EES Departmental Seminar: Geological Association of Canada 2024 Hutchison Medal Lecture: Sediment-derived granitoids and Earth’s surface evolution
Dr. Christopher Spencer
Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering, Queens University
Title: Geological Association of Canada 2024 Hutchison Medal Lecture: Sediment-derived granitoids and Earth’s surface evolution
Abstract: Sediment-derived melts and the detrital products derived therefrom have been present in the geologic record since the Hadean Eon. However, it is often assumed that melts of (meta)sedimentary material represent small volumes of melt compared to other felsic melts such as those formed in arc settings. Nevertheless, constraining the mode and volume of sediment assimilation plays a fundamental role in our understanding of the interplay between Earth’s surface where sediments are formed and Earth’s depths where surface-derived materials are melted. The mechanisms of sediment melting are also diverse with specific mineral proxies that can differentiate between fluid-present melting versus muscovite- and biotite-dehydration melting. The identification of the melt-producing mechanisms goes far beyond addressing petrologic minutiae but provides a clear context for deciphering the melt-reaction control, pressure-temperature conditions of melt generation, and compositional diversity of sediment-derived melts from the outcrop to the orogen scale. Sediment-derived melts record plate tectonic-driven mass transfer and form a clear connection between evolving surface conditions and the deep Earth. These relatively low-volume granitoids play an important role in understanding the long-term evolution of both the plate tectonic processes that form them and the sedimentary systems that provide the fodder for melting.
Meet the lecturer: COFFEE and COOKIES in B-3078 at 10:45 am
Time
Location
Milligan Room, B-8007 8th Floor Biology/EES wing of the LSC