Geosciences Department - The University of Montana

Then, now, and in between:

Steven D. Sheriff
Professor
Geosciences Department
University of Montana
email: Steven.Sheriff@umontana.edu
Office: 406-243-6560
Fax: 406-243-4028

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

9/94 - present, Professor, Geosciences Department, University of Montana
9/91 - 2007, Chairman, Geosciences Department, University of Montana.
7/90-12/90 Senior Lecturer, Geophysics; Physics Department, University of Papua New Guinea.
9/87-8/94 Associate Professor, Geology Department, University of Montana.
9/83-9/87 Assistant Professor, Geology Department, University of Montana.
9/81-9/87 Director of UM Earthquake Research Lab.
9/8l-6/83 Visiting Assistant Professor.
5/80-6/8l Geophysicist, Geopotential Inc., Golden, Colorado. Gravity and magnetic interpretation, development of forward and inverse gravity/magnetic software.
Courses taught on a (more or less) regular basis
Geology 350 - Computation and Computers in Geology (hibernating)
Geology 437 - Seismology and Magnetics
Geology 438 - Gravity and Electromagnetics
Geology 438 used to be (pre-2002) Environmental Geophysics now replaced with 437/438
Geoscience 495 - (Spring 2008) Subsurface Imaging for Archaeology
Geoscience 495 - (Spring 2008) Applied Magnetics
Geology 554 - Paleomagnetism (on demand)
Geology 555 - Structure of the Crust
Geology 582 - Advanced Gravity and Magnetism (hibernating)
Geology 595 - Geophysical Characterization of the Shallow Subsurface

FREE SOFTWARE and random contributions from Excel, Mathcad, etc.

GRADUATE STUDENTS PRESENT and PAST

John Spritzer, GIS manipulation and modeling of gravity and magnetic data for the Bitterroot Valley, Montana, in progress.
Frank Janiszewski, A reflection seismology test of gravity inverstions for depth to bedrock in the East Missoula area, M.S. 2007.
NATHAN HARRISON, Gravity, Radar And Seismic Investigations To Help Determine Geologic, Hydrologic, And Biologic Relations In The Nyack Valley, Northwestern Montana, M.S., 2004.
JEREMY STALKER, Seismic And Gravity Investigation Of Sediment Depth, Bedrock Topography, And Faulting In The Tertiary Drummond-Hall Basin, Western Montana, M.S., 2004.
NOEL, PHILLIP, Ground Penetrating Radar and Seismic Refraction as Tools to Characterize Shallow Subsurface Conditions on Tongass National Forest, Alaska, M.S., 2004.
CHRIS HAWKINS, Imaging the Shallow Subsurface Using Ground Penetrating Radar at the Nyack Floodplain, Montana. M.S. 2003
DAVID NYQUEST, A Bedrock Model Of The Hellgate Canyon And Bandmann Flats Area, Montana Through Constrained Inversion Of Gravity Data. M.S. 2001
DIANE S. FRIEND, Flexural Rigidity of the Northern Rocky Mountains: Relationship to Crustal Domains and Deformational Style. M.S. 2000
BRIAN PRIEST, Structural and Paleomagnetic Study of Thrust Rotation of a Late Cretaceous Sill, Gibson Reservoir, Bob Marshall Wilderness, Montana. M.S. 2000
CATHERINE EVANS, A Constrained Gravity Model of the Central Missoula Valley and Shape of the Ninemile Fault. M.S. 1997
KELLY BRUNT, Paleomagnetic Investigation of the Lower Cretaceous Kootenai Formation, Western Montana. M.S. 1997
JOSH DISTLER, Paleomagnetic and Structural Analyses of the Wallowa Terrane, Northeast Oregon and West-central Idaho: a Re-evaluation of The Salmon River Suture Zone. M.S. 1997
CATHY BAXTER (ex-Gaskin), Crustal structure of the Northern Rocky Mountains based on gravity interpretation. M.S. 1994
ARTHUR JOLLY, Thrust Sheet Rotation Along the Rocky Mountain Front, West-Central Montana. M.S. 1991
TED DOUGHTY, Paleomagnetism of Eocene Dikes from the Bitterroot Metamorphic Core Complex: Clockwise Crustal Rotation During Tertiary Evolution. M.S. 1990.
KEN WELLS, Digital Filtering and Modeling of the Gravity Field of the Bitterroot Valley, western Montana. M.S. 1989.
JAY GUNDERSON, Paleomagnetism of the Late Cretaceous-Paleocene Adel Mountain Volcanics, west central Montana. M.S. 1989.
WILLIAM CLEMENT, Crustal Structure of Northwestern Montana Using Seismic Refraction Techniques, M.S. 1986
GARRY CARLSON, Crustal Structure within Southwestern Montana and Adjacent Northestern Idaho: A Seismic Refraction Study, M.S. 1986
DAVID HARRIS, Crustal Structure of Northwestern Montana, M.S. 1985
ANDY SNYDER, Gravity and Structural Study of the Skalkaho Intrusives, M.S. 1984.

RECENT ABSTRACTS

J. C. Stalker and S. D. Sheriff, 2004, Seismic And Gravity Investigation Of Sediment Depth, Bedrock Topography, And Faulting In The Tertiary Drummond-Hall Basin, Western Montana, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 36, No. 4, p. 36.
N. E. Harrison and S. D. Sheriff, 2004, Gravity, Radar And Seismic Investigations To Help Determine Geologic, Hydrologic, And Biologic Relations In The Nyack Valley, Northwestern Montana, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 36, No. 4, p. 32.
C.R. Hawkins and S. D. Sheriff, 2003, Preliminary GPR investigation of an Intermontane Floodplain, Northwestern Montana, 2003 INRA Subsurface Science Symposium, October 5-8, INRA 2003 CD.
N. S. Philip, S. D. Sheriff, and R. A. Gubernick, 2004, Ground Penetrating Radar And Seismic Refraction As Tools For Characterizing Aquifer Properties In Recently Active Glacial Moraine Settings, Tongass National Forest, Alaska. USDA Forest Service Remote Sensing Applications Conference, Programs with Abstracts, p. 48.
C.R. Hawkins and S. D. Sheriff, 2003, Shallow Subsurface Imaging with Ground Penetrating Radar of the Nyack Floodplain, Montana, Geological Society of America, abstracts with programs, V.35, #6 Abstract 123-8.
S.D. Sheriff, 2001, Mapping the Western Idaho Suture Zone Using Free Air Gravity and Topography, Eos Transactions of the American Geophysical union, v. 82(#47), Fall Meeting Supplement, Abstract T31E-09, 2001.
K. M. Brunt and S.D. Sheriff, 2000, Counterclockwise and clockwise rotations of the Lower Cretaceous Kootenai Formation in the Montana Thrust Belt, Geological Society of America, abstracts with programs, V. 32, #5, p. A-4.
C. A. King and S.D. Sheriff, 2000, A constrained gravity model of the Central Missoula Valley and shape of the Ninemile Fault, Western Montana, Geological Society of America, abstracts with programs, V. 32, #5, p. A-14.
B. M. Priest, S. D. Sheriff, and J. W. Sears, 2000, Structural and paleomagnetic study of thrust rotation of a Late Cretaceous trachyandesite sill near Gibson Reservoir, Montana, Geological Society of America, abstracts with programs, V. 32, #5, p. A-36.
C.L. Gaskin and S.D. Sheriff, 1994, Crustal structure of the Northern Rocky Mountains based on interpretation of gravity data, Geological Society of America, abstracts with programs, v. 26, #7, p. A-193.
S.S. Harlan, H. Mehnert, L.W. Snee, S.D. Sheriff, R.G. Schmidt, 1991, New 40Ar/39Ar isotopic dates from the Adel Mountain Volcanics: Implications for the relationship between deformation and magmatism in the Montana disturbed belt, western Montana. Geological Society of America, abstracts with programs, v. 23, #5, p. 136.
A.D. Jolly, S.D. Sheriff, and J.W. Sears, 1991, Paleomagnetic evidence for thrust sheet rotation along the Rocky Mountain front, west central Montana. Geological Society of America, abstracts with programs, v. 23, #4, p. 36.
P.T. Doughty and S.D. Sheriff, 1990, Evidence for Eocene en echelon extension and Crustal Rotation in Western Montana and Idaho. EOS transactions of the American Geophysical Union, V. 71, #43, p. 1293.
J.F. Diehl, C.A. Chesner, and S.D. Sheriff, 1989, The Elkhorns Mountains Revisited. EOS transactions of the American Geophysical Union, V. 70, #43, p. 1067.
T. Doughty and S.D. Sheriff, 1989, Tertiary tectonic rotations in western Montana. Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 21, #6, p. A322.

SOME PUBLICATIONS, COMMERCIAL/EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE and UNPUBLISHED REPORTS

Harlan, S. S., L. W. Snee, M.W. Reynolds, H. H. Mehnert, R.G. Schmidt, S. D. Sheriff, and A, Irving, 2005, 40Ar/39Ar and K-Ar Geochronology of the Late Cretaceous Adel Mountain Volcanics and Spatially Associated Igneous Rocks, Northwestern Montana, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1696, posted August, 2005. How's that for way down the author stream!
S. D. Sheriff, 1997, Preliminary Environmental Site Assessment, Clark International Air Field, Luzon, Philippines. Submitted to Clark Development Corporation, Angeles City, Philippines, 20 p.
S.D. Sheriff, 1997, GRAVCADW: Beta release of MS-Windows program. New features include generalized inversion and full windows graphics/mouse capabilities. GRADIENT Geology and Geophysics, Missoula, MT.
S.D. Sheriff, 1996, PFDRIVER: MS-Windows program to translate/convert files among USGS potential field format, NOAA data format, DMA format, and Surfer format.
A.D. Jolly and S.D. Sheriff, 1992, Paleomagnetic study of thrust sheet motion along the Rocky Mountain front in Montana. Geological Society of America Bulletin, V. 104, 779-785.
P.T. Doughty and S.D. Sheriff, 1992, Paleomagnetic evidence for en echelon crustal extension and crustal rotations in western Montana and Idaho. Tectonics, V. 11, #3, 663-671.
S.D. Sheriff, 1992, Spreadsheet modeling of electrical sounding experiments. Ground Water, v 30 #6, 971-974
S.D. Sheriff, 1990-1992, SOUNDER, MAGCAD, GRAVCAD, DIG&FILT, GMFILTER, interactive educational/commercial geophysical modeling programs that won first place nationally in the education division of Zenith Data System's 1992 Master's of Innovation competition for creative applications in personal computing. Publisher: Gradient Geology and Geophysics, Missoula, Montana.
J.A. Gunderson and S.D. Sheriff, 1991, A new Late Cretaceous Paleomagnetic Pole from the Adel Mountains, West Central Montana. Journal of Geophysical Research, V. 96, B1, 317-326.
P.T. Doughty, S.D. Sheriff, and J.W. Sears, 1990, Accommodation of en echelon Clockwise Rotation of the Sapphire Tectonic Block. Western Montana and Idaho, Tobacco Root Geological Society, Proceedings 15th annual field conference, p. 89-93.
S.D. Sheriff and J.A. Gunderson, 1990, Age of the Adel Mountain Volcanic Field, West-central Montana. Isochron West, #56, 21-24.
S.D. Sheriff, 1989, Paleomagnetism of the Oligocene Hog Heaven volcanic field, Montana: Difficulties in averaging paleosecular variation in volcanic fields. Geophysical Research Letters, V 16, #12, 1359-1362.

RESEARCH GRANTS

Structural Geometry of the Centennial Normal Fault and Centennial Valley: Earthquake Hazards and Environmental Evolution. David R. Lageson, Co-PI MSU-UM Collaborative Research Grant From the State Competitive Grants Program (SCGP); May 2001 - $40,000.
Biocomplexity – Dynamic Controls on Emergent Properties of River Flood Plains, with Bill Woessner, Jack Stanford and a cast of six others at the Flathead Lake Biological Station, I am a bit-player, involved with basin characterization, National Science Foundation, Fall 2001 – Spring 2006, $2,200,000 final budget (we think).
Petroleum Reservoir Characterization II; Continuation. U.S. Department of Energy, (9/30/95 - 8/29/97). With colleagues at UM (Ray Ford, Marc Hendrix), Montana Tech (C. Wideman, K. Porter, T. Ahmed) and Montana State University (D. Lageson). $260,019.
Tools for teaching undergraduate geophysics in the field and lab. National Science Foundation, (9/1/93 - 6/1/96), $50,875.
Petroleum Reservoir Characterization. U.S. Department of Energy, (9/30/93 - 9/29/95). With colleagues at UM (Ray Ford), Montana Tech (C. Wideman, K. Porter, T. Ahmed) and Montana State University (D. Lageson). $357,873.
Paleomagnetic Investigation of Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary Volcanic Rocks: Joint Research at the University of Montana and Michigan Technological University. National Science Foundation, (7/1/87-11/30/89) $25,398.
Relationships among Earth's gravity field, magnetic field, crustal structure and the magnetic character of crustal rocks. U. S. Department of Defense, (7/1/86-6/30/87) $92,061.
Acquisition of basic paleomagnetic research equipment. National Science Foundation, (7/1/86-6/30/87) $16,950.
Acquisition of basic paleomagnetic research equipment and application to Tertiary tectonic history of the Pacific Northwest. MONTS, (7/1/86-6/30/87) $6,450.
Paleomagnetism of the mid-Oligocene Hog Heaven volcanic field, western Montana: Implications for the Tertiary tectonics of the Pacific Northwest. National Science Foundation, (7/1/86-6/30/87) $24,780.
Paleomagnetism of the Upper Triassic Reef-like Carbonate Rocks of Central Peru: Possible Correlatives for some of North America's Suspect Terranes. MONTS Program (7/1/84-6/30/85) $18,000.

EDUCATION

Ph.D., University of Wyoming 1981. Geology/Geophysics
M.S., Western Washington University 1976. Geology/Geophysics
B.A., Central Washington University 1973. Geology with distinction

RECREATIONAL PURSUITS

When I get away from Missoula, I like to go alpine climbing. Among rock climbing, ice climbing, mountaineering, and just rambling around, long routes on remote/oddball peaks seem to provide the most lasting memories. The Canadian Rockies and B.C. Interior Ranges (check out Bivouac.com) are nearby, they've soaked up a few seasons and recently we've roamed around the BC Coast Range a little. A pleasant night-drive will get you from Missoula to the Wind Rivers, Cascades, Tetons, or Sawtooths if the weather in Canada is dicey. Steering among wind-driven flakes pushes the espresso buzz right into the pre-buzz for ice climbs or telemark trips. Usually we've booked the Hotel Toyota, but I've spent seasons climbing and exploring in the Alps, Great Britain, Peru, Bolivia, Antarctica, Australia, Baffin Island and New Zealand as well. And, of course, it's all really research - first hand observation of orogenic belts to better understand the evolution of crustal structures.

I intended to get some climbing in while I taught Geophysics at the University of Papua New Guinea but I got bogged down with the scuba diving. The Australian climbing trip resulted in two pitches and more underwater time than diving in papua New Guinea - so much for surfing. I'm just not that big on becoming one with the sediment. Recently I managed some more diving, this time on WWII wrecks off Busuanga Island, after completing a little environmental geophysics project in the Philippines. The following summer it took a few weeks on the Tatshenshini-Alsec Rivers, bagging first ascents in the Fairweather Ranges, to cool off from the tropics. Closer to home there's good mountain biking, rock climbing, backcountry and lift-service skiing, and kayaking. Right off campus there's Mount Sentinel, 1,958 feet (I think the record is ~20:04), of cardiac output ready to remind you of the pleasures in belaying.

Geosciences Department - The University of Montana - 32 Campus Drive #1296 - Missoula, MT 59812-1296
Phone: (406) 243-2341 Fax: (406) 243-4028 Email: geology@mso.umt.edu

The University of Montana Geosciences Department