Staff and Postgraduate Students

Prof Jon Davidson, BSc (Dunelm, 1981), PhD (Leeds, 1984)

Professor of Earth Sciences in the Department of Earth Sciences

Telephone: +44 (0) 191 33 42328

Room number: Rm 337

Contact Prof Jon Davidson (email at j.p.davidson@durham.ac.uk)

Biography

Deputy Head of Science Faculty (Research) 2010-2013

Head of Department, Earth Sciences, University of Durham (2002-5)

Professor (1999-2000), Associate Professor (1994-99) and Assistant Professor (1988-92) of Geology and Geochemistry, Department of Earth and Space Sciences, UCLA.
Vice Chair, Department of Earth & Space Sciences, UCLA (1992-1994).

Visiting Assistant Professor, Dept. of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan (1987-1988).

Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, and Research Associate, Institute for the Study of Earth and Man, Southern Methodist University (1984-1987).

Career Research Highlights

Jon Davidson began his research evaluating the sources and processes which determine the nature of magmatic rocks at arcs. He is recognised for integrating modern geochemical – particularly isotopic – methods with detailed petrology and fieldwork at subduction zones across the world, from the West Indies to Kamchatka, New Zealand and the Andes.

More recently he has developed techniques for isotopically fingerprinting magmatic components at the scale of individual minerals. His research group now focuses on this approach and leads the world in its application.

While at UCLA Jon was awarded the Wager medal of IAVCEI (1998) and the Luckman Teaching Award (1994).

Jon has published >90 peer-reviewed articles, edited 2 thematic collections, and is lead author of an introductory textbook in Earth Sciences. He has been lead PI on grants totalling >£1M since 2000, and has been an instrumental member of the Department’s SRIF (I, II and III) bid teams, securing >£5 million.

Committee and Society Service

1) Leader; Subduction Zone Magmatism Commission (IAVCEI) 1998-2004
2) Member Medal Committee, (IAVCEI) 2001-2004,
3) Member NSF “MARGINS” panel, 2001,
4) Member NERC NIGL Steering Committee (2001-4),
5) Member NERC PRC(2003-5 and 2010-13)
6) President VMSG (2006-9)
7) Chair CHUGD (2007-10)

8) President Mineralogical Society (2012-13)

Conferences and workshops

A. Conferences convened and organised:
1) Penrose; Rhyolitic Magma Systems, Mammoth, 2001
2) State of the Arc” Ruapehu, New Zealand, 2000 and Mt Hood, Oregon, 2003
3) ESF Workshop, Durham 2004 Isotopic microsampling in Earth, Environmental and Archaeological Sciences
B. Sessions convened and organised:
1) Goldschmidt 2002, 2006 (2)
2) EGU 2003, 2004
3) AGU 2003 (2), 2005, 2006
4) IAVCEI 2004
5) IUGG Sapporro, Japan, 2004

Editorial Roles

Journal of Petrology (Advisory Board)
Geology (Editorial Board 2007-9)

Fellowships

2005 University Christopherson/Knott Fellowship
2005 Leverhulme Fellowship
2005; Cloos Memorial Scholar (Johns Hopkins University)

Invited Keynotes (since 2004)

2004, 2006, 2011 VMSG (Volcanic and Magmatic Studies Group, Geol. Soc. London)

2005 SGGMP (Specialist Group in Geochemistry, Mineralogy and Petrology, Australia)

2007 Hutton Conference, Stellenbosch, South Africa

2007 Geol Soc London Bicentenary Conference

2007 Geological Society of New Zealand; Plenary

2009 Goldschmidt, Davos (Session to honour Peter Wyllie)

2010 AGU, San Francisco, Chemical, Physical, and Petrographic Perspectives on Magmatic Differentiation

Membership of Organisations and Societies

American Geophysical Union
Geological Society of America (Fellow)
Geological Society of London
Geochemical Society
Sigma Xi
National Association of Geoscience Teachers
International Association of Volcanology & Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior
Institute of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education

Recent and Current Grants

2000: NERC: “Timescales and mechanisms of generating silicic magmas: the clues are in the crystals” (£161, 143)
2001: JREI: “Laser ablation: the cutting edge of the University of Durham microanalytical facility” (£59,437)
2003: NERC “Innovative approaches to determining processes and pathways of magmatic differentiation” (£152,161)
2004: NERC "Mechanisms and Timescales of Eruption Triggering” (£196,122)

2009: NERC “The importance of crystal exchange and magma mixing in volcanic systems : eruption-triggering mechanisms and timescales” (£293,345)

2001: European Commission framework V (lead institution) “ ERUPT: European Research on Understanding Processes and Timescales of Magma Evolution in Volcanic Systems (€ 463,748)
2003: Royal Society Travel Grant (for AGU)
2004: European Science Foundation Exploratory Workshop “Isotopic microsampling in Earth, Environmental and Archaeological Sciences” (€10,000)

Research Interests

1. Use of isotopes and trace elements to evaluate source and differentiation processes at subduction zones
2. Evaluation of volcanic differentiation processes and timescales through development of innovative in situ mineral isotope and trace element analysis approaches
3. Origin and evolution of magmas at subduction zones, including mass balance of source components.
4. Role of arc magmatism in producing the continental crust.
5. Magmatism-tectonics-regional geology of arcs including The Andes, Kamchatka, Lesser Antilles, New Zealand.
6. Magma sources and processes at intraplate environments.

Teaching

Received Luckman Teaching Award (1994) at UCLA

1) How the Earth works (year 1)
2) Frontiers in earth Science (Year 4 seminar)
3) Field Seminar (Year 4)
4) Magmatism (Volcanology: Year 3)
5) Field trips (SE Spain; Year2; Cyprus, Year3)

Research Groups

Selected Publications

Books: authored

Davidson, J.P., Reed, W.E. & Davis, P.M. (2002). Exploring Earth (second edition). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Davidson, J.P, Reed, W.E & Davis, P.M (1996). Exploring Earth. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Books: sections

Dosseto, A., Turner, S.P., Sandiford, M. & Davidson, J.P., (2008). Uranium-series isotope and thermal constraints on the rate and depth of silicic magma genesis. In Dynamics of Crustal Magma Transfer, Storage and Differentiation. Annen., C. & Zellmer, G.F. Geol. Soc. Lond. Spec. Publn. 304: 169-181.
Davidson, J.P. & Arculus, R.J. (2006). The significance of Phanerozoic arc magmatism in generating continental crust. In Evolution and Differentiation of the Continental Crust. M. Brown & T. Rushmer Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 135-172.

Journal papers: academic

Davidson, J.P., Turner, S.P. & Plank, T. (2013). Dy/Dy*: Variations Arising from Mantle Sources and Petrogenetic Processes. Journal of Petrology 54(3): 525.
Xiao, Y., , Niu, Y., , Song, S., Davidson, J.P., & Liu, X., (2012). Elemental responses to subduction-zone metamorphism: Constraints from the North Qilian Mountain, NW China. Lithos 160-161: 55-67.
Francalanci, Lorella., Avanzinelli, Riccardo., Nardini, Isabella., Tiepolo, Massimo. Davidson, Jon P. & Vannucci, Riccardo. (2011). Crystal recycling in the steady-state system of the active Stromboli volcano: a 2.5-ka story inferred from in situ Sr-isotope and trace element data. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology
Davidson, J.P. & Wilson, B.M. (2011). Differentiation and source processes at Mt Pelee and the Quill; active volcanoes in the Lesser Antilles Arc. Journal of Petrology 52(7-8): 1493-1531.
Garrison, J.M., Davidson, J.P. Hall, M. & Mothes, P. (2011). Geochemistry and Petrology of the Most Recent Deposits from Cotopaxi Volcano, Northern Volcanic Zone, Ecuador. Journal of Petrology 52(9): 1641-1678.
Handley, H.K. Turner, S.P. Macpherson, C.G. Gertisser, R. & Davidson, J.P. (2011). Hf-Nd isotope and trace element constraints on subduction inputs at island arcs: limitations of Hf anomalies as sediment input indicators. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 304(1-2): 212-223.
Malarkey, J. Witig, N. Pearson, D.G. & Davidson, J.P. (2010). Characterising modal metasomatic processes in young continental lithospheric mantle – an example from the Middle Atlas Mountains, Morocco. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 162: 289–302.
Martin, V., Davidson, J.P.,, Morgan, D., & Jerram, D.A. (2010). Expand+Geologygeology.gsapubs.orgdoi: 10.1130/G30758.1 v. 38 no. 6 p. 539-542 Using the Sr isotope compositions of feldspars and glass to distinguish magma system components and dynamics. Geology 38(6): 539-542.
Malarkey, J., Pearson, D.G. Kjarsgaard, B. Davidson, J.P. Nowell, G.M. Ottley, C,J. & Stammer, J. (2010). From source to crust: Tracing magmatic evolution in a kimberlite and a melilitite using microsample geochemistry. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 299(1-2): 80-90.
Handley, H.A., Macpherson, C.G. & Davidson, J.P. (2010). Geochemical and Sr-O isotopic constraints on magmatic differentiation at Gede Volcanic Complex (GVC), West Java, Indonesia. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol 159: 885–908
Deegan, F. M. Troll, V. R. Freda, C. Misiti, V. Chadwick, J. P. McLeod, C. L. & Davidson, J. P (2010). Magma–Carbonate Interaction Processes and Associated CO2 Release at Merapi Volcano, Indonesia: Insights from Experimental Petrology. Journal of Petrology 51(5): 1027-1051.
Harlou, R. Pearson, D.G. Nowell, G.M. Ottley, C.J. & Davidson, J.P. (2009). Combined Sr isotope and trace element analysis of melt inclusions at sub-ng levels using micro milling, TIMS and ICPMS. Chem. Geol 260: 254-268.
Kinman, W., Neal, C.R. Davidson, J.P. & Font, L. (2009). The dynamics of the Kerguelan Plateau magma evolution: New insights from major element, trace element and Sr isotope microanalysis of plagioclase hosted in Elan Bank basalts. Chem. Geol 264: 247-265.
Martin, V.M , Morgan, D.J. Jerram, D.A. , Caddick, M.J. Prior, D. & Davidson, J.P. (2008). Bang! Month-scale eruption triggering at Santorini Volcano. Science 321(5893): 1178.
Davidson, J.P., Font, L., Charlier, B.L.A. & Tepley, F.J. III (2008). Mineral-scale Sr isotope variation in plutonic rocks – a tool for unraveling the evolution of magma systems. Trans. Roy Soc Edinburgh Earth Sciences 97: 357-367.
Charlier, B.L.A., Wilson, C.J.N. & Davidson, J.P. (2008). Rapid open system assembly of a large silicic magma body: time-resolved evidence from cored plagioclase crystals in the Oruanui eruption deposits, New Zealand. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 156(6): 799-813.
Font, L., Davidson, J.P., Pearson, D.G., Nowell, G.M., Jerram, D. & Ottley, C.J. (2008). Sr and Pb isotope micro-analysis in plagioclase crystals from Skye lavas: An insight into open-system processes in a flood basalt province. Journal of Petrology 49(8): 1449-1471.
Handley, H.K., Davidson, J.P., Macpherson, C.G. & Stimac, J.A. (2008). Untangling differentiation in arc lavas: constraints from unusual minor and trace element variations at Salak Volcano, Indonesia. Chemical Geology 255(3-4): 360-376.
Davidson, J., Turner, S., Handley, H., Macpherson, C. & Dosseto, A. (2007). Amphibole 'sponge' in arc crust?. Geology 35(9): 787–790.
Davidson, J.P., Morgan, D.J., Charlier, B.L.A., Harlou, R. & Hora, J.M. (2007). Microsampling and Isotopic Analysis of Igneous Rocks: Implications for the Study of Magmatic Systems. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 35: 273–311.
Morgan, D.J., Blake, S., Rogers, N.W., De Vivo, B., Rolandi, G. & Davidson, J.P. (2006). Magma recharge at Vesuvius in the century prior to the eruption of AD 79. Geology 34: 845-848.
Charlier, B.L.A., Ginibre, C., Morgan, D., Nowell, G.M., Pearson, D.G., Davidson, J.P. & Ottley, C.J. (2006). Methods for the microsampling and high-precision analysis of strontium and rubidium isotopes at single crystal scale for petrological and geochronological applications. Chem. Geol 232: 114 – 133.
Davidson, J.P. , Font, L., Charlier, B.L.A. & Tepley, F.J. III. (2006). Mineral-scale Sr isotope variation in plutonic rocks – a tool for unravelling the evolution of magma systems. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Earth sciences 97(4): 357-367.
Garrison, J.M., Davidson, J.P., Turner, S. & Reid, M. (2006). Source versus differentiation controls on U-series disequilibria: Insights from Cotopaxi Volcano, Ecuador. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett 244: 548–565.
Davidson, J.P, Hora, J.M, Garrison, J.M & Dungan, M.A (2005). Crustal Forensics in Arc Magmas. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 140(1-3): 157-170.
Charlier, B.L.A, Wilson, C.J.N, Lowenstern, J.B, Blake, S, van Calsteren, P.W & Davidson, J.P (2005). Magma Generation at a Large, Hyperactive Silicic Volcano (Taupo, New Zealand) Revealed by U–Th and U–Pb Systematics in Zircons. J. Petrology 46: 3-32.
Davidson, J.P, Charlier, B.L.A, Hora, J.M & Perlroth, R (2005). Mineral isochrons and isotopic fingerprinting: Pitfalls and promises. Geology 33: 29-32.
Tepley, F.J & Davidson, J.P (2003). Mineral-Scale Sr-Isotope Constraints on Magma Evolution and Chamber Dynamics in the Rum Layered Intrusion, Scotland. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 145(5): 628-641.
Knesel, K.M & Davidson, J.P (2002). Insights into Collisional Magmatism from Isotopic Fingerprints of Melting Reactions. Science 296(5576): 2206-2208.
Davidson, J, Tepley, F, Hora, J & Knesel, K (2002). Magma system processes constrained by mineral-scale isotope variations. Geochimica Et Cosmochimica Acta 66(15A): A170-A170.
Woodhead, J.D, Hergt, J.M, Davidson, J.P & Eggins, S.M (2001). Hafnium isotope evidence for 'conservative' element mobility during subduction zone processes. Earth and Planetary Science Lett 192: 331-346.
Davidson, J, Tepley, F, Palacz, Z & Meffan-Main, S (2001). Magma recharge, contamination and residence times revealed by in situ laser ablation isotopic analysis of feldspar in volcanic rocks. Earth And Planetary Science Letters 184(2): 427-442.
Tepley,F.J.III, Davidson, J.P, Tilling, R.I & Arth, J.G (2000). Magma mixing, recharge and eruption histories recorded in plagioclase. Journal of Petrology 41: 1397-1411.

Show all publications

Media Contacts

Available for media contact about:

Americas: Geology, Andes and the Cordillera
The Earth: Rocks & natural forces: Volcanoes
Geological hazards: volcanoes and related issues
Environmental change: Volcanology, geochemistry, plate tectonics
Earth Sciences: Volcanology, geochemistry, plate tectonics
Tectonics: Volcanology, geochemistry, plate tectonics
Volcanism: Volcanology, geochemistry, plate tectonics
Geography: Volcanology, geochemistry, plate tectonics