Archive

Wed 27th November @ noon, Rm 312.222 Abstract: The accretion of planets and their thermochemical evolution, the formation of the Moon, cratered landscapes, and the origin of habitable environments and atmospheres, are consequences of hypervelocity collisions of asteroids and comets with planetary bodies including the Earth. Impacts may be considered as one of the most fundamental processes in […]

Wed 20th November @ 11 am, Rm 312.222 Abstract: The talk discusses how water modulates crustal temperatures during continental arc magmatism. It proceeds to show the role that hydrous basaltic arc magmas have in exsolving water during fractionation and underplating at the Moho, and consequently on melting the overlying crust.  A holistic petrological model is presented […]

Wed 23rd Octover@ noon, Rm 312.222 Abstract: The Basin and Range Province of the western United States has been influential in the development of ideas concerning the extension of continental crust. New structural, geophysical and geochronological data from several field sites in eastern California, southern Nevada, Utah and southeastern Idaho call into question the role […]

Wed 2nd October @ noon, Rm 312.222 Abstract: Deep marine sediments host ~2.9 × 1029 microbial cells, equivalent to up to 3.6% of the total living biomass on the planet with Archaea accounting for ~37% of that population. These subsurface microbial communities are generally considered to be structured through in situ environmental conditions such as the availability of electron […]

Wed 25th September@ noon, Rm 312.222 Abstract: In this talk I will present two case studies that show the insights novel stable isotopes can provide us when studying the evolution of planet Earth. The first will use neodymium stable isotopes to discuss planetary formation. As a geologist there is no more fundamental question than what […]

Wed 18th September @ noon, Rm 312.222 Abstract: The meteorite Allende fell in 1969 in Mexico, and remains one of the most heavily studied meteorites to date. Due to the large volume of material that fell, many different analyses have been carried out on the meteorite as technology has developed all over the world. Allende is […]

Fri 9th August @ 11 am, Rm 312.222 Abstract: Generated by a dynamo process in the Earth’s liquid iron outer core, the global geomagnetic field surrounds and protects our entire planet creating a bubble in interplanetary space. The chaotic nonlinear nature of this geodynamo process leads to the magnetic field being highly variable on a range […]

Wed 24th July@ noon, Rm 312.222 Abstract: The Araçuaí orogen (SE Brazil) is one of the largest (350,000 km2) and long-lived (ca. 630 – 480 Ma) granitic province in the world. It was formed by the convergence between the Congo (Africa) and São Francisco (Brazil) cratons during the assembly of West Gondwana. Currently, two models are […]

Wed 17th July @ noon, Rm 312.222 Abstract: The Western Branch of the East African Rift System is known to have a thick lithosphere and sparse, alkaline volcanism associated with a metasomatized mantle source. Recent work investigating the relationship between Western Branch metasomatized mantle xenoliths and associated lavas has suggested that these metasomes are a significant factor in […]