Richard A Schultz

Office: LME 405
Phone: (775) 784-4318
Fax: (775) 784-1833

E-mail : schultzmines.unr.edu

Areas of Interest:
Rock fracture mechanics, displacement-length scaling, formation and growth of deformation bands in porous rocks, brittle deformation of planetary crusts

Research Groups :

• Geological Engineering
• Structural Geology
• Planetary Geology and Tectonics

Education:
Ph.D., Purdue University, 1987
M.S., Arizona State University, 1982
B.A., Rutgers University, 1979

Current Research and Graduate Students:

My students and I are interested in understanding how fracture networks and fault systems nucleate, grow, accumulate displacement, interact, and influence the dynamics of crustal deformation as well as projects in rock engineering design and construction. Our work utilizes approaches developed in traditionally separate specialties, primarily field geology and engineering fracture mechanics, to attack interrelated problems in rock and crustal mechanics and tectonics on the Earth and other planetary bodies.

The Geomechanics-Rock Fracture Group is recognized as a leader in combining mechanics with field studies to provide innovative solutions to problems in faulting and rock mechanics, both on the Earth and on other planets such as Mars. Our Group’s alumni are employed in a variety of responsible positions in Geological Engineering, Geological Consulting, Aerospace, Big Oil, and Environmental Services, to name just a few. The experience and training our graduate students gain during their stay at UNR provides them with a suite of marketable and transportable skills that serve them well beyond grad school.

I currently have five graduate students, all of whom are fully supported by external grants:

• Chris Okubo (Ph.D. student): Growth of forced folds above blind thrust faults with applications to Martian tectonics.
• Cheryl Goudy (Ph.D. student): Stress triggering of thrust faults, ground deformation above igneous dikes, and groundwater transport monitored by satellite-based techniques.
• Kimi Artita (M.S. student): Mechanics of fault growth and linkage in three dimensions.
• Anjani Polit (M.S. student): Fault growth and restriction in layered sequences.
• Dan Neuffer (M.S. student): Soft-rock deformation and genesis of layered deposits on Mars.

Selected Publications:

• Okubo, C.H., and R.A. Schultz, Mechanical stratigraphy in the western equatorial region of Mars based on thrust fault-related fold topography and implications for near-surface volatile reservoirs, Geological Society of America Bulletin, 116, in press, 2004.
• Benedicto, A., R. Schultz, and R. Soliva, Layer thickness and the shape of faults, Geophysical Research Letters, 30, 2076, 10.1029/2003GL018237, 2003.
• Schultz, R.A., and C.M. Balasko, Growth of deformation bands into echelon and ladder geometries, Geophysical Research Letters, 30, 2033, 10.1029/2003GL018449, 2003.
• Wilkins, S.J., and R.A. Schultz, Cross faults in extensional settings: Stress triggering, displacement localization, and implications for the origin of blunt troughs in Valles Marineris, Mars, Journal of Geophysical Research, 108, 5056, 10.1029/ 2002JE001968, 2003.
• Watters, T.R., R.A. Schultz, M.S. Robinson, and A.C. Cook, The mechanical and thermal structure of Mercury’s early lithosphere, Geophysical Research Letters, 29, 10.1029/2001GL014308, 2002.
• Schultz, R.A., and H. Fossen, Displacement-length scaling in three dimensions: The importance of aspect ratio and application to deformation bands, Journal of Structural Geology, 24, 1389–1411, 2002.
• Schultz, R.A., Localization of bedding plane slip and backthrust faults above blind thrust faults: Keys to wrinkle ridge structure, Journal of Geophysical Research, 105, 12,035–12,052, 2000.
• Schultz, R.A., Growth of geologic fractures into large-strain populations: Review of nomenclature, subcritical crack growth, and some implications for rock engineering, International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, 37, 403–411, 2000.
• Schultz, R.A., Understanding the process of faulting: Selected challenges and opportunities at the edge of the 21st century, Journal of Structural Geology, 21, 985–993, 1999.
• Schultz, R.A., Integrating rock mechanics into traditional geoscience curricula, Journal of Geoscience Education, 46, 141–145, 1998.
• Schultz, R.A., Limits on strength and deformation properties of jointed basaltic rock masses, Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, 28, 1–15, 1995.
• Schultz, R.A., M.C. Jensen, and R.C. Bradt, Single crystal cleavage of brittle materials, International Journal of Fracture, 65, 291–312, 1994.
• Schultz, R.A., Strike-slip faulting of ridged plains near Valles Marineris, Mars, Nature, 341, 424–426, 1989.