A former member of our research group (Alex Steiner) has published an exciting new article on the Flood Basalt province in Turkana.  This study highlights the interlinkage between the magma and crystals in this complex system. The article can be read here.  

A former member of our research group (Susan Krans) has published an insightful article on the Ethiopian Flood Basalt province.  This study highlights why a robust petrographic study is necessary in the investigation of these rocks. The article can be read here.  

A member of our research group (Libby Ashby) has been nominated for the prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Award. The article can be read here.  

The news service of the Raspberry Pi has featured PiAutoStage - an invention of the MSU Geochemistry and Petrology group. The article can be read here.  

A new paper has been published from the group on how the magmas can be used to probe how the source of melting changes during the terminal rifting process. This paper shows that re-enrichment of the mantle and subsequent melting may serve as a mechanism for destruction of the continental lithospheric mantle during continental breakup. The article can be accessed for free here.  

Tyrone Rooney contributed to a new National Geographic article on the Lake Superior area and the volcanic history. Rooney chatted with journalist Jacqueline Kehoe who produced an excellent piece that can be found here.  

At this years American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in Chicago, our research group had 6 presentation! It was a banner year with a lot of wonderful science and an entire poster wall of MSU green posters. Congratulations to all the group members who presented - they did the group and the university proud.  

A new research tool has been launched that allows for the digitization of microscope slides. The work was undertaken by Alex Steiner and Tyrone Rooney and is published in G3.  This exciting new development has the potential to change the way petrographic information is delivered remotely.  The work is fully described in a new website devoted to the project and has been funded by the National Science Foundation 

Kirsten Fentzke (lab manager of the rock prep facility) has been honored with a win in her Physical Sciences category at this years UURAF.  Kirsten presented work on the magmas from Michipiocoten Island that had been collected by Andrew LaVigne and Alex Steiner. This work was a continuation of work begun by former undergraduate student Kellen Martella and supported by the Warren W. and Anneliese C. Wood Undergraduate Research Fund and the National Science Foundation 

A member of our group has recently been awarded by Meridian Township. “For your exceptional heroism demonstrated on July 26, while saving the life of your fellow citizen who was struggling staying afloat in a body of water, without hesitation, you made a decision that would forever change the life of another, Mr. Steiner with the assistance of your fellow citizens, and Brian Reed and Jackson Reed, unselfishly risked your life to save the life of another person. Your actions made a difference and saved the life of a fellow citizen.” Story is posted here. 

As part of a monthly exploration into the world of Large Igneous Provinces, the Large Igneous Provinces commission of the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior features a particular province. Featured here is a summary of the recent synthesis of East African magmatism written by Prof. Rooney.  The link to the feature can be found here. 

We have two successful candidates starting at MSU soon. These students will work with Dr. Rooney and the Geochemistry & Petrology research group on assessing the linkages between magmatism and strain localization in the East African Rift. This Ph.D. project is part of an NSF funded proposal whose details can be found in the link below. The two students will work to develop isotopic methods at our newly renovated clean lab and utilize our existing research infrastructure to probe the origin and evolution of lavas from the East African Rift system. 

The research group had poster presentations from Chris Svoboda, Erika Miciuda, Erik Eikey, Madison Kortas, Rayn Phillips, and Sydney Gable. Alex Steiner presented at an oral session. Congratulations to all!

Rayn Phillips and Felix Ishimwe presented their research on Turkana volcanism and the volcanoes of Virunga. We say goodbye to Felix who has now moved on the PhD at Arizona State.

Tyrone Rooney participated in a field expedition to the hominid sites of the Awash Valley in the Afar Depression in Ethiopia. The purpose of this NSF sponsored trip was to increase engagement among the various persons working in the region and serve as a platform for new ideas.

Our research group had two presentations at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union. Both presentations focused on our work from East Africa and included an invited talk. 

Chris Svoboda (pictured), Kellen Martella, and Ray Davis presented their research at the annual meeting of the NASA Michigan Space Grant Consortium. Topics included Patagonian Lavas, Michipicoten Island's magma plumbing system, and the evolution of the Portage Lake Volcanics. 

The group had 5 oral presentations (Tyrone Rooney, Tom Hudgins, Chris Svoboda, Andrew LaVigne, Noah Vriese) and 6 poster presentations (Kellen Martella, Jacob Bonessi, Felix Ishimwe, Ray Davis, Liam Peterson, Rayn Phillips). Three former students also presented the work their undergraduate research. 

A new paper on how the magma plumbing system of the flood basalts of the Ethiopian Large Igneous Province are zoned has just been published in the AGU journal Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems. Full text is available here.