Dorsey Wanless Research

My research interests lie in understanding how magmas evolve from generation in the mantle, to storage within the crust, and finally, eruption at the Earth’s surface. I use a wide range of geochemical tracers including: major and trace element compositions, radiogenic, helium, and oxygen isotopes ratios, and volatile concentrations, in combination with petrologic modeling to understand how fractional crystallization, assimilation of crustal rocks, melt-rock reaction, and partial melting can affect the composition of lavas erupted at the surface.

My research has primarily focused on the evolution of magmas in submarine settings including mid-ocean ridges and ocean islands. I am also working on understanding the role of magmatism in continental rifting.

Education
-Ph.D., Department of Geological Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville FL, USA. Dissertation: Geology and Petrogenesis of Lavas From An Overlapping Spreading Center: 9°N East Pacific Rise (August 2010)

-M.S., Department of Geology and Geophysics, SOEST, University of Hawai`i, Manoa, HI, USA. Thesis: Geologic Mapping and Petrology of the Submarine Radial Vents on Mauna Loa Volcano Hawai`i (December 2004)

-B.A., Department of Geology, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY, USA.Undergraduate Thesis Topic: Geochemical Evidence for Long Term Plume Ridge Interaction and the Formation of Cocos Ridge (May 2001)