Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) are among the largest volcanic events in geological history. They are associated with severe environmental events, including mass extinctions and oceanic anoxic events.
My LIP research focuses on constraining the timing, eruptive architecture, and environmental impact of flood basalt volcanism. A central thread is the use of sedimentary mercury (Hg) as a geochemical proxy for volcanic degassing, a tool that has proven particularly powerful for reconstructing carbon and volatile fluxes during LIP emplacement. This work has included refining the eruption chronology of the Deccan Traps using ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology and magnetostratigraphy (Fendley et al., 2020, G-Cubed), quantifying Deccan volatile emissions through Hg records and box modeling (Fendley et al., 2019, EPSL), and constraining Early Jurassic Karoo-Ferrar carbon emissions from sedimentary Hg records (Fendley et al., 2024, Nature Geoscience). More recently, modeling work has shown that LIP sulfur emissions can drive ocean carbon cycle perturbations persisting over millennial timescales (Cheong et al., 2025, G-Cubed), underscoring just how consequential these eruption episodes are for Earth system evolution.