Education
BS, Geology, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, 1971
MS, Geology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, 1973
PhD, Geology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, 1979
Current Interests
My current research interests are in tectonics of northeast Russia, thrust kinematics of the northern Rocky Mountains; restoration and tectonic interpretation of the Precambrian Belt basin; influence of the Belt basin on the Paleozoic stratigraphy and sedimentology of the Helena embayment; history of rifting along the western margin of Laurentia; Precambrian plate restorations; the origin of hotspots; and Middle Miocene and younger extensional tectonics of SW Montana as related to the Yellowstone hotspot. I believe in field geology, mapping, and combined stratigraphy, sedimentology and structural analysis. I direct the University of Montana field geology course in the Dillon area of SW Montana.
Selected publications
Sears, J.W., 2007, Lithospheric control of Gondwana breakup: Implications of a trans-Gondwana icosahedral fracture system, in Foulger, G.M., and Jurdy, D.M., eds., Geological Society of America, Special Paper 430, Plates, Plumes, and Planetary Processes, in press.
Sears, J.W., Harms, T.A., and Evenchick, C.A., 2007, Whence the mountains? – the contributions of R.A.Price, in Sears, J.W., Harms, T.A., and Evenchick, C.A., eds., Whence the Mountains? Inquiries into the evolution of orogenic systems: Geological Society of America, Special Paper, in press.
Sears, J.W., 2007, Belt-Purcell basin: Keystone of the Rocky Mountain fold-and-thrust belt, United States and Canada: In Sears, J.W., Harms, T.A., and Evenchick, C.A., eds., Whence the Mountains? Inquiries into the evolution of orogenic systems: Geological Society of America, Special Paper, in press.
Ward, E.G., and Sears, J.W., 2007, Rocky Mountain thrust front, Montana: Passage of a Jurassic forebulge crest? Sears, J.W., Harms, T.A., and Evenchick, C.A., eds., Whence the Mountains? Inquiries into the evolution of orogenic systems: Geological Society of America, Special Paper, in press.
Burtis, E., Sears, J.W., and Chamberlain, K.R., 2007,Windermere mafic event in rifts in Belt basin, Montana, in Link P.K., ed., Proterozoic geology of western North America and Siberia SEPM Special Publication 86,in press.
Sears, J.W., 2007, Destabilization of a Proterozoic epi-continental pediment by rifting: A model for the Belt-Purcell basin, North America, in Link P.K., ed., Proterozoic geology of western North America and Siberia SEPM Special Publication 86, in press.
Sears, J.W., 2006, The Montana transform: Rotation along the northern boundary of the Wyoming foreland: Rocky Mountain Geology, v. 42, n.2, p. 65-76.
Sears, J.W., 2006,A triskele rift junction, Rocky Mountains, Canada and USA: Northwest Geology, v. 35, p. 78-86.
Sears, J.W., Khudoley, A.K., Prokopiev , A.V., Chamberlain, K.R., and MacLean, J. S., 2006, Lithostratigraphic comparison of Meso- and Neoproterozoic strata between SE Siberia and SW Laurentia, in Stone, D.B, ed., Origin of Northeastern Russia: Paleomagnetism, Geology, & Tectonics, Geophysical Institute Report UAG-R-330 (CD publication), University of Alaska, Fairbanks AK 99775-7320 USA.
Sears, J.W., Braden, J., Edwards, J., Geraghty, E., Janiszewski, F., McInenly, M., MacLean, J., Riley, K., and Salmon, E., 2005, Rocky Mountain foothills triangle zone, Sun River, northwest Montana, in Thomas, R., ed., Annual meeting of Tobacco Root Geological Society, Northwest Geology, v. 34.
Sears, J.W., St. George, G.M., and Winne, J.C., 2005, Continental rift systems and anorogenic magmatism: LITHOS, v. 80, p. 145-154.
Mann, L.S., and Sears, J.W., 2004, The Contact metamorphic aureole of the Late Cretaceous Garnet stock, Garnet-Coloma area, Montana: Northwest Geology, v. 33, p. 34-48.
Sears, J.W., and Hendrix, M., 2004, Lewis and Clark line and the rotational origin of the Alberta and Helena salients, North American Cordillera, in Sussman, A., and Weil, A., eds. Orogenic curvature: Geological Society of America Special Paper, p. 383, p. 173-186.
Sears, J.W., St. George, G.M., and Winne, J.C., 2004, Continental rift systems and anorogenic magmatism: LITHOS, in press.
Sears, J.W., Price, R.A., and Khudoley, A.K., 2004, Linking the Mesoproterozoic Belt-Purcell and Udzha basins across the west Laurentia-Siberia connection: Precambrian Research, v. 129, p. 291-308.
Sears, J.W., and Price, R.A., 2003, Tightening the Siberian connection to western Laurentia: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 115, p. 943-953.
Sears, J.W., and Price, R.A., 2003, The Udzha hypothesis: Siberian spillway to the Belt-Purcell basin: Northwest Geology, v. 32, p. 167-171.
Sears, J.W., and Ryan, P., 2003, Cenozoic evolution of the Montana Cordillera: Evidence from paleovalleys, in Raynolds, R., and Flores, J., eds., Cenozoic Paleogeography of western US: Denver, CO, Rocky Mountain Section, Society of Exploration Paleontologists and Mineralogists, p. 289-301.
Timmons, J.M., Karlstrom, K.E., and Sears, J.W., 2003, Geologic structure of the Grand Canyon Supergroup: Chapter in Grand Canyon Geology, 2nd ed, Oxford University Press, p. 76-89.
Sears, J.W., and Price, R.A., 2002, Hypothetical Mesoproterozoic supercontinent Columbia: Implications of the Siberian-west Laurentian connection: Gondwana Research, v. 5, p. 35-39.
Sears, J.W., 2001, Emplacement and Denudation History of the Lewis-Eldorado-Hoadley thrust slab in the northern Montana Cordillera, USA: Implications For Steady-State Orogenic Processes: American Journal of Science, p. 359-373.
Sears, J.W., 2001, Icosahedral fracture tessellation of early Mesoproterozoic Laurentia: Geology, v. 29, no. 4, p. 227-330.
Hughes, N.D, Paradis, S., Sears, J.W., Schiarizza, P., and Pope, M.C, 2001, Lithology, tectono-stratigraphy, and paleogeography of the Vavenby area, Eagle Bay assemblage, south-central British Columbia: A possible constraint for the timing of the rifting of Laurentia: Geological Survey Canada, Report of Activities, 2000.
Price, R.A., and Sears, J.W., 2001, A preliminary palinspastic map of the Mesoproterozoic Belt-Purcell Supergroup, Canada and USA: Implications for the tectonic setting and structural evolution of the Purcell anticlinorium and the Sullivan deposit, in Lydon, J.W., Slack, J.F., Höy, T., and Knapp, M.E., eds., The Geological Environment of the Sullivan Deposit, British Columbia: Geological Association of Canada, Mineral Deposits Division, MDD Special Volume No. 1, p. 43-63.
Sears, J.W., and Price, R.A., 2000, New look at the Siberian Connection: No SWEAT: Geology, v. 28, p. 423-426.
Poage, M.A., Hyndman, D.W., and Sears, J.W., 2000, Petrology, geochemistry, and diabase-granophyre relations of a thick basaltic sill emplaced into wet sediments, western Montana: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, v. 37, p. 1109-1119.
Sears, J.W., 2000, Rotational kinematics of the Rocky Mountain thrust belt of northern Montana, in Schalla, R.A., and Johnson, E.H., eds., Montana/Alberta thrust belt and adjacent foreland: Montana Geological Society 50th Anniversary Symposium, vol. 1, p. 143-150.
Sears, J.W., Chamberlain, K.R., and Buckley, S.N., 1998, Structural and U-Pb geochronologic evidence for 1.47 Ga rifting event in the Belt basin, western Montana: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences.
Sears, J.W., and Fritz, W.J., 1998, Cenozoic tilt-domains in southwest Montana: Interference among three generations of extensional fault systems, in Faulds, J.E., and Stewart, J.H., eds., Accommodation zones and transfer zones: The regional segmentation of the Basin and Range province: Geological Society of America, Special Paper, p. 241-248.
Buckley, S.N., and Sears, J.W., 1998, Emplacement of mafic sills into wet sediments in the Prichard Formation, Middle Proterozoic Belt Supergroup, Perma area, western Montana: Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, Special Publication 112, Belt Symposium III, Berg, R., ed., p 32-43.
Pope, M., and Sears, J.W., 1997, Cassiar platform, north-central British Columbia: A miogeoclinal fragment from Idaho: Geology, v. 25, p. 515-519.
Sears, J.W., 1988, Two major thrust slabs in the west-central Montana Cordillera, in Schmidt, C.J., and Perry, W.J., eds., Interaction of the Rocky Mountain foreland and the Cordilleran thrust belt: Geological Society of America, Memoir 171, Ch 11, p. 165-170.
Sears, J.W., 1988, Origin and palinspastic significance of a fault duplex near Cartersville, Georgia, in Mitra, G., and Wojtal, S., eds., Geometries of thrusting, with special reference to the Appalachians: Geological Society of America, Special Paper 222, Ch. 11, p. 179-184.
Sears, J.W., and Price, R.A., 1978, The Siberian connection: A case for the Precambrian separation of the North American and Siberian cratons: Geology, v. 6, p. 267-270.
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