Conférence à U Laval du récipiendaire 2024 de la médaille W.W. Hutchison (GAC) - Chris Spencer

Dans le cadre de la tournée de conférences du récipiendaire 2024 de la médaille W.W. Hutchison de l'Association géologique du Canada, le professeur Chris Spencer (Queen's University) donnera une présentation dans le local PLT-4118 de l'Université Laval le 11 octobre à 11h30.

2024 W.W. Hutchison Medalist : Dr. Chris Spencer (Associate Professor, Queen’s University)
Dr Christopher Spencer is an Associate Professor and co-director of the Queen’s Facility of Isotope Research at Queen’s University in Canada. He did his BSc and MSc at Brigham Young University, PhD at the University of St Andrews, and a postdoctoral apprenticeship at the British Geological Survey. Prior to coming to Queen’s, he was a research fellow at Curtin University from 2015 to 2020. His research is focused on understanding the evolution of plate tectonic process and interactions between the atmosphere, biosphere, and lithosphere through geologic time. Link to the 2024 GAC W.W. Hutchison Medalist.

Sediment-derived granitoids and Earth’s surface evolution
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.