Research

James (Jim) R. Garrison, Jr., Ph.D.

Education

• B.S. in Geological Sciences from The University of Texas at Austin

• Ph.D. in Geological Sciences from The University of Texas at Austin

• Post-doctoral Fellowship at The University of Tennessee at Knoxville

Current Research Interests

• The sequence stratigraphy of clastic shoreline systems

•  Understanding the effects of global sea level and climatic changes on coastal shoreline systems
  

• The development and evolution of incised-valley and estuarine systems

• The use of ichnology in paleoecological and paleoenvironmental interpretations of ancient shoreline systems

• The preservation potential of modern clastic shoreline depositional facies

• The ecology (neoichnology) of invertebrate burrowing and trace-making fauna along clastic shorelines

• The response of invertebrate burrowing and trace-making fauna to natural catastrophic events that commonly affect clastic shorelines

• The application of Ground-penetrating Radar (GPR) to the study of modern clastic shoreline systems 
  

Research Consortium

Quantitative Stratigraphy, Sedimentology, and Ichnology of Microtidal Shoreline Systems

Consortium Projects:

• An Analysis of the Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Ecology, and Evolution of North Padre Island, Padre Island National Seashore (Research Permit PAIS-2008-SCI-0002)

• The Neoichnology of the Micro-tidal Gulf Coast of Texas from Galveston Island to Port Isabel, Texas

• The Effects of Longshore Drift Induced Beach and Foredune Progradation on the Ecology of Invertebrate Burrowing and Trace-making Fauna, Packery Channel, North Padre Island, Texas

• The Role of Aeolian and Storm Depositional Processes on the Landward Progradation of North Padre Island into Laguna Madre, Texas

• The Preservation and Evolution of the Nueces Incised-valley Estuarine System, Nueces and Corpus Christi Bays, Texas

• A Comparison of the Ichnology of Incised-valley Deposits, Upper Ferron Sandstone Last Chance Delta, East-central Utah to the Neoichnology of the Nueces Incised Valley

• Atlas of Modern Micro-tidal Shoreline Depositional Systems of the Texas Gulf Coast

• An Analysis of the Sedimentology and Stratigraphy of Goliad and Oakville Formations, South Texas

• Laboratory Analysis of the Insitu Behavior of Burrowing and Trace-making Benthic Invertebrates
  

Non-Consortium Research

• An Analysis of the Sedimentology and Stratigraphy of The Upper Cambrian Deposits of the Llano Uplift, Central Texas

• The  Paleostratigraphy and Structural Evolution of the Protoliths of the Precambrian  Packsaddle  Schist, Llano Uplift, Central Texas

Student Projects

• Sara Smelley - The Effects of Longshore Drift Induced Beach and Foredune Progradation on the Ecology of Invertebrate Burrowing and Trace-making Fauna, Packery Channel, North Padre Island, Texas (Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi Marinez Scholar Program ) (Supervisor: Dr.  Garrison)

• Adam Barnard - The Role of Aeolian and Storm Depositional Processes on the Landward Progradation of North Padre Island into Laguna Madre, Texas (Directed Independent Study at Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi) (Supervisor: Dr.  Garrison)

• Bobby McCoy - The Preservation and Evolution of the Nueces Incised-valley Estuarine System, Nueces and Corpus Christi Bays, Texas (Directed Independent Study at Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi) (Supervisor: Dr.  Garrison)


• Amanda Baker -  The Sedimentology, Sequence Stratigraphy, and Structure of the Goliad, Willis, and Oakville Formations, South Texas: Implications for Subsurface Geologic Studies of Tertiary Coastal Plain and Shoreline Systems (M.S. Thesis at Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi) (Supervisor: Dr.  Garrison)

• Danielle Davis -  The Effects of  Salinity and Dissolved Oxygen on the Distribution and Abundance of Burrowing Invertebrates in Laguna Madre from Corpus Christi Bay to Baffin Bay (Directed  Independent Study at Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi) (Supervisor: Dr.  Garrison)

• Sara Potter Miller -  Vibracore Study of North Padre Island, Padre Island National Seashore (Directed  Independent Study at Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi) (Supervisor: Dr.  Garrison) (Research Permit PAIS-2008-SCI-0002)

• Rachael Creel -  An Analysis of the Sedimentology, Neoichnology, and Ecology of Padre Island National Seashore from Malaquite Beach to Bird Island Basin (Senior Thesis at the University of Texas at Dallas) (Supervisor: Dr.  Garrison) (Research  Permit PAIS-2006-SCI-0010)

• Russell Crouch - Sedimentology and Sequence Stratigraphy of the Goliad Formation, Goliad, Bee, Live Oak, Jim Wells, Duval, Nueces, San Patricio, Refugio, and Aransas Counties, Texas (Supervisor: Dr.  Garrison)

• Samantha Smith - Laboratory Analysis of Trace-making Benthic Invertebrates  (Supervisor: Dr.  Garrison)

• Josh Williams - Regional Sedimentological and Sequence Stratigraphic Study of the Frio Formation, Willacy County, Texas  (Supervisor: Dr.  Garrison)

• Lesley Byatt - Sedimentological Core Study of the Frio Formation, Willacy County, Texas  (Supervisor: Dr.  Garrison)

• Weiguo Li - Incised-valley Systems and Regional Sequence Stratigraphy of the Notom Delta, Henry Mountains Region, Utah (Ph.D. Dissertation at the University of Houston) (Outside Committee Member: Dr. Garrison)

• Yijie Zhu - Sequence Stratigraphy and Facies Architecture of the Cretaceous Ferron Notom Delta Complex, Central Utah, USA (Ph.D. Dissertation at the University of Houston) (Outside Committee Member: Dr. Garrison)

Recent Publications

Dr. Garrison's Bibliography

Return to Dr. Garrison's Home Page or  Research Consortium Page

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