Edmond Mathez
Curator and Professor
Physical Sciences, Earth & Planetary Sciences
Download Curriculum Vitae
mathez@amnh.org
212-769-5381
Education
- University of Washington, Ph.D., 1981
- University of Arizona, M.S., 1971
- Franklin and Marshall College, B.A., 1968
Research Interests
Dr. Mathez's expertise lies in igneous petrology and geochemistry. He studies the thermodynamics and high-temperature geochemistry of the volatile elements, platinum group elements (PGEs), and sulfide systems, and the geochemistry of carbon. He has two main lines of research. The first concerns the solidification behavior of large basaltic magma chambers. The questions relate to the dynamics of these systems as they solidify and how the lithologies, rock textures, and geochemistry change in the process. In order to investigate these issues, he has been studying the Bushveld Complex of South Africa, the Great Dyke of Zimbabwe, and the Stillwater Complex of Montana. In the Bushveld Complex, he has been mapping underground in the platinum mines and is now studying its Upper Zone. Dr. Mathez's second main field of research concerns the geochemistry of carbon, which includes everything from its behavior in the deep earth and during volcanic eruption to how it is distributed in crustal rocks. In the latter, carbon is present in minute quantities on crack surfaces and appears to exert a major control on the electrical conductivity of the rocks. This is important because electrical conductivity is one of the few means of characterizing the deeper levels of the crust that cannot be directly observed. Currently, Mathez and his colleagues are studying how and when carbon forms on crack surfaces in rocks and whether or not this may be related to earthquake precursory electrical phenomena.
Teaching Experience
- Faculty Appointments
- Adjunct Research and Adjunct Senior Research Scientist, Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, 1989-present
- Visiting Professor, Geologic Museum, University of Copenhagen, 2000-01
- Chercheur Associe, Laboratoire des Isotopes Stables, Université de Paris VI et VII, 1986-1987
- Research Assistant Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Washington, 1983-1987
- Geologist, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Washington, 1973-1983
- Graduate Advisees: D. Nicholson, C. Peach, R. Hutchinson, R. Fogel, R. Kinzler, G. Amason, G. Grecco, J. Mey, S. Mondal, A. Merlini, I. VanTongeren
