Mantle and Core

622551carlsonvol2.jpg Origin and Evolution of Continental Lithosphere My research on this topic includes the development and application of Re-Os isotope geochronology to samples of the continental mantle. These studies provide information on the chronology of mantle formation; chemical characteristics of the lithospheric mantle with implications for its mechanism of formation and interaction with fluids/melts from the underlying mantle; and the role of the mantle lithosphere in continent formation and survival. Research areas include a large multidisciplinary study involving seismology, geology, petrology, geochemistry and geochronology of the southern African cratons as well as more restricted studies of the mantle beneath the Wyoming, Siberian, Sino-Korean, and Slave cratons. History of Planetary Differentiation in the Early Solar Nebula This effort focuses on the chronology of planetary differentiation as recorded in the differentiated meteorites. Applications include Pb-Pb absolute age determinations for the eucritic meteorites and recently the development of a high precision ICP-mass spectrometry technique for silver isotopic analysis. The latter technique is being used to extract chronological information from the 107 Pd- 107 Ag short-lived radiometric system in various iron meteorites and terrestrial materials with the intent of better defining the time scale of core formation in rocky planetesimals and the Earth. E-mail: carlson@dtm.ciw.eduCarlson, R. W. is the author of 'Mantle and Core', published 2003 under ISBN 9780080443379 and ISBN 0080443370.