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Jörg Pfänder |
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Magmatic processes such as partial melting and fractional crystallisation are among the fundamental physico-chemical processes that lead to the formation of distinct geochemical reservoirs on Earth throughout its history. The most straightforward result of a planetary scale differentiation is the transformation from an initially hostile planet to a habitable Earth with a stable continental crust, an atmosphere and a core hosting geodynamo shielding higher life from deathly cosmic rays. Beyond the first order implication of forming a habitable Earth, solid - liquid - gaseous phase transitions and thermally driven mass fluxes in the Earth's mantle and crust are the basic mechanisms for the enrichment of distinct chemical elements to form natural mineral deposits. The objective of my research is to provide insight in and increase understanding of planetary scale differentiation processes and related chemical mass fluxes from the Earth's mantle to the crust in space and time.
To tackle these goals I use trace-element and radiogenic isotope geochemistry and petrology, supplemented by Ar-Ar geochronology, and emphazise on the petrogenetic evolution of intraplate volcanic fields and the oceanic and continental crust. In this context, Ar-Ar geochronology allows to elucidate the temporal evolution and sequence of distinct magmatic processes in various geodynamic settings, and to determine their rates.