Professor

Teaching and Research

I am a field-based geologist with research interests in large-scale tectonic problems that are addressed through collaborative research and process-related studies. In addition to structural geology and petrology, one of my main tools is radiometric dating of rocks and minerals to quantify absolute timing of events and rates of processes. I direct the 40Ar/39Ar geochronology laboratory here at UVM. My students and I integrate observations over a large range of scales from microstructures to regional geological and geophysical data sets, and employ a suite of methodologies to evaluate pressure-temperature-time-deformation (P-T-t-D) histories and the 4D evolution of rocks and regions.

I teach courses in geochronology, petrology, microstructural analysis, tectonics, and medical geology. In the classroom and in practice, my students and I integrate analytical data with observations made at microscopic to continental scales to try and understand how rocks and regions evolve in space and time and the tectonic processes that shape them. We also explore the connections between geology and human health, and consider issues related to sustainability and environmental justice.

 

Syllabi:

GEOL 1055: Earth Through Time (PDF)(Fall 2023)

Publications

Recent Publications

Tam, E., Webb, L.E., Aiken, C., Kim, J., and Klepeis, K., accepted manuscript. Formation of the Green Mountain Anticlinorium in northern Vermont at ca. 420 Ma. Memoir—Geological Society of America: Laurentia: An Evolving Continent.

Brombin, V., Pettitt, E. A., Fahnestock, M. F., Casalini, M., Webb, L. E., Bryce, J. G., and Bianchini, G., 2021. New geochemical and geochronological data on the Cenozoic Veneto Volcanic Province: Geodynamic inferences. Lithos, doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2021.106507.

Caswell, B., Gilotti, J.A., Webb, L.E., McClelland, W.C., Kośmińska, K., Piepjohn, K., and von Gosen, W., 2021. 40Ar/39Ar Dating of Paleoproterozoic shear zones in the Ellesmere-Devon Crystalline Terrane, Nunavut, Canadian Arctic, Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, v. 58, no. 10, p. 1073-1084. DOI 10.1139/cjes-2020-0197.

Boemmels, J.R., Crespi, J.M., Webb, L.E., and Fosdick, J.C., 2021. 40Ar/39Ar and LA-ICP-MS U-Pb geochronology for the New England portion of the Early Cretaceous New England-Quebec igneous province: Implications of the postrift evolution of the eastern North American margin. American Journal of Science, v. 321, p. 365-391. DOI 10.2475/03.2021.03.

Locmelis, M., Moroni, M., Denyszyn, S., Webb, L., Fiorentini, M., Sessa, G., Caruso, S., Mathur, R., Nanzad, B., 2020. On the formation of magmatic sulfide systems in the lower crust by long-lived mass transfer through the lithosphere: Insights from the Valmaggia pipe, Ivrea Verbano Zone, Italy. Terra Nova. DOI: 10.1111/ter.12499.

Selected Publications

Klepeis, K.A., Webb, L.E., Blatchford, H.J., Jongens, R., Turnbull, R., and Schwartz, J.J., 2019, The age and origin of Miocene–Pliocene fault reactivations in the upper plate of an incipient subduction zone, Puysegur Margin, New Zealand. Tectonics, v. 38, doi.org/10.1029/2019TC005674.

Klepeis, K.A., Webb, L.E., Blatchford, H., Schwartz, J., Jongens, R., Turnbull, R., and Stowell, H., 2019, Deep slab collision during Miocene subduction causes uplift along crustal-scale reverse faults in Fiordland, New Zealand. GSA Today, v. 29. doi.org/10.1130/GSATG399A.1.

Webb, L.E., and Klepeis, K.A., 2019, 40Ar/39Ar constraints on the Tectonic evolution of the Late Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic accretionary complex of coastal Central Chile. Book chapter in Horton, B., and Folguera, A. eds. Andean Tectonics; Elsevier.

Webb, L.E., Baldwin, S.L. and Fitzgerald, P.G., 2014, The Early–Middle Miocene subduction complex of the Louisiade Archipelago, southern margin of the Woodlark Rift. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, doi: 10.1002/2014GC005500.

Ashley, K.T., Webb, L.E., Spear, F.S., and Thomas, J.B., 2013, P-T-D histories from quartz: A case study of the application of the TitaniQ thermobarometer to progressive fabric development in metapelites, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, v. 14, doi: 10.1002/ggge.20237.

Webb, L.E., Johnson, C.L., and Minjin, C., 2010, Late Triassic sinistral shear in the East Gobi Fault Zone, Mongolia, Tectonophysics, v. 495, p. 246-255, doi: 10.1016/j.tecto.2010.09.033.

Webb, L.E., Baldwin, S.L., Little, T.A., and Fitzgerald, P.G., 2008, Can microplate rotation drive subduction inversion? Geology, v. 36, p. 823–826.

 

Portrait of Laura, smiling on a sunny day on UVM Green

Areas of Expertise and/or Research

Tectonics, geochronology, petrology, microstructure, medical geology.

Education

  • BS in Geology, University of California, Los Angeles, 1994.
  • PhD in Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, 1999.
  • 40Ar/39Ar Laboratory Manager, Department of Mineralogy, University of Geneva, Switzerland, 1999–2000.
  • Syracuse University Noble Gas Isotopic Research Laboratory Manager, Department of Earth Sciences, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, 2000–2008.
  • Research Assistant Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, June 2004–2008.

CV

PDF icon Laura Webb CV 9-2022(PDF).pdf

Contact

Email:

Laura.Webb@uvm.edu

Phone:
  • (802) 656--8136
Office Location:

Delehanty Hall, Room 217

Website(s):
  1. Laura's website