Isostatic Rebound: Viscoelastic Mantle Relaxation Following the Last Glacial Maximum
Glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA), Maxwell viscoelastic relaxation times, sea-level fingerprints, and upper mantle viscosity profiling.
Dr. Dorcas Halvorson
High-Pressure Polymorphs: What Ringwoodite and Bridgmanite Reveal About the Transition Zone
Diamond inclusion mineral physics, the 410 and 660 km discontinuities, and deep mantle water storage in wadsleyite and ringwoodite.
Serpentinization at Mid-Ocean Ridges: Abiotic Hydrogen Generation and Deep Sea Vents
Peridotite hydration thermodynamics, exothermic heat release, Fischer-Tropsch methane synthesis, and alkaline hydrothermal vent fields.
Metamorphic Dehydration: How Bound Water Escapes Crustal Slabs to Trigger Volcanism
Serpentine breakdown, blueschist-to-eclogite facies transitions, and fluid-induced flux melting in the subduction mantle wedge.
The Deep Carbon Cycle: Subduction Recycling of Carbonate Carbon into Arc Magmas
Subduction zone carbon fluxes, decarbonation metamorphic reactions, and mantle wedge volatile return via volcanic arc outgassing.
Tidal Dissipation and Lunar Recession: The Long-Term Slowing of Terrestrial Rotation
Oceanic friction, lunar laser ranging (LLR), tidal bulges, and the evolution of Earth’s length of day across Precambrian tidal rhythmites.
Comparative Planetary Magnetospheres: Why Earth Retained Its Field While Mars Froze
Core crystallization regimes, mantle convection cooling efficiency, and atmospheric stripping mechanisms dictating magnetic field longevity on terrestrial planets.
Seismic Anisotropy in the D” Layer: Mapping the Mysterious Core-Mantle Boundary
Post-perovskite phase transitions, lattice preferred orientation (LPO), and shear-wave splitting at Earth’s basal thermal boundary layer.
True Polar Wander: Rotational Instabilities Shifting Earth’s Mantle Relative to its Axis
Moment of inertia tensor perturbation, mass distribution anomalies, and the viscoelastic reorientation of the solid Earth relative to the spin axis.
Geodynamo Mechanics: How Liquid Iron Turbulence Generates the Geomagnetic Field
Magnetohydrodynamic induction in Earth’s outer core, compositional convection from inner core crystallization, and Coriolis-driven helical columnar turbulence.