Alberto Patiñ Douce

Alberto E. Patiño Douce

Education:
Ph.D. in Geological Sciences, University of Oregon (1990)
Licenciado en Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad de Buenos Aires (1975)

Scientific interests:
Physical-chemistry of high-temperature planetary processes
Planetary volatiles
Atmosphere-lithosphere interactions in the terrestrial planets

Campo de Piedra Pómez, Antofagasta de la Sierra, Argentina

Courses Taught Recently

GEOL 4350/6350 - Geology of the Planets and Moons
GEOL 4300/6300 - Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology
GEOL 4020 - Internal Earth Processes
GEOL 3130 - Geology of the National Parks
GEOL 3100 - Geology of Argentina
GEOL 3080 - Volcanoes of the Puna Plateau
GEOL 1250 - Physical Geology
GEOL 1121 - Earth Processes and Environments
FRES 1020 - Landscapes of the Americas

Current Research Interests

My current research focuses on the use of accessory mineral phases to infer volatile reservoirs and pathways in the terrestrial planets. The focus so far has been on using phosphate assemblages (apatite ± merrillite) to determine halogen and water fugacities in the mantles of Mars, Earth and the Moon. In collaboration with Mike Roden, we are following a two-pronged approach based on microanalysis of phosphates, micas and amphiboles in planetary materials coupled to forward thermodynamic modeling of mineral-fluid equilibria. We are working on producing a comprehensive and internally-consistent data base of chemical compositions of halogen-bearing phases for all types of planetary samples, including basaltic and chondritic meteorites in addition to the large planetary bodies. Our immediate goal is to use these data and our thermodynamic models to improve our understanding of the distribution of halogens in the Solar System and of the halogen cycling pathways during planetary evolution. This is important because the halogens influence a wide range of planetary processes, such as mineral stabilities, chemical composition and transport properties of magmas, mantle metasomatism and biological processes, to a much greater degree than their relatively low bulk abundances would suggest.

In the recent past, my research focused on the petrology of the continental crust. Work by my research group showed that few granitoid rocks in nature are pure anatectic melts - peraluminous leucogranites are the only ones that fit this description. Most other granitoid rocks represent hybrid magmas, that contain variable but always important contributions of mantle material. We have shown experimentally that formation of hybrid granitic magmas is accompanied by formation of hybrid mafic cumulates (gabbronorites, norites, garnet pyroxenites) that resemble those that are thought to make up much of the lower continental crust. We have also shown that pressure and influx of aqueous fluids control the composition of granitic melts on an equal footing with source composition, showing that the assumption that “granites image their sources” is generally not warranted.

Cerro Galán ashflow, Antofagasta de la Sierra, Argentina

Other Academic Interests

Over many years of teaching Earth Sciences I have become aware of (and frustrated by) the widespread perception, among many geology students, that ours is a science that sits in splendid isolation of physics and chemistry. Because I feel very strongly that this is not the case, I have become interested in reshaping education in the Earth and Planetary Sciences by focusing on physics and chemistry first, and teaching students at all levels to think of planetary processes as nothing more than specific examples of physico-chemical processes. I am currently developing an innovative textbook along these lines, targeted at advanced undergraduate and graduate level students in geological and planetary sciences.

I have recently also become interested in using geology as an economic development tool in remote areas of Argentina, by helping local populations develop scientific- and adventure-tourism enterprises.

Sunset at the Antofagasta de la Sierra volcanic field, Argentina

Selected Recent Publications

Patiño Douce, A.E. and Roden, M., 2006. Apatite as a probe of halogen and water fugacities in the terrestrial planets. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 70, 3173-3196.

Roden, M., Patiño Douce, A. E., Jagoutz, E. and Laz’ko, E., 2006. High pressure petrogenesis of Mg-rich garnet pyroxenites from Mir Kimberlite, Siberia. Lithos, 90, 77-91.

Patiño Douce, A. E., 2005. Vapor-absent melting of tonalite at 15 - 32 kbar. Journal of Petrology, 46, 275-290.

Skjerlie, K.P . and Patiño Douce, A.E., 2002. The fluid-absent partial melting of a zoisite-bearing quartz eclogite from 1.0 to 3.2 GPa; implications for melting in thickened continental crust and for subduction zone processes. Journal of Petrology 43, 291-314.

Otamendi, J.E., de la Rosa, J., Patiño Douce, A.E. and Castro, A, 2002. Rayleigh Fractionation of Heavy Rare Earths and Yttrium During Metamorphic Garnet Growth. Geology 30, 159-162.

Otamendi, J.E., and Patiño Douce, A.E., 2001. Partial Melting of Aluminous Metagreywackes in the Northern Sierra de Comechingones, Central Argentina. Journal of Petrology 42, 1751-1772.

Patiño Douce, A.E., 1999. What do experiments tell us about the relative contributions of crust and mantle to the origin of granitic magmas? In: Understanding granites. Integrating New and Classical Techniques, A. Castro, C. Fernandez and J.L. Vigneresse, eds. Geological Society, London, Special Publication 158, 55-75.

Patiño Douce, A.E., and Harris, N., 1998. Experimental constraints on Himalayan Anatexis. Journal of Petrology, 39, 689-710.

Patiño Douce, A.E., 1997. Generation of metaluminous A-type granites by low-pressure melting of calc-alkaline granitoids. Geology, 25, 743-746.