Biography
- 2013 - Professor of Geology, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Portsmouth.
- 2007-2017, Head of School, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Portsmouth.
- 2003-2013 Reader, School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Portsmouth.
- 1982-2003 Lecturer/Senior Lecturer/Principal Lecturer/Reader, Department of Geology, Oxford Polytechnic/Oxford Brookes University.
- 1978-1982 University of Keele, Staffordshire (graduated PhD; thesis title: “Geology of the Moine rocks of the Loch Eil area, West Inverness-shire”).
- 1975-1978 University College of Wales, Aberystwyth (graduated BSc Hons in Geology, Upper Second Class).
Research interests
- The nature of orogenic processes within the middle to lower continental crust.
- Mechanisms of granite emplacement in different structural settings.
- The application of geochronological techniques to date deformational and metamorphic events during orogeny.
- The evolution and reactivation history of major continental fault zones.
- The syn- to post-orogenic erosional history of mountain belts.
Research outputs
2026
A metasedimentary outlier of the Laurentian continental margin preserved on the Tonian Loch Ness Supergroup, Scottish Caledonides
Strachan, R., Prave, A., Morton, A., Frei, D., Kirsimäe, K., Cutts, K.
1 May 2026, In: Journal of the Geological Society. 183, 3, jgs2025-210
Research output: Article
Nature and tectonic affinity of the Paleoproterozoic basement of the Central Terrane, Araçuaí-Ribeira Orogenic System (SE-Brazil): Constraints from zircon U-Pb geochronology, whole-rock geochemistry and Nd-Sr isotopes
Mauri, S., Heilbron, M., Bruno, H., Paravidini, G., Marques, R. d. A., Souza, A. M. d., Chapman, G., Soares, C. C. V., Strachan, R., Mottram, C., Bersan, S., Viana, F. D., Valeriano, C. d. M., Storey, C.
10 Apr 2026, In: Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 177, 36p., 106071
Research output: Article
Neoproterozoic-Early Ordovician sedimentation on the eastern margin of Laurentia: A detrital zircon provenance perspective on the Dalradian Supergroup, Scotland and Ireland
Rugen, E. J., Strachan, R., Chew, D., Molesworth, J., Lee, J., Vermeesch, P., Frei, D., Morton, A., Whittaker, Z., Storey, C., Seraine, M., Kirkland, C. L., Gernon, T. M., Shields, G. A.
10 Mar 2026, In: Earth-Science Reviews. 277, 27p., 105446
Research output: Article
2025
Late Ordovician regional high-pressure metamorphism in Scotland: Caledonian metamorphic climax predated the closure of Iapetus
Lamont, T., McCarthy, W., Strachan, R., Roberts, N. M. W., Mackay-Champion, T., Bird, A., Searle, M.
22 Sep 2025, In: Bulletin of the Geological Society of America
Research output: Article
The timing and significance of mid-crustal shearing and exhumation of amphibolite facies rocks along the Great Glen Fault Zone, Scotland
Law, R. D., Thigpen, J. R., Mako, C., Kylander-Clark, A., Caddick, M. J., Moore, L. R., Becker, C., Holdsworth, R. E., Strachan, R. A., Leslie, A. G.
1 Jul 2025, In: Journal of the Geological Society. 182, 4, 20p., jgs2024-264
Research output: Article
A one-billion-year-old Scottish meteorite impact
Kirkland, C. L., Erickson, T. M., Johnson, T. E., Prave, T., Strachan, R. A., Daggitt, M. L., Hartnady, M. I. H., Reddy, S. M., Taylor, R. J. M., Ribeiro, B. V., Rankenburg, K., Kirscher, U., Fischer, S.
28 Apr 2025, In: Geology
Research output: Article
Petrogenesis of Late Miocene high Ba-Sr granitoids in eastern Pamir, northwest Tibetan Plateau: Insights into lithospheric mantle evolution and geodynamic processes during India-Asia bidirectional subduction
Yang, F., Yin, J., Yang, Z., Fowler, M., Kerr, A. C., Pease, V., Strachan, R., Chen, W., Tao, Z., Chen, Y., Wang, T., Xiao, W.
1 Apr 2025, In: Journal of Petrology. 66, 4, 25p., egaf026
Research output: Article
The Neoproterozoic glacial broom
Kirkland, C. L., Strachan, R. A., Archibald, D. B., Murphy, J. B.
25 Feb 2025, In: Geology, 6p.
Research output: Article
2024
Early Neoproterozoic (Tonian) subduction-related magmatism and tectonothermal activity in Shetland and northern mainland Scotland: implications for the tectonic evolution of northeast Laurentia, and Rodinia reconstructions
Kinny, P. D., Strachan, R. A., Fowler, M. B., Bruand, E., Millar, I. L., Hand, M., Clark, C., Cutts, K. A.
8 Nov 2024, In: Journal of the Geological Society. 182, 1, 21p., jgs2024-093
Research output: Article
Coeval TTG and sanukitoid magmatism during the Rhyacian tectonic evolution of the Juiz de Fora Complex (São Francisco Paleocontinent, SE-Brazil)
Mauri, S., Heilbron, M., Bruno, H., Bersan, S., Almeida, R., de Abreu Marques, R., Lacerda, S., Marra de Souza, A., Paravidini, G., Neto, C., de Morisson Valeriano, C., Chapman, G., Fowler, M., Mottram, C.,
1 Nov 2024, In: Precambrian Research. 414, 21p., 107585
Research output: Article