The lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary is the world’s most ubiquitous plate boundary system, separating the high viscosity lithosphere from the underlying convecting mantle asthenosphere. Thoroughly characterizing the …
The system of plate tectonics governs the transport of material between Earth’s interior, hydrosphere, and atmosphere to create a dynamic planetary surface that sustains life. …
Recent development of biomarker-based paleoclimate proxies provides new analytical capabilities through which paleoenvironmental change can be inferred. Here, I explore the utility of these organic …
Thermal evolution of the planet interior is a fundamental problem in Earth and planetary sciences. Geothermobarometers and geospeedometers are powerful tools in studying the thermal …
Serpentine is a common mineral in many seismically active regions of the crust and mantle. In this dissertation, rock deformation experiments were conducted on serpentine …
Alkenones are lipids produced by certain haptophyte algae and are excellent sensors of temperature change. This dissertation investigates the stable isotopic and organic geochemical aspects …
Alkenones are lipids produced by certain haptophyte algae and are excellent sensors of temperature change. This dissertation investigates the stable isotopic and organic geochemical aspects …
Geological materials in nature and in the lab are often subjected to intense driving forces created by large gradients in thermodynamic potentials. Under such conditions, …
This body of research uses numerical models to investigate the dynamics of melt generation in the asthenosphere, accumulation at the base of the lithosphere by …
The first three chapters of this thesis are focused on experimental determinations of noble gas solubility in a variety of materials relevant to partial melting …
This PhD thesis presents a comprehensive exploration of Earth’s upper mantle from global and regional perspectives, with a particular emphasis on the stable cores of …
The Songliao Basin in Northeast China contains one of the most complete terrestrial sedimentary records of the Cretaceous and represents an important terrestrial paleoclimate archive. …
The climatic history of Mars has been indirectly studied through the remote detection of minerals produced by chemical alteration across its surface. While the martian …
The Pliocene (5.33-2.58 million years before present (Ma)) is the most recent epoch of Earth’s history when atmospheric pCO2 levels were as high as the …
The objective of this thesis is to use first order geochemical and geophysical observations to understand melt generation and migration processes beneath mid-ocean ridge spreading …
The interaction between crystals, magma, and exsolved volatiles in shallow magmatic conduits exerts first order controls on the eruptive style and intensity of terrestrial volcanic …
Ancient volcanic deposits on terrestrial planetary bodies preserve a record of the early stages of planetary evolution, revealing important information about both the interior evolution …
Olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, garnet and plagioclase are major rock-forming minerals in the Earth mantle and other planetary bodies. The partitioning of trace elements into these …
Abstract of Tracing Planetary Scale Volatile Cycling with Inert Gases: A Combined Experimental and Numerical Approach, by John A. Krantz, Ph.D., Brown University, May 2020. …