Harmon D. Maher Jr.

(vita for last decade).

• Birthdate: August 31,1955
• Work address: Dept. Geography and Geology, University of Nebraska- Omaha, Nebraska 68131-0199
• Home address: 5135 Erskine Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68104
• phone numbers: office (402) 554-4807; fax (402) 554 3518; home (402) 558 9153
• email: harmon_maher@unomaha.edu

Educational Background

• Doctor of Philosophy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, August 1984.
  • Distributed minor in rock mechanics and statistics.
  • Dissertation title: "Structure and Stratigraphy of Midterhuken Peninsula, Bellsund,
  • West Spitsbergen." Advisor - Dr. Campbell Craddock.
  • Received Stanley Tylor Teaching Award; Geoclub Vice President.
• Master of Science, with Distinction, University of South Carolina at Columbia, August 1979.
  • Thesis title: "Stratigraphy, Metamorphism and Structure of the Kiokee and Belair Belts Near Augusta, Georgia." Advisors - Dr. Arthur Snoke and Dr. Don Secor.
• Bachelor of Science, magna cum laude, State University of New York - Albany, May 1977.
  • Major in geology, distributed minor. New York State Regents Scholarship.

Areas of expertise: structure, tectonics, geology of Barents Shelf, geology of Spitsbergen (Svalbard), southern Appalachian geology, history and philosophy of geology, geologic pedagogy, environmental geology.

Professional experience

• Fall 1997 to present Chair, Department of Geography and Geology at University of Nebraska - Omaha.
• Spring & Summer 1996 to present Consultant for SAGA Petroleum (96,97,98), participant in University of Tromsø expedition to Spitsbergen (96, 97, 98), taught at Shell Canyon, Wyoming field camp (96 & 97), textbook reviewer for McGraw Hill and Houghton Mifflin.
• Summer 1995 Researcher in basement characterization and fault movement history of the Savannah River Site (S.C.), SCUREF Task 170 (P.I., Allen Dennis Univ. of S. Carolina at Aiken). Researcher on 10-day field expedition to Bjornøya (Bear Island) with SAGA Petroleum of Norway.
• Summer 1994 3 month fellowship at Univeristy of Tromsø in a collaboration with Dr. Steffen Bergh (on Svalbard Tertiary tectonism) including a 3 week mapping expedition to Svalbard. Lecturer on board the Polaris for American Museum of Natural History Discovery Cruise Spitsbergen to Bergen.
• June 1993 Participant in NSF short course on "Collection and evaluation of geologic data for environmental studies" at University of Missouri - Rolla
• March 1993 Seminar instructor, taught graduate seminar course on Southern Appalachian tectonics at Univeristy of Tromsø, Norway.
• Summer 92, 93 Participant in U. Tromsø Svalbard field expedition.
• Summer 1991 Expedition leader (2 person expedition!) for Norsk Polarinstitutt, geologic mapping at St. Jonsfjorden, Svalbard, Norway.
• Sept. 1983 to present Instructor , Assistant Professor (1985), Associate Professor (1988), Professor (1996) of Geology at University of Nebraska Omaha. Tenure received in 1989. Courses taught: environmental geology, environmental geology lab, physical geology, structural geology, plate tectonics, geophysics, field methods, field camp, seminars on rock mechanics, history of geologic thought, planetary geology, and seismic hazard assessment for Omaha region, and a variety of field trips.

Publications:

• Maher, H. D., Jr, Sacks P., and Secor, D. T., 1991, The Eastern Piedmont of South Carolina: in Horton, W. & Zullo, V. A. (ed.) The Geology of the Carolines: Carolina Geological Society 50th Anniversary Vol., Univeristy of Tennessee Press, p. 93-108.
• Welbon, A. I. & Maher, H. D., Jr., 1992, Tertiary tectonism and basin inversion of the St. Jonsfjorden region, Svalbard: Journal of Structural Geology, vol. 14, p. 41-55.
• Maher, H. D., Jr. & S. N. Maher, 1992, "Geological Sciences", in L. Dabundo (ed)., Romanticism: An Encyclopedia, Garland Press, New York. p. 215-220.
• Maher, H. D., Jr. & Welbon, A., 1992, Influence of a Carboniferous basin margin influence on Tertiary tectonism at St. Jonsfjorden and Bellsund, Svalbard; Norsk Geologisk Tidsskrift, vol 72, p. 67-78 p.
• Pray, J. R., Maher, H. D., Jr. & Welbon, A. I. 1992, Ruminations on Tuttle lamellae (fluid inclusion planes) in Carboniferous strata from Bellsund and St. Jonsfjorden, Western Svalbard. Norsk Geologisk Tiddskrift , v. 72, p. 77-82.
• Maher, H. D. Jr., 1992, Open and closed rock cycles; Journal of Geological Education, vol. 40, 393-397.
• Maher, H. D., Jr, Dallmeyer, R. D., Secor, D. T., Jr., & Sacks, P. E., 1994, 40Ar/39Ar constraints on chronology of Augusta fault zone movement and late Alleghanian extension, southern Appalachian Piedmont, S.C. & Ga.; American Journal of Science, v. 295, p. 428-448.
• Maher, H. D.. Jr., 1994, The Role of Extension in Mountain-Belt Life Cycles; Journal of Geological Education, v. 42, p. 212-219.
• Maher, H. D., Jr., Shuster, R. D., Swearingen, J. & Honke, J., 1994, Undergraduate Involvement in the Development of an Environmental Geology Lab; Council on Undergraduate Research Quarterly, vol 14, # 3, p. 131-133
• Braathen, A., Bergh, S. & Maher, H. D., Jr., 1995, Structural outline of a Tertiary basement-uplift/inversion structure in western Spitbergen: kinematics and controlling factors; Tectonics, 14, 95-119.
• Maher, H. D., Jr., Braathen, A., Bergh, S., Dallmann, W., Harland, W. B., 1995, Tertiary vs. Cretaceous age for Spitsbergen's fold-thrust belt on the Barents Shelf; Tectonics., 14, 1321-1326.
• West, T. E., Secor, D. T. Jr., Pray, J. R., Boland, I.B. & Maher, H.D., Jr., 1995, New field evidence for an exposure of the Appalachian decollement at the east end of the Pine Mountain terrane, Georgia; Geology, 23, p. 621-624.
• Maher, H. D., Jr., Bergh, S., Braathen, A., & Ohta, Y., 1997 , Svartfjella, Eidembukta, and Daudmannsodden Lineament - Tertiary orogen-parallel motion in the crystalline hinterland of Spitsbergen's fold-thrust belt; Tectonics, vol. 16, 88-106.
• Pray, J. R., Secor, D. T., Jr., Sacks, P. E., Maher, H.D. Jr., 1997, Rotation of fabric elements in convergent shear zones, with examples from the Southern Appalachians; Journal of Structural Geology, v.
• Braathen, A., Bergh, S., Maher, H. D., Jr., 1997, Thrust kinematics in the central part of the Tertiary transpressional fold-thrust belt in Spitsbergen; Nor. Geol. Under. Bulletin, vol. 433, p. 32-33.
• Maher, H. D., Jr., 1998, Resurgent Ideas in the History of Geology as Paradigms Regained, Journal of Geological Education, v. 46, p. 1-7.
• Braathen, A., Bergh, S., Maher, H. D., Jr., 1999, Application of a critical wedge taper model to the Tertiary, transpressional fold-thrust belt of Spitsbergen, Svalbard; GSA Bulletin. 111, 1468-1485.
• Braathen, A., Haabet, T. E., Kristensen, S. E., Maher, H. D., Tørudbakken, B. O., & Worsely, D.,1999, Caledonian thrusting on Bjørnøya, arctic Norway: implications for Paleozoic structuring of the western Barents Shelf; Norsk Geologisk Tidsskrift, 79, 57-68.
• Braathen, A., Bergh, S., Maher, H. D., Jr., Hansen, A., Bergvik, A., Andresen, A., in press, Kinematics of the Isfjorden-Ymerbukta Fault; a dextral oblique-thrust ramp in the Tertiary Fold-Thrust belt of Spitsbergen; Norsk Geologisk Tidsskrift

Reports

• Maher, H. D., Jr., 1995, 28301-B2 Kinematic Evolution of Tertiary Structures in a Dextral Transpressional Plate Setting, Western Barents Shelf, Norway; in 40th Annual Report on Research, Petroleum Research Fund, p. 324-325.
• Maher, H. D., Jr., 1996, 28301-B2 Kinematic Evolution of Tertiary Structures in a Dextral Transpressional Plate Setting, Western Barents Shelf, Norway; in 41st Annual Report on Research, Petroleum Research Fund, p. 118-199.
• Maher, H D. , Jr., 1996, Atypical rifting during the Carboniferous of the NW Barents Shelf; internal report for Saga Petroleum, 18 p. w 9 figures.
• Maher, H. D., Jr., 1999, Tectonic history of the Loppa High, Barents Shelf; internal report for Saga Petroleum, proprietary website.

Published abstracts of papers presented

• Secor, D. T., Jr., Sacks, P. E., Dennis, A. J., Maher, H. D., Jr., 1990, Kinematics of plate motions during the Alleghanian orogeny; Geol. Soc. Am. Abstracts, vol. 22, #1.
• Maher, H. D., Jr., Dallmeyer, R. D., Sacks, P. , & Secor, D. T., Jr., 1990, Age of movement on the Augusta fault zone in the eastern Piedmont of S.C. and Ga., late Alleghanian extension; Geol. Soc. Am. Abstracts, vol. 22, # 3.
• Maher, H. D., Jr., Andresen, A., Dallmann, W. & Welbon, A., 1990, Structural styles in a Tertiary intracratonic convergent mobile zone, Svalbard; Geol. Soc. Am. Abstracts, vol. 23, # 1, p. 233.
• Pray, J., Maher, H. D., Jr. & Welbon, A. I., 1990, Evidence for and ruminations on Carboniferous deformation in Bellsund and St. Jonsfjorden, Western Svalbard:Symposium on Post-Devonian Tectonic evolution of Svalbard, Oslo, Norway jointly sponsered by the University of Oslo Geology Dept. and the Norsk Polarinstitutt, extended 2 page abstract.
• Welbon, A., Andresen, A. & Maher, H. D., Jr., 1991, Upper crustal response to transpressional plate motions, horizontal decoupling of deformation and its control by crustal structure, Spitsbergen; Geological Association of Canada Abstract.
• Maher, H.D., Jr., Sacks, P., Secor, D., & Wright, J., 1992, Magmatic softening in the orogenic hinterland; southern Appalachian Piedmont, Georgia; Geol. Soc. Am. Abstracts, vol. 24, # 2.
• Secor, D. T., Barker, C. A., Boland, I.B., Pray, J. R., Steinke, T. R., West, T. E., Dallmeyer, R. D., Dennis, A. J., Maher, H. D., Sacks, P.E., and Wright, J. E., 1992, The Alleghany orogeny in the southern Appalachians: perspective from the hinterland; Geol. Soc. Am. Abstracts, vol 24, # 1, p. 290.
• Maher, H. D., Jr., Boland, I., Brueggeman, M., Pospisil, M., Pray, J.,Sacks, P., Secor, D.T., Steinke, T. & West, T., 1992, Tectonic architecture of central Georgia Piedmont; Geol. Soc. Am. Abstracts, vol 24, # 1, p. 186.
• Braathen, A., Bergh, S. G., Andresen, A., & Maher, H. D., 1992, Variasjoner i Tertiar Tektonisk av Hetrogent Underlag, Vestlige Spitsbergen, Svalbard; 22nd Nordic Geological Wintermeeting (22nd Nordiske Geologiske Vintermote).
• Pray, J. R., Wright, J. E., Dallmeyer, R. D., Maher, H. D.,Jr., & Sacks, P. E., 1993, Geochronology of Alleghanian Tectonothermal Events in the Southern Appalachian Piedmont; American Geophysical Union Abstract, Spring Meeting - Baltimore, MD.
• Maher, H.D., Jr. & Secor, D. T., Jr, 1993, The Augusta fault zone as a guide to Alleghanian extension in the southern Appalachian Piedmont; Geol. Soc. Am. Abstracts, vol.25, # 4 .
• Sacks, P.E., Secor, D. T., Jr, Maher, H.D., Jr., Wright, J. & Dallmeyer, D., 1993, Early Alleghanian oblique dextral extension and magmatism along the Modoc fault zone, eastern Appalachian Piedmont, SC-Ga; Geol. Soc. Am. Abstracts, vol.25, # 4 .
• West, T. E., Jr., Secor, D. T., Jr., Maher, H. D., Jr., 1994, Is the Appalachian decollement exposed at the east end of the Pine Mountain terrane in central Georgia? New field evidence; Geol. Soc. Am. Abstracts, vol 26, # 2.
• Secor, D. T., Jr., Pray, J. R., West, T. E., Jr., Maher, H. D., Jr., 1994, Character of the Alleghanian orogeny in the hinterland of the southern Appalachians: Kinematics and tectonic models; Geol. Soc. Am. Abstracts, vol 26, # 2.
• Maher, H. D., Jr., Bergh, S., Braathen, A., & Ingebrigtsen, A, 1994, SED Lineament, West Spitsbergen, Norway: strike-slip counterpart to the Tertiary fold-thrust belt in a case of partitioned transpression(?); Geol. Soc. Am. Abstracts, vol 26, # 7, p. 198.
• Bergh, S. G., Braathen, A. & Maher, H. D., Jr., 1994, The Lomfjorden fault zone; basement-controlled Carboniferous subsidence and Tertiary contractional reactivation in the Svalbard Foreland, East Spitsbergen; Tectonics and Structural Geology Studies Group of Norwegian Geological Society, Tromso 10-11.
• Castelhano, T. A. R., Maher, H. D., Jr., Berger, D. R., Bergh, S., & Braathen, A., 1995, Kinematic evolution of the Tertiary fold-thrust belt Brøggerhalvøya, Spitsbergen, Norway from slip-linear plots; Geol. Soc. Am. Abstracts, v. 27, # 3, p. A-42
• Berger, D., Castelhano, T. A. R., Maher, H. D. Jr., Braathen, A., & Bergh, S., 1995, Tertiary deformation of Lower Cretaceous diabase sills in Carboniferous strata, West Spitsbergen, Norway ; Geol. Soc. Am. Abstracts, v. 27, # 3, p. A-39
• Shuster, R. D., Maher, H. D., Jr., Shroder, J. F., Jr. & Engelmann, G. F., 1995, Involving undergraduates in geologic research at an urban university; Geol. Soc. Am. Abstracts, v. 27, # 3, p. A-85.
• Dennis, A. J., Maher, H.D., Jr., Pray, J. R., 1995, Character and relative ages of brittle structures in basement cores, Savannah River Site, S.C.; Geol. Soc. Am. Abstracts, v. 27, # 6, p. A-282.
• Maher, H. D., Jr. & Dennis, A. J., 1995, Character and relative ages of ductile structures in basement cores beneath the Savannah River Site, S.C.; Geol. Soc. Am. Abstracts, v. 27, # 6, p. A-283
• Maher, H. D., Jr., Haabet, T., Braathen, A., Worsley, D., Kristensen, S. E., & Tørudbakken, B. O., 1996, Atypical style of Carboniferous rifting on NW Barents Shelf, Geol. Soc. Am. Abstracts, v. 28, # 6, p. 501
• Turco, J.J, Maher, H.D., Reeder, P., and Nealon, John S., 1997, A pilot study of lectromagnetic conductivity and microtopographic surveys in mapping pioneer gravesites in loess, Mormon Pioneer cemetary, Omaha, Nebraska: Geol. Soc. Am. Abstracts , v. 29, no. 4, p. 76.
• Jacobs, M., Heim, K., and Maher, H.D., Jr., 1997, Initial Component of Urban Geology Database for Omaha, NE; Geol. Soc. Am. Abstracts, v. 29, #6, p. A-148.
• Maher, H.D., Jr., Alder, T., Heim, K., Nihsen, M., Persing, D., and Welch, J., 1997, Neotectonic Joints in Loess of Omaha, Nebraska; Geol. Soc. Am. Abstracts, vol. 29, #6, p. A-417.
• Dennis, A. J., Wright, J. E., Maher, H. D., Jr., Mauldin, J. C., Shervais, J. W., 1997, Repeated Phanerozoic reactivation of a southern Appalachian fault zone beneath the up-dip coastal plain of South Carolina; Geol. Soc. Am. Abstracts, vol. 29, #6, A-223.
• Bergh, S. G., H. D. Maher, Jr. and A. Braathen, 1998, Along strike segmentation of Svalbard's Tertiary fold-thrust belt, ICAM III meeting, Hanover, Germany.
• Shroder, J. F., Jr., Maher, H. D., Engelmann, G. F., and Bishop, M. P., 1998, Field camp with enviromental and geotechnical modules; Geol. Soc. Am. Abstracts, v. 30, #6, p. A-256.
• Maher, H. D., Jr., Covey, J., Heim, K., Elvebakk, G., Worsley, D., 1998, Mesozoic Reactivation of Paleozoic Structures in the Formation of the Loppa High on the Barents Shelf; EOS, Transactions, AGU v. 79, # 45, p. F809
• Maher, H. D. Jr., 1999, Character of Cretaceous High Arctic LIP From a Svalbard Perspective; GSA abstracts with Programs, 31, # 7, 430.
• Shuster, R. D., Maher, H. D. Jr, Engelmann, G. E., and Shroder, J. F. Jr., 1999, Undergraduate Research and the non-traditional student: special challenges and special opportunities; GSA abstracts with Programs, 31, # 7, p. 318.
• Maher, H. D., Jr., Identification of fracture sets in loess deposits in the Omaha area using sliding sector rose diagrams; Proceedings of Southwestern and Rocky Mountain Division of AAAS, v. 39, # 2, p. 26.

Published maps

• Dallmann, W., Hjelle, A., Ohta, Y., Salvigsen, O., Bjornerud, M., Hauser, E. C., Maher,H. D., Jr. & Craddock, C.C., 1990, Geological Map of Svalbard 1:100,000 - Van Keulenfjorden Sheet, Spitsbergen; Norsk Polarinstitutt Temakart # 15, 1 plate, 58 p.
• Dallmann, W., Bergh, S. G., Andresen, A., Maher, H.D., Jr. & Ohta, Y., 1993, Tertiary fold-and-thrust belt of Spitsbergen Svalbard; Norsk Polarinstitutt Meddeleser # 128, 2 sheets, text 39 p.
• Bergh, S. G., Ohta, Y., Andresen, A., Maher, H.D., Braathen, A., & Dallmann, W. K., 1993, St. Jonsfjorden. Geological map Svalbard 1:100,000 sheet B8G. Preliminary edition. Norsk Polarinstitutt, Oslo.

Grants and Awards

• Title: Collaborative Research: Geochronological and Geological Characterization of Terranes in the Central Georgia Piedmont (Drs. Secor, Univ. of S. Carolina, & Wright, Rice Univ., co-PIs)
  • Funding Agency: National Science Foundation
  • Duration: January 1 1992 to June 30, 1994
  • Amount: $35,397 at U.N.O.
• Title: Environmental Geology Laboratory Undergraduate Teaching/Research Assistants (with Dr. Shuster of University f Nebraska at Omaha)
  • Funding Agency: University Committe for the Advancement of Teaching, University of Nebraska at Omaha
  • Duration: February to May, 1993
  • Amount: $1152
• Title: Collaborative analysis of Tertiary tectonism on Svalbard, evolution of partitioning on a transpressive margin. (co-PI Dr. Steffen Bergh (University of Tromsø)
  • Funding Agency: NAVF (Norges forskningsråd - Norwegian)
  • Duration: June 94 - Dec. 94
  • Amount: 72,000 Norwegian kroner = circa $10,000.
• Title: Kinematic evolution of Tertiary structures in a dextral transpressional plate setting, western Barents Shelf, Spitsbergen, Norway.
  • Funding Agency: Petroleum Research Fund
  • Duration: June 1994 -> August 1996
  • Amount: $19,700
• Title: Integration of Computer Technology and Interactive Learning in an Undergraduate Environmental Science curriculum co PIs, Dr. Bishop, Peterson, Peake
  • Funding Agency: National Science Foundation
  • Duration: July 1994 - December 1995
  • Amount: $25,298
• Title: Pilot Study - Delineation and mapping of gravesites at the Mormon Pioneer Cemetary in Omaha, Nebraska using electromagnetic conductivity techniques co PI John Nealon
  • Funding Agency: Religious Studies Center Brigham Young University
  • Duration: November 1996 - April 1997
  • Amount: $2,000
• Title: Request for Digital Camera, Dr. Robert Shuster co-P.I.
  • Funding Agency: Center for Faculty Development, Instructional Technology Materials and Small Equipment Grant (from Peter Kiewet and AT&T Educational Funds)
  • Duration: 1997
  • Amount: $1175
• Title: Relational database of faults on and near the Loppa High and analysis of their movement history.
  • Funding Agency: Saga Petroleum of Norway
  • Duration: Nov. 1997 - January 1999
  • Amount: $43,000

Professional Affiliations Geological Society of America, American Geophysical Union, National Association of Geology Teachers, Sigma Xi, Phi Kappa Phi, Nebraska Geological Society, Council for Undergraduate Research

Senior theses or internships advised at University of Nebraska-Omaha in last 5 years

• Schoemann, M, 1993, Strain analysis of a metaconglomerate and carbonates from Svartfjella and Eidembukta, West Svalbard, Norway:
• Swearingen, Jann, 1993, Environmental Studies Internship, The Private Management of Government Agency Records for use with Phase I ESA's
• Brueggemann, M., 1993, Geochemistry of the Carolina terrane and Adjacent Modoc Ductile Shear Zone in central Georgia: Evidence Implying Bark-Arc Rifting. 40 p.
• Teresa Castelhano, 1996, Kinematic Evolution of the Tertiary Fold-Thrust Belt of Brøggerhalvøya, Spitsbergen, Norway From Slip-linear Plots
• Dawn Randall, Analysis of FIP in oriented quartzite samples from Nordenskiold Land, Spitsbergen.
• Mike Turco, 1997, Locating Omaha Pioneer Gravesites Using Geophysical Means.
• Alder, Tina, 1998, Loess Fracture analysis of the Omaha-Council Bluffs Region.

Ongoing senior theses:

• Daver Berger, Conditions and timing of deformation of diabase sills in the SED lineament, W Svalbard
• Rose Van Hook, The structural geometry of the Darton fault, Big Horn Mountains, Wyoming, and its relationship to mass wasting.
• Diane Persing, Loess fractures of central Nebraska and neotectonic stresses.
• Kirk Heim, Structural evolution of the Asterias Fault Complex, Loppa High, Barents Shelf
• Justin Covey, Structural evolution of the Swaen Graben, Loppa High, Barents Shelf
• Shad Clarke, Evolution of source terrane for the Helvetiafjellet and Carolinefjellet Fms., Central Spitsbergen.

Return to index of my web documents.