Professional Background
Dr. Hanson received a B.S. in Nursing from Montana State University in 1979.
After working as an Operating Room nurse for several years, he returned to
school at San Diego State University and completed undergraduate classes in
geology and continued on to receive an M.S. in Geoscience in 1993. He continued
his education at Stanford University and received a Ph.D. in Geology in 1999.
Internships with Mobil Producing in Bakersfield, CA and with Texaco in Houston,
TX led to full-time employment after graduation with Texaco's International
Exploration Division where he was a geoscientist with the Nigeria Exploration
team. Andrew joined the faculty at UNLV in August of 2000. He is a member of
the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the Geological Society of
America, and the Society of Sedimentary Geology.
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Teaching
Undergraduate:
• GEOL 101 Introductory Geology: Exploring Planet Earth
• GEOL 348 Field I
• GEOL 370 Field II
• GEOL 372 Field III
• GEOL 462 Principles of Stratigraphy and Sedimentation
• GEOL 471 Petroleum Geology
Graduate:
• GEOL 671 Petroleum Geology
• GEOL 765 Seminar in Stratigraphy
• GEOL 770 Sedimentary Basins
• GEOL 780 Terrigenous Depositional Systems
• GEOL 782 Sandstone Petrology
• GEOL 785 Seminar in Sedimentology
• GEOL 796 Petroleum Geochemistry
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Research
Sedimentary basins and the petroleum resources they contain are the primary focus of the research that my students and I conduct. Our work is strongly field-based but incorporates both outcrop and subsurface data (seismic and borehole) and is combined with cutting edge lab analyses. Tools used in our research include geologic mapping, facies interpretation, paleocurrent analysis, sedimentary petrography, molecular organic geochemistry, basin modeling, detrital zircon analyses, apatite-fission track analysis, (U-Th)/He analysis, Ar/Ar geochronology, tephrochronology, and architectural element analysis. Currently, my students and I are working on projects focused on Miocene-Pliocene extensional basins in the southwestern United States, Cretaceous to Eocene synconvergent extension in the Sevier hinterland, and hydrocarbon generation and migration around salt structures in the Western Pyrenees, Spain and the Paradox Basin in Utah.
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Research Publications
Journal Articles (since 2003)
*denotes Hanson advisee
P. Druschke*, A.D. Hanson, M.L. Wells, G.E. Gehrels, D. Stöckli, in press, Paleogeographic isolation of the Cretaceous to Eocene Sevier hinterland, east-central Nevada: Insights from U-Pb and (U-Th)/He detrital zircon ages of hinterland strata; GSA Bulletin.
Hudson, Samuel M.*, and Hanson, Andrew D., 2010, Thermal maturation and hydrocarbon migration within La Popa basin, NE Mexico, with implications for other salt structures; American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 94, p. 273-291. Available .pdf
Ludington, Steve, John, D.A., Muntean, J.L., Hanson, A.D., Castor, S.B., Henry, C.D., Wintzer, Niki, Cline, J.S., and Simon, A.C., 2009, Mineral-resource assessment of northern Nye County, Nevada; a progress report: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2009-1217, 13 p.
Druschke P.*, Hanson, A.D., and Wells, M.L., 2009, Structural, stratigraphic, and geochronologic evidence for extension predating Palaeogene volcanism in the Sevier hinterland, east-central Nevada; in Ernst, W.G. ed. International Geology Review Special Issue: Rise and Fall of the Nevadaplano – Part 1, v. 51, p. 743-775. Funding provided by NSF. (pdf available on request)
Druschke, Peter*, Hanson, Andrew D., Wells Michael L., Rasbury, Troy, Stockli, Daniel F., and Gehrels, George, 2009, Synconvergent surface-breaking normal faults of Late Cretaceous age within the Sevier hinterland, east-central Nevada; Geology, v. 37, p. 447-450. Funding provided by NSF. Available .pdf
Druschke, Peter A.*, Jiang, Ganqing, Anderson, Thomas B. and Hanson, Andrew D., 2009, Stromatolites in the Late Ordovician Eureka Quartzite: implication for microbial growth and preservation in siliciclastic settings; Sedimentology, v. 56, p. 1275-1291. Available .pdf
Hanson, Andrew D., Ritts, Bradley D., and Moldowan, J. Michael, 2007, Organic geochemistry and thermal maturity of oils and Upper Paleozoic and Mesozoic potential source rocks in the Ordos basin, north-central China; American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 91, p. 1273-1293. Available .pdf
Druschke, Peter*, Hanson, Andrew D., Yan, Quanren, Wang, Zhongqi, 2006, Stratigraphic and U-Pb SHRIMP detrital zircon evidence for a Neoproterozoic continental arc, central China; Journal of Geology, v. 114, p. 627-636. Available .pdf
Fildani, Andrea, Hanson Andrew D., Chen, ZhengZheng, Moldowan, Michael, Graham, Stephan A., and Arriola, Pedro Raul, 2005, Geochemical characteristics of oil and source rocks and implications for petroleum systems, Talara basin, northwest Peru; American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 89, p. 1519-1545. Available .pdf
Graham, Stephan A., Chamberlain, C. Page, Yue, Yongjun, Ritts, Bradley D., Hanson, Andrew D., Horton, Travis W., Waldbauer, Jacob R., Poage, Michael A., and Feng, X., 2005, Stable isotope records of Cenozoic climate and topography, Tibetan Plateau and Tarim basin; American Journal of Science, v. 305, p. 101-118. Available .pdf
Twichell, David C., Cross, VeeAnn A., Hanson, Andrew D., Buck, Brenda J., Zybala, Jonathan G.*, and Rudin, Mark J., 2005, Seismic architecture and lithofacies of turbidites in Lake Mead (Arizona and Nevada), an analogue for topographically complex basins; Journal of Sedimentary Research, v. 75, p. 134-148.
Yue, Yongjun, Ritts, Bradley D., Hanson, Andrew D., and Graham, Stephan A., 2004, Sedimentary evidence against large strike-slip translation on the northern Altyn Tagh fault; Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 228, p. 311-323.
Yan, Quanren, Hanson, Andrew D., Wang, Zongqi, Yan, Zhen, Druschke, Peter A.*, Wang, Tao, and Lu, Haifeng, 2004, The Guanjiagou section of the South Qinling and its tectonic implications, Chinese Science Bulletin; v. 49, p. 1416-1423 (Chinese version) v. 49, p. 1722-1729 (English version).
Ritts, Bradley D., Hanson, Andrew D., Darby, Brian J., Berry, Adrian, and Nanson, Lynde, 2004, Triassic Intraplate Extension in North China: Evidence from the Nonmarine NW Ordos Basin; Tectonophysics, v. 386, p. 177-202.
Yan, Quanren, Hanson, Andrew D., Wang, Zhongqi, Druschke, Peter A.*, Yan, Zhen, Wang, Tao, Liu, Dongyi, Song, Biao, Jian, Ping, Zhou, Hui, and Jiang, Chunfa, 2004, Neoproterozoic subduction and rifting of the northern margin of the Yangtze plate, China: Implications for Rodinia reconstruction; International Geology Review, v. 46, p. 817-832.
Yan, Q. R., Hanson, A. D., Wang, Z. Q., Yan, Z., Druschke, P. A.*, Wang, T., Liu, D., Song, B., and Jiang, C. F., 2004, Geochemistry and Sr-Nd-Pb isotopes and their constraints on tectonic setting of the Bikou volcanic terrane on the northern margin of the Yangtze block: Acta Petrologica Et Mineralogica, v. 23, p. 1-11. (in Chinese with English abstract).
Buck, Brenda J., Hanson, Andrew D., Hengst, Richard A., and Hu Shu-sheng, 2004, "Tertiary Dinosaurs" in the Nanxiong basin, Southern China, are reworked from the Cretaceous; Journal of Geology, v. 112, p. 111-118.
Yan, Q., Wang, Z., Yan, Z., Hanson, A. D., Druschke, P. A.*, Liu, D. Song, B., Jian, P., and Wang. T., 2003, SHRIMP age of the Bikou volcanic terrane: Geological Bulletin of China, v. 22, p. 456-458 (in Chinese).
Yan, Q., Wang, Z., Hanson A. D., Druschke, P. A.*, Yan, Z., Liu, D., Jian, P., Song, B., Wang, T., and Jiang, C., 2003, SHRIMP age and geochemistry of the Bikou volcanic terrane: Implications for Neoproterozoic tectonics on the northern margin of the Yangtze Craton, Acta Geologica Sinica, v. 77, p. 479-490.
Abstracts (since 2003)
*denotes Hanson advisee
Hanson, Andrew D. and Forrester, Steven W.*, 2010, Provenance of the Muddy Creek Formation Near Mesquite Nevada and its Bearing on the Paleo-Colorado River Hypothesis, Geological Society of America Annual Program.
Swenberg, Carl T.* and Hanson, Andrew D., 2010, The Fluvial Muddy Creek Formation Near Overton, Nevada: Provenance, Stratigraphy, and Miocene-Recent Evolution of the Mormon Basin, Geological Society of America Annual Program.
Muntean, Thomas, W.* and Hanson, Andrew D., 2010, Detrital Zircons from the Neogene Muddy Creek Formation in Southern Nevada Indicate a Mixed Colorado Plateau-Basin and Range Provenance, Geological Society of America Annual Program.
Eaton, Laura M.* and Hanson, Andrew D., 2010, Determining the Significance and Sense of Offset of the Frenchman Mountain Fault, Las Vegas, Nevada: A Paired Structural and Basin Analysis, Geological Society of America Annual Program.
Druschke, Peter*, Hanson, Andrew D., and Wells, Michael, 2008, Detrital Zircon Provenance of Cretaceous to Eocene Strata in the Sevier Hinterland, Central Nevada: Implications for Tectonics and Paleogeography, GSA Cordilleran Section and Rocky Mountain Section Joint Meeting Abstracts with Programs Vol. 40, No. 1.
Hanson, Andrew D., 2008, Detrital Zircon Constraints on the Jean Conglomerate and Sevier Unroofing near Las Vegas, GSA Cordilleran Section and Rocky Mountain Section Joint Meeting Abstracts with Programs Vol. 40, No. 1.
Muntean, Thomas W.*, and Hanson, Andrew D., 2008, Muddy Creek Formation: Reevaluating Misconceptions of Late Miocene Tectonics and Sedimentation in Southern Nevada, GSA Cordilleran Section and Rocky Mountain Section Joint Meeting Abstracts with Programs Vol. 40, No. 1.
Druschke, Peter*, Hanson, Andrew D., Wells, Michael L., 2007, Late Cretaceous Extensional Collapse of the Sevier Hinterland: Structural and Stratigraphic Evidence from the Sheep Pass Formation, East-Central Nevada: GSA Abstracts with Programs v. 39, No. 6.
Hanson, Andrew D., 2007, Hydrocarbon source rocks in nonmarine basins: Insights from Chinese basins: International Conference on Non-marine Basin Systems: Depositional Processes and Products, Stratigraphy, and Petroleum Reservoir Exploration, Beijing, China, p. 93.
Miller, Nickolas A.*, Druschke, Peter A.*, and Hanson, Andrew D., 2007, The Milk Ranch Canyon section, east-central Nevada: A Neogene coarse clastic succession: GSA Rocky Mountain section meeting.
Hanson, Andrew D., and Druschke, Peter A.*, 2006, Incorporating problem based research into an undergraduate sed/strat class: an alternative to the same old format: GSA Annual Meeting Program, p. 218.
Druschke, Peter A.*, Hanson, Andrew D., and Wells, Michael, 2006, The Sheep Pass Formation, Nevada: stratigraphic evidence for a Paleogene transition from contraction to extension?: GSA Annual Meeting Program, p. 141.
Lawton, T.F., Giles, K.A., Rowan, M.G., Hanson, A.D., Couch, R.D., and Druke, D., 2005, Foreland-basin development in a salt-influenced province: Sierra Madre foreland, northeastern Mexico: Abstracts Volume, Joint Earth Science Meeting on Thrust Belts and Foreland Basins, Rueil-Malmaison, France, p. 226b-228b.
Suurmeyer, Nathan* and Hanson, Andrew, 2005, Basin analysis of the central Grand Wash Trough, NW Arizona: New insights into a Miocene extensional basin; GSA Annual Meeting Program, p. 138.
Snelson, Catherine M., McLaurin, B.T., Hanson, Andrew D., McEwan, Darlene J., Hirsch, Aaron C., Zaragosa, Shelley, Saldaña, Sandra C., and Guerra, Monica, 2005, The role of faulting in evaporite karst development: Southern Virgin Mountains, Nevada basin; GSA Annual Meeting Program, p. 198.
Hanson, Andrew D., Druschke, Peter D.*, Howley, Robyn A., Suurmeyer, Nathan R., Benneman, Bud, Erwin, Martin B., and McLaurin, B. T., 2005, Deformation of the Miocene-Pliocene Muddy Creek Formation, southern Nevada: Lake Mead fault system, salt tectonics, or both?: GSA Cordilleran Section Program, p. 19.
McLaurin, B. T., Snelson, Catherine M., Hanson, Andrew D., Brock, Amy L., Hicks, Melissa, Saldaña, Sandra C., McEwan, Darlene J., Hirsch, Aaron C., And Zaragoza, Shelley A., 2005, Assessing sinkhole development on alluvial fans around the Devil’s Throat, southern Nevada: GSA Cordilleran Section Program, p. 29.
Zybala, Jonathan G.*, Hanson, Andrew D., and Twichell, David C., 2004, Stratigraphic evolution of Las Vegas bay, Lake Mead, Nevada: 1935 - 2002, Part 1 - The submerged portion; GSA Annual Meeting Program, p. 92.
Zybala, Jonathan G.*, and Hanson, Andrew D., 2004, Stratigraphic evolution of Las Vegas bay, Lake Mead, Nevada: 1935 - 2002, Part 2 - The subaerial portion; GSA Annual Meeting Program, p. 92.
Twichell, David C., Hanson, Andrew D., Cross, VeeAnn A., and Rudin, Mark J., 2004, Sediment accumulations on the bottom of Lake Mead: A 70-year record of depositional processes; GSA Annual Meeting Program, p. 196.
Zybala, Jonathan G.*, Hanson, Andrew D., Twichell, David C., Rudin, Mark J. and Buck, Brenda J., 2004, Sequence Stratigraphic Evolution of Las Vegas Bay in Lake Mead, NV: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Annual Convention Abstracts Volume 13, p. A156.
Fildani, Andrea, Chen, ZhengZheng, Moldowan, Mike, Hanson, Andrew, and Graham, Steve, 2004, Talara basin petroleum system: geochemical characteristics of oils and correlation with possible source rocks from NW Peru: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Annual Convention Abstracts Volume 13, p. A45.
Hanson, Andrew D., and Ritts, Bradley D., 2004, Oils and Source Rocks of the Ordos Basin, North-Central China: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Annual Convention Abstracts Volume 13, p. A58.
Snelson, C. M., Sandru, J., McEwan, D. J., Hirsch, A., Zaragoza, S. A., Draa, A., Hanson, A. D., Kaip, G., Harder, S. H., Azevedo, S., McKibben, W., Rodgers, A., Lewis, J. P., Smith, D., Rock, D., and McCallen, D., 2003, Preliminary Results From SILVVER '03 - Seismic Investigations of the Las Vegas Valley: Evaluating Risk, EOS Trans. AGU, 84(46), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract S11D-0325.
Druschke, P.*, Hanson, A., Yan, Q., and Wong, Z., 2003, Is the Bikou Terrane of the Southwest Qinling Mountains, Central China, the Result of Late Proterozoic Subduction Along the North Margin of the Yangtze Plate?: GSA Program with Abstracts, v. 34, p. 343.
Hudson, Samuel M.*, Hanson, Andrew D., Lawton, Timothy F., and Buck, Brenda J., 2003, New geochemical evidence of hydrocarbons along the La Popa salt weld, La Popa basin, northeastern Mexico; GSA Program with Abstracts, v. 34, p. 485.
Zybala, Jonathan G.*, Twichell, David C., Hanson, Andrew D., Buck, Brenda J., Hickson, Thomas A., Rudin, Mark J., Howley, Robyn A., and Steinberg, Spencer, 2003, Sediment deposition in Las Vegas Bay, Lake Mead, NV: Implications for marine sandstone distributions, GSA Program with Abstracts, v. 34, p. 172.
Buck, B. J., Lawton, T. F., Merkler, D., Howley, R. A., Khresat, S., Rawajfih, Z., Waidmann, B., and Hanson, A., 2003, Snowballs in the Devil’s Anus and other adventures in the world of pedogenic sulfates, GSA Program with Abstracts, v. 34, p. 257.
Spencer Steinberg, Mark J. Rudin, Brenda J. Buck, Andrew D. Hanson, Vernon F. Hodge, David C. Twichell, and Robyn A. Howley, 2003, Investigation of organic matter in Lake Mead sediments using chemo-pyrolysis GCMS, 13th Annual West Coast Conference on Contaminated Soils, Sediments, and Water.
Zybala, Jonathan*, Buck, Brenda J., Howley, Robyn A., Twichell, David C., Hickson, Thomas A., Hanson, Andrew D., Rudin, Mark J., and Steinberg, Spencer, 2003, Sediment Coring in Lake Mead Reservoir, NV and AZ: Implications for Deep Marine Sandstone Distributions, American Association of Petroleum Geologists Abstracts with Programs, p. 48.
Glowiak, E., Buck, B. J., Lawton, T. F., Waidmann, B., Hanson, A. D., 2003, Paleosols in the Eocene Carroza Formation, La Popa basin, MX: indicators of diapiric tectonics and depositional environments, American Association of Petroleum Geologists Abstracts with Programs, p. 37 (accepted, but withdrawn later).
Twichell, David C., Cross, VeeAnn, Buck, Brenda, Hanson, Andrew, Hickson, Thomas, Rudin, Mark, and Zybala, Jonathan*, 2003, Seismic architecture of turbidites in Lake Mead, American Association of Petroleum Geologists Abstracts with Programs, p. 39.
Nanson, Lynde L., Ritts, Bradley D., Darby, Brian J., Hanson, Andrew D., and Berry, Adrian K., 2003, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy and Paleogeography of the Triassic western Ordos basin, North-central China, American Association of Petroleum Geologists Abstracts with Programs, p. 48.
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Major Research Funding
U.S. Congress, Mineral Assessment of northern Nye County, $650,000, joint with USGS and the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, 2010.
EDMAP; UNLV Overton SE Mapping Project: Training Graduate Geoscientists, $27,000, 2009.
ExxonMobil; Thermal maturity study around a salt diapir, $14,200, 2009.
U.S. Congress, Mineral Assessment of northern Nye County, $650,000, joint with USGS and the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, 2009.
NSF, Synconvergent extension in the Sevier hinterland, $164, 077, Co-PI - Michael Wells, UNLV Geoscience, 2006-2009.
U.S. Congress, Mineral Assessment of Clark County areas of critical environmental concern, $504,000, joint with USGS and Jean Cline (UNLV Geoscience), 2003-2006.
U.S. Congress, Sediment coring in Lake Mead, $750,000 (joint with UNLV Chemistry and Health Physics, Wood Hole Institute), 2001-2003.
UNLV, New Investigator Award, $10,531, Triassic of the Ordos basin, north central China, 2001-2003.
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Students
•Ines Yurchenko, M.S. student, Source Rock Assessment of Several Stratigraphic Intervals in Northern Nye County, Nevada (in progress)
•Nick Downs, M.S. student, Thermal Maturation Variation Around Salt Structures in the Western Pyrenees, Spain (in progress)
•LaOde Ahdyar, M.S. student, Oil and Source Rock Correlation Study of Railroad Valley, Nevada (in progress)
•Yuki Agulia, M.S. student, (U-Th)/He and Vitrinite Reflectance Constraints on the Burial History of Northeastern Nye County, Nevada (in progress)
•Carl Swenberg, M.S. student, Provenance and Geochronology of the Muddy Creek Formation, and Mapping in the Western Half of the Overton SE Quadrangle, Nevada (in progress)
•Laura Eaton, M.S. student, Linked Stratigraphic and Structural Analysis of the Frenchman Mountain Fault, Southern Nevada (in progress)
•Tom Muntean, Ph.D. student, Are Syntectonic Sedimentary Rocks of the Muddy
Creek Formation Related to Deformation Along the Lake Mead Fault System
or Salt Tectonics? (in progress)
•Steven Forrester, 2009, M.S. thesis, Provenance of the Miocene-Pliocene Muddy Creek Formation near Mesquite, Nevada
•Peter A. Druschke, 2009, Ph.D. dissertation, The Sheep Pass Formation: A Record of Late Cretaceous and Paleogene Extension Within the Sevier Hinterland, East-Central Nevada
•Nathan R. Suurmeyer, 2008, M.S. thesis, Basin Analysis of the Central Grand Wash Trough, NW Arizona: New Insights into a Miocene Extensional Basin
•Kati Gibler, 2007, M.S. thesis, Postcollapse Volcanism in the Valles Caldera, New Mexico: The Transition from Large Volume Explosive to Small Volume Effusive Eruptions
•Jonathan G. Zybala, 2004, M.S. thesis, Stratigraphic Evolution of Las Vegas
Bay, Lake Mead, Nevada: 1935-2002
•Samuel M. Hudson, 2004, M.S. thesis, Hydrocarbon Occurrences Within the
La Popa Basin: Potential Source Rocks, Thermal Maturation, and Hydrocarbon
Migration along the La Popa Salt Weld, La Popa Basin, NE Mexico
•Peter A. Druschke, 2003, M.S. thesis, The Age, Stratigraphy and Tectonic
Provenance of Clastic Deposits in the Western Bikou Terrane, Southwestern
Qinling Mountains, China
•Michelle M. Williams, 2003, M.S. thesis, Depositional History of the Black
Mountain Conglomerate, Mohave County, Arizona: Sedimentary Responses to
Tertiary Extension
*Opportunities exist for Ph.D., M.S., and undergraduate students to conduct
research that is based in sedimentary and petroleum geology.
Post-Doctoral Scholars
• Dr. Brett T. McLaurin, 2004-2006, An aggregates assessment in areas of
critical environmental concern around Clark County, Nevada.
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Donated Software
Students who work with me sometimes use software provided by companies who serve the energy industry. At UNLV we have license agreements for:
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We thank these companies for their generous donations that expand student learning opportunities!
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