Department of Geography
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Dr Alex Densmore

Deputy Director - Institute of Hazard & Risk Research in the Department of Geography
Telephone: +44 (0) 191 33 41879
Fax: +44 (0)191 33 41801
Room number: 233

Contact (email at a.l.densmore@durham.ac.uk)

Biography

I'm interested in the way in which mountains are built through tectonic activity, and in the erosional processes that tear them back down again. The spark behind much of this work came from growing up on the tectonically-active west coast of North America. I received a PhD from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and held lectureships at Trinity College Dublin and ETH Zurich before joining Durham University in 2006. My current research projects include aspects of tectonic geomorphology in the western USA and southwestern China; efforts to understand sediment routing systems both in the field (northern India) and through numerical modelling; and work on the role of mass wasting - particularly landslides and debris flows - in shaping mountain belts like the Swiss Alps.

Research Groups

Research Projects

Selected Publications

Books: sections

  • Ellis, M. A. & Densmore, A. 2006. First-order topography over blind thrusts. In Tectonics, Climate and Landscape Evolution. Willett, S., Hovius, N., Fisher, D. & Brandon, M. 398.
  • Allen, P.A., Bennett, S.D., Cunningham, M.J.M., Carter, A., Gallagher, K., Lazzaretti, E., Galewsky, J., Densmore, A.L., Phillips, W.E.A., Naylor, D. & Solla Hach, C. 2002. The post-Variscan thermal and denudational history of Ireland. In Exhumation of the North Atlantic Margin: Timing, Mechanisms and Implications for Petroleum Exploration. Dor鬠A., Cartwright, J., Stoker, M., Turner, J. & White, N. Geological Society of London Special Publications. 196: 371-399.

Journal papers: academic

  • Richardson, N.J., Densmore, A.L., Seward, D., Wipf, M., Li, Y., Ellis, M.A. & Zhang, Y. 2008. Extraordinary denudation in the Sichuan Basin: insights from low-temperature thermochronology adjacent to the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Journal of Geophysical Research 113(B04409). (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Densmore, A.L., Ellis, M.A., Li, Y., Zhou, R., Hancock, G.S. & Richardson, N. 2007. Active tectonics of the Beichuan and Pengguan faults at the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Tectonics 26(TC4005). (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Densmore, A.L., Allen, P.A. & Simpson, G. 2007. Development and response of a coupled catchment fan system under changing tectonic and climatic forcing. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface 112(F1): F01002. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Hampel, A., Hetzel, R. & Densmore, A.L. 2007. Postglacial slip-rate increase on the Teton normal fault, norther Basin and Range Province, caused by melting of Yellowstone ice cap and deglaciation of the Teton Range? Geology 35(12): 1107-1110.
  • Dühnforth, M., Densmore, A.L., Ivy-Ochs, S., Allen, P.A. & Kubik, P.W. 2007. Timing and patterns of debris flow deposition on Shepherd and Symmes Creek fans, Owens Valley, California, deduced from cosmogenic 10Be. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface 112(F3): F03S15. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Densmore, A.L., Gupta, S., Allen, P.A. & Dawers, N.H. 2007. Transient landscapes at fault tips. Journal of Geophysical Research 112.
  • Schuerch, P., Densmore, A.L., McArdell, B. & Molnar, P. 2006. The influence of landsliding on sediment supply and channel change in a steep mountain catchment. Geomorphology 222-235.
  • Densmore, A.L., Dawers, N.H., Gupta, S. & Guidon, R. 2005. What sets topographic relief in extensional footwalls? Geology 33(6): 453-456. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Cunningham, M.J.M., Phillips, W.E.A. & Densmore, A.L. 2004. Evidence for Cenozoic etetonic deformation in SE Ireland and near offshore. Tectonics 23.
  • Densmore, A.L., Dawers, N.H., Gupta, S., Guidon, R. & Goldin, T. 2004. Footwall topographic development during continental extension. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface 109(F3): F03001. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Cunningham, M.J.M., Densmore, A.L., Allen, P.A. Phillips, W.E.A., Bennett, S.D., Gallagher, K. & Carter, A. 2003. Evidence for post-early Eocene tectonic activity in southeastern Ireland. Geological Magazine 140: 101-118.
  • Li, Y., Allen, P.A., Densmore, A.L. & Xu, Q. 2003. Evolution of the Longmen Shan Foreland Basin (western Sichuan, China) during the Late Triassic Indosinian Orogeny. Basin Research 15: 117-138.
  • Densmore, A.L., Dawers, N.H., Gupta, S., Allen, P.A. & Gilpin, R. 2003. Fault growth and landscape evolution at extensional relay zones. Journal of Geophysical Research - Solid Earth 108.

Show all publications

Media Contacts

Available for media contact about:

  • The Earth: Rocks & natural forces: Landslides and debris flows
  • Landscape systems: Landslides and debris flows
  • Geological hazards: Landslides and debris flows
  • Geological hazards: Earthquakes
  • The Earth: Rocks & natural forces: Earthquakes
  • Tectonics: Earthquakes

Supervises


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