Burrell Clark Burchfiel is an American structural geologist

Structural geology

Structural geology is the study of the three-dimensional distribution of rock units with respect to their deformational histories. The primary goal of structural geology is to use measurements of present-day rock geometries to uncover information about the history of deformation in the rocks, and...

. Born in Stockton, California

Stockton, California

Stockton, California, the seat of San Joaquin County, is the fourth-largest city in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. With a population of 291,707 at the 2010 census, Stockton ranks as this state's 13th largest city...

, he earned his Ph.D. in 1961 at Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

. His first academic appointment was to the Geology department at Rice University

Rice University

William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...

. He is presently the Schlumberger

Schlumberger

Schlumberger Limited is the world's largest oilfield services company. Schlumberger employs over 110,000 people of more than 140 nationalities working in approximately 80 countries...

 Professor of Geology at MIT. Research interests: Origin, development, and structural evolution of the continental crust

Continental crust

The continental crust is the layer of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks which form the continents and the areas of shallow seabed close to their shores, known as continental shelves. This layer is sometimes called sial due to more felsic, or granitic, bulk composition, which lies in...

. His current work involves study of the geological history and evolution of the Tibetan plateau

Tibetan Plateau

The Tibetan Plateau , also known as the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau is a vast, elevated plateau in Central Asia covering most of the Tibet Autonomous Region and Qinghai, in addition to smaller portions of western Sichuan, southwestern Gansu, and northern Yunnan in Western China and Ladakh in...

.

Selected publications

B. C. Burchfiel, Structural geology of the Spector Range Quadrangle, Nevada, and its regional significance, GSA Bulletin; February 1965; v. 76; no. 2; p. 175-191

B. C. Burchfiel, R. J. Fleck, D. T. Secor, R. R. Vincelette, and G. A. Davis, Geology of the Spring Mountains, Nevada, GSA Bulletin; July 1974; v. 85; no. 7; p. 1013–1022

B. C. Burchfiel and G. A. Davis, Nature and controls of Cordilleran orogenesis, western United States: Extensions of an earlier synthesis, American Journal of Science; 1975,; v. 275; no. A; p. 363-396

Burchfiel, B.C., and Davis, G.A., 1981, Mojave Desert and environs, in Ernst, W.G., ed., The geotectonic development of California (Rubey volume 1): Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall, p. 217-252.

B. Clark Burchfiel, Brian Wernicke, James H. Willemin, Garry J. Axen & C. Scott Cameron, A new type of decollement thrusting, Nature 300, 513 - 515 (9 December 1982) Abstract

Peter Molnar, B. Clark Burchfiel, Liang K'uangyi, and Zhao Ziyun, Geologic Evolution of Northern Tibet: Results of an Expedition to Ulugh Muztagh, 1987, Science Vol. 235. no. 4786, pp. 299 – 305. Abstract

B. Clark Burchfiel, and L. H. Royden, Antler Orogeny; a mediterranean-type orogeny, Geology; January 1991; v. 19; no. 1; p. 66-69

B. C. Burchfiel, D. S. Cowan, and G. A. Davis, 1992, Tectonic overview of the Cordilleran orogen in the western U. S., in Burchfiel, B. C., Lipman, P. W., and Zoback, M. L., eds., The Cordilleran Orogen: conterminous U. S.: The Geology of North America, Volume G-3, Decade of North American Geology, Geological Society of America, Boulder, p. 407-480.

Awards and positions held

• 1985, elected to National Academy of Sciences
  United States National Academy of Sciences
  The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
  
  
• 1995, Career Achievement Award from the Geological Society of America
  Geological Society of America
  The Geological Society of America is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. The society was founded in New York in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitchcock, John R. Proctor and Edward Orton and has been headquartered at 3300 Penrose...
  
  
• 1997, elected to the Chinese National Academy of Sciences
• 2003, elected President of the Geological Society of America
  Geological Society of America
  The Geological Society of America is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. The society was founded in New York in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitchcock, John R. Proctor and Edward Orton and has been headquartered at 3300 Penrose...
  
  

External links

• Use of GPS in field work in Tibet; structural geology of the eastern Tibetan plateau 2003 GSA Presidential address, by B.C. Burchfiel