Darryl W. Maddox (Click for full C.V.)

Geology, Geophysics

General Interests

My interests include basinal and suprabasinal sedimentologic trends, including the analysis of paleocurrents and other directional structures. My reasons for joining Earth History Research Center.

Current Research

Darryl is currently working on setting up a new laboratory for doing paleo-current analysis of structureless sandstones and plans to study primarily the very pure quartz sands which are generally considered to be the result of transgressing seas.

Photo:A picture of a collapse zone which I found a few weeks ago. The red rocks are the Permian age Quartermaster. The white sand is the Pliocene-Pleistocene Ogallala formation. The location is on the north side of the Canadian river on the west side of the highway between Borger and Stinnett, Texas Panhandle. My interpretation is that the Ogallala covered the area before the current erosion cut the modern river valley and drainage pattern. Then the underlying salt was washed out and a collapse chimney extended from there up to the ovelying sand which collapsed into it. Then erosion stripped off the overlying Ogallala and eroded the modern drainage pattern. The data inputs to this interpretation were the similarity of the sand in the chimney to the sands of the Ogallala which occur several miles away and the fact that there is an underlying salt zone which occasionally washes out (or is intentionally washed out by Phillips Peteroleum and maybe others to use as gas storage facilities) and allows the surface to drop, causing the playa lakes of the region.

Selected Publications

Maddox, Darryl P. 1977. A New Method of Paleocurrent Direction Determination using Reflected Light. M.S. Thesis, West Texas State University.