School of Geographical and Earth Sciences

Dr Tim Dempster

Tim Dempster
  • Senior Lecturer (School of Geographical and Earth Sciences)

telephone: 01413305445
email: Tim.Dempster@glasgow.ac.uk


My research interests are focused on the use of accessory minerals, principally zircon and apatite, to reveal information on crustal processes.

  • Zircon as an indicator of low and medium grade metamorphic processes.
  • Apatite thermochronology and the thermal structure of the shallow crust.
  • Grain boundaries and the movement of fluids through the crust. The morphology of apatite mineral surfaces as a guide to palaeoporosity and deformation in crustal rocks.
  • Chemical zoning in accessory minerals as a monitor of crystallisation history.
  • The initial phases of orogenic evolution and links between surface processes and tectonics.

Current research

  • Zircon dissolution and growth during metamorphism
  • Fluid flow through the shallow crust (Alps and California) (with Susan Lawther, Cristina Persano, Zoe Shipton)
  • Titanite as a monitor of magma mixing (with Graham Macleod, John Faithfull)
  • Orogenic development (with Cristina Persano)

In addition, I maintain active research interests in the following areas:

  • The kinetics of metamorphic reactions and the importance of chemical zoning in rock-forming minerals such as micas, in controlling equilibrium.
  • The use of thermochronology to monitor denudation histories in high elevation tectonic regions.
  • The geological evolution of the British Caledonides.
Jump to: 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2000 | 1997
Number of items: 23.

2011

McLeod, G.W., Dempster, T.J. , and Faithfull, J.W. (2011) Deciphering magma-mixing processes using zoned titanite from the Ross of Mull granite, Scotland. Journal of Petrology, 52 (1). pp. 55-82. ISSN 0022-3530 (doi:10.1093/petrology/egq071)

2010

Dobson, K., Stuart, F. , and Dempster, T. (2010) Constraining the post-emplacement evolution of the Hebridean Igneous Province (HIP) using low temperature thermochronology: How long has the HIP been cool? Journal of the Geological Society, 167 (5). pp. 973-984. ISSN 0016-7649 (doi:10.1144/0016-76492009-154)

Hay, D., Dempster, T. , Lee, M. , and Brown, D.J. (2010) Anatomy of a low temperature zircon outgrowth. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 159 (1). pp. 81-92. ISSN 0010-7999 (doi:10.1007/s00410-009-0417-2)

2009

Hay, D., and Dempster, T. (2009) Zircon alteration, formation and preservation in sandstones. Sedimentology, 56 (7). pp. 2175-2191. ISSN 0037-0746 (doi:10.1111/j.1365-3091.2009.01075.x)

Lawther, S.E.M., and Dempster, T. (2009) Apatite grain boundary morphology and its response to low-temperature fluid infiltration in crystalline basement. Geofluids, 9 (3). pp. 224-236. ISSN 1468-8115 (doi:10.1111/j.1468-8123.2009.00249.x)

Hay, D., and Dempster, T.J. (2009) Zircon behaviour during low-temperature metamorphism. Journal of Petrology, 50 (4). pp. 571-589. ISSN 0022-3530 (doi:10.1093/petrology/egp011)

Clark, S.J.P., and Dempster, T.J. (2009) The record of tectonic denudation and erosion in an emerging orogen: an apatite fission-track study of the Sierra Nevada, southern Spain. Journal of the Geological Society, 166 (1). pp. 87-100. ISSN 0016-7649 (doi:10.1144/0016-76492008-041)

2008

Dobson, K.J., Stuart, F.M. , and Dempster, T.J. (2008) U and Th zonation in Fish Canyon Tuff zircons: implications for a zircon (U–Th)/He standard. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 72 (19). pp. 4745-4755. ISSN 0016-7037 (doi:10.1016/j.gca.2008.07.015)

Dempster, T.J., Martin, J.C., and Shipton, Z.K. (2008) Zircon dissolution in a ductile shear zone, Monte Rosa granite gneiss, northern Italy. Mineralogical Magazine, 72 (4). pp. 971-986. ISSN 0026-461X (doi:10.1180/minmag.2008.072.4.971)

Dempster, T.J., Hay, D. , Gordon, S.H., and Kelly, N.M. (2008) Micro-zircon: origin and evolution during metamorphism. Journal of Metamorphic Geology, 26 (5). pp. 499-507. ISSN 0263-4929 (doi:10.1111/j.1525-1314.2008.00772.x)

2007

Reinhardt, L.J., Hoey, T.B. , Barrows, T.T., Dempster, T.J. , Bishop, P. , and Fifield, L.K. (2007) Interpreting erosion rates from cosmogenic radionuclide concentrations measured in rapidly eroding terrain. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 32 (3). pp. 390-406. ISSN 0197-9337 (doi:10.1002/esp.1415)

Reinhardt, L.J., Bishop, P. , Hoey, T.B. , Dempster, T.J. , and Sanderson, D.C.W. (2007) Quantification of the transient response to base-level fall in a small mountain catchment: Sierra Nevada, southern Spain. Journal of Geophysical Research - Solid Earth, 112 . ISSN 0148-0227 (doi:10.1029/2006JF000524)

Reinhardt, LJ, Dempster, TJ , Shroder, JF, and Persano, C (2007) Tectonic denudation and topographic development in the Spanish Sierra Nevada. Tectonics, 26 . (doi:10.1029/2006TC001954)

2006

Bluck, BJ, Dempster, TJ , Aftalion, M, Haughton, PDW, and Rogers, G (2006) Geochronology of a granitoid boulder from the Corsewall Formation (Southern Uplands): implications for the evolution of southern Scotland. Scottish Journal of Geology, 42 . pp. 29-35.

Dempster, TJ, Campanile, D, and Holness, MB (2006) Imprinted textures on apatite: A guide to paleoporosity and metamorphic recrystallization. Geology, 34 . pp. 897-900. (doi:10.1130/G22299A.1)

Dempster, TJ, and Persano, C (2006) Low-temperature thermochronology: Resolving geotherm shapes or denudation histories? Geology, 34 . pp. 73-76.

2005

Persano, C., Stuart, F.M. , Bishop, P. , and Dempster, T.J. (2005) Deciphering continental breakup in eastern Australia using low-temperature thermochronometers. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 110 . B12405. ISSN 1934-8843 (doi:10.1029/2004JB003325)

2004

Dempster, TJ, Hay, DC , and Bluck, BJ (2004) Zircon growth in slate. Geology, 32 . pp. 221-224. (doi:10.1130/G20156.1)

2003

Brown, PE, Dempster, TJ , Hutton, DHW, and Becker, SM (2003) Extensional tectonics and mafic plutons in the Ketilidian rapakivi granite suite of South Greenland. Lithos, 67 . pp. 1-13. ISSN 0024-4937 (doi:10.1016/S0024-4937(02)00212-8)

Dempster, TJ, Jolivet, M, Tubrett, MN, and Braithwaite, CJR (2003) Magmatic zoning in apatite: a monitor of porosity and permeability change in granites. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 145 . pp. 568-577. (doi:10.1007/s00410-003-0471-0)

Jolivet, M, Dempster, T , and Cox, R (2003) Distribution of U and Th in apatites: implications for U-Th/He thermochronology. Comptes Rendus Geoscience, 335 . pp. 899-906. (doi:10.1016/j.crte.2003.08.010)

2000

Dempster, T.J., Fallick, A.E. , and Whittemore, C.J. (2000) Metamorphic reactions in the biotite zone, eastern Scotland: high thermal gradients, metasomatism and cleavage formation. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 138 (4). pp. 348-363. ISSN 0010-7999 (doi:10.1007/s004100050568)

1997

Bluck, B.J., Dempster, T.J. , and Rogers, G. (1997) Allochthonous metamorphic blocks on the Hebridean passive margin, Scotland. Journal of the Geological Society, 154 . pp. 921-924. ISSN 0016-7649 (doi:10.1144/gsjgs.154.6.0921)

This list was generated on Thu May 24 18:52:57 2012 BST.

Shipton Z. K., Lawther S., Dempster T. and Boyce A. (SUERC). 2009-2010. Variability in fault architecture, mineralogy and fluid flow through faults in granite gneiss exhumed from seismogenic depths. NERC Isotope Geoscience Facility award IP-1156-1109, £43,200.

Persano, C. and Dempster, T.J. 2007. Constraints on the longevity of fluid flow in the crust from low temperature thermochronometry and numerical modelling., £10,000 (Royal Society London)

Persano, C. and Dempster, T.J. 2006-2007. The detection of fluid movements in the crust using low temperature thermochronology, £29,996 (Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland)

Hoey, T. B.; Bishop, P.; Dempster, T.J. 2001. Inferring denudation history from He isotope and cosmogenic analysis of sediments, £10,034 (Leverhulme Trust). Co-Investigator F. Stuart (SUERC).

Susan Lawther (PhD candidate)

Chair of Department Learning, Teaching and Assessment Committee

Courses

  • Earth Sciences Level 1 Metamorphic rocks
  • Earth Sciences Level 1 Earth History (Snowball)
  • Earth Sciences Level 2 Global Tectonics
  • Earth Sciences Level 2 Metamorphic Processes
  • Earth Sciences Level 2 Minerals, Geochemistry & Isotopes
  • Earth Sciences Level 2 Field skills
  • Earth Sciences Level 3 Metamorphism
  • Earth Sciences Level 3 Stratigraphy
  • Earth Sciences Level 4 Major Earth Processes
  • Earth Sciences Level 4 Independant mapping surgeries
  • Earth Sciences Level 4 Analytical techniques

Earth Sciences Field Classes

  • Level 3 Mull
  • Level 3 Oban
  • Level 3 Stonehaven, Corrieburn, Rosneath
  • Level 4 Southern Spain (Orogens and Basins option)