معرفی
Michael L. Wells is a Professor of Geology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), affiliated with the Department of Geology. His research focuses on integrated tectonics, structural geology, and thermochronology, with specialties in metamorphic core complexes, Cordilleran orogeny, and Sevier-Laramide tectonics. He holds a Ph.D. (1991) and M.S. (1988) from Cornell University, and a B.S. (1981) from UC Santa Cruz.
Dr. Wells leads NSF-funded projects on Cordilleran metamorphic core complexes (2016–2019) and Sevier fold-thrust belt thermochronology (2011–2016). He teaches undergraduate courses like Structural Geology (GEOL 341) and graduate courses such as Strain and Microstructural Analysis (GEOL 746). His work combines field studies, geochronology, and petrology to unravel tectonic histories.
Key research themes include Jurassic-Cretaceous deformation in the Funeral Mountains, exhumation histories of thrust sheets (e.g., Willard Thrust), and the interplay between contractional and extensional tectonics. His recent publications emphasize monazite petrochronology, elastic geobarometry, and structural analysis of fold-thrust belts.
Grants include collaborative NSF projects totaling over $1M, and his work is published in top journals like Geological Society of America Bulletin and Tectonics. He advises graduate students on field-based structural and geochronological studies, emphasizing Western U.S. Cordilleran geology.
