PD Edward Sobel, PhD
[Allgemeine Geologie]
[Institut für Geowissenschaften]
[Universität Potsdam]

 

Contact

Universität Potsdam
Institut für Erd- und Umweltwissenschaften
Haus 27, Zi. 2.34
Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24
14476 Potsdam

Email: sobel 'at' geo.uni-potsdam.de
Tel.: +49 331 977 5855
Fax: +49 331 977 5700

Education
1985 BA in Geology, Cornell University, Geology Department, Ithaca, NY, USA.
1995 PhD in Geology, Stanford University, Geology Department, Stanford, CA, USA. "Basin analysis and apatite fission-track thermochronology of the Jurassic - Paleogene southwestern Tarim Basin, NW China"
1995-1996 Postdoctoral study, CNRS Ura 10, Magmas et Volcans, Clermont-Ferrand, France: 40Ar/39Ar and fission track thermochronologic studies of the Altyn Tagh and Qilian Shan ranges in Qinghai and Xinjiang provinces, northwest China.
1996-present Institut für Geowissenschaften, Universität Potsdam. Leader of fission track thermochronology laboratory.
2007 Habilitation at Universität Potsdam; Doctor rerum naturalium habilitatus, "Interactions between deformation, exhumation, and climate in arid regions constrained by apatite fission-track analysis"
2008 Endeavour Research Fellowship: January - June 2008, University of Melbourne, Australia. "Using U-Th/He dating of apatite to examine the timing of final exhumation of the Kyrgyz Tien Shan and thereby determine the contribution of climatically-enhanced erosion"
2008 Privat Dozent at Universität Potsdam

Research Interests and Teaching
Combining apatite fission-track analysis, 40Ar/39Ar and sedimentary basin analysis in order to better understand the interaction of exhumation, climate and tectonics. Teaching responsibilities include advising a group of PhD students and postdocs who are doing fission track projects.

Ed is responsible for running the fission-track laboratory.

Ed Sobel was formerly Editor of OnTrack a newsletter of the international fission-track community that is published electronically twice a year. Many back issues of On Track are available here.

Selected Publications
Sobel., E.R. and Seward, D., 2010, Influence of etching conditions on apatite fission-track etch pit diameter, Chemical Geology, v. 271, p. 59-69, doi:10.1016/j.chemgeo.2009.12.012.
Strecker, M.R., Alonso, R., Bookhagen, B., Carrapa, B., Coutand, I., Hain, M.P., Hilley, G.E., Mortimer, E., Schoenbohm, L., and Sobel, E.R., 2009, Does the topographic distribution of the central Andean Puna Plateau result from climatic or geodynamic processes? Geology, v. 37, p. 643–646; doi: 10.1130/G25545A.1.
Parra, M., Mora, A., Sobel, E.R., Strecker, M.R., and González, R., 2009, Episodic orogenic front migration in the northern Andes: Constraints from low-temperature thermochronology in the Eastern Cordillera, Colombia: Tectonics, v. 28, TC4004, doi:10.1029/2008TC002423.
Parra, M., Mora, A., Jaramillo, C., Strecker, M.R., Sobel, E.R., Quiroz, L.I., Rueda, M., and Torres, V., 2009, Orogenic advance in the northern Andes: evidence from the Oligo-Miocene sedimentary record of the Medina Basin, Eastern Cordillera, Colombia: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 121, p.780-800 doi:10.1130/B26257.1.
Murrell, G.R., Sobel, E.R., Carrapa, B., and Andriessen, P., 2009, Calibration and comparison of etching and thermal modeling techniques for apatite fission track thermochronology:  in Lisker, F., Ventura, B. and Glasmacher, U.A. (eds), Thermochronological Methods: From Palaeotemperature  Constraints to Landscape Evolution Models. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, v. 324, p. 73-85. DOI: 10.1144/SP324.6.
Ritts, B.D., Yue, Y.J., Graham, S.A., Sobel., E.R., Abbinjk, O., and Stockli, D., 2008, From sea level to high elevation in 15 Million Years: Uplift history of the northern Tibetan Plateau margin in the Altun Shan, American Journal of Science, v. 308, no. 5, p. 657-678.
Mora, A., Parra, M., Strecker, M., Sobel, E.R., Hooghiemstra, H., Torres, V., Vallejo, J., 2008, Climate forcing of asymmetric orogenic evolution in the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia. Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 120, p. 930-949, doi: 10.1130/B26186.
Burbank, D. W., Brewer, I. D., Sobel, E. R., and Bullen, M. E., 2007, Single-crystal dating and the detrital record of orogenesis, in Nichols, G., Williams, E., and Paola, C., eds., Sedimentary Processes, Environments and Basins, Volume 38: Special Publication International Association of Sedimentologists, Blackwell, p. 251-283.
Sobel, E. R., 2007, Interactions between deformation, exhumation, and climate in arid regions constrained by apatite fission-track analysis. Habilitation thesis, Universität Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany, 239 p.
Strecker, M.R., Alonso, R.N., Bookhagen, B., Carrapa, B., Hilley, G.E., Sobel, E.R., and Trauth, M.H., 2007, Tectonics and Climate of the Southern Central Andes: Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci, v. 35, p. 747–87.
Valli, F., Arnaud, N., Leloup, P.H., Sobel, E.R., Maheo, G., Lacassin, R., Guillot, S., Li, H., and Tapponnier, P., 2007, 2007, Twenty million years of continuous deformation along the Karakorum fault, western Tibet: A thermochronological analysis: Tectonics, v. 26, 26 p. doi:10.1029/2005TC001913.
Leloup, P.H., Arnaud, N., Lacassin, R., and Sobel, E.R., 2007, Reply to comment by Y. Rolland et al. on “Alpine thermal and structural evolution of the highest external crystalline massif: The Mont Blanc”: Tectonics, v. 26, 6 p. TC2016, 10.1029/2006TC002022.
Mortimer, E., Carrapa, B., Coutand, I., Schoenbohm, L., Sobel, E.R., Sosa Gomez, J., and Strecker, M.R., 2007, Fragmentation of a foreland basin in response to out-of-sequence basement uplifts and structural reactivation: El Cajón–Campo del Arenal basin, NW Argentina: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 119, p. 637–65.
Ege, H., Sobel, E.R., Scheuber, E., and Jacobshagen, V., 2007, Exhumation history of the southern Altiplano plateau (southern Bolivia) constrained by apatite fission-track thermochronology: Tectonics, v. 26, 24 p. TC1004, 10.1029/2005TC001869.
Carrapa, B., Strecker, M.R., and Sobel, E.R., 2006, Cenozoic orogenic growth in the Central Andes:  Evidence from sediment provenance and apatite fission track thermochronology along the southernmost Puna Plateau margin (NW Argentina), Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 247, p. 82-100.
Sobel, E.R., Chen, J., and Heermance, R.V., 2006, Late Oligocene - Early Miocene initiation of shortening in the Southwestern Chinese Tian Shan: Implications for Neogene shortening rate variations, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 247, p. 70-81.
Deeken, A., Sobel, E.R., Coutand, I., Haschke, M., Riller, U. and Strecker, M.R., 2006, Construction of the southern Eastern Cordillera, NW-Argentina: from early Cretaceous extension to middle Miocene shortening, constrained by AFT-thermochronometry, Tectonics, v. 25, 21 p. TC6003, doi:10.1029/2005TC001894.
Alonso, R.N., Carrapa, B., Coutand, I., Haschke, M., Hilley, G.E., Schoenbohm, L., Sobel, E. R., Strecker, M.R., Trauth, M.H., 2006, Tectonics, climate, and landscape evolution of the southern Central Andes: The Argentine Puna Plateau and adjacent Regions between 22 and 28° S lat: in Oncken, O., Chong, G., Franz, G., Giese, P., Götze, H.-J., Ramos, V., Strecker, M., and Wigger, P., editors, The Andes - Active Subduction Orogeny: Frontiers in Earth Sciences, v. 1, Springer Verlag, p. 265-283.
Blisniuk, P.M., Stern, L.A., Chamberlain, C.P., Zeitler, P.Z., Ramos, V.A., Haschke, M., Sobel, E.R., Strecker, M.R. and Warkus, F., 2006, Links between mountain uplift, climate, and surface processes in the southern Patagonian Andes,, in Oncken, O., Chong, G., Franz, G., Giese, P., Götze, H.-J., Ramos, V., Strecker, M., and Wigger, P., editors, The Andes - Active Subduction Orogeny: Frontiers in Earth Sciences, v. 1, Springer Verlag, p. 429-440.
Coutand, I., Carrapa, B., Deeken, A., Schmitt, A.K., Sobel, E.R., and Strecker, M.R., 2006, Propagation of orographic barriers along an active range front: insights from sandstone petrography and detrital apatite fission-track thermochronology in the intramontaneAngastaco basin, NW Argentina, Basin Research, v. 18, p. 1-26, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2117.2006.00283.x.
Sobel, E. R., Oskin, M., Burbank, D., and Mikolaichuk, A., 2006, Exhumation of basement-cored uplifts: Example of the Kyrgyz Range quantified with apatite fission-track thermochronology, Tectonics, v. 25, 17 p. TC2008, doi:10.1029/2005TC001809.
Thiede, R.C., Arrowsmith, J.R., Bookhagen, B., McWilliams, M., Sobel, E.R., Strecker, M.R., 2006, Dome formation and extension in the Tethyan Himalaya,  Leo Pargil, Northwest India, GSA Bulletin, v. 118, no. 5/6, p. 635-650, doi: 10.1130/B25872.1.
Carrapa, B., Adelmann, D., Hilley, G. E.Mortimer, E., Sobel, E. R. and Strecker, M. R., 2005, Oligocene range uplift and development of plateau morphology in the southern Central Andes, Tectonics, v. 24, 19 p. TC4011, doi:10.1029/2004TC001762.
Leloup, P. H., Arnaud, N., Sobel, E. R. and Lacassin, R., 2005, Timing and mode of exhumation of the highest alpine range, the Mt Blanc massif, Tectonics, v. 24, 26 p. TC4002, doi:10.1029/2004TC001676.
Thiede, R. C., Arrowsmith, J. R., Bookhagen, B., McWilliams, M., Sobel, E. R., and Strecker, M. R., 2005, From tectonically to erosionally controlled development of the Himalayan orogen, Geology, v. 33, p. 689-692; doi: 10.1130/G21483.1.
Thiede, R. C., Bookhagen, B., Arrowsmith, J. R., Sobel, E. R., and Strecker, M. R., 2004, Climate control on rapid exhumation along the Southern Himalayan Front: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 222, p. 791-806.
Ege, H., Sobel, E., Jacobshagen, V., Scheuber, E. and Mertmann, D., 2003, Exhumation history of the Central Andes of southern Bolivia by apatite fission track dating in Suárez-Soruco, R. et al., ed., Revista Técnica de Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB), Cochabamba, Bolivia, v. 21, p. 165-172.
Sobel, E. R. and Strecker, M. R., 2003, Uplift, exhumation, and precipitation: Tectonic and climatic control of Late Cenozoic landscape evolution in the northern Sierras Pampeanas, Argentina: Basin Research, v. 15, 21 p. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2117.2003.00214.x.
Sobel, E. R., Hilley, G.E., and Strecker, M.R., 2003, Formation of internally-drained contractional basins by aridity-limited bedrock incision: JGR - Solid Earth, v. 108, 23 p. 2344, doi:10.1029/2002JB001883.
Chen, J., Burbank, D. W., Scharer, K. M., Sobel, E., Yin, J., Rubin, C., and Zhao, R., 2002, Magnetostratigraphy of the Pliocene-Pleistocene strata in the southwestern Chinese Tian Shan, and rates of Pleistocene folding and thrusting: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 195, p. 113-130.
Sobel, E. R., Arnaud, N., Jolivet, M., Ritts, B. D., and Brunel, M., 2001, Jurassic to Cenozoic exhumation history of the Altyn Tagh range, northwest China constrained by 40Ar/39Ar and apatite fission track thermochronology in Hendrix, M. S., and Davis, G. A., ed., Paleozoic and Mesozoic tectonic evolution of central and eastern Asia: From continental assembly to intracontinental deformation: Geological Society of America Memoir 194, p. 247-267.
Delville, N., Arnaud, N., Montel, J. M., Roger, F., Brunel, M., Tapponnier, P., and Sobel, E., 2001, Paleozoic to Cenozoic deformation along the Altyn-Tagh Fault in the Altun Shan massif area, Eastern Qilian Shan, northeastern  Tibet China in Hendrix, M. S., and Davis, G. A., ed., Paleozoic and Mesozoic tectonic evolution of central and eastern Asia: From continental assembly to intracontinental deformation: Geological Society of America Memoir 194, p. 269-292.
Dumitru, T. A., Zhou, D., Chang, E., Graham, S. A., Hendrix, M. S., Sobel, E. R., and Carroll, A. R., 2001, Uplift, exhumation, and deformation in the Chinese Tian Shan in Hendrix, M. S., and Davis, G. A., ed., Paleozoic and Mesozoic tectonic evolution of central and eastern Asia: From continental assembly to intracontinental deformation: Geological Society of America Memoir 194, p. 71-99.
Sobel, E. R., and Arnaud, N., 2000, Cretaceous - Paleogene basaltic rocks of the Tuyon basin, NW China and the Kyrgyz Tian Shan: the trace of a small plume, Lithos, v. 50, p. 191-215.
Sobel, E., Appel, E., Strecker, M., Ratschbacher, L., and Blisniuk, P., editors, 1999, 14th Himalaya-Karakoram-Tibet Workshop: Terra Nostra, Schriften der Alfred-Wegener-Stiftung, 191p.
Sobel, E. R., and Arnaud, N., 1999, A possible middle Paleozoic suture in the Altyn Tagh, NW China, Tectonics, v. 18, p. 64-74.
Sobel, E. R., 1999, Basin Analysis of the Jurassic - Lower Cretaceous southwest Tarim basin, NW China, GSA Bulletin, v. 111., n. 5, 709-724.
Sobel, E. R., and Dumitru, T. A., 1997, Exhumation of the margins of the western Tarim basin during the Himalayan orogeny: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 102, p. 5043-5064.
Sobel, E. R., 1995, Basin analysis and apatite fission-track thermochronology of the Jurassic - Paleogene southwestern Tarim Basin, NW China, PhD thesis, Stanford University, 308 p.
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