Dr. Isabel Fendley

Assistant Research Professor

Department:  Geosciences
College:  College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
Office:  311 Deike Building
E-mail: ifendley@psu.edu
Website: www.isabelfendley.com

 

Volcanic Gases
Volcanism is a ubiquitous process within the solar system and is fundamentally controlled by a planet’s interior structure. Volcanic gases emitted at the surface are an important window into the magma system below. In this project, the student will explore the geochemistry of volcanic gas emissions, with the aim of understanding the sources of volatile elements (primarily sulfur and carbon) into magmatic systems. In particular, we will examine whether different tectonic settings (e.g., subduction zones vs hotspots) lead to different gas chemistry, which will help determine whether the gases are sourced from within the crust or the mantle below. This project will incorporate computational analysis of compiled chemical data (e.g., sulfur and carbon isotopic composition of volcanic gases), primarily in R.

End-Cretaceous mass extinction
Nearly 75% of all species went extinct 66 million years ago, when a bolide struck the Earth. During this time, there were also continental-scale volcanic eruptions ongoing in what is now India. In this project, the student will reconstruct a history of catastrophic events across the mass extinction and recovery intervals, using new drillcore samples from offshore South Africa. In particular, they will use geochemical techniques to find when, and how much, volcanic gases affected the atmosphere and explore the complex environmental response from both impact and volcanism. This project will include lab work (mercury concentration analyses, sample processing) and computational work (primarily in R), including analysis of their own as well as literature data.