Professor Walter S. Snyder

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Stratigraphy, sedimentology, sequence stratigraphy, structure of sedimentary successions, tectonics.

CURRENT PROJECTS

Russia and the Former Soviet Union:

Continued research in the Ural Mountains/Pre-Uralian Foredeep of Russia and Kazakhstan. This includes the development of a GIS database on the stratigraphy, structure and biostratigraphy of the region. Overall interest in better understanding the Permo-Carboniferous Uralian orogeny, its basins and deformation with respect to the development of Pangaea. A major effort is to use detailed biostratigraphy, including graphic correlation, to date and correlate the apparent sequence stratigraphy. Implications for international petroleum exploration and production.

Nevada-Idaho Paleozoic:

Continued research on the Upper Paleozoic stratigraphy and structure of Nevada, including the Roberts Mountains allochthon, Golconda allochthon, and the basins of the Antler foreland. Directly impacts understanding of the classic Antler and Sonoma orogenies, and a growing data set clearly documenting that the continental margin between these two orogenies was tectonically active and not quiescent as is generally believed. This project is also part of our GIS data base on Perm-Carboniferous of northern Pangaea. Implications for petroleum exploration and ore deposits within Nevada.

Southwest Idaho:

This research broadly focuses on the late Miocene to Recent stratigraphy, structure, and sedimentology of Southwest Idaho, particularly that of the immediate Boise area. To date, this has mostly been "background" research. Potential new research could focus on using the sedimentary rocks of the Boise Foothills as an actualistic model for understanding Boise’s groundwater aquifer. Perhaps more importantly, the sedimentologic characteristics of these sediments control contaminant migration - a growing concern for Southwest Idaho. It is also an excellent model for documenting a lacustrine sequence stratigraphy and attempting to explain these changes in terms of late Miocene-Pliocene tectonics and climate changes.