William M. Dunne
Bill Dunne and his students examine mesoscopic and microscopic structures in sedimentary and low-grade metamorphic rocks to determine regional tectonic histories and deformation behaviors. Specific problems that they are interested include: (1) development of blind foreland thrust belts; (2) formation of fault-related folds; (3) the overall contribution of outcrop-scale deformation to regional shortening; (4) low-temperature deformation of quartz arenites including diagenesis; (5) variation in shortening responses in a stratigraphic sequence as a function of lithology; (6) development of regional orthogonal joint patterns; and (7) improved characterization of joint patterns.
The tools that Bill and his students use to tackle these problems include: (1) strain analysis, (4) small-scale geological mapping of features such as fault-related folds, joints on bedding pavements or cleavage distributions, (3) cross-section construction at both regional and outcrop scale including section balancing; and (4) one-dimensional and two-dimensional sampling of joint patterns.
At present, Bill is not recruiting graduate students due to administrative responsibilities within the University. However, he continues to serve on the committees of graduate students working with other faculty members in the department and to serve as an editor of the Journal of Structural Geology.
Selected Publications
Onasch, C.M., Dunne, W.M., Cook, J.E., and O'Kane, A., 2009, The effect of fluid composition on the behavior of well cemented, quartz-rich sandstone during faulting. Journal of Structural Geology, v. 31. in press.
Roy, A., Perfect, E., Dunne, W.M., and McKay, L.D., 2007. Fractal Characterization of Fracture Networks: An Improved Box-counting Technique. Journal of Geophysical Research. v. 112, p. B12201
Cook, J.E., Dunne, W.M., and Onasch, C.M., 2006. Development of a dilatant damage zone along a thrust relay in a low-porosity quartz arenite. Journal of Structural Geology, v. 28, p. 776-792.
Vandewater, C.J., Dunne, W.M., Mauldon, M.M., Drumm, E.C., and Bateman, V., 2005, Geologic Control on Rockfall Hazard Potential. Environmental and Engineering Geology, v. 11, 141-154.
Hoffman, W., Dunne, W.M., Mauldon, M.M., 2004, Probabiliistic-mechanistic simulation of bed-normal joint patterns. Geological Society of London Special Publication. Engelder, T., Cosgrove, J., (eds.) The initiation, propagation, and arrest of joints and other fractures, v. 231, 269-284
Dunne, W.M., Ferrill, D.A., Crider, J.G., Hill, B., La Femina, P., Waiting, D., Fedors, R., Morris, A.P., 2003, Orthogonal jointing during coeval igneous degassing and normal faulting, Yucca Mountain, Nevada, Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 115, p. 1492-1509.
Contact Information
William M. Dunne
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
1412 Circle Drive
Knoxville, TN 37996-1410
Phone: (865) 974-4161
Email: wdunne@utk.edu