Phone: 979.845.1380
Fax: 979.845.6162
chesterj@geo.tamu.edu

Room 228, Halbouty

Course Offerings:

  • GEOL 101 - Principles of Geology
  • GEOP 289 - Special Topics: The San Andreas Fault
  • GEOL 665 - Structural Petrology
  • GEOL 685 - Earthquake Rupture Processes
  • GEOL 685 - Active Tectonics in Engineering Evaluations

Current Students

Hiroko Kitajima

Ph.D. Geology; Dynamic weakening of ultracataclasite during rotary shear at seismic slip rates, SCEC Funded Research. Co-Chair F. M. Chester [more]

Rafael Almeida

M.S. Geology; Lithology and structure of SAFOD Phase I core samples, EarthScope/SAFOD Funded Research. [more]

Dr. Judith S. Chester

Associate Professor

Ph.D. Texas A&M University, 1992

Research specialty: structural geology

Research:

  • Deformation and alteration reactions during faulting: importance to earthquake nucleation and rupture propagation in the continental crust
  • Mechanisms of creep compaction of reservoir rock
  • Mechanics of fold-fault interaction in anisotropic rock

Projects:

  • Geologic Constraints on the Physics of Earthquake Rapture (more)
  • Collaborative Research: Structural-Petrologic Characterization of the San Andreas Fault Zone in the SAFOD Drill Holes (more)
  • Fracture In Layered Rock Under Mixed Tensile and Compressive Stress States (more)

Publications

  • Chester, J. S., Chester, F. M., Kronenberg, A. K., Fracture surface energy of the Punchbowl Fault, San Andreas system, Nature, 437, 133-135, 2005. pdf
  • Karner, S. L., Chester, F. M., Chester, J. S., Towards a unified constitutive relation to describe granular deformation, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 237, 940-950, 2005. pdf
  • Karner, S. L., Chester, J. S., Chester, F. M., Kronenberg, A. K., Hajash, A., Laboratory deformation of granular quartz sand: Implications for the burial of clastic rocks, American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 89, 603-625, 2005. pdf
  • Almeida, R., Chester, J., Chester, F., Waller, T. J., and Kirschner, D., Lithology and structure of SAFOD Phase I core samples, EOS Trans. AGU, T21A-0454, 86(52), 2005.
  • Chester, J. S., Kitajima, H., Shimamoto, T., and Chester, F. M., Dynamic weakening of ultracataclasite during rotary shear at seismic slip rates, EOS Trans. AGU, T21B-0472, 86(52), 2005.
  • Chester, J. S., Kitajima, H., Shimamoto, T., and Chester, F. M., Dynamic weakening of ultracataclasite during rotary shear at seismic slip rates, EOS Trans. AGU, T21B-0472, 86(52), 2005.
  • Kirschner, D.L., Evans, J., Chester, J., Chester, F., Solum, J., Moore, D., Elemental and stable isotope chemistry of cuttings and core samples from SAFOD drill hole, EOS Trans. AGU, T21A-0452, 86(52), 2005.
  • Kitajima, H., Chester, J. S., Shimamoto, T., and Chester, F. M., Friction strength of Punchbowl Fault ultracataclasite at seismic slip rates, Proceedings and Abstracts SCEC Annual Meeting, Vol. XV, p. 140, 2005.
  • Rodriguez, E., Chester, J.S., Chester, F. M., A Microstructural study of the extension-fracture to shear-fracture transition in Carrara Marble, EOS Trans. AGU, T53C-1435, 86(52), 2005.
  • Chester, J. S., Lenz, S., Chester, F. M., Lang, R. A., Mechanisms of compaction of quartz sand at diagenetic conditions, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 220/3-4, 435-451, 2004. pdf
  • Chester, F. M., Chester, J. S ., Kirschner, D. L., Schulz, S. E., Evans, J. P., Structure of large-displacement strike-slip fault zones in the brittle continental crust. In: Karner, Gary D., Taylor, Brian, Driscoll, Neal W., Kohlstedt, David L. (eds.), Rheology and Deformation in the Lithosphere at Continental Margins. Columbia University Press, New York, MARGINS Theoretical and Experimental Earth Science Series 1, 223-260, 2004. pdf
  • Bobich, J., F. M. Chester, J.S. Chester, Experimental analysis of hybrid fracture in Berea Sandstone, EOS Trans. AGU, 85(47), 2004.
  • Chester, J. S., Chester, F.M., Kronenberg, A.K., Fracture surface energy of mature fault zones from structural observations of the Punchbowl fault, California, EOS Trans. Spring AGU, 85(17), invited, 2004.
  • Zhang, L., Chester, J. S., Mechanical constraints on trishear kinematic models of the backlimbs of fault-bend and fault-propagation folds, American Association of Petroleum Geologists Annual Meeting, A-154, 2004.
  • Chester, J. S., Kronenberg, A. K., Chester, F. M., Guillemette, R. N, Characterization of natural slip surfaces relevant to earthquake mechanics, EOS Trans. AGU, 84(46), 2003.
  • Karner, S. L., Chester, F.M., Kronenberg, A.K., Chester, J.S., Subcritical compaction and yielding of granular quartz sand, Tectonophysics, 377/3-4, 357-381, 2003. pdf
  • Wilson, J., Chester, J.S., and Chester, F.M., Microfracture analysis of fault growth and wear processes, Punchbowl Fault, San Andreas System, California, Journal of Structural Geology, v. 25, no. 11, p. 1855-1873, 2003. pdf
  • Chester, J. S., Influence of lithology and layering on fault-fold interaction, Absaroka Thrust Sheet, Salt River Range, Wyoming, Journal Structural Geology, v. 25, no. 7, p. 1163-1184, 2003. pdf
  • Kuhle, N. J., Chester, J. S., Chester, F. M., Kinematics of inversion of normal-faulted strata as a function of depth of burial and rock ductility, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 33, no.6. p. A-150, 2001.
  • Chester, F. M., and Chester, J. S., Stress and deformation along wavy frictional faults, Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 105, p. 23,421-23,430, 2000. pdf
  • Kuhle, N. J., Chester, J. S., Chester, F. M., Influence of inversion magnitude and burial path on inversion structures, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 32, no. 7, p. A31, 2000.
  • Neal, L A., Chester, J. S., Chester, F. M., Wintsch, R. P., Internal structure of the Kern Canyon fault, California: A deeply exhumed strike-slip fault, EOS Trans. AGU, 81, F1145, 2000.
  • Chester, F. M., Kirschner, D. L., Chester, J. S., Extreme localization of slip during earthquake rupture - field evidence from the Punchbowl and San Gabriel faults, San Andreas system, California, EOS Trans. AGU, 80, F689, 1999.
  • Noonan, B., J. Chester, M. Tuttle, J. Sims, and K.Dyer-Williams, Liquefaction features in the Cache River Valley, Southern Illinois, EOS Trans. AGU, 80, S224, 1999.
  • Tuttle, M. T., Chester, J. S., Lafferty, R., Dyer-Williams, K., and Cande, B., Paleoseismology study northwest of the New Madrid Seismic Zone, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NUREG/CR-5730, 155 pp, 1999.
  • Chester, F. M., and J. S. Chester, Ultracataclasite structure and friction processes of the San Andreas fault, Tectonophysics, 295, p. 199-221, 1998. pdf
  • Tuttle, M., Chester, J. S., Lafferty, R., Dyer-Williams, K., Haynes, M., Cande, R., and Sierzchula, M., Liquefaction features in southwestern Illinois and southeastern Missouri and their implications for paleoseismicity, EOS Trans. AGU, 79, p. S342, 1998.
  • Chester, J. S., and Fletcher, R. C., Stress distribution and failure in anisotropic rock near a bend on a weak fault, Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 102, no. B1, p. 693-708, 1997. pdf
  • Chester, J. S., Geometry and kinematics of a passive-roof duplex in the interior of the Idaho-Wyoming-northern Utah thrust belt, Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, v. 44, p. 363-374, 1996. pdf
  • Chester, J. S., and F. M. Chester, Deformation at the corners of rotated crustal blocks in southeastern San Gabriel Mountains, California, EOS Trans. AGU, 76, p. F625-F626, 1995.
  • Chester, J. S., Logan, J. M., and Spang, J. H., Influence of layering and boundary conditions on fault-bend and fault-propagation folding, Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 103, p. 1059-1072, 1991.
  • Chester, J. S., and Chester, F. M., Fault-propagation folds above thrusts with constant dip. Journal of Structural Geology, v. 12, p. 903-910, 1990. pdf
  • Chester, J. S., Spang, J. H., and Logan, J. M., Comparison of thrust fault rock models to basement-cored folds in the Rocky Mountain Foreland, in: C. J. Schmidt and W. J. Perry, eds., Interaction of the Rocky Mountain Foreland and the Cordilleran Thrust Belt. Geological Society of America Memoir 171, p. 65-74, 1988.

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