Katarina Bjorkman
Adjunct
Research Areas:
Academic Qualifications:
PhD Geology 2017, Centre for Exploration Targeting, School of Earth Sciences, The University of Western Australia
PhD Thesis: 4D crust-mantle evolution of the Western Superior Craton: implications for Archaean granite- greenstone petrogenesis and geodynamics
My PhD project integrated field investigations with U-Pb, Lu-Hf, and O isotopes in igneous-hosted zircons from the Wabigoon superterrane in order to provide new insight into Archean crust-mantle, geodynamic and metallogenic evolution. In-situ growth culminating in collision best accounts for the isotopic record of the Superior Craton, which links to the spatial and temporal distribution of mineral systems.
HBSc Geology 2011, Lakehead University
Honours Thesis: Alteration Geochemistry of the Hackett River Main Zone VMS Deposit
Honours Thesis: Alteration Geochemistry of the Hackett River Main Zone VMS Deposit
Research Interests:
My research interests lie in applying innovative field and analytical techniques to resolve questions of how, where and when continents formed, particularly in old crust where the record is increasingly biased and incomplete, and the potential for new insight is high. In addition to providing a home for humanity, continental crust hosts the majority of our resources and is instrumental in regulating atmosphere and ocean chemistry. Since ~70% of the continental crust is estimated to have been present by the end of the Archean, the early rock record is critical to our understanding of crustal evolution. Archean rocks differ in composition and structure from those of today, and it remains unclear whether modern analogues are comparable to the processes and settings which shaped Earth’s early evolution. Questions at the heart of Archean crustal growth such as the timing of the onset of subduction and petrogenesis of bimodal granite-greenstone terranes have captured my curiosity.