Our research explores magma transport and crystallization processes in the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP), a large igneous province that was erupted on Pangaea just before the supercontinent rifted apart about 200 million years ago.
I work with Dr. LeeAnn Srogi (emerita professor, West Chester University) on diabase intrusions and remnant lava flows in the western Newark basin in Pennsylvania. The minerals in the diabase are layered to form beautiful, swirling patterns that are highly valued in building stone.
Our research uses geochemistry, mineralogy, petrology, mapping, and modeling to understand the physical properties of magma, the chemical and petrological evolution of magma during storage and transport, the deformation of intrusions during and after emplacement, and the connection between intrusive and volcanic rocks.
Publications
Willis, Kyle V.**, L.A. Srogi, T. Lutz, F.C. Monson, M. Pollock, (2017). Phase composition maps integrate mineral compositions with rock textures from the micro-meter to the thin section scale, Computers and Geosciences, 109, 162-177.
Srogi, L., T. Lutz, L.D. Dickson, M. Pollock, *K. Gimson, and *N. Lynde, (2010). Magmatic layering and intrusive plumbing in the Jurassic Morgantown Sheet, Central Atlantic Magmatic Province, in Fleeger, G.M., and Whitmeyer, S.J., eds., The Mid-Atlantic Shore to the Appalachian Highlands: Field Trip Guidebook for the 2010 Joint Meeting of the Northeastern and Southeastern GSA Sections: Geological Society of America Field Guide 16, doi:10.1130/2010.0016(04).
Presentations
Srogi, L., A. Soldati, T.M. Lutz, N. Watson, M. Pollock, (2020). Dynamic evolution of flow structures and viscosity during basaltic magma emplacement and crystallization in an upper-crustal sill: American Geophysical Union, V004-0006.
Srogi, L., T. Lutz, M. Pollock, N. Watson, S. Esrey, J. Budnovitch, A. Aungst, (2019). Characterizing and parameterizing basaltic upper-crustal magmatism as a complex system, Abstract V08/21, presented at 2019 General Assembly of IUGG, Montreal, Canada, July 8-18.
Leflar, E., M. Noone, D. Olsen, L.A. Srogi, T. Lutz, and M Pollock, (2015). New data for the 201-Ma Jacksonwald lava flow, Newark Basin, Pennsylvania: Flow characteristics, petrography, and mineral chemistry, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 47, 7, 576.
Wilis, K.V.**, L.A. Srogi, T. Lutz, P.J. Martinson, and M. Pollock, (2015). Calibrating backscattered electron image grayscale values with mineral compositions to generate phase composition maps at the thin section scale, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 47, 7, 576.
Srogi, L.A., K.V. Willis**, T. Lutz, P.J. Martinson, and M. Pollock, (2015). Gaining insight into magma crystallization processes by imaging spatial distributions of minerals and mineral compositions using composition-calibrated, grayscale-thresholded backscattered electron images of thin sections, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 47, 7, 576.
Martinson, P.J., L.A. Srogi, K.V. Willis**, T. Lutz, and M. Pollock, (2015). Geochemical, petrologic, and structural evidence for magmatic plumbing in the Morgantown Pluton and Jacksonwald Syncline, Western Newark Basin, Central Atlantic Magmatic Province, USA, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 47, 3, 61-6.
Dickson, L., *J. Zimmerman, *A. Krause, *B. Almeida, L. Srogi, M. Pollock, (2012). Magmatic differentiation in the dike section of the Morgantown Sheet, Southeastern Pennsylvania, GSA Abstracts with Programs, 44, 2, 80.
Srogi, L., T. Lutz, M. Pollock, L. Dickson, J. Bracken, and *K. Gimson, (2012). Contrasting structures resulting from magma supply at different levels within a diabase sheet, GSA Abstracts with Programs, 44, 2, 80.
*Krause, A., *J. Zimmerman, L. Dickson, L. Srogi, and M. Pollock, (2012). Chemical and textural analysis of modal layering in the Morgantown Sheet, Pennsylvania, GSA Abstracts with Programs, 44, 2, 80.
I.S. Theses
Samantha Spencer (2011) Petrogenesis of Jurassic diabase, southeast Pennsylvania
*undergraduate student, **graduate student