Dr. Shahin Dashtgard

Research Focus

Research Themes

My research explores how sedimentary basins record interactions between tectonics, climate, sea-level change, and sediment transport with a focus on shallow-marine strata. Much of my current work focuses on the Georgia Basin in southwestern, British Columbia, Canada and on the Western Foreland Basin of Taiwan, where my students and collaborators combine field geology, stratigraphy, geochemistry, geophysics, and subsurface datasets to address both fundamental scientific questions and applied challenges.

1. Tectonic and Stratigraphic Evolution of Convergent-Margin Basins

A major focus of my research is understanding how convergent-margin basins develop and preserve sedimentary records through time. My students and I recently proposed the Forearc Depression Model, a new framework for interpreting basin evolution along active continental margins. Additonally, we recently propsed a chronostratigraphic framework for the Georgia Basin and are working towards an acompanying lithostratigraphic framework. Elsewhere along Canada's westcoast, we are reconstructing the paleogeographic evolution of other sedimentary basins, including the Tofino and Queen Charlotte basins. These projects integrate outcrop studies, detrital zircon geochronology, biostratigraphy, and subsurface datasets to better understand basin architecture and tectonic evolution.

2. Geological Carbon Storage in Sedimentary Basins

Reducing atmospheric CO₂ emissions requires safe, long-term subsurface storage solutions. Our research evaluates the carbon storage potential of sedimentary basin strata, with a primary focus on the Georgia Basin. For example, in the Whatcom Sub-Basin (southeastern region of the Georgia Basin), we have assessed reservoir quality, reconstructed depositional systems, quantified mineral trapping capacity, and resolved the basin's stratigraphic architecture. Ongoing projects are expanding this work to Vancouver Island, where we are evaluating the CO₂ storage potential of deeply buried strata beneath the Comox Outcrop Area. This research combines sedimentology, stratigraphy, mineralogy, reservoir characterization, and numerical modelling to address a key challenge in the transition to a low-carbon future.

3. Climate Cycles, Sedimentary Cyclicity, and Basin Evolution

In Taiwan's Western Foreland Basin, our research investigates how climate change, tectonics, and sea-level fluctuations influence sedimentation over timescales ranging from thousands to millions of years. We use cyclostratigraphy, geochemistry, ichnology, and integrated outcrop and subsurface datasets, to reconstruct depositional architectures and climatic cycles throughout the Pliocene and Pleistocene. Recent studies have explored how the emergence and growth of Taiwan influenced sediment dispersal patterns in the region, and the ichnological characteristics of ancient Taiwan Strait environments.

Additional Research Areas

In addition to these primary themes, I remain active in research on neoichnology, shallow-marine sedimentology, and modern sedimentary processes. My research group uses modern coastal and shallow-marine environments as analogs for interpreting the rock record and understanding how biological and physical processes shape sedimentary successions.

We conduct ongoing research in the Fraser River and Fraser Delta of British Columbia. To date, we have investigated sediment transport and accumulation, depositional processes, ichnological distributions, geochemical characteristics, and palynomorph and organic distributions. We are presently working to reslove microplastics distribution. This work spans the fluvial-tidal transition zone through to the coastal delta and provides valuable modern analogs for interpreting ancient sedimentary systems.

Undergraduate Teaching

Graduate Classes Taught

EASC 610 - Subsurface Energy Resources 

EASC 611 - Advanced Sedimentology

EASC 622 - Principles of Ichnology

EASC 707 - Special Topics - Scientific Writing

EASC 711 - Special Topics - Introduction to Sediment Geochemistry