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Sarah E. Mazza
Sarah E. Mazza
Assistant Professor
Assistant Professor
Department of Geosciences
Department of Geosciences
Lab Updates:
Lab Updates:
Fall 2025: We're a small group this year (compared to last year!), but still working on cool rocks. Rheva and I are continuing to learn how to run piston cylinder experiments. Leah now has thin sections from the Shoals, which are full of olivine! Interested in joining EMUS? There are still many questions to answer with both the Bermuda and New England samples!
Summer 2025: Leah and Ashley joined the EMUS lab for SURF. We spent a short 2 days at the Shoals Marine Lab checking out Mesozoic dikes. Leah contiued her analysis of those samples back at Smith while Ashley explored the mineralogy of dredge samples collected from the Bermuda seamount.
The 2024-2025 academic year was jammed packed with student research. The EMUS (Extraordinary Magmas Understood at Smith) research group was larger than ever, with 6 students working on a variety of different projects. The students all presented their research at SEGSA in Harrisongburg, VA in March.
Recent Publications and Press Releases
Recent Publications and Press Releases
Cold slab subduction associated with the formation of Pangea inferred from Zn isotopes from Bermuda
new paper in Geology (September 2025)
Open access paper available at:
Interview in Knowable Magazine about the formation of Eastern North America (March 2025)
https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/physical-world/2025/how-did-eastern-north-america-form
New Science Communication Article published in The Science Breaker!
New Science Communication Article published in The Science Breaker!
Tracing dehydration and melting of the subducted slab with tungsten isotopes in arc lavas
Tracing dehydration and melting of the subducted slab with tungsten isotopes in arc lavas
• The W stable isotope composition of bulk earth is equal to chondritic values.
• Cold, fluid-rich subduction zones have heavy W stable isotope compositions.
• Hot, dry subduction zones have light W stable isotope compositions.
• Tungsten stable isotopes have the potential to be used as a tracer for slab dehydration.
Sampling the Volatile Rich Transition Zone beneath Bermuda
Sampling the Volatile Rich Transition Zone beneath Bermuda
Cool Scientific Discoveries from Friends and Colleagues:
Cool Scientific Discoveries from Friends and Colleagues:
The Solar System. Dinosaurs. Donkey Kong. What is the missing link? Surprisingly enough, it's meteorites. They explain our past, constructed our present, and could define our future.
Fun, pop-science book on Meteorites by friend and colleague Greg Brennecka.
https://www.harperacademic.com/book/9780063078956/impact/
“The significant reorganization of the early solar system due to giant planet migration has hampered our understanding of where planetary bodies formed,” said Jan Render, LLNL postdoc and lead author of the paper. “And by looking at the makeup of meteorites from the asteroid belt, we were able to determine that their parent bodies must have accreted from materials from very different locations in the early solar system.”
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