Staff profile

August 2021 - Head of Department, Earth Sciences

2016 - 2019 — Deputy Head of Science Faculty (Postgraduate)

2015 - 2016 — Academic Director, NERC IAPETUS Doctoral Training Partnership

2014 - present — Professor, Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Durham

2013 – 2015  — Deputy Director, Natural Sciences, University of Durham

2005 – 2014  — Reader, Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Durham

2003 – 2004  — Deputy Chief Geologist, CASP. Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge

1993 – 2004  — Geologist, CASP, Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge

1990 – 1993  — Computer Officer, Leicester University

1991  — PhD, Leicester

1987  — BSc Hons 1st class: Durham

---

Career Research Highlights

My research has focused on interdisciplinary studies of Eurasian orogenic belts and sedimentary basins, notably the interactions of deformation, climate and sedimentation in tectonically active regions such as the Caspian, and the Zagros mountains of Iran. I also study aspects of petroleum systems at all scales from the regional, to the effects of fault systems and sedimentary architecture on fluid migration. My PhD involved a lot of igneous geochemistry, and I have recently returned to this subject by looking at the young volcanic rocks of the Iranian plateau. This includes being the PI of a NERC funded project on Orogenic Plateau Magmatism. I use many techniques and disciplines within Earth Sciences, including field-based structural geology and clastic sedimentology, remote sensing, geomorphology, basin modelling, regional synthesis, igneous geochemistry and seismic interpretation. I work closely with specialists in many other fields, including seismology, microstructures, fluid inclusions, heavy mineral provenance studies, isotopic geochemistry/geochronology and gravity/magnetics.

---

Committee and Society Service

2021 - Member of Council, Geological Society, London

2005 – 2010— Secretary, Northern Regional Group of the Geological Society

2001 – 2006 — Geological Society Petroleum Group committee member

---

Conferences and Workshops

2012, 2013 —Organiser of Convergent Margin session theme - EGU General Assembly

2011 — Geological Society of London Coupling of Tectonics and Surface Processes, Convenor.

2010 — Orogenic Plateaux session, Convenor - EGU General Assembly

2009 — Arctic and Russia session, Co-convenor. Petroleum Geology Conference #VII

---

Editorial Roles

2017 - present - Editor, Solid Earth

2003 – 2017 — Editor-in-chief of Geological Magazine

2005 – present — Editorial board member, Tectonophysics

2006 – 2012 — Editorial Board Member, Petroleum Geoscience

2006 — UK national correspondent for ICGP Project 480 “Tectonics of Central Asia”

---

Keynotes

2021 - Keynote speaker, EGU Annual Meeting

2020 - Keynote speaker, EGU Annual Meeting

2019 - Invited speaker, Chinese Academy of Sciences

2019 - Invited speaker, China Earthquake Administration

2018 - Invited speaker, Caltech, California

2011 – "Interactions of Tectonics and Climate in Eurasia" - University of Michigan Smith Lecture Series

2008 – International Union of Geological Sciences 33rd International Geological Congress

2004 – AAPG Hedberg meeting on lacustrine sedimentation, Baku

---

Prizes & Awards

2004 — AAPG Jules Braunstein Award

---

Recent and Current Grants

2011 – 2014 — ‘Orogenic Plateau Magmatism’ NERC Standard Grant NE/H021620/1 PI, Co-Is: Davidson, J.P., and Van Hunen, J.

---

• Eurasian orogenic belts and sedimentary basins, notably the interactions of deformation, climate and sedimentation in tectonically active regions such as the Caspian and the Zagros mountains.

• 2018: Invited speaker, Caltech:
• 2017: Editor, Solid Earth:
• 2016: Degree programme External Examiner, University of Oxford:
• 2014: Member of NERC peer review college:
• 2014: Editor-in-Chief, Geological Magazine:
• 2013: Degree programme External Examiner, University of Cambridge:
• 2013: Co-ordinator, Convergent Tectonic settings sessions, EGU:
• 2011: Smith Lecturer, University of Michigan:
• 2006: UK national correspondent for ICGP Project 480 “Tectonics of Central Asia”:
• 2005: Editorial board member, Tectonophysics, from Dec 2005:
• 2004: Keynote speaker: AAPG Hedberg meeting on lacustrine sedimentation, Baku, 2004:
• 2004: AAPG Jules Braunstein Award:
• 2003: Editor of Geological Magazine since February 2003:
• 2001: Geological Society Petroleum Group committee member:

Chapter in book

• Kroonenberg, S., Simmons, M., Alekseevski, N., Aliyeva, E., Allen, M., Aybulatov, D., …Svitoch, A. Two deltas, two basins, one river, one sea: the modern Volga delta as an analogue of the Neogene Productive Series, South Caspian Basin. In SEPM memoir on deltaic sedimentation
• Allen, M., Walker, R., Jackson, J., Blanc, E., Talebian, M., & Ghassemi, M. Contrasting styles of convergence in the Arabia-Eurasia collision: Why escape tectonics does not occur in Iran. In Y. Dilek, & S. Pavlides (Eds.), Postcollisional tectonics and magmatism in the Mediterranean region and Asia: GSA Special Paper 409 (579-589). Geological Society of America. https://doi.org/10.1130/2006.2409%2826%29
• Hinds, D., Simmons, M., Allen, M., & Aliyeva, E. Architecture variability within the Pereriva and Balakhany suites of the Neogene Productive Series, Azerbaijan: implications for reservoir quality. In P. Yilmaz, & G. Isaksen (Eds.), AAPG Studies in Geology 55: Oil and Gas of the Greater Caspian area. AAPG
• Allen, M. B. (2021). Arabia-Eurasia Collision. In Encyclopedia of Geology. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-409548-9.12522-9
• Jotheri, J., & Allen, M. B. (2020). Recognition of Ancient Channels and Archaeological Sites in the Mesopotamian Floodplain Using Satellite Imagery and Digital Topography. In D. Lawrence, M. Altaweel, & G. Philip (Eds.), New agendas in remote sensing and landscape archaeology in the Near East : studies in honour of Tony J. Wilkinson (283-305). Archaeopress
• Allen, M. (2010). Roles of strike-slip faults during continental deformation: examples from the active Arabia–Eurasia collision. In T. Kusky, M. Zhai, & W. Xiao (Eds.), The evolving continents : understanding processes of continental growth (329-344). The Geological Society. https://doi.org/10.1144/sp338.15
• Allen, M., Macdonald, D., Xun, Z., Vincent, S., & Brouet-Menzies, C. (1998). Transtensional deformation in the evolution of the Bohai Basin, northern China. In Continental Transpressional and Transtensional Tectonics (215-229). Spec. Rep. of the Geol. Soc

Journal Article

• Qiao, J., Zhou, C., Dong, J., Allen, M. B., Yang, L., Su, L., & Song, S. (2023). Syn- and post-collisional potassic to ultrapotassic alkaline and subalkaline volcanic rocks: Heterogeneous mantle metasomatism beneath the North Qaidam orogenic belt. Lithos, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2023.107081
• Feng, D., Wang, C., Song, S., Xiong, L., Zhang, G., Allen, M. B., …Su, L. (2023). Tracing tectonic processes from Proto- to Paleo-Tethys in the East Kunlun Orogen by detrital zircons. Gondwana Research, 115, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2022.11.003
• Xiong, L., Song, S., Su, L., Zhang, G., Allen, M. B., Feng, D., & Yang, S. (2023). Detrital zircons from high-pressure trench sediments (Qilian Orogen): Constraints on continental-arc accretion, subduction initiation and polarity of the Proto-Tethys Ocean. Gondwana Research, 113, 194-209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2022.11.005
• Allen, M. B., Song, S., Wang, C., Zeng, R., & Wen, T. (2023). An oblique subduction model for closure of the Proto-Tethys and Palaeo-Tethys oceans and creation of the Central China Orogenic Belt. Earth-Science Reviews, 240, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2023.104385
• Wen, T., Song, S., Wang, C., Allen, M. B., Dong, J., Feng, D., & Su, L. (2022). IBM-type forearc magmatism in the Qilian Orogen records evolution from a continental to an intra-oceanic arc system in the Proto-Tethyan Ocean. Gondwana Research, 110, 197-213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2022.06.016
• Zeng, R., Allen, M. B., Mao, X., Lai, J., Yan, J., & Wan, J. (2022). Whole-rock and zircon evidence for evolution of the Late Jurassic high-Sr ∕ Y Zhoujiapuzi granite, Liaodong Peninsula, North China Craton. Solid Earth, 13(8), 1259 - 1280. https://doi.org/10.5194/se-13-1259-2022
• Xu, Y., Liu‐Zeng, J., Allen, M. B., Du, P., Zhang, W., Li, W., & Tian, Q. (2022). Understanding historical earthquakes by mapping coseismic landslides in the Loess Plateau, northwest China. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 47(9), 2266-2282. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.5375
• Nouri, F., Davoudian, A. R., Shabanian, N., Allen, M. B., Asahara, Y., Azizi, H., …Tsuboi, M. (2022). Tectonic transition from Ediacaran continental arc to early Cambrian rift in the NE Ardakan region, central Iran: Constraints from geochronology and geochemistry of magmatic rocks. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 224, Article 105011. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2021.105011
• Wang, C., Song, S., Su, L., & Allen, M. B. (2022). Crustal maturation and cratonization in response to Neoarchean continental collision: The Suizhong granitic belt, North China Craton. Precambrian Research, 377, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2022.106732
• Su, L., Song, S., Wang, C., Allen, M. B., & Zhang, H. (2022). Picrite-basalt complex in the Baoshan-Gongshan Block of northern Sibumasu: Onset of a mantle plume before breakup of Gondwana and opening of the Neo-Tethys Ocean. GSA Bulletin, 134(5-6), 1091-1108. https://doi.org/10.1130/b36028.1
• Hou, Y., Shao, L., Cui, Y., Allen, M. B., Zhu, W., Qiao, P., …Goh, T. (2022). Sediment features and provenance analysis of the late Mesozoic–early Cenozoic strata of the Ryukyu Islands: Implications for palaeogeography of East China Sea. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 145, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2022.105840
• Li, Y., Allen, M. B., & Li, X. (2022). Millennial pulses of ore formation and an extra-high Tibetan Plateau. Geology, 50(6), 665-669. https://doi.org/10.1130/g49911.1
• Qiao, J., Dong, J., Song, S., Wang, C., Allen, M. B., & Su, L. (2022). Melting of mafic slab and mantle peridotite during ridge subduction of the Proto-Tethys Ocean (Qilian Orogen, NW China). Lithos, 410-411, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2021.106588
• Wang, C., Song, S., Allen, M. B., Su, L., Zhao, G., & Gao, T. (2022). Late Paleoproterozoic magmatism in North Hengshan: Final collapse of the Trans-North China Orogen. Precambrian Research, 374, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2022.106655
• Zhang, F., Dellinger, M., Hilton, R. G., Yu, J., Allen, M. B., Densmore, A. L., …Jin, Z. (2022). Hydrological control of river and seawater lithium isotopes. Nature Communications, 13(1), Article 3359. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31076-y
• Song, S., Ye, S., Allen, M. B., Niu, Y., Sun, W., & Zhang, L. (2022). Oxidation of arcs and mantle wedges by reduction of manganese in pelagic sediments during seafloor subduction. American Mineralogist, 107(10), https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2022-8171
• Wen, T., Song, S., Xu, C., Zhang, G., Allen, M. B., Su, L., & Wang, C. (2022). Carbonatitic pockets in intra-ocean arc volcanics (Qilian orogen): Petrogenesis and implications for carbon recycling in subduction zones. Chemical Geology, 606, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2022.120981
• Bewick, S., Parkinson, I. J., Harris, N., Adamia, S., Sadradze, N., Allen, M. B., & Hammond, S. (2022). Quaternary Collision-Zone Magmatism of the Greater Caucasus. Journal of Petrology, 63(5), https://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/egac037
• Schliffke, N., van Hunen, J., Allen, M. B., Magni, V., & Gueydan, F. (2022). Episodic back-arc spreading centre jumps controlled by transform fault to overriding plate strength ratio. Nature Communications, 13(1), Article 582. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28228-5
• Wang, C., Song, S., Zhao, G., Allen, M. B., Su, L., Gao, T., …Feng, D. (2022). Calc-Alkaline Plutons in a Proto-Tethyan Intra-Oceanic Arc (Qilian Orogen, NW China): Implications for the Construction of Arc Crust. Journal of Petrology, 64(2), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/egac131
• Wu, Z., Wang, C., Song, S., Allen, M. B., Kusky, T., & Su, L. (2022). Ultrahigh-pressure peridotites record Neoarchean collisional tectonics. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 596, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117787
• Chu, Y., Allen, M. B., Wan, B., Chen, L., Lin, W., Talebian, M., …Feng, Z. (2021). Tectonic exhumation across the Talesh-Alborz Belt, Iran, and its implication to the Arabia-Eurasia convergence. Earth-Science Reviews, 221, Article 103776. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103776
• Chu, Y., Wan, B., Allen, M. B., Chen, L., Lin, W., Talebian, M., & Xin, G. (2021). Detrital Zircon Age Constraints on the Evolution of Paleo‐Tethys in NE Iran: Implications for Subduction and Collision Tectonics. Tectonics, 40(8), Article e2020TC006680. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020tc006680
• Wang, C., Song, S., Su, L., Allen, M. B., & Dong, J. (2021). Lithospheric modification at the onset of the destruction of the North China Craton: Evidence from Late Triassic mafic dykes. Chemical Geology, 566, Article 120105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2021.120105
• Farangitakis, G., McCaffrey, K., Willingshofer, E., Allen, M., Kalnins, L., van Hunen, J., …Sokoutis, D. (2021). The structural evolution of pull-apart basins in response to changes in plate motion. Basin Research, 33(2), 1603-1625. https://doi.org/10.1111/bre.12528
• Xu, Y., Liu-Zeng, J., Allen, M. B., Zhang, W., & Du, P. (2021). Landslides of the 1920 Haiyuan earthquake, northern China. Landslides, 18, 935-953. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-020-01512-5
• Franzel, M., Jones, S. J., Meadows, N., Allen, M. B., McCaffrey, K., & Morgan, T. (2021). Basin-scale fluvial correlation and response to the Tethyan marine transgression: an example from the Triassic of central Spain. Basin Research, 33(1), 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1111/bre.12451
• Nouri, F., Reza Davoudian, A., Allen, M. B., Azizi, H., Asahara, Y., Anma, R., …Khodami, M. (2021). Early Cambrian highly fractionated granite, Central Iran: Evidence for drifting of northern Gondwana and the evolution of the Proto-Tethys Ocean. Precambrian Research, 362, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2021.106291
• Zhou, C., Song, S., Allen, M. B., Wang, C., Su, L., & Wang, M. (2021). Post-collisional mafic magmatism: Insights into orogenic collapse and mantle modification from North Qaidam collisional belt, NW China. Lithos, 398-399, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2021.106311
• Schliffke, N., van Hunen, J., Gueydan, F., Magni, V., & Allen, M. B. (2021). Curved orogenic belts, back-arc basins, and obduction as consequences of collision at irregular continental margins. Geology, 49(12), 1436-1440. https://doi.org/10.1130/g48919.1
• Dong, J., Song, S., Su, L., Allen, M. B., Li, Y., & Wang, C. (2020). Early Devonian mafic igneous rocks in the East Kunlun Orogen, NW China: Implications for the transition from the Proto- to Paleo-Tethys oceans. Lithos, 376-377, Article 105771. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2020.105771
• Chu, Y., Lin, W., Faure, M., Allen, M. B., & Feng, Z. (2020). Cretaceous exhumation of the Triassic intracontinental Xuefengshan Belt: Delayed unroofing of an orogenic plateau across the South China Block?. Tectonophysics, 793, Article 228592. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2020.228592
• Groves, K., Saville, C., Hurst, M. D., Jones, S. J., Song, S., & Allen, M. B. (2020). Geomorphic expressions of collisional tectonics in the Qilian Shan, north eastern Tibetan Plateau. Tectonophysics, 788, Article 228503. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2020.228503
• Kheirkhah, M., Neill, I., Allen, M. B., Emami, M. H., & Ghadimid, A. S. (2020). Distinct sources 1 for high-K and adakitic magmatism in SE Iran. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 196, Article 104355. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2020.104355
• Edey, A., Allen, M., & Nilfouroushan, F. (2020). Kinematic Variation Within the Fars Arc, Eastern Zagros, and the Development of Fold‐and‐Thrust Belt Curvature. Tectonics, 39(8), Article e2019TC005941. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019tc005941
• Xu, Y., Allen, M. B., Zhang, W., Li, W., & He, H. (2020). Landslide characteristics in the Loess Plateau, northern China. Geomorphology, 359, Article 107150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2020.107150
• Law, R., & Allen, M. B. (2020). Diachronous Tibetan Plateau landscape evolution derived from lava field geomorphology. Geology, 48(3), 263-267. https://doi.org/10.1130/g47196.1
• Song, Y., Su, L., Dong, J., Song, S., Allen, M. B., Wang, C., & Hu, X. (2020). Detrital zircons from Late Paleozoic to Triassic sedimentary rocks of the Gongshan-Baoshan Block, SE Tibet: Implications for episodic crustal growth of Eastern Gondwana. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 188, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2019.104106
• Yang, S., Su, L., Song, S., Allen, M. B., Feng, D., Wang, M., …Zhang, H. (2020). Melting of subducted continental crust during collision and exhumation: Insights from granitic rocks from the North Qaidam UHP metamorphic belt, NW China. Lithos, 378-379, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2020.105794
• Schliffke, N., Hunen, J., Magni, V., & Allen, M. B. (2019). The Role of Crustal Buoyancy in the Generation and Emplacement of Magmatism During Continental Collision. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 20(11), 4693-4709. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019gc008590
• Obaid, A. K., & Allen, M. B. (2019). Landscape expressions of tectonics in the Zagros fold-and-thrust belt. Tectonophysics, 766, 20-30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2019.05.024
• Wang, C., Song, S., Wei, C., Su, L., Allen, M. B., Niu, Y., …Dong, J. (2019). Palaeoarchaean deep mantle heterogeneity recorded by enriched plume remnants. Nature Geoscience, 12(8), 672-678. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0410-y
• Bi, H., Song, S., Yang, L., Allen, M. B., Qi, S., & Su, L. (2019). UHP metamorphism recorded by coesite-bearing metapelite in the East Kunlun Orogen (NW China). Geological Magazine, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0016756819000529
• Yang, L., Su, L., Song, S., Allen, M. B., Bi, H., Feng, D., …Li, Y. (2019). Interaction between oceanic slab and metasomatized mantle wedge: Constraints from sodic lavas from the Qilian Orogen, NW China. Lithos, 348-349, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2019.105182
• Wang, C., Song, S., Allen, M. B., Su, L., & Wei, C. (2019). High-pressure granulite from Jixian, Eastern Hebei, the North China Craton: implications for Neoarchean to early Paleoproterozoic collision tectonics. Geological Society Special Publications, 478(1), 427-448. https://doi.org/10.1144/sp478.16
• Yang, L., Song, S., Su, L., Allen, M., Niu, Y., Zhang, G., & Zhang, Y. (2019). Heterogeneous oceanic arc volcanic rocks in the South Qilian Accretionary Belt (Qilian Orogen, NW China). Journal of Petrology, 60(1), 85-116. https://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/egy107
• Yang, L., Song, S., Allen, M. B., Su, L., Dong, J., & Wang, C. (2018). Oceanic accretionary belt in the West Qinling Orogen: Links between the Qinling and Qilian orogens, China. Gondwana Research, 64, 137-162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2018.06.009
• Song, S., Bi, H., Qi, S., Yang, L., Allen, M. B., Niu, Y., …Li, W. (2018). HP-UHP metamorphic belt in the East Kunlun Orogen: final closure of the Proto-Tethys Ocean and formation of the Pan-North-China Continent. Journal of Petrology, 59(11), 2043-2060. https://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/egy089
• Dong, J., Song, S., Wang, M., Allen, M. B., Su, L., Wang, C., …Xu, B. (2018). Alaskan-type Kedanshan intrusion (central Inner Mongolia, China): Superimposed subduction between the Mongol-Okhotsk and Paleo-Pacific oceans in the Jurassic. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 167, 68-81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2017.11.010
• Xu, Y., He, H., Deng, Q., Allen, M., Sun, H., & Bi, L. (2018). The CE 1303 Hongdong earthquake and the Huoshan Piedmont Fault, Shanxi Graben: Implications for magnitude limits of normal fault earthquakes. Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth, 123(4), 3098-3121. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017jb014928
• Viete, D., Hacker, B., Allen, M., Seward, G., Tobin, M., Kelley, C., …Duckworth, A. (2018). Metamorphic records of multiple seismic cycles during subduction. Science Advances, 4(3), Article eaaq0234. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaq0234
• Scott, E., Allen, M., Macpherson, C., McCaffrey, K., Davidson, J., Saville, C., & Ducea, M. (2018). Andean surface uplift constrained by radiogenic isotopes of arc lavas. Nature Communications, 9, Article 969. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03173-4
• Wang, C., Song, S., Niu, Y., Allen, M. B., Su, L., Wei, C., …Fu, B. (2017). Long-lived melting of ancient lower crust of the North China Craton in response to paleo-Pacific plate subduction, recorded by adakitic rhyolite. Lithos, 292-293, 437-451. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2017.09.031
• Allen, M., Walters, R., Song, S., Saville, C., De Paola, N., Ford, J., …Sun, W. (2017). Partitioning of oblique convergence coupled to the fault locking behavior of fold-and-thrust belts: evidence from the Qilian Shan, northeastern Tibetan Plateau. Tectonics, 36(9), 1679-1698. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017tc004476
• Liu, R., Allen, M., Zhang, Q., Du, W., Cheng, X., Holdsworth, R., & Guo, Z. (2017). Basement controls on deformation during oblique convergence: Transpressive structures in the western Qaidam Basin, northern Tibetan Plateau. Lithosphere, 9(4), 583-594. https://doi.org/10.1130/l634.1
• Magni, V., Allen, M., van Hunen, J., & Bouilhol, P. (2017). Continental underplating after slab break-off. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 474, 59-67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.06.017
• Zhang, Y., Song, S., Yang, L., Su, L., Niu, Y., Allen, M., & Xu, X. (2017). Basalts and picrites from a plume-type ophiolite in the South Qilian Accretionary Belt, Qilian Orogen: Accretion of a Cambrian Oceanic Plateau?. Lithos, 278-281, 97-110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2017.01.027
• Obaid, A. K., & Allen, M. B. (2017). Landscape maturity, fold growth sequence and structural style in the Kirkuk Embayment of the Zagros, northern Iraq. Tectonophysics, 717, 27-40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2017.07.006
• Garzanti, E., Al-Juboury, A., Zoleikhaei, Y., Vermeesch, P., Jotheri, J., Akkoca, B., …Vezzoli, G. (2016). The Euphrates-Tigris-Karun river system: Provenance, recycling and dispersal of quartz-poor foreland-basin sediments in arid climate. Earth-Science Reviews, 162, 107-128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2016.09.009
• Xu, X., Song, S., Allen, M., Ernst, R., Niu, Y., & Su, L. (2016). An 850–820 Ma LIP dismembered during breakup of the Rodinia supercontinent and destroyed by Early Paleozoic continental subduction in the northern Tibetan Plateau, NW China. Precambrian Research, 282, 52-73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2016.07.007
• Jotheri, J., Allen, M., & Wilkinson, T. (2016). Holocene avulsions of the Euphrates River in the Najaf area of western Mesopotamia: Impacts on human settlement patterns. Geoarchaeology, 31(3), 175-193. https://doi.org/10.1002/gea.21548
• Song, S., Wang, M., Xu, X., Wang, C., Niu, Y., Allen, M., & Su, L. (2015). Ophiolites in the Xing’an-Inner Mongolia accretionary belt of the CAOB: Implications for two cycles of seafloor spreading and accretionary orogenic events. Tectonics, 34(10), 2221-2248. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015tc003948
• Kheirkhah, M., Neill, I., & Allen, M. (2015). Petrogenesis of OIB-like basaltic volcanic rocks in a continental collision zone: Late Cenozoic magmatism of Eastern Iran. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 106, 19-33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2015.02.027
• Neill, I., Meliksetian, K., Allen, M., Navasardyan, G., & Kuiper, K. (2015). Petrogenesis of mafic collision zone magmatism: the Armenian sector of the Turkish-Iranian Plateau. Chemical Geology, 403, 24-41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2015.03.013
• Xu, X., Song, S., Su, L., Li, Z., Niu, Y., & Allen, M. (2015). The 600–580 Ma continental rift basalts in North Qilian Shan, northwest China: Links between the Qilian-Qaidam block and SE Australia, and the reconstruction of East Gondwana. Precambrian Research, 257, 47-46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2014.11.017
• Holt, P., Allen, M., & van Hunen, J. (2015). Basin formation by thermal subsidence of accretionary orogens. Tectonophysics, 639, 132-143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2014.11.021
• Bottrill, A., van Hunen, J., Cuthbert, S., Brueckner, H., & Allen, M. (2014). Plate rotation during continental collision and its relationship with the exhumation of UHP metamorphic terranes: Application to the Norwegian Caledonides. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 15(5), 1766-1782. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014gc005253
• Jones, S., Arzani, N., & Allen, M. (2014). Tectonic and climatic controls on fan systems: The Kohrud mountain belt, Central Iran. Sedimentary Geology, 302, 29-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2013.12.008
• Wang, H., van Hunen, J., Pearson, D., & Allen, M. (2014). Craton stability and longevity: The roles of composition-dependent rheology and buoyancy. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 391, 224-233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2014.01.038
• Kaislaniemi, L., van Hunen, J., Allen, M., & Neill, I. (2014). Sub-lithospheric small-scale convection—a mechanism for collision zone magmatism. Geology, 42(4), 291-294. https://doi.org/10.1130/g35193.1
• Neill, I., Meliksetian, K., Allen, M., Navasardyan, G., & Karapetyan, S. (2013). Pliocene-Quaternary volcanic rocks of NW Armenia: Magmatism and lithospheric dynamics within an active orogenic plateau. Lithos, 180-181, 200-215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2013.05.005
• Kheirkhah, M., Neill, I., Allen, M., & Ajdari, K. (2013). Small-volume melts of lithospheric mantle during continental collision: late Cenozoic lavas of Mahabad, NW Iran. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 74, 37-49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2013.06.002
• Allen, M., Kheirkhah, M., Neill, I., Emami, M., & Mcleod, C. (2013). Generation of arc and within-plate chemical signatures in collision zone magmatism: Quaternary lavas from Kurdistan province, Iran. Journal of Petrology, 54(5), 887-911. https://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/egs090
• Allen, M., Saville, C., Blanc, E., Talebian, M., & Nissen, E. (2013). Orogenic plateau growth: expansion of the Turkish-Iranian Plateau across the Zagros fold-and-thrust belt. Tectonics, 32(2), 171-190. https://doi.org/10.1002/tect.20025
• Xiao, W., Windley, B., Allen, M., & Han, C. (2013). Paleozoic multiple accretionary and collisional tectonics of the Chinese Tianshan orogenic collage. Gondwana Research, 23(4), 1316-1341. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2012.01.012
• Bottrill, A. D., van Hunen, J., & Allen, M. B. (2012). Insight into collision zone dynamics from topography: numerical modelling results and observations. Solid Earth, 3(2), 387-399. https://doi.org/10.5194/se-3-387-2012
• Holt, P., van Hunen, J., & Allen, M. (2012). Subsidence of the West Siberian Basin: Effects of a mantle plume impact. Geology, 40(8), 703-706. https://doi.org/10.1130/g32885.1
• Rezaeian, M., Carter, A., Hovius, N., & Allen, M. (2012). Cenozoic exhumation history of the Alborz Mountains, Iran: New constraints from low-temperature chronometry. Tectonics, 31(2), Article TC2004. https://doi.org/10.1029/2011tc002974
• Walker, F., & Allen, M. (2012). Offset rivers, drainage spacing and the record of strike-slip faulting: The Kuh Banan Fault, Iran. Tectonophysics, 530-531, 251-263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2012.01.001
• Allen, M., & Armstrong, H. (2012). Reconciling the Intertropical Convergence Zone, Himalayan/Tibetan tectonics, and the onset of the Asian monsoon system. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 44, 36-47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2011.04.018
• Allen, M., & Talebian, M. (2011). Structural variation along the Zagros and the nature of the Dezful Embayment. Geological Magazine, 148(5-6), 911-924. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0016756811000318
• Nissen, E., Tatar, M., Jackson, J., & Allen, M. (2011). New views on earthquake faulting in the Zagros fold-and-thrust belt of Iran. Geophysical Journal International, 186(3), 928-944. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-246x.2011.05119.x
• Allen, M., Mark, D., Kheirkhah, M., Barfod, D., Emami, M., & Saville, C. (2011). 40Ar/39Ar dating of Quaternary lavas in northwest Iran: constraints on the landscape evolution and incision rates of the Turkish-Iranian plateau. Geophysical Journal International, 185(3), 1173-1185. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-246x.2011.05022.x
• van Hunen, J., & Allen, M. (2011). Continental collision and slab break-off: a comparison of 3-D numerical models with observations. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 302(1-2), 27-37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2010.11.035
• Allen, M., Kheirkhah, M., Emami, M., & Jones, S. (2011). Right-lateral shear across Iran and kinematic change in the Arabia–Eurasia collision zone. Geophysical Journal International, 184(2), 555-574. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-246x.2010.04874.x
• Armstrong, H., & Allen, M. (2011). Shifts in the Intertropical Convergence Zone, Himalayan exhumation, and late Cenozoic climate. Geology, 39(1), 11-14. https://doi.org/10.1130/g31005.1
• Richardson, S. D. R., Allen, M., & Grant, S. (2011). Structure and Evolution of Mass Transport Deposits in the South Caspian Basin, Azerbaijan, Basin Research. Basin Research, 23(6), https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2117.2011.00508.x
• Holt, P., Allen, M., van Hunen, J., & Bjørnseth, H. (2010). Lithospheric cooling and thickening as a basin forming mechanism. Tectonophysics, 495(3-4), 184-194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2010.09.014
• Davies, C., Allen, M., Buslov, M., & Safonova, I. (2010). Deposition in the Kuznetsk Basin, Siberia: Insights into the Permian–Triassic transition and the Mesozoic evolution of Central Asia. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 295(1-2), 307-322. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.06.008
• Walker, R., Gans, P., Allen, M., Jackson, J., Khatib, M., Marsh, N., & Zarrinkoub, M. (2009). Late Cenozoic volcanism and rates of active faulting in eastern Iran. Geophysical Journal International, 177(2), 783-805. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-246x.2008.04024.x
• Kheirkhah, M., Allen, M., & Emami, M. (2009). Quaternary syn-collision magmatism from the Iran/Turkey borderlands. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 182(1-2), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2009.01.026
• Allen, M. (2009). Discussion on the Eocene bimodal Piranshahr massif of the Sanadaj-Sirjan Zone, West Iran: a marker of the end of collision in the Zagros orogen. Journal of the Geological Society, 166, 981-982
• Reichow, M., Pringle, M., Al'Mukhamedov, A., Allen, M., Andreichev, V., Buslov, M., …Saunders, A. (2009). The timing and extent of the eruption of the Siberian Traps large igneous province: Implications for the end-Permian environmental crisis. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 277, 9-20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2008.09.030
• Allen, M., & Armstrong, H. (2008). Arabia-Eurasia collision and the forcing of mid-Cenozoic global cooling. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 265(1-2), 52-58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2008.04.021
• Whitehouse, P., Allen, M., & Milne, G. (2007). Glacial isostatic adjustment as a control on coastal processes: An example from the Siberian Arctic. Geology, 35(8), 747-750. https://doi.org/10.1130/g23437a.1
• Allen, M. B., & Davies, C. E. (2007). Unstable Asia: active deformation of Siberia revealed by drainage shifts. Basin Research, 19(3), 379-392. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2117.2007.00331.x
• Allen, M., Anderson, L., Searle, R., & Buslov, M. (2006). Oblique rift geometry of the West Siberian Basin: tectonic setting for the Siberian flood basalts. Journal of the Geological Society, 163(6), 901-904. https://doi.org/10.1144/0016-76492006-096
• Allen, M., Morton, A., Fanning, C., Ismail-Zadeh, A., & Kroonenberg, S. (2006). Zircon age constraints on sediment provenance in the Caspian region. Journal of the Geological Society, 163, 647-655
• Vincent, S., Allen, M., Ismail-Zadeh, A., Flecker, R., Foland, K., & Simmons, M. (2005). Insights from the Talysh of Azerbaijan into the Paleogene evolution of the South Caspian region. GSA Bulletin, 117, 1513-1533. https://doi.org/10.1130/b25690.1
• Allen, M., Jackson, J., & Walker, R. (2004). Late Cenozoic reorganization of the Arabia-Eurasia collision and the comparison of short-term and long-term deformation rates. Tectonics, 23(2), https://doi.org/10.1029/2003tc001530
• Hinds, D., Aliyeva, E., Allen, M., Davies, C., Kroonenberg, S., Simmons, M., & Vincent, S. (2004). Sedimentation in a discharge dominated fluvial-lacustrine system: the Neogene Productive Series of the South Caspian Basin, Azerbaijan. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 21, 613-638
• Allen, M., Ghassemi, M., Shahrabi, M., & Qorashi, M. (2003). Accommodation of late Cenozoic oblique shortening in the Alborz range, northern Iran. Journal of Structural Geology, 25(5), 659-672. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0191-8141%2802%2900064-0
• Allen, M., Vincent, S., Alsop, G., Ismail-zadeh, A., & Flecker, R. (2003). Late Cenozoic deformation in the South Caspian region: effects of a rigid basement block within a collision zone. Tectonophysics, 366, 223-239
• Blanc, E., Allen, M., Inger, S., & Hassani, H. (2003). Structural styles in the Zagros Simple Folded Zone, Iran. Journal of the Geological Society, 160(3), 401-412. https://doi.org/10.1144/0016-764902-110
• Morton, A., Allen, M., Simmons, M., Spathopoulos, F., Still, J., Hinds, D., …Kroonenberg, S. (2003). Provenance patterns in a neotectonic basin: Pliocene and Quaternary sediment supply to the South Caspian. Basin Research, 15, 321-337. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2117.2003.00208.x
• Allen, M., Jones, S., Ismail-Zadeh, A., Simmons, M., & Anderson, L. (2002). Onset of subduction as the cause of rapid Pliocene-Quaternary subsidence in the South Caspian Basin. Geology, 30(9), 775-778. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613%282002%29030%3C0775%3Aoosatc%3E2.0.co%3B2
• Jackson, J., Priestley, K., Allen, M., & Berberian, M. (2002). Active tectonics of the South Caspian Basin. Geophysical Journal International, 148, 214-245
• Vincent, S., & Allen, M. (2001). Sedimentary record of Mesozoic intracontinental deformation in the eastern Junggar Basin, northwest China: Response to orogeny at the Asian margin. https://doi.org/10.1130/0-8137-1194-0.341
• Allen, M., Alsop, G., & Zhemchuzhnikov, V. (2001). Dome and basin refolding and transpressive inversion along the Karatau Fault System, southern Kazakstan. Journal of the Geological Society, 158, 83-95
• Metcalfe, I., & Allen, M. (2000). Preface to Suture zones of East and Southeast Asia
• Vincent, S., & Allen, M. (1999). Sedimentary and structural evolution of the Minle and Chaoshui basins, Hexi Corridor and Alashan, northern China: implications for Mesozoic strike-slip basin evolution in Central Asia. GSA Bulletin, 111, 725-742. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606%281999%29111%3C0725%3Aeotmac%3E2.3.co%3B2
• Allen, M., & Vincent, S. (1999). Discussion of: Structural features of North Tarim Basin: Implications for regional tectonics and petroleum traps
• Allen, M., Vincent, S., & Wheeler, P. (1999). Late Cenozoic tectonics of the Kepingtage thrust zone: Interactions of the Tien Shan and Tarim Basin, northwest China. Tectonics, 18, 639-654
• Allen, M., Macdonald, D., Vincent, S., Brouet-Menzies, C., & Xun, Z. (1997). Early Cenozoic two-phase extension and Late Cenozoic thermal subsidence and inversion of the Bohai Basin, northern China. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 14, 951-972
• Allen, M., & Vincent, S. (1997). Fault reactivation in the Junggar region, northwest China: the role of basement structures during Mesozoic-Cenozoic compression. Journal of the Geological Society, 154, 151-155
• Xun, Z., Allen, M., Whitham, A., & Price, S. (1996). Rift-related Devonian sedimentation and basin development in South China. Journal of Southeast Asian earth sciences, 14, 37-52. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0743-9547%2896%2900020-7
• Allen, M., Sengör, A., & Natal’in, B. (1995). Junggar, Turfan and Alakol basins as Late Permian to ?Early Triassic structures in a sinistral shear zone in the Altaid orogenic collage, Central Asia. Journal of the Geological Society, 152, 327-338
• Allen, M., Windley, B., & Zhang, C. (1994). Cenozoic tectonics in the Urumqi-Korla region of the Chinese Tien Shan
• Windley, B., & Allen, M. (1993). Mongolian plateau: Evidence for a late Cenozoic mantle plume under central Asia. Geology, 21, 295-298. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613%281993%29021%3C0295%3Ampefal%3E2.3.co%3B2
• Zhang, C., Zhao, M., Allen, M., Saunders, A., Wang, G., & Huang, X. (1993). Implications of Palaeozoic ophiolites from Western Junggar, NW China, for the tectonics of Central Asia. Journal of the Geological Society, 150, 551-561
• Allen, M., Windley, B., Zhang, C., & Guo, J. (1993). Evolution of the Turfan Basin, Chinese Central Asia. Tectonics, 12, 889-896
• Allen, M., Windley, B., & Zhang, C. (1993). Palaeozoic collisional tectonics and magmatism of the Chinese Tien Shan, central Asia. Tectonophysics, 220, 89-155
• Allen, M., Windley, B., & Zhang, C. (1991). Active alluvial systems in the Korla Basin, Tien Shan, northwest China: sedimentation in a complex foreland basin. Geological Magazine, 128, 661-666
• Allen, M., Windley, B., Zhang, C., Zhao, Z., & Wang, G. (1991). Basin evolution within and adjacent to the Tien Shan Range, NW China. Journal of the Geological Society, 148, 369-378
• Windley, B., Allen, M., Zhang, C., Zhao, Z., & Wang, G. (1990). Paleozoic accretion and Cenozoic redeformation of the Chinese Tien Shan range, central Asia. Geology, 18, 128-131. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613%281990%29018%3C0128%3Apaacro%3E2.3.co%3B2
• Allen, M., Zhang, C., Zhai, M., Saunders, A., & Moon, C. (1989). Crustal accretion and mineralisation in western Junggar, Xinjiang Province, northwest China