About

Gregory Arlen Davis
Professor of Earth Sciences

Contact Information
Office: ZHS 305
Phone: (213) 740-6726
E-mail: gdavis@usc.edu

LINKS
Curriculum Vitae
Faculty Profile on Departmental Website
 

Biographical Sketch
NARRATIVE RESUME´ GREGORY A. DAVIS Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0740 Greg Davis received B.S. and M.S. degrees from Stanford University in 1956 and 1957, respectively, and a Ph.D. degree (Geology) from U.C. Berkeley in 1961. He has been on the faculty of U.S.C.’s Department of Earth Sciences since then; a Full Professor in the department since 1972, he served as its Chair from 1977-1981. In 1991, he received the A. S. Raubenheimer Distinguished Faculty Award from U.S.C.’s College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences for “outstanding contributions in the areas of teaching, research, and service.” During his tenure at U.S.C, he has advised approximately 45 graduate students, a number of whom are now faculty members at other institutions. In the 1990’s two of Davis’ former students, undergrad Brian Wernicke and grad An Yin, now Professors at Cal Tech and UCLA respectively, were among the first six recipients of the Geological Society of America’s Donath Medal (the Society’s “Young Scientist” award). In 1971, he was a Visiting Associate Professor at the University of Washington. In 1999, Davis was appointed Guest Professor at the China University of Geosciences in Beijing, where he began summer teaching in May, 2000; that appointment continues to the present. Davis is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America (GSA) and a member of the American Geophysical Union. He was a Distinguished Lecturer on western U.S. tectonics for the American Association of Petroleum Geologists in 1974 and 1975. He is one of very few individuals who have served twice (1982-1983, 1998-1999) as Chair of the Cordilleran Section of the GSA. Davis was Chair of GSA’s Division of Structural Geology and Tectonics in 1987, served as Co-Editor of the Division’s Newsletter from 1991 to March of 1999, and completed ten year’s of service on the Editorial Advisory Board for the Journal of Structural Geology in 1998. He is a former Associate Editor of the Geological Society of America Bulletin, and is a current overseas member of the Editorial Board of Earth Science Frontiers, a leading Chinese journal. For several years in the mid-1980's he was appointed as a GS-15 Geologist in the U. S. Geological Survey. Davis received the Career Achievement Award of GSA's Division of Structural Geology and Tectonics for the year 2003; only one recipient of this international award is chosen for each year. Davis’ research efforts are primarily in the area of tectonics and are largely field-based, although he has co-written (variably, with B. C. Burchfiel, Darrel Cowan, Jim Monger, Gordon Lister, and Zheng Yadong) multiple syntheses of Cordilleran and North China tectonic evolution. He and his students have undertaken field mapping in widespread areas throughout the western U.S. and, since 1987, in northern China. Topics of special interest to Davis include the structural geology and tectonics of metamorphic core complexes, the nature and origin of low-angle extensional (detachment) faults, and the Cordilleran foreland fold and thrust belt. He is at present continuing a multiyear-long study of the Jura-Cretaceous Yinshan-Yanshan orogenic belt of northern China. Much of his research has been funded by grants from the National Science Foundation. [8/2007: gdavis@usc.edu, (213) 740-6726; (818) 761-0501]
 

Education
B.S. Geology, Stanford University, 1/1956
M.S. Geology, Stanford University, 1/1957
Ph.D. Geology, University of California, Berkeley, 1/1961
 

Academic Appointment, Affiliation, and Employment History
Asst., Assoc., Full Professor, University of Southern California,  
 

Description of Research

Summary Statement of Research Interests
Professor Davis' current research is focused on the tectonic evolution of northern China (with emphasis on the Yanshan fold and thrust belt), metamorphic core complexes, origin of low-angle extensional faults and gravity glide structures tectonics.
 

Research Keywords
structural geology, regional tectonic studies, cordilleran orogen, extensional tectonics, u.s. and china, plate tectonics interpretations, Yanshan fold and thrust belt, North China, metamorphic core complexes
 

Conferences and Other Presentations

Conference Presentations
"Mesozoic tectonics of North China", Am. Geophys. Union, Western Meeting, Beijing, Talk/Oral Presentation, , Beijing, China, Am. Geophys. Union, 07/22/2006  
 

Publications

Abstract
Davis, G. A. (2007). 2007 Late Phanerozoic tectonics of the North China "craton" (Davis, G. A.): Arizona Geological Society, Ores and Orogenesis: A symposium honoring the career of William R. Dickinson, Program with Abstracts.
 

Journal Article
Liu, J., Davis, G. A., Mo, J., Huimei, G., Xiangdong, B. (2008). Crustal detachment and destruction of the keel of the North China craton: Constraints from Late Mesozoic extensional structures. Earth Science Frontiers. Vol. 15, pp. 72-81.
Goldfarb, R. J., Hart, C., Davis, G. A., Groves, D. (2007). East Asian Gold: Deciphering the anomaly of gold in Precambrian cratons. Economic Geology. Vol. 102 (3), pp. 341-345.
Davis, G. A. (2006). Some thoughts on Chinese Earth Sciences. Chinese Journal of Geological Education.. Vol. 10, pp. 1-8.
 

Guest Lectures in Courses
Geodynamics (Becker) Lecture on Cordilleran tectonics, 04/20/2005-  
ES 240: Earthquakes (Dolan) Cenozoic tectonics of the Pacific Northwest and Basin-and-Range province, 09/25/2007  
ES 599 (Becker): Lecture on the "Wilson Cycle", 09/21/2006  
ES 240 : Earthquakes (Henyey) Lecture on San Andreas fault (on or about 09/17/2005), 09/17/2005  
 

Honors and Awards
USC or School/Dept Award for Teaching, General Education Teaching Award for 2005, College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, Fall 2005   
Career Contribution Award from the Structural Geology/Tectonics Division of Geological Society of America, 2003  
USC Raubenheimer Outstanding Senior Faculty Award, 1991  
 
 
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