Rosemary Hickey-Vargas

Professor
Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1983
B.S. (Honors) Hofstra University, 1977

Office:
PC 315B
Ph: (305) 348-3471
email: hickey@fiu.edu

Geochemistry, Igneous Petrology

Research Interests

Ongoing research centers on the use of geochemistry to explore processes affecting the earth's mantle and crust.  A special research emphasis is on igneous rocks from convergent plate margins, conducted with funding from NSF's Margins and Subduction Factory Initiatives.  Study areas include the active volcanoes and basement rocks of the central Chilean Andes (Southern Volcanic Zone) and the island arcs and marginal basins of the western Pacific Ocean.

Investigations in the Chilean Andes have been conducted since 1981 in collaboration with colleagues at Chilean universities.  Fieldwork and sample collection in southern Chile is an important part of this research, while geochemical analyses are done in the Earth Sciences Department at FIU.  Research topics center on the relationship between magma chemistry, edifice type, crustal structure, as well as subduction parameters. 

Research in the Philippine Sea region has continued since 1979, with emphasis on Tertiary and older rocks associated with the Izu-Bonin-Mariana arc.  Most sampling for this research has been done by DSDP, ODP and IODP drilling, and dredging cruises.  Current research centers on the oldest igneous activity in this region and its implications for the early tectonic history of the Western Pacific and subsequent arc magmatism.

Selected  publications:

Recent Publications

Hickey-Vargas, R., Bizimis, M., Deschamps, A. (2008) Onset of the Indian Ocean isotopic signature in the Philippine Sea Plate: Hf and Pb isotope evidence from Early Cretaceous terranes, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 268, 255-267.

Reagan, M.K., Hanan, B.B., Hartman, B.S., Heizler, M.T., Hickey-Vargas, R. (2008) Petrogenesis of volcanic rocks from Saipan and Rota, Mariana Islands and implications for the evolution of nascent island arcs, Journal of Petrology,49, 441-464.

Chris Dale, Ambre Luguet, Colin G Macpherson, Graham Pearson, and Rosemary Hickey-Vargas (2008) Extreme platinum-group element fractionation and variable Os isotope compositions in Philippine Sea basalts: Tracing mantle source heterogeneity, Chemical Geology, 248, 213-238.

Hickey-Vargas, R., Savov, I., Bizimis, M., Ishii, T. and Fujioka, K. (2006) Origin of diverse geochemical signatures in igneous rocks from the West Philippine Basin: Implications for tectonic models, In: "Back-Arc Spreading Systems: Geological, Biological, Chemical and Physical Interactions", D. Christie, editor, AGU Geophysical Monograph Series 166, 287-303.

Hickey-Vargas, R. (2005) Basalt and tonalite from the Amami Plateau, Northern West Philippine Basin: New age and geochemical results and their petrologic and tectonic implications, The Island Arc 14, 653-665.

Savov, I., Hickey-Vargas, R., D'Antonio, M., Ryan, J. and Spadea, P. (2005) Petrology and geochemistry of West Philippine Basin back-arc basin basalts and early Palau-Kyushu arc volcaniclasts from ODP Leg 195, Site 1201: Implications for the evolution of the Izu-Bonin- Mariana arc, Journal of Petrology, doi: 10.1093/petrology/egi075, 23pp.

Vergara, M., L. López-Escobar, J.L. Palma, R. Hickey-Vargas and C. Roeschmann (2004) Late tertiary volcanic episodes in the area of the city of Santiago de Chile: new geochronological and geochemical data, Journal of South American Earth Sciences, Volume 17, 227-238.

Hickey-Vargas. R., Lopez-Escobar, L., Moreno, R., Clavero, J., Lara, P and Sun, M. (2004) Magmatic evolution of Villarrica Volcano, in Lara, L.E. and Clavero, J. (Eds) Villarrica Volcano (39.5°S), Southern Andes, Chile, Servicio Nacional de Geologia y Mineria, Boletin No. 61, pp. 39-45.

Hickey-Vargas, R., Sun, M., Lopez-Escobar, L., Moreno-Roa, H., Reagan, M.K., Morris, J.D. and Ryan, J.G. (2002) Multiple subduction components in the mantle wedge: Evidence from eruptive centers in the Central Southern volcanic zone, Geology, 30, 199-202.

Recent Research Funding:

NSF - EAR:  SOTA 2007 and GSA Field Forum in Chile: Support for Graduate Students and Latin American Participation (6/1/2006-5/31/2007, $50K), co-PI with Rebecca Lange (U. Michigan) and Anita Grunder (Oregon State)

NSF - EAR: Generation of Basaltic and Andesitic Magma in the Central Southern Volcanic Zone (1/1/2004-12/31/2007, $180K)

NSF - OCE (Margins): Collaborative Research: Magma Generation in the early Mariana Arc system revisited (1/2001 - 12/2005, $380K), collaboration with Mark Reagan (U Iowa) and Barry Hanan (San Diego State U).

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11/01/02