DEPARTMENT OF EARTH, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND PLANETARY SCIENCES

Dr. Chris Parendo specializes in applying novel isotope-ratio measurements and geochemical modeling to investigate various geological processes.  During his PhD at Harvard University, he developed optimized procedures for analysis of K isotopes by collision-cell MC-ICPMS, and he examined material transport in subduction zones by completing K-isotope studies on hydrothermally altered ocean crust, marine sediments, and island-arc lavas.  As a postdoc at Harvard, he produced Ca-isotope and elemental datasets on refractory inclusions (CAIs) in meteorites, and he employed kinetic modeling to elucidate rates of condensation in the early solar nebula.  Currently, as a postdoc at Northwestern University, he investigates the rates at which Enhanced Rock Weathering can remove atmospheric CO₂, contributing to understanding of carbon cycling.  He also is applying Ca isotopes to understand processes of carbonation of ultramafic rocks, with implications for C fluxes and subduction-zone processes.