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I am interested in the theoretical and practical use of geochronology to constrain cooling histories
and the rates of tectonic processes.
I study the spatial and temporal relations
among shearing and fluid flow in subducting
zones where rapid burial advects cold
material into the mantle by addressing the
following questions:
- What are the characteristics of the fluids and where do they originate,
- Can phase transformations occur under dry conditions or is a fluid always required,
- What are the durations of thermal pulses associated with the advection of heat by fluids or shear heating, and
- Are exhumation histories diagnostic of the
burial process, that is, are the cooling data,
typically collected from metamorphic terrains that represent rapidly subducted crust, unique?
Because I rely on the isotopic system to constrain duration I am also interested in addressing the fundamental processes that Affect isotopic ages, including:
- Geological conditions that influence the mobility of isotopes,
- Chemical factors that control the retentivity of minerals,
- Diffusion mechanisms, and
- Partitioning of isotopes between minerals.
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