Teaching Interests and Philosophy

Classes I teach include natural disasters (EES 1), a geologic field trip class (EES 3), a course on the geology of the local National Parks (EES 50), structural geology (EES 106), geomorphology (EES 105), and advanced field methods (EES 107), and a graduate level class on active faulting and seismic hazard analysis (EES 210). I also filled in and taught igneous and metamorphic petrology (EES 101) in Spring 2008. I integrate my 16 years of industry experience as an engineering/environmental geologist, as well as my research, into the teaching of my classes, because the majority of geology graduates will be employed in engineering and/or environmental geology. I have developed lab exercises based on actual professional projects I have done. This helps make the course material more relevant and useful to students. I also integrate research into teaching to enhance classes in several ways including: (1) demonstrating by example the application of the scientific method in geology; (2) letting students know that so much is still not known and left for them to discover, and (3) keeping course material up to date. I strongly believe in the value of field trips and field exercises in teaching geology. In industry, I have found that the most successful geologists are those with strong field skills, and, more often than not these geologists graduated from programs with a strong field emphasis. The geologic curriculum in this department has a very strong field emphasis, so I expect CSU Fresno graduates to be very successful in their careers. I do not know of any fields in which professionals enjoy their work more than geologists do. Perhaps this is due to the uniqueness of work in the geological sciences. What other science requires the use of both the mind and body? In addition to being downright fun, geology is a field of crucial importance to humanity and demand for geologists has never been higher. Fun, fulfilling, and full employment is pretty hard to beat!

Research Interests

My research has spans many subdisciplines in geology with the unifying theme of tectonics. Graduate students and undergraduates are involved in all aspects of my research (see student research page). My active tectonic research includes work on tectonic geomorphology (studies in the Sierra Nevada, California Coast Ranges), and active faulting/seismic hazards of coastal California and the Sierra Nevada regions. I have an interest in the long-term evolution of strike-slip fault systems (including the San Andreas fault system). Much of my research involves studies of basement tectonics, with emphasis of the rock record of subduction processes; the Franciscan Complex has been and will probably always be my favorite geologic unit. Basement tectonic research includes studies of the rock record of subduction initiation, the generation and emplacement of ophiolite complexes, the relationship between metamorphic pressure-temperature (P-T) paths and tectonics, and the exhumation of high-P rocks. I have also conducted research in environmental and engineering geology, particularly in the field of ambient (naturally occurring) metals of environmental concern in rocks and soil, and the engineering significance of melanges. I have tended to focus on process-oriented problems in my research, but my research also has a strong local or regional flavor in that nearly all of my research to date has taken place in the California Coast Ranges and the Sierra Nevada. A notable exception has been my recent field research in subduction-related metamorphism and tectonic evolution of Calabria (southern Italy). For details on my research activities with undergraduates and masters students, see student research. For a complete list of publications related to my research see the c.v. linked below (that includes pre-1996 publications as well as abstracts, with some citations linked to pdfs). For more information on some of the other things I do (more geology, lots of high country trout fishing, homebrewing and brewing arts appreciation, gardening, aquarium fish) see my personal website at: http://geocities.com/johnwako@sbcglobal.net

Student Research

Selected Publications

• Wakabayashi, J., Ghatak, A., and Basu, A.R., Tectonic setting of supra subduction zone ophiolite generation and subduction initiation as revealed through geochemistry and regional field relationships: in press, Geological Society of America Bulletin.
• Snow, C.A., Wakabayashi, J., Ernst, W.G., and Wooden, J.L., SHRIMP-based depositional ages of Franciscan metagraywackes, west-central California: in press, Geological Society of America.
• Smart, C.M., and Wakabayashi, J., 2009, Hot and deep: Rock record of subduction initiation and exhumation of high-temperature, high-pressure metamorphic rocks, Feather River ultramafic belt, California: Lithos, doi:10.1016/j.lithos.2009.06.012
• Wakabayashi, J., 2008, Franciscan Complex, California: Problems in recognition of melanges, and the gap between research knowledge and professional practice: Proceedings of the 2008 Conference of the American Rock Mechanics Association, San Francisco (published online).
• Wakabayashi, J., and Dumitru, T.A., 2007, 40Ar/39Ar ages from coherent high-pressure metamorphic rocks of the Franciscan Complex, California: Revisiting the timing of metamorphism of the world's type subduction complex: International Geology Review, v. 49, p. 873-906.
• Wakabayashi, J., 2007, Step-overs that migrate with respect to affected deposits: Field characteristics and speculation on some details of their evolution: in Cunningham, W.D., and Mann, P., eds. Tectonics of strike-slip releasing and restraining bends in continental and oceanic settings.  Geological Society of London Special Publication 290, p. 169-188.
• Tsujimori, T., Matsumoto, K., Wakabayashi, J., and Liou, J.G., 2006, Franciscan eclogite revisited: Reevaulation of P-T evolution of tectonic blocks from Tiburon Peninsula, California, USA:  Mineralogy and Petrology, v. 88, p. 243-267.
• Moores, E.M., Wakabayashi, J., Unruh, J.R., and Waechter, S., 2006, A transect spanning 500 million years of active plate margin history: Outline and field trip guide: in Prentice, C.S., Scotchmoor, J.G., Moores, E.M., and Kiland, J.P., eds,. 1906 San Francisco Earthquake Centennial Field Trip Guides: Field trips associated with the 100th Anniversary Conference, 18-23 April 2006, San Francisco, CA: Geological Society of America Field Trip Guide 7, p.373-413; doi: 10.1130/2006.1906SF(20).
• Saha, A., Basu, A.R., Wakabayashi, J., and Wortman, G.L., 2005, Geochemical evidence for subducted nascent arc from Franciscan high-grade tectonic blocks: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 117, p. 1318-1335.
• Wakabayashi, J., 2005, Franciscan Complex and Coast Range Ophiolite, eastern margin of San Francisco Bay, California: Major components of the former convergent plate boundary: in Stevens, C., and Cooper, J., eds.  Mesozoic tectonic assembly of California Pacific Section, SEPM, Book  96, p. 1-20.
• Wakabayashi, J., and Medley, E.W., 2004, Geological characterization of melanges for practitioners: Felsbau v. 22, no. 5, p. 10-18.
• Wakabayashi, J., 2004a, Contrasting settings of serpentinite bodies, San Francisco Bay area, California: Derivation from the subducting plate vs. mantle hanging wall: International Geology Review, v. 46, p. 1103-1118.
• Wakabayashi, J., and Medley, E.W., 2004, Geological characterization of melanges for practitioners: Felsbau v. 22, no. 5, p. 10-18.
• Wakabayashi, J., 2004b, Tectonic mechanisms associated with P-T paths of regional metamorphism: alternatives to single-cycle thrusting and heating: Tectonophysics, v. 392, p. 193-218.
• Wakabayashi, J., Hengesh, J.V., and Sawyer, T.L.,2004, Four-dimensional transform fault processes: progressive evolution of step-overs and bends: Tectonophysics, v. 392, p. 279-301.
• Anczkiewicz, R., Platt, J.P., Thirlwall, M.F., and Wakabayashi, J., 2004, Franciscan subduction off to slow start: Evidence from high-precision Lu-Hf garnet ages on high-grade blocks: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 225, p. 147-161.
• Harrison, S., Safford, H., and Wakabayashi, J., 2004, Does age of exposure of serpentine explain variation in endemic plant diversity in California? International Geology Review, v. 46, p. 235-242.
• Wakabayashi,J., and Dilek, Y., 2003, What constitutes "emplacement" of an ophiolite?: mechanisms and relationship to subduction initiation and formation of metamorphic soles: in: Dilek, Y., and Robinson, P.T., eds., Ophiolites in Earth history, Geological Society of London Special Publication 218, p. 427-447.
• Moores, E.M., Wakabayashi, J., and Unruh, J.R., 2002, Crustal scale cross-section of the US Cordillera, California and beyond, its tectonic significance, and speculations on the Andean orogeny: International Geology Review, v. 44, p. 479-500.
• Wakabayashi, J., and Sawyer, T.L., 2001, Stream incision, tectonics, uplift, and evolution of topography of the Sierra Nevada, California: Journal of Geology, v. 109, p. 539-562.
• Wakabayashi, J., and Dilek, Y., 2000, Spatial and temporal relations between ophiolites and their subophiolitic soles: A test of models of forearc ophiolite genesis: in Dilek, Y., Moores, E.M., Elthon, D., and Nicolas, A., eds., Ophiolites and oceanic crust: New insights from field studies and ocean drilling, Geological Society of America Special Paper 349, p. 53-64.
• Wakabayashi, J., and Sawyer, T.L., 2000, Neotectonics of the Sierra Nevada and the Sierra Nevada-Basin and Range Transition, California, with field trip stop descriptions for the northeastern Sierra Nevada: in Brooks, E.R., and Dida,  L.T., eds., Field guide to the geology and tectonics of the northern Sierra Nevada, California Division of Mines and Geology Special Publication 122, p. 173-212.
• Moores, E.M., Dilek, Y., and Wakabayashi, J., 1999, California terranes: in Sloan, D., Moores, E.M., and Stout, D. eds., Classic Cordilleran Concepts: A View From California, Geological Society of America Special Paper 338, p. 227-234.
• Wakabayashi, J., 1999a, Distribution of displacement on, and evolution of, a young transform fault system: the northern San Andreas fault system, California: Tectonics, v. 18, p. 1245-1274.
• Wakabayashi, J., 1999b, The Franciscan Complex, San Francisco Bay area: A record of subduction processes: in Wagner, D.L., and Graham, S. A., eds. Geologic field trips in northern California, California Division of Mines and Geology Special Publication 119, p. 1-21.
• Wakabayashi, J., 1999c, Subduction and the rock record: Concepts developed in the Franciscan Complex, California: in Sloan, D., Moores, E.M., and Stout, D. eds., Classic Cordilleran Concepts: A View From California, Geological Society of America Special Paper 338, p. 123-133.
• Wakabayashi, J., 1996, Tectono-metamorphic impact of a subduction-transform transition and implications for interpretation of orogenic belts: International Geology Review, v.38, p. 979-994.
• Wakabayashi, J., and Unruh, J.R., 1995, Tectonic wedging, blueschist metamorphism, and exposure of blueschist: are they compatible?: Geology, v. 23, p. 85-88