2010 Recipient

Joel Cubley, University of Calgary

Joel's Ph.D. thesis, Structure and metamorphism of the Grand Forks Complex (GFC), British Columbia aims to integrate a number of geologic disciplines to construct a tectonic model for the GFC, while addressing a number of specific problems, including 1) quantifying displacement on the bounding normal faults, 2) unraveling polyphase folding within the complex and establishing the timing of deformation relative to metamorphism, 3) using petrological analyses of disequilibrium mineral textures to quantify multi-stage exhumation, and 4) integrating new U-Pb (monazite & zircon) and apatite fission track (AFT) dating with existing geochronology to provide absolute ages for the timing of the distinct tectonic and metamorphic events.



A second cash prize of $1,000 was awarded for the first time to University of British Columbia student Rose Cobbett. Her M.Sc. thesis is titled the timing and kinematic evolution of the Duke River fault, southwest Yukon: Insights into the formation of the western Cordilleran orogen.



