12/11/2023
By Joanne Gagnon-Ketchen
Richard Gaschnig, Associate Professor, Environmental Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, UMass Lowell will give a talk on "Radiogenic isotopes as witnesses to the evolution of the Earth."
Abstract: Radioactive parent-daughter pairs play an essential role in deciphering the history of our planet. They allow us to determine the ages of geologic materials from which we can then determine the rates of geologic processes, but they also serve as tracers for the long-term exchange of mass between the Earth’s different geochemical reservoirs. This talk will outline the principles of radiometric dating and radiogenic isotope tracer geochemistry, with particular attention given to the coupled use of the U-Pb and Lu-Hf systems to understand the formation and growth of the Earth’s continents.
Bio: Gaschnig received a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in geology from the University of Delaware, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Washington State University, respectively. He held postdoc positions at the University of Maryland and Georgia Institute of Technology and has been a faculty member at UMass Lowell since 2016. Gaschnig is a high-temperature geochemist whose research focuses on the use of radiogenic and stable isotope ratios to understand the evolution of the Earth’s crust and the long-term exchange of material between the surface and deep Earth.