Research in Geology and Geochronology

Current research in geology is aimed at such varied topics as understanding the geological evolution of the Panama Isthmus; characterizing its relationship with North American and Central American terrains during the Cenozoic; how sedimentation responded to sea-level change, volcanism, deformation and climatic change; and what major mechanisms were driving crustal extension, subduction and magmatic processes before, during and after the Panama Isthmus uplift.

In a broad scale, we are pursuing a better understanding of the origin and evolution of the Cenozoic Panama Canal Basin and its relationships with the western Caribbean and the Pacific.

Much of the work is collaborative, involving different geological sciences as such as: U/Pb and Ar/Ar geochronology, sedimentology, stratigraphy, chemostartigraphy, magnetostratigraphy, geochemistry and thermochronology with emphasis on the stratigraphy of the main fossiliferous sequences.

Primary Research Contacts

Dr. Camilo Montes | STRI
Email

Dr. David Foster | UF Geological Sciences
Email

Dr. David Farris | FSU Geological Sciences
Email