Chris Duncan
duncan@geo.umass.edu
or telephone (413) 549-2052
Earth System Science, GIS, Remote Sensing
I trace my interests in geoscience research and education to
several inspirational introductory courses and professors in Geology, Geography,
and Physics at
Middlebury College in
Middlebury, Vermont.
After college, I taught high school earth science and physics
and worked in software design and development for a number of
years. In 1991 I started graduate
work in Geological Sciences
at Cornell University in
Ithaca, New
York, studying the interactions of tectonics, topography,
climate, and erosion in active mountain belts with Bryan
Isacks. After completing my Ph.D. in 1997 I did post-doctoral
research at Cornell's Theory
Center before joining the faculty in Geosciences
at The University of Massachusetts
in Amherst, Massachusetts,
in 1998. Since 2004, I work as a GIS/RS/database/software consultant and maintain a connection with the
department as an adjunct faculty member.
I study the interactions of tectonic, climatic, and erosional
processes by examining their effects and dependencies on topography,
particularly in active mountain belts such as the Himalayas and
Andes. This work uses GIS, remote sensing, and numerical modeling
methods to integrate and synthesize geologic, geophysical, climatic,
hydrologic, and modeling data spanning a wide range of spatial
and temporal scales. When pressed for a concise label, I've sometimes
gone for "digital geomorphologist".
Research interests include:
- Topographic evolution in active mountain belts, for example
in Bhutan
- Eurasian snow cover and the Indian monsoon
- Snow cover, snowline, and freezing-level variations as indicators of climate
change, for example, this 6.5Mb animation of mean monthly freezing levels
- Numerical modeling of uplift and denudation in active orogens
(here's a sample animation from Masek &
Duncan, 1998)
- Global land surface and climate change assessment from remote
sensing data
- Graduate work done at Cornell
Some diversions (things people have asked me for or about):
Peer-reviewed Publications:
- Brooks, B.A., Protti, M., Ericksen, T., Bunn, J., Vega, F., Cochran, E.S., Duncan, C.C., Avery, J.,
Minson, S.E., Chaves, E., Baez, J.C., Foster, J., Glennie, C.L., 2021, "Robust Earthquake Early
Warning at a Fraction of the Cost: ASTUTI Costa Rica", AGU Advances, 2, e2021AV000407.
https://doi.org/10.1029/2021AV000407
- Portenga, E.W., Bierman, P.R., Duncan, C.C., Corbett, L.B., Kehrwald, N.M., and Rood, D.H., 2015,
"Erosion rates of the Bhutanese Himalaya determined using in situ-produced 10Be",
Geomorphology, 233, 112-126.
- Yagupsky, D.L., Brooks, B.A., Whipple, K.X., Duncan, C.C., and Bevis, M., 2014,
"Distribution of active faulting along orogenic wedges: Minimum-work
models and natural analogue", Journal of Structural Geology, 66, 237-247.
- Coutand, I., Whipp, D.M., Grujic, D., Bernet, M., Fellin, M.G., Bookhagen, B., Landry, K.R., Ghalley, S.K., and Duncan, C.C.,
2014, "Geometry and kinematics of the Main Himalayan Thrust and Neogene crustal exhumation in the Bhutanese Himalaya
derived from inversion of multithermochronologic data", Journal of Geophysical Research, 119, 1446-1481.
- Kamal-Heikman, S., Derry, L.A., Stedinger, J.R., and Duncan, C.C., 2008, "A simple predictive tool
for lower Brahmaputra river basin monsoon flooding", Earth Interactions, 21:1-11.
- Grujic, D., Coutand, I., Bookhagen, B., Bonnet, S., Blythe, A., and Duncan, C.,
2006, "Climatic forcing of erosion, landscape, and tectonics in the
Bhutan Himalayas", Geology, 34, 801-4.
- Duncan, C.C., Masek, J.G., and Fielding, E.J., 2003, "How
steep are the Himalaya? Characteristics and implications of along-strike
topographic variations", Geology, 31, 75-78.
- Diaz, H., Eischeid, J.K., Duncan, C.C., and Bradley, R.S.,
2003, "Variability of Freezing Levels, Melting Season Indicators,
and Snow Cover in Selected High-Elevation Regions Around the
Globe in the Last 50 Years", Climatic Change, 59, 33-52.
- Hardy, S., Duncan, C., Masek, J., and Brown, D., 1998, "Minimum
work, fault activity, and the growth of critical wedges in fold
and thrust belts", Basin Research, 10, 365-373.
- Duncan, C.C., Klein, A.J., Masek, J.G., and Isacks, B.L.,
1998, "Comparison of Late Pleistocene and Modern Glacier Extents in Central
Nepal Based on Digital Elevation Data and Satellite Imagery",
Quaternary Research, 49, 241-254.
- Masek, J.G. and Duncan, C.C., 1998, "Minimum-work mountain
building", Journal of Geophysical Research, 103, 907-917.
- Haselton, K. and Duncan, C.C., 1997, "Case study of
a November 1995 Himalayas-Tibetan Plateau snowstorm", Proceedings
of the EARSeL Workshop: Remote Sensing of Land Ice and Snow,
1, 45-52.
- Burbank, D.W., Leland, J., Fielding, E.J., Anderson, R.S.,
Brozovic, N., Reid, M.R., and Duncan, C.C., 1996, "Bedrock
incision, rock uplift, and threshold hillslopes in the northwestern
Himalayas", Nature, 379, 505-510.
- Duncan, C.C. and Turcotte, D.L., 1994, "On the breakup
and coalescense of continents", Geology, 22, 103-106.
- Fielding, E.J., Isacks, B.L., Barazangi, M., Duncan, C.C.,
1994, "How flat is Tibet?", Geology, 22, 163-7.
Other Information:
Last updated 05-Mar-2005