Tom Rockwell - UCSB Distinguished Alumni 2007

Professor Tom Rockwell has been selected as the Distinguished Alumni for 2007 by the Department of Earth Science, University of California Santa Barbara. Tom recieved his Ph.D. from UCSB in 1983. Each year, the department of Earth Sciences selects two alumni, one from academia and the other from the public sector or industry, to join a select group of their most distinguished alumni. Tom has been here at SDSU for 24 years, his research focus has been split between general neotectonic studies and the more specialized subfield of paleoseismology. He has advised over two dozen Master and Undergraduate Students.

Robert McEuen, SDSU Geophysicist, Passes Away at 77

Robert B. McEuen

McEUEN, ROBERT B. Robert B. McEuen, age 77, of Denver, CO, formerly of San Diego, emeritus geophysics professor, SDSU, died March 8, 2007. He is survived by Cecily, his wife of 52 years; daughters, Mary (Ron Kenny) McEuen, Denver, CO, Rebecca (Jeffrey) Wilcox, Minneapolis, MN, Amy (Leon Hinz) McEuen, Springfield, IL; brother of Carol (Jack) Feeney, Long Beach, CA; a niece and nephew; eight grandchildren; and a grandnephew.

Memorials may be made to Parkinson Association of the Rockies, 1420 Ogden St., Ste. 201, Denver 80218 or Hospice of Metro Denver, 501 Cherry St., Ste. 700, Denver, 80246.

Published in the San Diego Union-Tribune on 3/18/2007.

SEMINAR - Tyrone Rooney

My current research concentrates on the Main Ethiopian Rift from the perspective of geochemical and petrographical variation in the central rift. This central zone is considered a key transition zone between the continental rifting to the south and seafloor spreading to the north. My research investigates key magmatic processes associated with this transitional rifting and evaluates geochemical data in an extensive geophysical framework. This synthesis of geochemical, petrographic and geophysical data at this important location is a primary objective of the EAGLE project that sponsors this work.

Abstract
The East African Rift system is the archetypal example of continental rupture and has global significance in understanding extensional plate tectonic processes. We concentrate on the central Main Ethiopian Rift, which lies between the thicker continental crust in Southern Ethiopia and the thin predominately basaltic crust of the Afar Depression. We utilize Quaternary basaltic lavas erupted in tectono-magmatic fault belts to probe the source of rift magmatism and establish a connection between deeper mantle processes ( e.g. mantle plumes) and continental rifting. This study has also focussed on the relationship between magmatic intrusion in the continental lithosphere and extension. These geochemical results are combined with geophysical studies to produce an integrated geodynamic model for the progression of continental rifting along the Main Ethiopian Rift and call into question the concept of a simple transition between continental rifts and sea floor spreading centers.

Tyrone's seminar title: "An integrated approach to continental breakup: insights from central Ethiopia "; Wednesday the 21st of March 2007