Thermal Evolution of sedimentary strata in southwestern NWT
This project investigates the thermal evolution of the Palaeozoic–Cenozoic sedimentary basins in western and southwestern Northwest Territories. The research is conducted in collaboration with the Energy Group of NWT Geological Survey that aims to develop a new basin model and evaluate the potential for geothermal energy production. In July 2019 we conducted fieldwork along the eastern front of the Mackenzie Mountains. Sample collection in 2020 and 2021 will focus in the south-western NWT.
Graduate student Cecilia D'Mello will work in this project using low-temperature thermochornology and thermal history modeling.

Funding for this project comes from the Northwest Territories Geological Survey and the NSERC- Discovery Grant awarded to Enkelmann.
Quantifying deformation in the Richardson Mountains (NE Canadian Cordillera)
This project is conducted in collaboration with Dr. Thomas Hadlari from the Geological Survey of Canada. We will investigate the deformation history at the eastern margin of the Northern Canadian Cordillera. We conducted fieldwork in the Richardson Mountains in summer 2018. We will integrate structural geology, sedimentology, and geo-and thermochronology analyses. We will use thermochronology to quantify the sense and timing of faulting. Graduate student Ryan McKay is conducting thermochronology studies within his master thesis project.

Funding for this projects comes from Natural Resources Canada and NSERC- Discovery Grant awarded to  Enkelmann

Quantifying timing and amount of faulting along the central Rocky Mountain Trench


This project is conducted in collaboration with Hersh Gilbert (University of Calgary) who is using seismic data to investigate the subsurface structure in the Valemount B.C. area. We will use low-temperature  thermochronology to measure the time and amount of displacement across the rocky mountain trench. Graduate student Kelley Fraser is conducting apatite FT analysis, while undergraduate student Ryan Grieco and Kade Damant conduct apatite and zircon U-Th/He dating.

Funding for this projects come from NSERC- Discovery Grant awarded to  Enkelmann

Double and triple dating of Triassic porphyritic systems across British Columbia

This project investigates the formation and thermal histories of Triassic porphyritic systems across the Intermontane of British Columbia. We are developing new innovative analytical methods where we combine U-Pb dating, fission track dating and (U-Th)/He dating on individual grains. Through the application of these double and triple dating techniques on apatite and zircon we aim to constrain the regional timing and depths of magma emplacement and how the Intermontane evolved throughout Mesozoic and Cenozoic time. Dr. Scott jess conducted field work in July of 2019 and collected samples from across Southern BC.

This research is funded by E. Enkelmann’s startup grant.

Dating Appalachian uplift

This project aims to define the age of the modern Appalachian topography. We are using laser ablation (U-Th)/He on detrital apatite. Dr. Scott Jess collected sand from various rivers across the Appalachians. The resulting age spectra will be used to determine the timing of erosion across the region and help resolve when uplift occurred.

This research is funded by E. Enkelmann’s startup grant and NSERC-DG.

Past Research Projects

The sedimentary record of tectonic-surface processes interactions in the St. Elias Range, Alaska.

This project was funded by the American Chemical Society - Petroleum Research Fund (start 9/2015) and conducted in collaboration with Richard Lease (USGS Alaska). 
We aimed to investigate the 7 Myr long offshore sedimentary record of the Gulf of Alaska to investigate the changes in rock exhumation in southeast Alaska. We used geo- and thermochronology methods (zircon U-Pb and fission track dating) on industry borehole samples as well as bedrock dating of the coastal mountains in the Yakutat Bay Area.
Publications:
*Schartman, A., Enkelmann, E., Garver, J.I., Davidson, C. 2019. Lithosphere. https://doi.org/10.1130/L1011.1
*Bootes, N., Enkelmann, E.,Lease, R., 2019. Tectonics doi: 10.1029/2019TC005497

Investigating the sedimentary record of differing modes of flat-slab subduction

This 3 year project was funded by the National Science Foundation - Tectonics (start 9/2014) and a collaboration with Emily Finzel (University of Iowa)
The ultimate goal of this research is to better understand the dynamics of the upper plate as a result of flat-slab subduction along convergent margins, including the magmatic, topographic, erosional, and depositional response to this process. We investigate the Late Cretaceous – Cenozoic sedimentary deposits of the Cook Inlet basin in southcentral Alaska, which constitute a complete sedimentary record of forearc basin strata deposited during subduction of normal oceanic crust, flat-slab subduction of a spreading ridge, and by subduction of an oceanic plateau. This 3 year project is funded by the National Science Foundation - Tectonics (start 9/2014) and a collaboration with Emily Finzel (University of Iowa)
Publications:
Enkelmann, E., *Sanchez Lohff, SK., Finzel, FS 2019. GSA Bulletin
Reid, MR, Finzel, E, Enkelmann, E., McClelland, WC., 2018. GSA Special Volume
Finzel, E. & Enkelmann, E., 2017. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 18, 1739– 1760.
Finzel, E., Enkelmann, E., *Falkowski, S., Hedeen, T., 2016. Tectonics, 35, 7, 1735-1759.

Quantifying deformation and erosion at the Yakutat plate corner

In this project we investigated the exhumation history of the St. Elias Syntaxis region. This project is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgesellschaft (DFG grant EN341/1-2, 2011-2015)

Publications:
Enkelmann, E., *Piestrzeniewicz, A., *Falkowski, S., et al., 2017.  Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 457, 348–358.
*Falkowski, S. and Enkelmann, E. 2016.  Lithosphere, 8, 359–378.
*Falkowski, S., Enkelmann, E. Drost, K., et al.,  2016. Tectonics, 35, 447-468.
Enkelmann, E., Koons, P.O., Pavlis, T.L., et al., 2015. Geophysical Research Letters, 42, 5838–5846.
Enkelmann, E., Valla, P.G., Champagnac, J.-D., 2015. Quaternary Science Review, 113, 23–38.
*Falkowski, S., Enkelmann, E., Ehlers, T.A. 2014. Tectonics 33, 597–616. 
*Grabowski, D., Enkelmann, E., Ehlers, T.A. 2013. JGR-Earth Surface, 118, 1-18. 

Linking Sediment Provenance and Strata Formation to Tectonic-Climate Interactions along the southern Alaska Margin

In this project we used detrital apatite and zircon dating (fission track and U-Th/He dating) derived from IODP Expedition 341 borehole material to investigate the sediment transport from the St. Elias to the Gulf of Alaska. This 2 year project was funded by the National Science Foundation - Ocean Drilling Program and conducted in collaboration with Ken Ridgway (Purdue), John Jaeger (U. Florida), Sean Gulick (U. Texas), Robert Reece (Texas A&M) and Ellen Cowan (Appalachian State University).

Publications:
*Dunn, C.A., Enkelmann, E., Ridgway, K.D., Allen, W.K., 2017. Source to sink evaluation of sediment routing in the Gulf of Alaska and Southeast Alaska: a thermochronometric perspective. JGR-Earth Surface, 122, 711-734.

Mackenzie Mountains Field Project

The Cenozoic evolution of the Mackenzie Mountains has not been investigated because fundamental field-based observations and analytical data that can address those questions are lacking. We conducted a reconnaissance trip in July–August 2014 to the Mackenzie Mountains with the goal to collect field observations including structural and geomorphologic data, and to collect samples for various dating techniques that allow quantification of the rates and timing of surface uplift and erosion over thousand and million-year time scales. This expedition was funded by the National Geographics Society – Explorer Fund (2014).

Publications:
Enkelmann, E., Finzel, E., Arkle, J. 2019. Deformation at the eastern margin of the Northern Canadian Cordillera: potentially related to opening of the North Atlantic. Terra Nova 31, 3.