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Dr Alexander Robert Lee Nichols

Contact

Department: School of Earth and Environment

Email: alex.nichols@canterbury.ac.nz

Direct Dial: +64 3 3694410

Office: Beatrice Tinsley Rm 214

Language: English

Understanding volatile behaviour from the source regions of magma deep in the Earth to eruptions at the surface.
About
Research / Creative works
Supervision
Networks
Projects
Methods & Equipment

Fields of Research

  • Volatile behaviour in magmatic systems
  • Generation and cross-arc variability of subduction zone magmas
  • Formation of continental crust
  • Generation of magmas in intraplate settings
  • Refining techniques to measure volatiles in silicates

Researcher Summary

My research encompasses igneous petrology, geochemistry and volcanology. I specialise in the use of in-situ micro-analytical techniques to measure the compositions of volcanic rocks, glass, minerals and inclusions of melt trapped inside minerals. I am particularly interested in quantifying volatiles to understand mantle volatile cycles and the role volatiles play in magmatic processes, from mantle melting through to eruption. I work with samples from a variety of tectonic settings ranging from basalt to rhyolite in composition. Samples are often collected from volcanoes that erupted under water or ice so that they retain magmatic volatiles. I am involved in the international scientific ocean drilling programme, having participated in two expeditions.

Subject Area: Disciplines

  • Earth Sciences: Geochemistry; Mineralogy; Petrology; Volcanology

Research/Scholarly/Creative Works

(Displaying research/scholarly/creative work for last six years)
  • Qian SP., Nichols ARL., Zhang L., Xu YG., Li J., Guo YL. and Ren ZY. (2020) The Mantle Transition Zone Hosts the Missing HIMU Reservoir Beneath Eastern China. Geophysical Research Letters 47(9) http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2020GL087260. (Journal Articles)
  • Smithies SL., Bassett KN., Browne GH. and Nichols ARL. (2020) Provenance of the Pakawau Group and Farewell Formation (Late Cretaceous–Paleocene), Taranaki Basin, northwest Nelson, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 63(1): 1-34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00288306.2019.1603164. (Journal Articles)
  • Bouvier A-S., Manzini M., Rose-Koga E., Nichols ARL. and Baumgartner L. (2019) Tracing of Cl input into the sub-arc mantle through the combined analysis of B, O and Cl isotopes in melt inclusions. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 507: 30-39. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2018.11.036. (Journal Articles)
  • Fiske RS., Rose TR., Swanson DA., Andrews BJ. and Nichols ARL. (2019) The Kulanaokuaiki-3 tephra, 900 CE: Products of a remarkably energetic pyroclastic eruption at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai'i, USA. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America 131(9-10): 1537-1554. http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/B35063.1. (Journal Articles)
  • Tamura Y., Ishizuka O., Sato T. and Nichols ARL. (2019) Nishinoshima volcano in the Ogasawara Arc: New continent from the ocean? Island Arc 28(1) http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/iar.12285. (Journal Articles)
  • Hui H., Hess KU., Zhang Y., Nichols ARL., Peslier AH., Lange RA., Dingwell DB. and Neal CR. (2018) Cooling rates of lunar orange glass beads. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 503: 88-94. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2018.09.019. (Journal Articles)
  • Busby CJ., Tamura Y., Blum P., Guèrin G., Andrews GDM., Barker AK., Berger JLR., Bongiolo EM., Bordiga M. and DeBari SM. (2017) The missing half of the subduction factory: shipboard results from the Izu rear arc, IODP Expedition 350. International Geology Review 59(13): 1677-1708. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00206814.2017.1292469. (Journal Articles)
  • McIntosh IM., Nichols ARL., Tani K. and Llewellin EW. (2017) Accounting for the species-dependence of the 3500 cm(-1) H2Ot infrared molar absorptivity coefficient: Implications for hydrated volcanic glasses. American Mineralogist 102(8): 1677-1689. http://dx.doi.org/10.2138/am-2017-5952CCBY. (Journal Articles)
  • Ren ZY., Wu YD., Zhang L., Nichols ARL., Hong LB., Zhang YH., Zhang Y., Liu JQ. and Xu YG. (2017) Primary magmas and mantle sources of Emeishan basalts constrained from major element, trace element and Pb isotope compositions of olivine-hosted melt inclusions. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 208: 63-85. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2017.01.054. (Journal Articles)
  • Dingwell DB., Lavallée Y., Hess KU., Flaws A., Marti J., Nichols ARL., Gilg HA. and Schillinger B. (2016) Eruptive shearing of tube pumice: Pure and simple. Solid Earth 7(5): 1383-1393. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/se-7-1383-2016. (Journal Articles)
  • Kennedy BM., Wadsworth FB., Vasseur J., Ian Schipper C., Mark Jellinek A., von Aulock FW., Hess KU., Kelly Russell J., Lavallée Y. and Nichols ARL. (2016) Surface tension driven processes densify and retain permeability in magma and lava. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 433: 116-124. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2015.10.031. (Journal Articles)
  • Tamura Y., Sato T., Fujiwara T., Kodaira S. and Nichols A. (2016) Advent of continents: A new hypothesis. Scientific Reports 6 33517: 12. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep33517. (Journal Articles)
  • Giordano D., Nichols ARL., Potuzak M., Di Genova D., Romano C. and Russell JK. (2015) Heat capacity of hydrous trachybasalt from Mt Etna: comparison with CaAl2Si2O8 (An)–CaMgSi2O6 (Di) as basaltic proxy compositions. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 170(5-6): 1-23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00410-015-1196-6. (Journal Articles)
  • Liu JQ., Ren ZY., Nichols ARL., Song MS., Qian SP., Zhang Y. and Zhao PP. (2015) Petrogenesis of Late Cenozoic basalts from North Hainan Island: Constraints from melt inclusions and their host olivines. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 152: 89-121. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2014.12.023. (Journal Articles)
  • Ryan AG., Russell JK., Nichols ARL., Hess KU. and Porritt LA. (2015) Special Collection: Glasses, Melts, and Fluids, as Tools for Understanding Volcanic Processes and Hazards. Experiments and models on H2O retrograde solubility in volcanic systems. American Mineralogist 100(4): 774-786. http://dx.doi.org/10.2138/am-2015-5030. (Journal Articles)
  • Tani K., Dunkley DJ., Chang Q., Nichols ARL., Shukuno H., Hirahara Y., Ishizuka O., Arima M. and Tatsumi Y. (2015) Pliocene granodioritic knoll with continental crust affinities discovered in the intra-oceanic Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc: Syntectonic granitic crust formation during back-arc rifting. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 424: 84-94. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2015.05.019. (Journal Articles)

Student Supervision

Displaying all items.
    Completed
  • Masters - Smithies S: Provenance of Late Cretaceous and Paleocene sediments of the Pakawau Sub-basin, northwest Nelson, New Zealand (2018)
  • Masters - Watson T: Evolution of magmatic volatiles during drilling into a magma body, Krafla Iceland (2018)

Affiliations

  • American Geophysical Union (AGU) (Professional Organisation): Member
  • Geochemical Society (USA) (Professional Organisation): Member
  • Geoscience Society of New Zealand (GSNZ) (Professional Organisation): Member and Committee Member

Future Research

  • Use of Raman spectroscopy to analyse volatiles in bubbles
  • Measuring water contents of nominally anhydrous minerals
  • Generation of magma in the Taupo Volcanic Zone (New Zealand)
  • Olivine occurrence and composition on the South Island (New Zealand)
  • Using olivine to manufacture cement
  • Geochemistry of Banks Peninsula, Canterbury (New Zealand)

Key Methodologies

  • Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to measure water and carbon dioxide in silicates
  • Electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) to measure major elements in glass and minerals
  • Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) to measure trace elements in glass and minerals
  • Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
  • Transmitted and reflected light microscopy
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