Tyler Grambling
I am a structural geologist who explores connections between the lithosphere and hydrosphere. I thoroughly enjoy teaching introductory classes and classes focused on understanding rock deformation, mountain building, and geochemical processes. My research combines field and laboratory study of high-strain fault rocks called mylonites that record silly putty-like movement of fault zones in Earth’s crust.
I took a non-traditional route into geology and academia. I spent a decade or so as a paramedic/firefighter in the Albuquerque, New Mexico, metro area before getting hooked on teasing stories out of rock while backpacking with some friends who were conducting field study in northern New Mexico. Long story short, I ended up writing a few papers, going to graduate school, and here I am. I have a profound love and appreciation for understanding the natural world and considering ways that humanity can improve our impact on Earth.
If you are interested in exploring rock mechanics, high temperature stable isotopes, finding evidence of ancient hot springs in the fault record, reconstructing topography and altitude in mountainous regions, deciphering how faults build and destroy mountain ranges across all varieties of geological time scales, or how water and magma interact with faults, feel free to reach out to me via email or drop by my office!
Learning & Teaching
- EESC 111 - Planet Earth
- EESC 382 - Structural Geology and Plate Tectonics
Research
I focus on three main themes throughout my work: 1) quantification of rheologic response to fault-fluid interaction across geologic history, 2) paleoaltimetry and direct proxies for paleotopography, 3) temporal reconstructions of deformation and magmatism in orogenic crust. My work aims to further our understanding of the timelines of deformation and magmatism, their direct links to orogen-wide and microscale heterogeneities in mountain belts, and to quantify the “fluid” bogeyman that is frequently evoked without direct evidence in mid-crustal processes.
I routinely use optical and scanning electron microscopy, oxygen and hydrogen stable isotope analysis, and multi-mineral geo/thermochronology to answer complex tectonic problems spanning millions to billions of years of Earth's history. As of Fall 2025, I'm in the process of getting my lab up and running, which includes a soon-to-arrive Oxford Instruments C-Nano+ electron backscatter diffraction detector that will be added to the JEOL scanning electron microscope (SEM) in Ebaugh Laboratories. This detector will pair with the SEM's energy dispersive x-ray spectrometer to produce nanometer scale maps of the chemical and crystal structure of rocks!
I have active research projects in Peru's Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Huayhuash, The Lhasa area of the Tibetan Plateau, Colorado's Wet Mountains, Mosquito Mountains, and Black Canyon of the Gunnison, New Mexico, Southeastern Arizona, and Northeastern Nevada.
Works
Grambling, T.A., Newell, D.L., Lloyd, K.G., Hiett, C.D., Upin, H., Barry, P.H., Giovannelli, D., de Moor, M., Chiodi, A., Jessen, G., Szynkiewicz., A., 2024, Tracing the orogenic S cycle in the Andes using stable isotopic composition of sulfate in thermal springs, Chemical Geology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2024.122365.
Grambling, T.A., Jessup, M.J., Grambling., N.L., Newell, D.L., and Hiett, C.D., 2024, Magmatic conditions aiding synconvergent extension above the Peruvian flat slab, Geosphere, https://doi.org/10.1130/GES02741.1.
Grambling, T.A., Jessup, M.J., Newell, D.L., Methner, K., Mulch, A., Hughes, C.A., and Shaw, C.A., 2022, Miocene to modern hydrothermal circulation and high topography during synconvergent extension in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru, Geology, https://doi.org/10.1130/G49263.1.
Hiett, C.D., Newell, D.L., Jessup, M.J., Grambling, T.A., Scott, B.E., Upin, H.E., 2021, Carbon and nitrogen degassing from the lithosphere during flat-slab subduction: Constraints from Peruvian hot spring geochemistry, Chemical Geology https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2022.120787.
Holland, M.E., Grambling, T.A., Karlstrom, K.E., Jones, J.V., III, Nagotko, K.N., and Daniel, C.G., 2020, Geochronologic and Hf-isotope framework of Proterozoic rocks from central New Mexico, USA: Formation of the Mazatzal crustal province in an extended continental margin arc, Precambrian Research, 347, 105820, https://doi.org/101016/j.precamres.2020.105820.
Scott, B.E., Newell, D.L., Jessup, M.J., Grambling, T.A., and Shaw, C.A., 2020, Structural controls on crustal fluid circulation and hot spring geochemistry above a flat-slab subduction zone, Peru, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 21, e2020GC008919. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GC008919.
Grambling, T.A., Karlstrom, K.E., Holland, M.E., and Grambling, N.L., 2016, Proterozoic magmatism and regional contact metamorphism in the Sandia-Manzano Mountains, New Mexico, USA, in Karlstrom, K.E., Williams, S., Frey, B., and Miller, P., eds., Guidebook 67-Geology of the Belen Area, New Mexico Geological Society 67th Annual Fall Field Conference Guidebook, p.169-175. ISBN 978-1-58546-104-2, https://doi.org/10.56577/FFC-67.16.
Holland, M.E., Karlstrom, K.E., Grambling, T.A., Gehrels, G., and Pecha, M., 2016, Geochronology of Proterozoic rocks of the Sandia-Manzano-Los Pinos Uplift: implications for the timing of crustal assembly of the southwestern United States, in Karlstrom, K.E., Williams, S., Frey, B., and Miller, P., eds., Guidebook 67-Geology of the Belen Area, New Mexico Geological Society 67th Annual Fall Field Conference Guidebook, p.161-168. ISBN 978-1-58546-104-2, https://doi.org/10.56577/FFC-67.161.
Karlstrom, K.E., Williams, M.L., Heizler, M.T., Holland, M.E., Grambling, T.A., and Amato, J.M., 2016, U-Pb monazite and 40Ar/39Ar data supporting polyphase plutonism, deformation, and metamorphism in the Manzano Mountains: Record of both the Mazatzal (1.66-1.60 Ga) and Picuris (1.45 Ga) orogenies, in Karlstrom, K.E., Williams, S., Frey, B., and Miller, P., eds., Guidebook 67-Geology of the Belen Area, New Mexico Geological Society 67th Annual Fall Field Conference Guidebook, p.177-184. ISBN 978-1-58546-104-2, https://doi.org/10.56577/FFC-67.177.
Love, D.W., Karlstrom, K.E., Frey, B.A., Lucas, S.G., Williams, S., Miller, P., Holland, M., Williams, M.L., Heizler, M., and Grambling, T., 2016, Day 1 road log: The Rio Grande Rift, the southern Albuquerque Basin, and the southern Manzano Mountains, in Karlstrom, K.E., Williams, S., Frey, B., and Miller, P., eds., Guidebook 67-Geology of the Belen Area, New Mexico Geological Society 67th Annual Fall Field Conference Guidebook, p. 63-82. ISBN 978-1-58546-104-2
Grambling, T.A., Holland, M.E., Karlstrom, K.E., Gehrels, G.E., and Pecha, M., 2015, Revised location for the Yavapai-Mazatzal crustal province boundary in New Mexico: Hf isotopic data from Proterozoic rocks of the Nacimiento Mountains, in Lindline, J., Petronis, M., and Zebroski, J., eds., Guidebook 66- Geology of the Las Vegas Area: New Mexico Geologic Society 66th Annual Fall Field Conference Guidebook, p. 175-184. ISBN 978-1-58546-102-8, https://doi.org/10.56577/FFC-66.175.