Stuart Egan

Banner image - Snowdonia, North Wales

Stuart Egan’s Website

Research Interests

My main research area is the numerical and computer modelling of continental lithosphere extension and shortening, with emphasis on investigating the mechanisms that cause subsidence and uplift in sedimentary basin and mountain belt settings. This research area enables the combination of interests in geology and computing, and, at the same time, has provided travel opportunities to many parts of the world in order to carry out fieldwork.

I have developed two- and three-dimensional numerical models, which include a number of geological and geodynamic processes, in order to simulate the evolution of mountain belts and basin structures within a variety of tectonic regimes. These modelling techniques, combined with study of subsurface and field data, have provided new insights into the mechanisms that have contributed to the geological evolution of a number of case studies within the geological record, including the northern North Sea, the Laramide Province (Wyoming, western USA), the Black Sea and South Caspian Basin. 

As a relatively new research theme, I am currently applying structural, thermal and geodynamic modelling techniques to geothermal exploration.

I am a member of Keele’s Basin Dynamics Research Group.

Structural and geodynamic models of basin inversion

Publications

  • Sheldrick, T.C., Hahn, G., Antoshechkina, P.M., Norry, M.J., Egan, S.S., Barry, T.L., Chengshi, G., Wilkinson, C.M., Gibson, S.A. and Ewan, C.A. 2025. Carboniferous and Early Permian Magmatism in England. Journal of Petrology, 66, egaf063. https://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/egaf063
  • Brown, C.S., Cassidy, N.J., Egan, S.S. and Griffiths, D. 2022. Thermal and Economic Analysis of Heat Exchangers as Part of a Geothermal District Heating Scheme in the Cheshire Basin, UK. Energies 2022, 15, 1983. https://doi.org/10.3390/en15061983
  • Howell, L.P., Priddy, C., Mitten, A.J., Jeffery, A.J., Egan, S.S., Leslie, A.G., Pettigrew, R.P., Clarke, S.M. and Kearsey, T.I. 2021. ‘Block and basin’ style rift basins: sedimentological insights from the Mississippian Fell Sandstone Formation. Journal of the Geological Society. https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2021-083
  • Brown, C.S., Cassidy, N.J. Egan, S.S. and Griffiths, D. 2021. A sensitivity analysis of a single extraction well from deep geothermal aquifers in the Cheshire Basin, UK. Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology. https://doi.org/10.1144/qjegh2021-131
  • Brown, C.S., Cassidy, N.J. Egan, S.S. and Griffiths, D. 2021. Numerical modelling of deep coaxial borehole heat exchangers in the Cheshire Basin, UK. Computers and Geosciences, 152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2021.104752
  • Howell, L., Brown, C.S. and Egan, S.S. 2021. Deep geothermal energy in northern England: insights from 3D finite difference temperature modelling. Computers and Geosciences, 147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2020.104661
  • Howell, L., Besly, B.M., Sooriyathasan, S., Egan, S.S. and Leslie, A.G. 2020. Seismic and borehole-based mapping of the late Carboniferous succession in the Canonbie Coalfield, SW Scotland: evidence for a ‘broken’ Variscan foreland? Scottish Journal of Geology. http://dx.doi.org/10.1144/sjg2020-007
  • Howell, L.P., Egan, S.S., Leslie, G., Clarke, S.M., Mitten, A. and Pringle, J.K. 2020. The influence of low-density granite bodies on extensional basins. Geology Today, 36, pp. 22-26. https://doi.org/10.1111/gto.12297
  • Howell, L.P., Egan, S.S., Leslie, G. and Clarke, S.M. 2019. Structural and geodynamic modelling of the influence of granite bodies during lithospheric extension: application to the Carboniferous basins of northern England. Tectonophysics, 755, pp. 47-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2019.02.008.
  • Rogers, S.L., Egan, S.S. and Stimpson, I.G. 2018. Tracking Sustainability Concepts in Geology and Earth Science Teaching and Learning, Keele University, UK. J.A.D.E.
  • Moseley, D.P., Pringle, J.K., Haslam, R.B., Egan, S.S., Rogers, S.L., Gertisser, R., Cassidy, N.J. and Stimpson, I.G. 2015. Geophysical surveys to help map buried igneous intrusions, Snowdonia, North Wales, UK. Geology Today, V. 31, No. 3, pp.109-115.
  • Egan, S.S., Mosar, J., Brunet, M. and Kangarli, T. 2009. Subsidence and Uplift Mechanisms Within The South Caspian Basin: Insights From The Onshore And Offshore Azerbaijan Region. In: Brunet, M.-F., Wilmsen, M. & Granath J. W. (eds), South Caspian to Central Iran Basins. Geological Society, London, Special Publications 312, pp.219-240.
  • Egan, S.S. and Meredith, D.J. 2007. A kinematic modelling approach to lithosphere deformation and basin formation: application to the Black Sea. In: Karner, G.D., Manatschal, G. and Pinheiro, L.M. (eds). Imaging, Mapping and Modelling Continental Lithosphere Extension and Breakup. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 282,  pp.173-198.
  • Clarke, S.M., Burley, S.D., Williams, G.D., Richards, A.J., Meredith, D.J. and Egan, S.S. 2006. Integrated four-dimensional modelling of sedimentary basin architecture and hydrocarbon migration. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 253, pp.185-211.
  • Meredith, D.J. and Egan, S.S. 2002. The Geological and Geodynamic Evolution of the Eastern Black Sea Basin: Insights from 2-D and 3-D Tectonic Modelling. Tectonophysics, 350, pp. 157-179.
  • Egan, S.S., Kane, S.J., Buddin, T.S., Williams, G.D. and Hodgetts, D. 1999. Computer Modelling And Visualisation Of  The Structural Deformation Caused By Movement Along Geological Faults. Computers and Geosciences, 25, pp. 283-297.
  • Hodgetts, D., Egan, S.S. and Williams, G.D. 1998. Flexural modelling of continental lithosphere deformation: a comparison of 2D and 3D techniques. Tectonophysics, 294, pp. 1-20.
  • Egan, S.S., Buddin, T.S., Kane, S.J. and Williams, G.D. 1997. Three-Dimensional Modelling And Visualisation In Structural Geology: New Techniques For The Restoration And Balancing Of Volumes. In: Proceedings of the 1996 Geoscience Information Group Conference on Geological Visualisation – the intelligent picture? Electronic Geology special volume 1, paper 7, pp.67-82.
  • Buddin, T.S., Kane, S.J., Williams, G.D. and Egan, S.S. 1997. A sensitivity analysis of 3-dimensional restoration techniques using vertical and inclined shear constructions. Tectonophysics, 269, pp.33-50.
  • Egan, S.S. and Urquhart, J.M. 1993. Numerical modelling of lithosphere shortening: Application to the Laramide orogenic province, western USA. Tectonophysics, 221, pp.385-411.
  • Karner, G.D., Egan, S.S. and Weissel, J.K. 1992. Modeling the tectonic development of the Tucano and Sergipe-Alagoas rift basins, Brazil. Tectonophysics, 215, pp.133-160.
  • Egan, S.S. 1992. The flexural isostatic response of the lithosphere to extensional tectonics. Tectonophysics, 202, pp.291-308.
  • Shelton, A.W. and Egan, S.S. 1991. The obduction of the northern Oman ophiolite – crustal loading and flexure. In: Peters, T.J., Nicolas, A. and Coleman, R.G. (Eds). Ophiolite Genesis and Evolution of Oceanic Lithosphere. pp.469-483.
  • Egan, S.S. 1991. The rheological strength of the lithosphere following extensional and compressional tectonics. In: Farmer, D.G. and Rycroft, M.J. (Eds). Computer Modelling in the Environmental Sciences. Oxford University Press. pp.161-178.
  • Kusznir, N.J., Marsden, G. and Egan, S.S. 1991. A flexural cantilever simple-shear/pure-shear model of continental lithosphere extension: application to the Jeanne d’Arc basin, Grand Banks and Viking Graben, North Sea. In: Yielding, A.M. and Freeman, B. (Eds). The Geometry of Normal Faults. Geological Society Special Publication No 56, pp.41-60.
  • Kusznir, N.J. and Egan, S.S. 1989. Simple-Shear and Pure-Shear Models of Extensional Sedimentary Basin Formation:  Application to the Jeanne D’Arc Basin, Grand Banks of Newfoundland. In: Tankard, A.J. and Balkwill, H.R. Sedimentary Basins and Basin Forming Mechanisms. Amer. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. Mem. 46, pp.305-322.
  • Kusznir, N.J., Karner, G.D. and Egan, S.S. 1987.  Geometric, thermal, and isostatic consequences of detachments in continental lithosphere extension and basin formation. In: Beaumont, C. and Tankard, A.J. (Eds). Sedimentary Basins and Basin Forming Mechanisms. Canad. Soc. Petrol. Geol. Mem No. 12, pp.185-203.