Prof. Gene Rankey


Gene Rankey
  • Professor

Contact Info

Office Phone:
Department Phone:
Ritchie Hall, room #354

Education

Geology, University of Kansas, 1996, Lawrence, KS
Geological Sciences, University of Tennessee, 1993, Knoxville, TN
Geology, Augustana College, 1991, Rock Island, IL

Research

Prof. Rankey’s research program focuses on unraveling and quantifying the nature and controls on variability in surface processes and geomorphic forms in tropical marine and nearshore sedimentary systems. His research emphasizes field study of modern ramps and atolls, where both process (waves, tides, chemistry, etc.) and product (e.g., sediment, biota, geomorphology) can be observed, and their relations rigorously evaluated and numerically modelled. Recent studies have documented global patterns in distribution and character of reef and reef sand aprons, sedimentology and geomorphology of ooid shoals, and the role of physical and chemical oceanography on biota and geomorphology of a carbonate ramp system. The focus has evolved naturally to evaluating the impact of global change on Earth-surface processes in shallow marine and coastal tropical systems, including reefs and coastlines. These studies include addressing questions regarding possible future changes in response to ENSO, sea-level rise, or variations in wave climate. Examining study areas ranging from the Pacific (Kiribati, French Polynesia, Cook Islands), to Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia), to the Caribbean (Bahamas, Yucatan, Mexico, Turks and Caicos), his perspective is global. Beyond efforts that focus on modern systems, the research has direct application to understanding geologic analogs in the stratigraphic record via development of testable quantitative and conceptual models for the origin and heterogeneity of the stratigraphic record of ancient carbonate reef, shoal, ramp, and platform successions. As such, an important aspect concerns evaluation of the stratigraphic record of ancient analogs, testing conceptual models and developing fundamental paradigms. Key means to do so are through high-resolution, sequence-based analysis of subsurface analogs using core, log, and 3D seismic data, and includes efforts in Malaysia, Kansas, Saudi Arabia, and Australia.

Research interests:

  • Sedimentology
  • Stratigraphy
  • Marine Geology
  • Remote Sensing
  • GIS
  • Carbonates
  • Seismic Data Interpretation and Analysis

Teaching

Teaching interests:

  • Carbonate Depositional Systems
  • Oceanography
  • Seismic Interpretation
  • Field Geology
  • Borehole Geology

Selected Publications

<div class="fp-publications fp-container"><div class="aca-article">Goers, A., Hasiotis, S., Rankey, G. (2023). Controls on bioturbation and sediment distribution in carbonate shoreface deposits: insights from heterogeneity in Pleistocene and recent strata. Journal of Sedimentary Research - Issue 11 | Volume 93. <a href="https://doi.org/10.2110/JSR.2022.024">https://doi.org/10.2110/JSR.2022… class="aca-book">Rankey, G., Poppelreiter, M. (2023). <i>Cenozoic Carbonate Systems : Focus Southeast Asia</i>. SEPM Society for Sedimentary Geology. [https://doi.org/10.2110/sepmsp.114].</div><div class="aca-article">Rankey, G. (2021). Hydrodynamic influences on sedimentology and geomorphology of carbonate ramps: Insights from a Holocene analog, nearshore northern Yucatán Shelf, Mexico. Journal of Sedimentary Research - Issue 10 | Volume 91. <a href="https://doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2020.103">https://doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2020…;

Selected Presentations

<div class="fp-presentations fp-container"><div class="aca-presentation">Influence of coupled geomorphic-hydrodynamic feedbacks on sedimentology of reef flats on isolated carbonate platforms - Kansas Interdisciplinary Carbonates Consortium Annual Review. (5-08-2021).</div><div class="aca-presentation">Re-interpretation of surfaces within the Tuwaiq Mountain and Hanifa formations, central Saudi Arabia: Significance for integrating isotopic and sedimentologic analyses with paleoenvironmental reconstructions - Kansas Interdisciplinary Carbonates Consortium Annual Review. (5-08-2021).</div><div class="aca-presentation">Numerical models of oceanographic controls on facies heterogeneity of isolated carbonate platforms: Insights from a Holocene analogue, Pulau Layang-Layang, South China Sea - Kansas Interdisciplinary Carbonates Consortium Annual Review. (5-08-2021).</div><div class="aca-presentation">Geophysical characterization of impacts of pore-network geometry and carbonate dissolution and precipitation in carbonate rocks - Kansas Interdisciplinary Carbonates Consortium Annual Review. (5-08-2021).</div><div class="aca-presentation">Integrating ichnology, paleontology, and sedimentology to differentiate carbonate marine deposits from lacustrine deposits - Kansas Interdisciplinary Carbonates Consortium Annual Review. (5-01-2020).</div><div class="aca-presentation">Seismic characterization of isolated carbonate platform margin deposits - Kansas Interdisciplinary Carbonates Consortium Annual Review. (5-01-2020).</div><div class="aca-presentation">Deflating the windward-leeward paradigm in carbonate sedimentology - Kansas Interdisciplinary Carbonates Consortium Annual Review. (5-01-2020).</div><div class="aca-presentation">The birth, growth, and demise of Phanerozoic isolated carbonate platforms: The role of tectonics - Kansas Interdisciplinary Carbonates Consortium Annual Review. (5-01-2020).</div><div class="aca-presentation">Things that make you go hmmmmm: Testing geological conceptual models - University of Sydney, Coast2Coast Zoominars. (5-23-2021).</div><div class="aca-presentation">Filling buckets and wave bases - King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Earth Sciences and Engineering Division . (12-08-2021).</div></div>

Awards & Honors

<div class="fp-award fp-container"><div class="aca-award">Distinguished Lecturer. American Association of Petroleum Geologists. Received: 1-01-2009.</div><div class="aca-award">Outstanding Paper Award. Journal of Sedimentary Research. Received: 1-01-2002.</div><div class="aca-award">Honorable Mention, Outstanding Paper Award. Journal of Sedimentary Research. Received: 1-01-2012.</div><div class="aca-award">Honorable Mention, Outstanding Paper Award. Journal of Sedimentary Research. Received: 1-01-2010.</div><div class="aca-award">Honorable Mention, Outstanding Paper Award. Journal of Sedimentary Research. Received: 1-01-2008.</div><div class="aca-award">Outstanding Poster
2017 AAPG/SEPM Annual Conference and Exhibition. SEPM Society for Sedimentary Geology. Received: 1-01-2017.</div><div class="aca-award">Outstanding Poster
2017 AAPG/SEPM Annual Conference and Exhibition. SEPM Society for Sedimentary Geology. Received: 12-31-2017.</div><div class="aca-award">Honorable Mention, Outstanding Paper Award. Journal of Sedimentary Research. Received: 12-31-2012.</div><div class="aca-award">Distinguished Lecturer. American Association of Petroleum Geologists. Received: 12-31-2009.</div><div class="aca-award">Outstanding Paper Award. Journal of Sedimentary Research. Received: 12-31-2002.</div></div>