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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:

Research

Our research focuses on determining the fundamental mechanisms of deformation in the upper crust. Major themes include special emphasis on the large-scale folding mechanisms, the role of large earthquakes as the quanta of upper crustal structural geology and field study of on regions of active deformation, such as the Tianshan of western China, southern California and Taiwan.

We survey young deforming strata in regions where we also have excellent control on deep subsurface structure from seismic images and field data to get an understanding of how structures grow incrementally on a geomorphic timescale and on the timescale of single large earthquakes, such as the classic M7.8 Chi-Chi thrust-belt earthquake in Taiwan. To help in this we have developed methods of imaging active faults in 3D using the thousands of small earthquakes that illuminate some faults. For example this allowed us to image for the first time the main detachment of the Taiwan mountain belt and thereby test theories of the large-scale structure and mechanics of this mountain belt and to understand why the San Andreas fault disappears in part of southern California.

At the same time we are developing new theories and techniques for analyzing the growth of active folds. Currently we are working on detachment folding (with examples from the Tianshan, Nankai Trough, offshore Oregon and Niger delta) and shear fault-bend folding (with examples from Nankai trough, Cascadia, western Taiwan and southern California). At a finer scale we are surveying and dating 'fold scarps' and fault scarps, which are often the locus of incremental surface deformation in large earthquakes, and developing theories of their progressively changing shapes which is giving a deep understanding of how large structures grow through the summation of many large earthquakes.

In addition to its focus on active fundamental processes in structural geology, our work has important applications to petroleum structural geology and earthquake hazard assessment.