Ryan Crow, Ph.D.
Ryan Crow is a Research Geologist at the Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, in Flagstaff, Arizona. He did his graduate work at the University of New Mexico, where he studied the tectonic geomorphology of the Grand Canyon. Coming to the USGS in 2014 as a Mendenhall Postdoc, he focused on the landscape evolution of the lower Colorado River corridor and the Colorado River.
Ryan is pursuing a better understanding of the processes modulating Earth’s surface in the southwestern U.S. He is currently interested in integrating analytical and field-based geologic mapping approaches to understand the effect of fluvial systems, tectonics, exogenous events, and climate on landscape evolution. To arrive at a holistic view, he employs a multi-disciplinary approach utilizing a diverse range of geologic, geochronologic, tectonic, geophysical, and geochemical datasets, integrated through custom-designed geographic information system (GIS) tools.
His current work is focused on:
- Surficial geologic mapping along the lower Colorado River (CA, NV, and AZ)
- Effects of epeirogenic uplift and faulting on river systems and landscapes in the Grand Canyon, Zion Plateau, and Lake Mead areas (AZ, UT, and NV)
- Mantle evolution under and around the Colorado Plateau as constrained with geochemistry, geochronology, and mantle tomography (AZ, UT, NM, and CO)
- The processes and timing of Colorado River inception and evolution in and downstream from Grand Canyon (CA, NV, and AZ)
- Geomorphic effect of lava damming in Grand Canyon, AZ
Professional Experience
2018 to current, Research Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, AZ
2014 to 2018, Mendenhall Postdoctoral Scholar / Research Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, AZ
2013 to 2014, Postdoctoral Scholar, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
2002 to 2005, Profession Research Associate, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
1999 to 2002, Peace Corps Volunteer, Guatemala
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., 2012, University of New Mexico
M.S., 2008, University of New Mexico
B.A.,1999, University of Colorado
Affiliations and Memberships*
2003-present, Geological Society of America
2005-present, American Geophysical Union
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 18
Redefining the age of the lower Colorado River, southwestern United States
Sanidine dating and magnetostratigraphy constrain the timing of integration of the lower Colorado River (southwestern United States and northern Mexico) with the evolving Gulf of California. The Colorado River arrived at Cottonwood Valley (Nevada and Arizona) after 5.24 Ma (during or after the Thvera subchron). The river reached the proto–Gulf of California once between 4.80 and 4.63 Ma...
Authors
Ryan S. Crow, J. Schwing, K. E. Karlstrom, M. Heizler, P. A. Pearthree, P. Kyle House, S. Dulin, S. U. Janecke, Mark E. Stelten, L. J. Crossey
Post-12 Ma deformation of the lower Colorado River corridor, southwestern USA: Implications for diffuse transtension and the Bouse Formation
Structural evidence presented here documents that deformation was ongoing within the lower Colorado River corridor (southwestern USA) during and after the latest Miocene Epoch, postdating large-magnitude extension and metamorphic core complex formation. Geometric and kinematic data collected on faults in key geologic units constrain the timing of deformation in relation to the age of the...
Authors
Jacob Thacker, Karl E. Karlstrom, Laura J. Crossey, Ryan S. Crow, Colleen Cassidy, L. Sue Beard, John S. Singleton, Evan Strickland, Nikki Seymour, Michael Wyatt
The Bouse Formation: A controversial Neogene archive of the evolving Colorado River: A scientific drilling workshop report (Feb. 28-March 3, 2019-Bluewater Resort, Parker, Arizona, USA
Neogene deposits of the lower Colorado River valley, especially the Miocene(?) and early Pliocene Bouse Formation, have been the focus of intense debate regarding the early paleoenvironmental history of this important continental-scale river system in southwestern North America and its integration with the proto-Gulf of California. Fine-grained units within these Neogene deposits also...
Authors
Andrew S. Cohen, Colleen Cassidy, Ryan S. Crow, Jordon E. Bright, Laura J. Crossey, Rebecca J. Dorsey, Brian F. Gootee, Kyle House, Keith A. Howard, Karl E. Karlstrom, Philip A Pearthree
Insights into post-Miocene uplift of the western margin of the Colorado Plateau from the stratigraphic record of the lower Colorado River
The spatial and temporal distribution of Pliocene to Holocene Colorado River deposits (southwestern USA and northwestern Mexico) form a primary data set that records the evolution of a continental-scale river system and helps to delineate and quantify the magnitude of regional deformation. We focus in particular on the age and distribution of ancestral Colorado River deposits from field...
Authors
Ryan S. Crow, Keith A. Howard, L. Sue Beard, Phil Pearthree, Kyle House, Karl E. Karlstrom, Lisa E. Peters, William T McIntosh, Colleen Cassidy, Tracey J. Felger, Debra Block
A river is born: Highlights of the geologic evolution of the Colorado River extensional corridor and its river: A field guide honoring the life and legacy of Warren Hamilton
The Colorado River extensional corridor, which stretched by a factor of 2 in the Miocene, left a series of lowland basins and intervening bedrock ranges that, at the dawn of the Pliocene, were flooded by Colorado River water newly diverted from the Colorado Plateau through Grand Canyon. This water and subsequent sediment gave birth, through a series of overflowing lakes, to an integrated...
Authors
Keith A. Howard, Kyle House, Barbara E John, Ryan S. Crow, Philip A Pearthree
One hundred and sixty years of Grand Canyon geological mapping
No abstract available.
Authors
Karl E. Karlstrom, Laura J. Crossey, Peter W. Huntoon, George Billingsley, Michael Timmons, Ryan S. Crow
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 18
Redefining the age of the lower Colorado River, southwestern United States
Sanidine dating and magnetostratigraphy constrain the timing of integration of the lower Colorado River (southwestern United States and northern Mexico) with the evolving Gulf of California. The Colorado River arrived at Cottonwood Valley (Nevada and Arizona) after 5.24 Ma (during or after the Thvera subchron). The river reached the proto–Gulf of California once between 4.80 and 4.63 Ma...
Authors
Ryan S. Crow, J. Schwing, K. E. Karlstrom, M. Heizler, P. A. Pearthree, P. Kyle House, S. Dulin, S. U. Janecke, Mark E. Stelten, L. J. Crossey
Post-12 Ma deformation of the lower Colorado River corridor, southwestern USA: Implications for diffuse transtension and the Bouse Formation
Structural evidence presented here documents that deformation was ongoing within the lower Colorado River corridor (southwestern USA) during and after the latest Miocene Epoch, postdating large-magnitude extension and metamorphic core complex formation. Geometric and kinematic data collected on faults in key geologic units constrain the timing of deformation in relation to the age of the...
Authors
Jacob Thacker, Karl E. Karlstrom, Laura J. Crossey, Ryan S. Crow, Colleen Cassidy, L. Sue Beard, John S. Singleton, Evan Strickland, Nikki Seymour, Michael Wyatt
The Bouse Formation: A controversial Neogene archive of the evolving Colorado River: A scientific drilling workshop report (Feb. 28-March 3, 2019-Bluewater Resort, Parker, Arizona, USA
Neogene deposits of the lower Colorado River valley, especially the Miocene(?) and early Pliocene Bouse Formation, have been the focus of intense debate regarding the early paleoenvironmental history of this important continental-scale river system in southwestern North America and its integration with the proto-Gulf of California. Fine-grained units within these Neogene deposits also...
Authors
Andrew S. Cohen, Colleen Cassidy, Ryan S. Crow, Jordon E. Bright, Laura J. Crossey, Rebecca J. Dorsey, Brian F. Gootee, Kyle House, Keith A. Howard, Karl E. Karlstrom, Philip A Pearthree
Insights into post-Miocene uplift of the western margin of the Colorado Plateau from the stratigraphic record of the lower Colorado River
The spatial and temporal distribution of Pliocene to Holocene Colorado River deposits (southwestern USA and northwestern Mexico) form a primary data set that records the evolution of a continental-scale river system and helps to delineate and quantify the magnitude of regional deformation. We focus in particular on the age and distribution of ancestral Colorado River deposits from field...
Authors
Ryan S. Crow, Keith A. Howard, L. Sue Beard, Phil Pearthree, Kyle House, Karl E. Karlstrom, Lisa E. Peters, William T McIntosh, Colleen Cassidy, Tracey J. Felger, Debra Block
A river is born: Highlights of the geologic evolution of the Colorado River extensional corridor and its river: A field guide honoring the life and legacy of Warren Hamilton
The Colorado River extensional corridor, which stretched by a factor of 2 in the Miocene, left a series of lowland basins and intervening bedrock ranges that, at the dawn of the Pliocene, were flooded by Colorado River water newly diverted from the Colorado Plateau through Grand Canyon. This water and subsequent sediment gave birth, through a series of overflowing lakes, to an integrated...
Authors
Keith A. Howard, Kyle House, Barbara E John, Ryan S. Crow, Philip A Pearthree
One hundred and sixty years of Grand Canyon geological mapping
No abstract available.
Authors
Karl E. Karlstrom, Laura J. Crossey, Peter W. Huntoon, George Billingsley, Michael Timmons, Ryan S. Crow
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government