editors) Thrust-Related Folding, American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir (submitted).

2006    (with Ramon Gonzalez-Mieres) Shortening histories of active detachment folds. (In K. McClay, J. H. Shaw and J. Suppe, editors) Thrust-Related Folding, American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir (submitted).

2006    (with Li-Fan Yue and Jih-Hao Hung)  Two contrasting kinematic styles of active folding above thrust ramps, western Taiwan. (In K. McClay, J. H. Shaw and J. Suppe, editors) Thrust-Related Folding, American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir (submitted).

2006    (with X. Wang, A. Hubert-Ferrari, and C. Jia)  Structure of the Cenozoic Quche fold belt, China. (In K. McClay, J. H. Shaw and J. Suppe, editors) Thrust-Related Folding, American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir (submitted).

In preparation:
2007    Folding in the Upper Crust.  Princeton University Press (book in preparation)

2007    (with Li-Fan Yue) Pore-fluid pressure and active faulting in the western Taiwan thrust belt. Journal of Geophysical Research (in preparation).

2007    (with A. Hubert-Ferrari, X. Wang, H. Xie, Q. Li, and C. Jia) Structure and Record of Growth of the Kuche Fold-and-Thrust Belt, Southern Tianshan, China. Tectonics (in preparation).