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Dr. Robert M. Reed

Robert Reed
Research Scientist Associate V
Telephone

I have always been interested in the small details without which there would be no “big picture.” My research is focused on the microstructures of rocks including pores, microfractures, cements and other diagenetic features. In pursuit of this, I am making extensive use of both the scanning electron microscope and the light microscope. Imaging techniques include cathodoluminescence, energy dispersive spectroscopic element mapping and secondary and backscattered electron imaging. Collaboration with colleagues emphasizes attempts to scale up my observations to larger areas; for example, attempting to correlate pore system studies with chemo- and lithostratigraphy. Much of my current research effort involves studies of mudrocks (shales) from a variety of locales. However, special interest is given to studies from within the state of Texas.

Research Interests

Microstructural analysis of deformed rocks

Cathodoluminescence of geological materials

Influence of microfracturing on the diagenesis of clastic rocks

Education

B.S Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, December 1985

M.S. Geology, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, February 1993

Ph.D. Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, August 1999

Professional History

Research Scientist Associate I, Center for Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 1999-2000

Research Scientist Associate I, Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, 1998-1999

Selected Publications

Reed, R. M., and Laubach, S. E., 2000, Crack-seal texture in quartz-lined, opening-mode fractures formed in quartz-rich sandstones: an example of interrelated structure and diagenesis (abs.): Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 32, no. 7, p. A229.

Reed, R. M., and Laubach, S. E., 1999, Fracturing and quartz cementation in sandstone compaction bands: preliminary results from cathodoluminescence studies (abs.): Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 31, no. 6, p. A87.

Reed, R. M., and Laubach, S. E., 1998, Density and distribution of microfractures in sandstones: importance to diagenesis (abs.): American Association of Petroleum Geologists Abstracts, CD-ROM, 542.PDF.

Reed, R. M., Roback, R. C. and Helper, M. A.,1998, Nature and age of ductile deformation associated with the "anorogenic" Town Mountain Granite, Llano Uplift, central Texas: Basement Tectonics 12, Central North America and other regions (abs.), in Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Basement Tectonics, p. 291.

Reed, R. M. and Laubach, S. E., 1996, The role of microfractures in the development of quartz overgrowth cements in sandstones: new evidence from cathodoluminescence studies (abs.): Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 28, no. 7, p. A280.

Awards

Outstanding Student Research Award, Geological Society of America, 1994

Graduate Student Petrography Award, Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin, 1992

National Merit Scholarship, The University of Texas at Austin, 1981


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