Assistant Professor
University of Colorado Boulder                  

Box 399, 2200 Colorado Ave., Boulder, CO  80309
 

Research Interests: Tectonics, geochronology, thermochronology

My research focuses on problems in continental tectonics, using a combination of (U-Th)/He and U/Pb
thermochronometry, petrology, and field observation to resolve the timing, duration and rates of processes.
Utilizing the full temperature range permitted by the U/Pb and (U-Th)/He systems through analysis of
U-Th rich accessory phases (zircon, monazite, titanite, apatite, rutile) allows reconstruction of thermal
histories from >900 °C to <70 °C. I use these methods 1) to determine low temperature unroofing
histories and the implications for uplift, erosion, and topographic development that are the surface
expression of larger scale geodynamic processes, and 2) to constrain the evolution of the thermal
regimes in the middle and lower crust to gain insight into magmatic, metamorphic and deformational
processes operative at the deeper levels of mountain belts.

If you are a prospective student interested in tectonics, please feel free to contact me regarding
research opportunities.

Current Students                                                                                                             

Alexis Ault, PhD student:  MSc (2006) University of New Mexico, BA (2003) Wellesley College

Current Funding

NSF-EAR Tectonics, Collaborative Research: Quantifying the stability of continents using                             advances in (U-Th)/He, ⁴He/³He, and U/Pb apatite thermochronometry

American Chemical Society, Petroleum Research Fund, New Investigator Grant

Publications

Flowers, R.M., in review, Phanerozoic burial and unroofing of North American cratonic                            basement: Exploiting radiation damage control on apatite (U-Th)/He dates: Earth and                                   Planetary Science Letters.

Mahan, K., Goncalves, P., Flowers, R.M., Williams, M.L., and Hoffman-Setka, D., in                                   review,The role of heterogeneous strain in the development and preservation of a                                 polymetamorphic record in high-P granulites, western Canadian shield: Journal of                                     Metamorphic Petrology.

Flowers, R.M., Wernicke, B.P., and Farley, K.A., in press, Unroofing, incision and uplift                                  history of the southwestern Colorado Plateau from (U-Th)/He apatite thermochronometry: GSA Bulletin.

Flowers, R.M., Bowring, S.A., Mahan, K.H., Williams, M.L., and Williams, I.S., in press,                              Craton stabilization and disruption from the lower crustal record in the western Canadian shield:                    Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology.

Flowers, R.M., Shuster, D.L., Wernicke, B.P., and Farley, K.A., 2007, Radiation damage
control on apatite (U-Th)/He dates from the Grand Canyon region, Colorado Plateau:
Geology, v. 35, p. 447-450.

Flowers, R.M.,  Bowring, S.A., and Reiners, P.W., 2006, Low long-term erosion rates and
extreme continental stability documented by ancient (U-Th)/He dates: Geology, v. 34, p. 925-928.

Shuster, D.L., Flowers, R.M., and Farley, K.A., 2006, The influence of natural radiation damage
on helium diffusion kinetics in apatite: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 249, p. 148-
161.

Flowers, R.M., Mahan, K.H., Bowring, S.A., Williams, M.L., Pringle, M.S., and Hodges, K.V.,
2006, Multistage exhumation and juxtaposition of lower continental crust in the
western Canadian Shield: Linking high-resolution U-Pb and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar thermochronometry
with P-T-D paths: Tectonics, 25, TC4003, doi:10.1029/2005TC001912.

Flowers, R.M., Bowring, S.A., and Williams, M.L., 2006, Timescales of high-pressure, high-
temperature metamorphism and mafic dike anatexis, Snowbird tectonic zone, Canada:
Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, v. 151, p. 558-581.

Mahan, K.H., Williams, M.L., Flowers, R.M., Jercinovic, M.J., Baldwin, J.A., and Bowring, S.A.,
2006, Geochronological constraints on the Legs Lake shear zone with implications for
regional exhumation of lower crust, western Churchill Province, Canadian Shield, Canada:
Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, DOI 10.1007/s00410-006-0106-3.

Flowers, R.M., Bowring, S.A., Tulloch, A.J., and Klepeis, K.A., 2005, Tempo of burial and
exhumation within the deep roots of a magmatic arc, Fiordland, New Zealand: Geology, v.
33, p. 17-20.

Flowers, R.M., Royden, L.H., and Bowring, S.A., 2005, Isostatic constraints on lithospheric
thermal evolution: Application to the Proterozoic orogen of the southwestern United
States, in Karlstrom, K.E. and Keller, R.G., eds., The Rocky Mountain region – An
evolving lithosphere: Tectonics, geochemistry and geophysics: American Geophysical
Union Monograph 154, p. 125-138.

Flowers, R.M., Royden, L.H., and Bowring, S.A., 2004, Isostatic constraints on the assembly,
stabilization, and preservation of cratonic lithosphere: Geology, v. 32, p. 321-324.

Flowers, R.M., Moser, D.E. and Hart, R.J., 2003, Evolution of the amphibolite- granulite facies
transition exposed by the Vredefort impact structure, Kaapvaal Craton, South Africa:
Journal of Geology, v. 111, p. 455-470.

Moser, D.E., Flowers, R.M., and Hart, R.J., 2001, Birth of the Kaapvaal tectosphere 3.08 billion
years ago: Science, v. 291, p. 465-468.