| Tectonic overview of the Cordilleran orogen in the western United States BC Burchfiel, DS Cowan, GA Davis | 657 | 1992 |
| Structural styles in Mesozoic and Cenozoic mélanges in the western Cordillera of North America DS Cowan Geological Society of America Bulletin 96 (4), 451-462, 1985 | 557 | 1985 |
| Early Mesozoic tectonic evolution of the western Sierra Nevada, California RA Schweickert, DS Cowan Geological Society of America Bulletin 86 (10), 1329-1336, 1975 | 321 | 1975 |
| Do faults preserve a record of seismic slip? A field geologist's opinion DS Cowan Journal of Structural Geology 21 (8-9), 995-1001, 1999 | 297 | 1999 |
| Early Mesozoic tectonic evolution of the western US Cordillera JB Saleeby, C Busby-Spera, JS Oldow, GC Dunne, JE Wright, DS Cowan, ... | 295 | 1992 |
| Geological tests of hypotheses for large coastwise displacements; a critique illustrated by the Baja British Columbia controversy DS Cowan, MT Brandon, JI Garver American Journal of Science 297 (2), 117-173, 1997 | 268 | 1997 |
| Deformation and metamorphism of the Franciscan subduction zone complex northwest of Pacheco Pass, California DS Cowan Geological Society of America Bulletin 85 (10), 1623-1634, 1974 | 234 | 1974 |
| A dynamic, scaled model of accretion at trenches and its implications for the tectonic evolution of subduction complexes DS Cowan, RM Silling Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 83 (B11), 5389-5396, 1978 | 219 | 1978 |
| The Late Cretaceous San Juan thrust system, San Juan Islands, Washington MT Brandon Geological Society of America, 1988 | 205 | 1988 |
| Regionally extensive mid-Cretaceous west-vergent thrust system in the northwestern Cordillera: Implications for continent-margin tectonism CM Rubin, JB Saleeby, DS Cowan, MT Brandon, MF McGroder Geology 18 (3), 276-280, 1990 | 193 | 1990 |
| (U-Th)/(He-Pb) double dating of detrital zircons PW Reiners, IH Campbell, S Nicolescu, CM Allen, JK Hourigan, JI Garver, ... American Journal of Science 305 (4), 259-311, 2005 | 179 | 2005 |
| Provenance of Franciscan graywackes in coastal California WR Dickinson, RV Ingersoll, DS Cowan, KP Helmold, CA Suczek Geological Society of America Bulletin 93 (2), 95-107, 1982 | 161 | 1982 |
| Offscraping and underthrusting of sediment at the deformation front of the Barbados Ridge: Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 78A JC Moore, B Biju-Duval, JA Bergen, G Blackington, GE Claypool, ... Geological Society of America Bulletin 93 (11), 1065-1077, 1982 | 160 | 1982 |
| Origin of blueschist-bearing chaotic rocks in the Franciscan Complex, San Simeon, California DS Cowan Geological Society of America Bulletin 89 (9), 1415-1423, 1978 | 153 | 1978 |
| Eocene to present subduction of southern Adria mantle lithosphere beneath the Dinarides RA Bennett, S Hreinsdóttir, G Buble, T Bašić, Z Bačić, M Marjanović, ... Geology 36 (1), 3-6, 2008 | 127 | 2008 |
| Deformation of partly dewatered and consolidated Franciscan sediments near Piedras Blancas Point, California DS Cowan Geological Society, London, Special Publications 10 (1), 439-457, 1982 | 125 | 1982 |
| Scaly fabrics from Deep Sea Drilling Project cores from forearcs JC Moore, S Roeske, DS Cowan, N Lundberg, E Gonzales, ... Geological Society of America Memoirs 166, 55-74, 1986 | 120 | 1986 |
| Late Jurassic to early Late Cretaceous geology of the US Cordillera DS Cowan, RL Bruhn | 106 | 1992 |
| A symmetry-based method for kinematic analysis of large-slip brittle fault zones DS Cowan, MT Brandon American Journal of Science 294 (3), 257-306, 1994 | 104 | 1994 |
| Recycled Franciscan material in Franciscan melange west of Paso Robles, California DS Cowan, BM Page Geological Society of America Bulletin 86 (8), 1089-1095, 1975 | 102 | 1975 |
