The overarching goal of my research is to decipher the processes that transport heat and mass at convergent tectonic plate boundaries (mountain belts, subduction zones), and how these processes affect and/or modulate the earth system. To do this, we (collaborators, students, myself) interrogate the geologic record of metamorphism in earth's lithosphere in both modern and ancient settings through the use and development of novel approaches to "reading" metamorphic rocks.
We use thermodynamic and geochemical approaches to quantify the depths, temperatures, paths (in pressure-temperature space), and timescales of metamorphism in the rock record. This information allows us to determine how metamorphic processes that occur deep within the lithosphere can modulate other, seemingly disparate parts of the Earth system. Some of the broad questions that we are attempting to answer include:
Can surficial processes influence metamorphism of the deep crust, and facilitate extremely rapid exhumation in mountain belts?
What role do metamorphic processes play in the generation of slow-slip earthquakes in subduction zones?
How does metamorphism modulate the thermal, rheological, and kinematic evolution of a subducting plate?
Do metamorphic rocks faithfully record their burial depths?
Did metamorphism of earth's early (Archean) continents occur due to modern plate-tectonic-like processes, or did a different style of tectonics operate in Earth's youth?
What are the tectonic and petrologic processes that lead to enrichment of critical minerals in earth's crust?
Research projects in our group usually involve some combination of field work, computational modeling, and analytical lab work using a variety of geochemical instrumentation both here at Amherst (Scanning Electron Microscope) and at collaborators' institutions (Electron Microprobe, Laser Ablation ICP-MS, Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometer). All of these projects involve close collaboration with geoscientists at other institutions.
Our research is funded by the Tectonics, Petrology and Geochemistry, and Geophysics Programs of the National Science Foundation, as well as Amherst College.
A full list of my publications is below. If you do not have access to any of these articles, please send me an email to request a PDF copy.
Are a student at Amherst College? Are you curious about metamorphic rocks and what they tell us about what happens in Earth's deep crust, many kilometers beneath the surface? Feel free to reach out to discuss potential research projects.
Published Journal Articles *denotes undergraduate student co-author
Lindquist, P., Condit, C.B., Hoover, W.F., Hernández-Uribe, D., and Guevara, V.E., 2023.Metasomatism and slow slip: talc production along the flat subduction plate interface beneath Mexico (Guerrero). Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems. Accepted.
Regan, S.P., Guevara, V.E., *Drauschak, T., Chiarenzelli, J.R., and Gaschnig, R.M. 2018. Geology of the Copper-Kiln Landslide: a glimpse into the Marcy massif detachment zone. New England Intercollegiate Geological Field Conference. p. B1-1-18
Couëslan, C.G. and Guevara, V.E., 2015. Preliminary results from bedrock mapping in the south and central Cauchon Lake area, eastern margin of the Pikwitonei granulite domain, central Manitoba (parts of NTS 63P7, 8); in Report of Activities, 2015, Manitoba Mineral Resources, Manitoba Geological Survey, p. 24-37.
Couëslan, C.G. and Guevara, V.E., 2015. Bedrock geology of the south and central Cauchon Lake area, central Manitoba (parts of NTS 63P7, 8); Manitoba Mineral Resources, Manitoba Geological Survey, Preliminary Map, scale 1:20,000
Guevara, Victor E., Chelsea B. Ward-Waller, and Julia A. Baldwin, 2012, Geologic Map of the Surveyors Ridge Area, Clearwater and Shoshone Counties, Idaho: Idaho Geological Survey Technical Report 12-7, scale 1:24,000 Lewis, R.S., Brewer, R.A., Jansen, A.C., Guevara, V.E., Vervoort, J.D., and Baldwin, J.A., 2011. Below the Belt: A Road Log of Archean and Paleoproterozoic Rocks in the Eastern Clearwater Complex, Idaho. Northwest Geology, 40, p. 143-158.