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Theresa Schwartz

(She/her)

I am a clastic sedimentary geologist with broad interests in the realm of tectonics and sedimentary basins.

My research focuses on multiple themes: (1) the sedimentology/stratigraphy of depositional environments that occur over a wide range of settings (covering the spectrum from subaerial to submarine fans); (2) understanding sediment routing within and between those settings; and (3) understanding tectonic and climatic drivers of paleoenvironmental change with emphasis on how those processes/events are manifested in the sedimentary record. My research combines field geology, sediment provenance data, geochronology, paleoclimate/paleoaltitude proxies, and geophysical/remote sensing data to provide a better understanding of regional tectonism, basin evolution, and stratigraphy, thereby facilitating a better understanding of the geology of the Intermountain West.

 

Professional Experience

  • 2019-present: Research Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO

  • 2018-2019: Assistant Research Professor, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO

  • 2017-2019: Science Editor, American Journal Experts

  • 2015-2017: Assistant Professor of Geology, Allegheny College, Meadville, PA

  • 2014 (summer): Geoscience Intern, Hess Corporation, Houston, TX

  • 2011 (summer): Geoscience Intern, NEOS GeoSolutions, Pleasanton, CA

  • 2010-2015: Graduate Research Sedimentologist, Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Education and Certifications

  • 2010: BS-Geology, Allegheny College

  • 2015: PhD-Geological & Environmental Sciences, Stanford University

Science and Products

Revised age and regional correlations of Cenozoic strata on Bat Mountain, Death Valley region, California, USA, from zircon U-Pb geochronology of sandstones and ash-fall tuffs

Basin analysis and tectonic reconstructions of the Cenozoic history of the Death Valley region, California, USA, are hindered by a lack of volcanic (tuff) age control in many stratigraphic successions exposed in the Grapevine and Funeral Mountains of California, USA. Although maximum depositional ages (MDAs) interpreted from detrital zircon U-Pb data may be a promising alternative to volcanic ages
Authors
Theresa Maude Schwartz, Amanda (Kate) Souders, Jens-Erik Lundstern, Amy K. Gilmer, Ren A. Thompson
By
National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Tectonic subsidence modeling of diachronous transition from backarc to retroarc basin development and uplift during Cordilleran orogenesis, Patagonian-Fuegian Andes

Backstripped tectonic basin subsidence histories are critical for interpreting phases of lithospheric deformation and paleoenvironmental change from the stratigraphic record. This study presents new subsidence modeling of the Rocas Verdes Backarc Basin (RVB) and Magallanes-Austral retroarc foreland basin (MAB) of southernmost South America to evaluate along-strike changes in tectonic subsidence re
Authors
Rebecca A. VanderLeest, Julie C. Fosdick, Matthew A. Malkowski, Brian W. Romans, Matías C. Ghiglione, Theresa Maude Schwartz, Zachary T. Sickmann
By
Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Depositional controls on detrital zircon provenance: An example from upper Cretaceous strata, southern Patagonia

Understanding how depositional environments within a sedimentary system redistribute and sequester sediment is critical for interpreting basin-scale provenance trends. However, sedimentary source-to-sink models commonly examine temporal changes and do not consider how variation in sedimentation processes across a dispersal pathway may result in contrasting provenance signatures. In this paper, we
Authors
Stephen C. Dobbs, Matthew A. Malkowski, Theresa Maude Schwartz, Zachary T. Sickmann, Stephan A. Graham
By
National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Detrital zircon record of magmatism and sediment dispersal across the North American Cordilleran arc system (28-48°N)

As zircon U-Pb geochronology has become a leading method in sediment provenance studies and basin analysis over the past 20 years, the volume of detrital zircon data made available in published literature has enabled researchers to go beyond source-to-sink provenance studies to explore increasingly complex geologic problems. In this review, we utilize the growing body of detrital zircon data acqui
Authors
Theresa Maude Schwartz, Kathleen D. Surpless, Joseph Colgan, Samuel Johnstone, Christopher S. Holm-Denoma
By
National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Evidence for variable precipitation and discharge from Upper Cretaceous–Paleogene fluvial deposits of the Raton Basin, Colorado–New Mexico, U.S.A.

The Raton Basin of Colorado–New Mexico, USA, is the southeasternmost basin of the Laramide intraforeland province of North America. It hosts a thick succession (4.5 km or 15,000 ft) of Upper Cretaceous to Paleogene marine and continental strata that were deposited in response to the final regression of the Western Interior Seaway and the onset of Laramide intraforeland deformation. The Upper Creta
Authors
Theresa Maude Schwartz, Marieke Dechesne, Kristine Zellman
By
National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Mesozoic magmatism in Montana

From crystalline batholiths with footprints larger than 4,500 km2 to beds of micron-sized ash particles, a record of Mesozoic magmatism is found throughout Montana. Mesozoic igneous rocks are an important natural resource in the state because of their association with precious metal ores and industrial mineral deposits. Mesozoic magmatism in Montana is a tale of volcanic arc eruptions, pluton empl
Authors
Kaleb C. Scarberry, Petr V. Yakovlev, Theresa Maude Schwartz
By
National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Orogenic recycling of detrital zircons characterizes age distributions of North American Cordilleran strata

Detrital zircon (DZ) analysis has become the standard tool for source‐to‐sink sediment routing studies at many spatial and temporal scales. In North American source‐to‐sink studies, DZ distributions are commonly classified according to the presence/absence and proportions of DZ age groups associated with North American crustal provinces as well as peri‐Gondwanan and Cordilleran terranes. Although
Authors
Theresa Maude Schwartz, Robert K. Schwartz, A.L. Weislogel
By
National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Non-USGS Publications**

Sickmann, Z., Schwartz, T.M., Malkowski, M.A., Dobbs, S., and Graham, S.A., 2019, Interpreting large detrital geochronology data sets in retroarc foreland basins: An example from the Magallanes-Austral Basin, southernmost Patagonia: Lithosphere, v. 11, no. 5, p. 620-642. doi:10.1130/L1060.1
Daniels, B.G., Hubbard, S.M., Romans, B.W., Malkowski, M.A., Matthews, W.A., Bernhardt, A., Kaempfe, S.A., Jobe, Z.R., Fosdick, J.C., Schwartz, T.M., Fildani, A., and Graham, S.A., 2019, Revised chronostratigraphic framework for the Cretaceous Magallanes-Austral Basin, Ultima Esperanza Province, Chile: Journal of South American Earth Sciences, v. 94. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2019.05.025
Johnstone, S.A., Schwartz, T.M., and Holm-Denoma, C., 2019, A stratigraphic approach to inferring depositional ages from detrital geochronology data: Frontiers in Earth Science, v. 7. doi:10.3389/feart.2019.00057
Schwartz, T.M., Methner, K., Mulch, A., Graham, S.A., and Chamberlain, C.P., 2019, Paleogene topographic and climatic evolution of the Northern Rocky Mountains from integrated sedimentary and isotopic data: GSA Bulletin, v. 131, no. 7-8, p. 1203-1223. doi:10.1130/B32068.1
Sickmann, Z.T., Schwartz, T.M., and Graham, S.A., 2018, Refining stratigraphy and tectonic history using detrital zircon maximum depositional age: an example from the Cerro Fortaleza Formation, Austral Basin, southern Patagonia: Basin Research, v. 30, iss. 4, p. 708-729. doi:10.1111/bre.12272
Malkowski, M.A., Schwartz, T.M., Sharman, G.R., Sickmann, Z., and Graham, S.A., 2017, Stratigraphic and provenance variations in the early evolution of the Magallanes-Austral foreland basin: implications for the role of longitudinal vs. transverse sediment dispersal during oblique arc-continent collision: GSA Bulletin, v. 129, no. 3-4, p. 349-371. doi:10.1130/B31549.1
Schwartz, TM, Fosdick, JC, and Graham, SA (2017) Using detrital zircon U-Pb ages to calculate Late Cretaceous sedimentation rates in the Magallanes-Austral Basin, Patagonia. Basin Research, v. 29. doi:10.1111/bre.12198
Schwartz, T.M., and Graham, S.A., 2017, Depositional history and provenance of Paleogene strata in the Sage Creek basin, southwestern Montana: Geosphere, v. 13, no. 4, p. 1285-1309. doi:10.1130/GES01450.1
Sharman, G.R., Schwartz, T.M., Shumaker, L.E., Trigg, C., Nieminski, N., Sickmann, Z., Malkowski, M.A., Hourigan, J.K., Schulein, B.J., and Graham, S.A., 2017, Submarine mass-failure within the shelfal-deltaic Domengine Formation (Eocene), California: Geosphere, v. 13, no. 3, p. 1285-1309. doi:10.1130/GES01442.1
Schwartz, T.M., and Graham, S.A., 2015, Stratigraphic architecture of a tide-influenced shelf-edge delta, Upper Cretaceous Dorotea Formation, Magallanes-Austral Basin, Patagonia: Sedimentology, v. 62, iss. 4, p. 1039-1077. doi:10.1111/sed/12176
Schwartz, T.M., and Schwartz, R.K., 2013, Paleogene post-compressional intermontane basin evolution along the frontal Cordilleran fold-and-thrust belt of southwestern Montana: GSA Bulletin, v. 125, no. 5-6, p. 961-984. doi:10.1130/B30766.1

**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.

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Mt. Ouray, Colorado with aspen colors

Geologic Framework of the Intermountain West

The Geologic Framework of the Intermountain West project was launched with the goal of producing a new digital geologic map database and 3D geologic model of a transect from the Rio Grande rift to the Basin and Range, based on a synthesis of existing geologic maps with new targeted new mapping, subsurface data, and other data sets. This database will integrate disparate map data, resolve...
By
Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
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Geologic Framework of the Intermountain West

The Geologic Framework of the Intermountain West project was launched with the goal of producing a new digital geologic map database and 3D geologic model of a transect from the Rio Grande rift to the Basin and Range, based on a synthesis of existing geologic maps with new targeted new mapping, subsurface data, and other data sets. This database will integrate disparate map data, resolve...
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Zircon U-Pb data for ash-fall tuffs and sandstones of the Cenozoic Amargosa Valley and Bat Mountain Formations exposed on Bat Mountain, southern Funeral Mountains, California, USA

This document includes two suites of zircon U-Pb data that establish a detailed chronostratigraphy for Cenozoic strata exposed on Bat Mountain of the southern Funeral Mountains, California, USA. The first suite of data includes detrital zircon U-Pb age distributions that characterize the maximum depositional age and provenance of five sandstone samples from the Oligocene-Miocene Amargosa Valley Fo
By
National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Compilation of in situ and detrital zircon U-Pb ages for the Jurassic-Paleocene North American Cordillera (28-50 degrees north)

This document includes two suites of zircon U-Pb ages that help to characterize the magmatic and sedimentary history of the North American Cordillera between ~28 and 50 degrees north. The first dataset is a compilation of published zircon U-Pb ages of igneous rocks associated with the Mesozoic-Cenozoic North American Cordilleran arc. The compilation of igneous zircon data includes 1,492 U-Pb ages
By
National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Preliminary detrital zircon data for Upper Cretaceous to Paleocene strata of the Crazy Mountains basin, Montana

This document includes sandstone provenance data for Upper Cretaceous to Paleocene strata preserved in the Crazy Mountains Basin of western Montana, USA. The dataset includes detrital zircon data for six samples from the Upper Cretaceous Hoppers Formation (1 sample), Upper Cretaceous Billman Creek Formation (1 sample), and Paleocene Fort Union Formation (4 samples). Detrital zircon data were acqui
By
National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Measured sections and paleocurrent data from fluvial deposits of the Upper Cretaceous-Paleogene Raton and Poison Canyon Formations, Raton Basin, Colorado-New Mexico, USA

This document provides two data sets that characterize outcrops of fluvial deposits of the Upper Cretaceous-Paleogene Raton and Poison Canyon Formations of the Raton Basin of Colorado-New Mexico, USA. First, the dataset includes stratigraphic sections measured through fluvial deposits of the Raton and Poison Canyon Formations (ten unique .tif files), currently exposed in roadside outcrops. Second,
By
National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

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