CAPALDI, TOMAS

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Linking Earth surface-lithosphere processes
• Tectonics of Sedimentary Basins
  • Sediment record of mountain building and magmatism
  • Basin analysis and stratigraphy
• Modern and ancient sediment routing systems
  • Climate-tectonic interactions 
  • Geochronology and sediment provenance

DEGREES

• 2019 Ph.D. Geological Sciences The University of Texas at Austin
• 2014 B.S. Geology/Engineering Geology University of California, Los Angeles

BIO

I am a geologist who uses the sedimentary record to track the life and death of mountain belts in ancient and modern settings worldwide. My research employs (1) field techniques: measuring stratigraphic sections, facies analysis, and geologic mapping; (2) analytical methods involving sediment provenance proxies using petrology, U-Pb geochronology, (U-Th)/He thermochronology, trace element geochemistry, and optically stimulated luminescence; and (3) forward modeling approaches that incorporates digital elevation models and sediment provenance datasets to compare to the stratigraphic record. This multi-disciplinary approach provides insights into problems related to the timing and mechanisms driving mountain belt deformation and erosion, sediment transfer dynamics in terrestrial systems, and resulting feedbacks and relationships with continental stratigraphy. I readily engage in international, interdisciplinary, and collaborative projects with field localities that include South American Andes, the North American Cordillera and precursor orogens, and the Pyrenees of Europe.