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; 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 structural analysis. I direct the University of Montana field
geology course in the Dillon area of SW Montana.
Selected publications
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.
