My group's research combines field observations with theoretical studies to address fundamental processes that govern the chemical and physical evolution of the continental crust and uppermost mantle. Motivating questions include: how are heat and mass transported through Earth's lithosphere? What role does metamorphism play in Earth's volatile cycles? How do cratons form and break apart? I use a range of analytical techniques including laser ablation inductively coupled mass spectrometry, electron microprobe analysis, phase equilibria calculations and numerical modeling.
To find out more about active research projects, take a look at the research page and get in touch; also, see here for details of our Crustal Evolution Research Group at Penn State. I am currently on the lookout for motivated graduate students -- see here for details of Penn State's application procedure.
Dr Andrew Smye
Assistant Professor
Department of Geosciences
332 Deike Building
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802
USA
Email: smye@psu.edu
Phone: (+1) 814-865-5530
NEWS:
August 2022: new paper in Science Advances on rapid exhumation; link here
July 2022: congrats to Jake Cipar on successfully defending his Ph.D. thesis!
June 2022: new collaborative NSF grant funded on mass transfer along the plate interface
Nov 2021: new lab WEBSITE published
May 2021: Garber(PI)+Smye awarded NSF award: Determining the rates and conditions of subduction initiation beneath the Samail Ophiolite
May 2021: press release re: new U/Th-Pb + Trace Element analysis lab!
April 2021: NSF CAREER grant funded: Developing noble gases as tracers for metamorphic dehydration.
Feb 2021: new paper on exhumation of HP rocks in the Western Alps
Oct 2020: press release for group paper in Nature Geoscience