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Andrew Kerr

Professor Andrew Kerr

Director of Learning and Teaching
Professor of Petrology

School of Earth and Environmental Sciences

Email
KerrA@cardiff.ac.uk
Telephone
+44 29208 74578
Campuses
Main Building, Room 2.01, Park Place, Cardiff, CF10 3AT
Users
Available for postgraduate supervision

Overview

Interests

  • large igneous provinces
  • oceanic plateaus
  • igneous geochemistry
  • magmatic processes
  • crustal growth

Publication

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

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2016

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Articles

Book sections

Books

Research

I primarily use elemental, isotope and geochronological data from igneous rocks to assess: the petrogenesis and environmental impact of oceanic plateaus and flood basalts, particularly the Caribbean, the North Atlantic Igneous Province; continental crust formation processes through time; supercontinent reconstruction; tectonomagmatic evolution of the Caribbean and northern Andes; petrogenesis and origin of Tethyan ophiolites in the Middle East; geochemical evolution of the mantle.

My research also impacts upon the origin of economic mineralisation associated with large igneous provinces and the formation and thermal maturation of oil source rocks around the Caribbean and in northwestern South America.

Research interests

  • Age, structure, petrogenesis and impact on marine environments, of oceanic plateaux, particularly the Caribbean-Colombian (Cretaceous) and Siletz (Eocene) oceanic plateau.
  • Processes of oceanic plateau accretion in Colombia.
  • The relationship between the Caribbean-Colombian oceanic plateau and associated Cretaceous arc volcanism.
  • Tectonomagmatic evolution of the Caribbean.
  • Geochemistry and petrogenesis of the British Tertiary Igneous Province.
  • Nature and origin of mantle plume geochemical signatures (particularly Iceland and Galápagos).
  • Identification of oceanic plateaus in the geological record and their role in crustal growth.
  • Marine environmental impact of large igneous provinces.
  • Melt inclusions in Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs)
  • Archean greenstone belts
  • Supercontinent reconstruction using petrology and geochemistry
  • Tectonomagmatic evolution of Tethyan igneous rocks from Pakistan
  • Links between LIP formation and metallogenesis, particularly gold mineralisation.

Teaching

Year 2 - Igneous geology

Year 2 - Metamorphic geology

Year 3 - Volcanic and magmatic processes

Biography

  • Professor of Petrology, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Cardiff University (2021 - Present)
  • Reader in Petrology – School of Earth & Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University, UK (2009 – 2021)
  • Senior Lecturer in Petrology – School of Earth & Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University, UK (2004 – 2009)
  • Lecturer in Petrology – School of Earth & Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University, UK (2000 – 2004)
  • Editor in Chief – Lithos (2007 – 2019)
  • Editor in Chief – Results in Geochemistry (2019 – present)
  • Public Relations Officer – Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland (2011 – 2016)
  • Leverhulme Research Fellow – Leicester University (1996 – 1999)
  • NERC Post Doctoral Research Assistant – Leicester University (1993 – 1996)
  • PGCE - University of Leicester (1999)
  • PhD – Geology, University of Durham (1993)
  • BSc – Geochemistry, St. Andrews University (1990)

Honours and awards

1997 - Presidents Award, Geological Society of London

2000 - Clough Award, Edinburgh Geological Society

2001 - Max Hey Medal, Mineralogical Society

Committees and reviewing

Member of Cardiff UniversityAcademic Standards and Quality Committee (2020-2023)

Member of Cardiff University Senate 2013-2016

Supervisions

  • Age, structure, petrogenesis and impact on marine environments, of oceanic plateaux.
  • Processes of oceanic plateau accretion.
  • The relationship between the oceanic plateau and associated  arc volcanism.
  • Tectonomagmatic evolution of the Caribbean.
  • Geochemistry and petrogenesis of the British Tertiary Igneous Province.
  • Nature and origin of mantle plume geochemical signatures.
  • Identification of oceanic plateaus in the geological record and their role in crustal growth.
  • Marine environmental impact of large igneous provinces.
  • Melt inclusions in Large Igneous Provinces
  • Archean greenstone belts
  • Supercontinent reconstruction using petrology and geochemistry
  • Tectonomagmatic evolution of Tethyan igneous rocks from Pakistan
  • Links between LIP formation and metallogenesis, particularly gold mineralisation.