Professor Andrew C Kerr

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

Publications

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Teaching

Year 2 - Igneous geology

Year 2 - Metamorphic geology

Year 3 - Volcanic and magmatic processes

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.

Supervision

• 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.

Past projects

Roz White - The fundamentals of crust generation: major tonalite intrusions associated with an oceanic plateau, Aruba, Dutch Caribbean. Date Awarded: 1999

Pat Thompson - Petrology and geochronology of an arc sequence, Bonaire, Dutch Antilles, and its relationship to the Caribbean Plateau. Date Awarded: 2002

Kevin Jones - Laser ablation ICP-MS analysis of olivine-hosted melt inclusions from the Mull plateau group lavas, Mull, Scotland. Date Awarded: 2005

Shaun Lavis - Recycling in subduction zones: Evidence from eclogites and blueschists of NW China. Date Awarded: 2005

Alan Hastie - Tectonomagmatic evolution of the Caribbean plate: Insights from igneous rocks on Jamaica. Date Awarded: 2007

Matthew Minifie - The nature and origin of the -1880 Ma Circum-Superior Large Igneous Province. Date Awarded: 2010

Iain Neill - The tectono-magmatic evolution of the South-Eastern Caribbean Plate: insights from La Desirade, Trinidad and Tobago and the Aves Ridge. Date Awarded: 2011

Jake Ciborowski - The geochemistry and petrogenesis of the early Proterozoic Matachewan Large Igneous Province. Date Awarded: 2013

Hannah Hughes - Temporal, lithospheric and magmatic process Controls on Ni, Cu and platinum-group element (PGE) mineralisation: A case study from Scotland. Date Awarded: 2015

Ben Manton - The mechanics of sill propagation and associated venting, investigated using 3D seismic data from offshore Norway. Date Awarded: 2015

Henry Coombs - Geochemical and geochronological constraints on terrane definition in Mexico. Date Awarded: 2016

Bethan Phillips - The origin and evolution of the Siletz terrane in Oregon, Washington and Vancouver Island. Date Awarded: 2017

Bob Gooday - The formation and evolution of the Central Arran Igneous Complex. Date Awarded: 2018