Noble Gas Geochemistry
Isotope and Trace Element Chemistry of Volcanic Rocks from Mid-Ocean Ridges, Islands, and Continental Rifts
Mantle Heterogeneity
The Effects of Volatiles in Petrogenesis
Spatial Variations in Helium Isotopes Along Mid-Ocean Ridges
Carbon and Helium Isotope Variations in Earth's Mantle
Alternate phone: 541-737-5214
Marine Geology and Geophysics, Paleoseismology
Subduction earthquakes; Paleoseismology. Mechanics of oblique subduction, Structural Geology, Accretion and erosion of active margins; Seafloor imaging, mapping, and visualization techniques; Seafloor drilling technology.
Geophysics, physical oceanography
Electromagnetic geophysics, ocean tides, numerical modeling, statistical methods, geophysical inversion and data assimilation
Development of practical and reliable 3D inverse methods for magnetotellurics and other EM induction data
Imaging and interpretation of continental structure with long period MT data (e.g., EarthScope)
Improving external source models for global induction studies of mantle conductivity
Geochronology and petrogenesis of ocean floor and oceanic island basalts applied to modeling crustal movements in the ocean basins; geochemistry of oceanic basalts to map upper mantle heterogeneities; hydrothermal alteration of midocean ridge basalts; the origin, composition, timing and environmental effects of large igneous processes.
Geology and geochemistry of mineral deposits, field geology
Economic geology (origin of metallic mineral deposits, especially porphyry copper and related deposits of western North America and South America), structural geology, igneous petrology, stable isotopes, isotopic ages
BS Geology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, 1975
MS Geology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, 1976
PhD Geology, Stanford University, 1984
Professor Emeritus Roland de Szoeke passed away in the third week of December, 2025. See the In Memory page for more information.
Upper-ocean and mixed-layer dynamics; global ocean circulation; large-scale heat transport in the ocean; coastal upwelling; the Atlantic circumpolar current.
Radiometric dating methods, esp. 40Ar/39Ar techniques
Geomagnetic field behavior, esp. Polarity reversals
History and timing of volcanic events
Impact history on the early Moon
Age of the Earth
A.B., Geology, Occidental College, 1959
Ph.D., Geology, University of California, Berkeley, 1963
