Professor Emeritus Richard H. Sibson
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BSc(Auck) MSc PhD DIC(Lond) FRS FGS FRSNZ
Email rick.sibson@otago.ac.nz
Awarded the University of Otago Distinguished Research Medal for 2003 |
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Research Interests
The focus of my research is on the structure and mechanics of crustal fault zones in relation to the shallow earthquake source, combining information from geological field studies of active and ancient exhumed fault zones with theoretical rock mechanics, the materials science of rock deformation, and seismologically derived information on earthquake processes. Conceptual models of fault zones established in this manner have helped to place shallow earthquakes in the general context of crustal mechanics and have emphasised that earthquakes, through their role in accommodating crustal displacement, are inescapably part of structural geology.
In recent years, a growing interest in the coupling of fluid flow to faulting has led to research into stress-controlled structural permeability, relationships between tectonics and crustal fluid redistribution, and the dynamic processes involved in the formation of fault-hosted hydrothermal mineral deposits.
- structure of crustal fault zones
- mechanics of the shallow earthquake source
- seismotectonics
- structural permeability and crustal fluid flow
- structural controls on fault-hosted mineralisation
Selected Recent Publications
- Sibson, R.H. 1996: Structural permeability of fluid-driven fault-fracture meshes. Journal of Structural Geology 18: 1031-1042.
- Sibson, R.H. & Scott, J. 1998: Stress/fault controls on the containment and release of overpressured fluids: examples from gold-quartz vein systems in Juneau, Alaska, Victoria, Australia, and Otago, New Zealand. Ore Geology Reviews 13, 293-306.
- Sibson, R.H. 1998: Brittle failure mode plots for compressional and extensional tectonic regimes. Journal of Structural Geology 20, 655-660.
- Sibson, R.H. & Xie, G. 1998: Dip range for intracontinental reverse fault ruptures: truth not stranger than friction? Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 88, 1014-1022.
- Sibson, R.H. 2000: Fluid involvement in normal faulting. Journal of Geodynamics 29, 469-499.
- Sibson, R.H. 2000: A brittle failure mode plot defining conditions for high-flux flow. Economic Geology 95, 41-48.
- Sibson, R.H. 2000: Tectonic controls on maximum sustainable overpressure: fluid redistribution from stress transitions. Journal of Geochemical Exploration 69-70, 471-475.
- Sibson, R.H. 2001: Seismogenic framework for hydrothermal transport and ore deposition. Reviews in Economic Geology 14, 25-50.
- Rowland, J.V., and Sibson, R.H. 2001: Extensional fault kinematics within the Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand: soft-linked segmentation of a continental rift system. New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics 44, 271-283.
- de Ronde, C.E.J., Sibson, R.H., Bray, C.J., and Faure, K. 2001: Fluid chemistry of veining associated with an ancient microearthquake swarm, Benmore Dam, New Zealand. Geological Society of America Bulletin 113, 1010-1024.
- Collettini, C. and Sibson, R.H. 2001: Normal faults, normal friction? Geology 29, 927-930.
- Sibson, R.H. 2002: Geology of the Crustal Earthquake Source, in International Handbook of Earthquake and Engineering Seismology - Part A, Lee, W.H.K., Kanamori, H., Jennings, P.C., & Kisslinger, C. (eds.), Academic Press, San Diego, pp. 455-473.
- Sibson, R.H. 2003: Brittle failure controls on maximum sustainable overpressure. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 87, 901-908.
- Sibson, R.H. and Rowland, J.V. 2003: Stress, fluid-pressure, and structural permeability in seismogenic crust, North Island, New Zealand. Geophys. J. Int. 154, 584-594.
- Sibson, R.H. 2003: Thickness of the seismic slip zone. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 93, 1169-1178.
- Sibson, R.H. 2004: Controls on maximum fluid overpressure defining conditions for mesozonal mineralisation: J. Struct. Geol. 26, 1127-1136.
- Sibson, R.H. 2004: Frictional mechanics of seismogenic thrust systems in the upper continental crust: implications for fluid overpressures and redistribution. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 82, 1-17.
- Rowland, J.V. and Sibson, R.H. 2004: Structural controls on hydrothermal flow in a segmented rift system, Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand. Geofluids 4, 259-283.
- Sibson, R.H. 2005: Earthquakes from fault rupture: the scientific impact of the 1855 Wairarapa earthquake. Proceedings of the 1855 Earthquake Symposium, Sept. 8-10, 2005, Te Papa, Wellington, p. 42-48.
Also See Publications
Postgraduate Student Supervision
Recent
- Virginia Toy - Mylonites and pseudotachylytes found adjacent to the central Alpine Fault. (PhD)
- Michael Begbie - Regional development of an extensional fault-fracture network in the mid-crust: The Glenorchy Vein Swarm, NW Otago, New Zealand. (PhD)
- Julie Rowland - Hydrothermal fluid redistribution in a magmatic continental rift: The Ruaumoko Rift System, Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand. (PhD)
- John Scott - Structural controls on fault hosted gold-quartz mineralisation in the Otago Schist. (PhD)