EPS Seminar Series: Dr. Jillian Kendrick
Dr. Jillian Kendrick
Post-doctoral researcher working with Vincent van Hinsberg
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill University
Friday, December 1st
12:00 pm
FDA 232 (in-person)
Pizza will be served
Petrological Approaches to Reading the Crustal Archive
Abstract:
The evolution of Earth’s crust has been closely linked to shifting tectonic regimes and interactions with the hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere over billions of years. Crustal rocks today serve as a rich archive, preserving evidence of the complex interplay between minerals, melts, and fluids in the past. These processes influenced the mobility and distribution of major and trace elements in the crust, including those of economic interest and biological importance. By combining field work and petrography with geochemical analysis, quantitative modelling, and experimental petrology, I work to understand how metamorphic and igneous processes link to broader geochemical cycling, tectonic activity, and mineral deposit formation in the crust. In this seminar, I will discuss examples from my research focusing on processes from the deep crust to the Earth’s surface. Partial melting of crustal rocks has played an important role in the geochemical differentiation of the crust, and understanding the source-to-sink processes that influence granitoid compositions is a key aspect of my research. I have used thermodynamic modelling to investigate influences on Archean granitoid compositions and to determine the processes at play during early Earth crustal differentiation. This was combined with an investigation of an Archean crustal cross section in the Superior Province, which served as a natural laboratory for studying the origin of primitive granitoids and the architecture of Archean crust. This work provided important insights into the genesis of felsic crust, and currently I am interested in the role of such rocks in early Earth geochemical cycling, such as the poorly understood ancient boron cycle. I am investigating the behaviour of boron in crustal rocks using experimental petrology and thermodynamic modelling to better understand the boron budget in Archean metamorphic and igneous systems. This work will provide new insights into the distribution of boron on early Earth, which may have been crucial to the emergence of life. As rocks are the only evidence remaining of Earth’s early history, carefully deciphering this archive using a multifaceted approach will shed new light on the processes that shaped our planet.
