Research Focus
An overview that will blow your damn mind:
Have you ever wondered what the coolest and most interesting rock class on the Earth is? Fear not, it is the potassic and highly-alkaline mafic and ultramafic rocks. You're welcome. What makes them so flipping awesome? Great question, I am glad you asked! Strap in, this is gonna be fun! The melts that eventually crystallise to form these rock upon exhumation are among the most important, enigmatic, and potentially essential magmas for the transport of life essential elements like hydrogen, carbon, phosphorous, nitrogen, and sulfur. These melts also capture some of the first melting processes, and allow us a direct insight in to how nutrients and metals are sequentially concentrated and exchanged between the Earth's mantle, crust, and atmosphere. Bloody hell! That's sick! How do you do that? I use a range of analytical geochemical and experimental techniques to determine the mineralogy and chemistry of rocks collected in the field to piece together their genesis. Sometimes I even make my own rocks in the large hydraulic presses that can cook a rock up to 1800°C, which is a bit like the mad scientist equivalent of baking a cake by building the oven first out of lego. I choose to work with some of the most complex rocks and melts, including some we only think might exist, because the formation of these geological materials encapsulate the true diversity of processes that have made our planet a habitable and cosy home for species like us! Aside from this I have a general interest in high-pressure semi-conductor research, mineral physics, FAIR data and open science principles, and occassionally mummified cats. Want to know more? Check out my publications below, or shoot me an email. Stay funky! Ant
Doctoral AbstractThesis
The origin of ultrapotassic magmas
- Supervisor
- Prof. Stephan Klemme, PhD
- Doctoral Subject
- Mineralogie
- Targeted Doctoral Degree
- Dr. rer. nat.
- Awarded by
- Department 14 – Geosciences
Geodynamic setting is proposed to have a significant impact on the generation and enrichment processes that promote potassic and ultra-potassic volcanism. This is through a range of processes that have been shown to enable development of low-degree partial melts that may be economically significant. These processes include plume-induced melting, sequential metasomatism through fluid fluxing from subduction, partial melting of subducting slabs, and more recently partial melting of a metasomatized lithosphere through Edge-Driven Convection (EDC). In the context of Eastern Australia, these processes are invoked to help explain the generation of a suite of highly enriched leucite-bearing basalts currently known as the Eastern Australian Leucitites. These rocks are distinctly underexamined compared to, e.g., the flood basalts that occur to the East and North that have been linked to processes such as plume induced melting and subduction. The leucite-bearing localities of the broader Eastern Australian Potassic suite (hereafter EAPS) have only had a handful of studies undertaken on them despite making up the 700 km southern section of the world’s longest inferred continental hotspot track, the Cosgrove hotspot track. The majority of these studies predate modern analysis techniques, such as electron microprobe and laser ablation, and do not include all occurrences. While most of the EAPS have major element and some mineral chemistry data, they lack minor element chemistry, whole-rock trace element data, and more specifically mineral trace element analyses. Importantly, as most potassic and ultra-potassic magmas are best explained by evoking hypotheses that rely on the presence and melting of heavily-metasomatized lithosphere, these mineral and trace element data have become critical to understanding the processes at play. Thus, to be able to understand the magmatic source and degree of metasomatism exhibited by these magmas we must look to isotope and mineral minor and trace element data which are lacking from this suite of rocks. This project aims to collect the necessary new data required to interrogate the range of mantle sources present beneath the EAPS and the degree of metasomatism present, while looking to understand links between melt generation and geodynamic environment.
CV
Academic Education
- Doktor der Naturwissenschaften, Institut für Mineralogie, Universität Münster, Münster, Germany (co-tutelle).
- PhD in Earth and Planetary Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia (co-tutelle).
- Master of Research in Earth & Planetary Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
- Bachelor of Science in Geology & Geophyscis, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
Positions
- Demonstrator & Tutor (sessional teaching; classes up to 40 students), Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Macquarie University. Sydney, Australia.
- Lab Manager - High Pressure Experimental, Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Macquarie University. Sydney, Australia.
- Research Assistant - Sydney Water project, Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Macquarie University. Sydney, Australia.
- Summer Research Intern - Sample Environment Team, Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). Lucas Heights, Sydney, Australia.
Publications
- Lanati, AW, Shea, JJ, Foley, SF, Klöcking, M, Rohrbach, A, and Klemme, S. . “The East Australian Potassic Suite: Petrology, Bulk Chemistry, and Origin.” Preprint. Journal of Petrology egag002. doi: 10.1093/petrology/egag002.
Abstract in a Digital Collection (Conferences)
- Lanati, Anthony, Rohrbach, Arno, Tiraboschi, Carla, Berndt, Jasper, Klemme, Stephan, and Foley, Stephen. . “Experimentally determined melting and phase relations in a volatile bearing mica-pyroxenite system – implications for mantle metasomatism and alkaline volcanism.” contribution to the EGU General Assembly, Vienna doi: 10.5194/egusphere-egu25-18420.
Research Articles in a Digital Collection
- Lanati, Anthony, Shea, Joshua, Foley, Stephen, Klöcking, Marthe, Rohrbach, Arno, and Klemme, Stephan. . “The Petrology, Geochemistry, and Origin of the East Australian Potassic Suite: Bulk Chemistry and Genesis.” Preprint. EarthArXiv doi: 10.31223/X5613R.
- Shea, J., Foley, S., Dalton, H., Lanati, A., and Phillips, D. . “Mid-Jurassic volcanism at Bokhara River and insights into metasomatism in the lithospheric mantle of the Thomson Orogen, eastern Australia.” Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 71 (3): 325–337. doi: 10.1080/08120099.2024.2302360.
Research Article (Journal)
- Amulele, G, Manghnani, MH, Werheit, H, Lanati, AW, and Clark, SM. . “Electrical conductivity of B∼4.3C boron carbide up to 9 GPa and 1273 K.” Solid State Sciences 140: 107185–107185. doi: 10.1016/j.solidstatesciences.2023.107185.
Review Article (Journal)
- Klöcking, Marthe, Wyborn, Lesley, Lehnert, Kerstin A., Ware, Bryant, Prent, Alexander M., Profeta, Lucia, Kohlmann, Fabian, Noble, Wayne, Bruno, Ian, Lambart, Sarah, Ananuer, Halimulati, Barber, Nicholas D., Becker, Harry, Brodbeck, Maurice, Deng, Hang, Deng, Kai, Elger, Kirsten, Franco, Gabriel de Souza, Gao, Yajie, Ghasera, Khalid Mohammed, Hezel, Dominik C., Huang, Jingyi, Kerswell, Buchanan, Koch, Hilde, Lanati, Anthony W., ter Maat, Geertje, Martínez-Villegas, Nadia, Nana Yobo, Lucien, Redaa, Ahmad, Schäfer, Wiebke, Swing, Megan R., Taylor, Richard J.M., Traun, Marie Katrine, Whelan, Jo, and Zhou, Tengfei. . “Community recommendations for geochemical data, services and analytical capabilities in the 21st century.” Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 351: 192–205. doi: 10.1016/j.gca.2023.04.024.
- Amulele, GM, Lanati, AW, and Clark, SM. . “The electrical conductivity of albite feldspar: Implications for oceanic lower crustal sequences and subduction zones.” American Mineralogist 107: 614–624. doi: 10.2138/am-2021-7836.
- Shea, JJ, Ezad, IS, Foley, SF, and Lanati, AW. . “The Eastern Australian Volcanic Province, its primitive melts, constraints on melt sources and the influence of mantle metasomatism.” Earth-Science Reviews 233: 104168–104168. doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2022.104168.
Research Articles (Journals)
- Amulele, G.M., Lanati, A.W., and Clark, S.M. . “The electrical conductivity of albite feldspar: implications for oceanic lower crustal sequences and subduction zones.” American Mineralogist -. doi: 10.2138/am-2021-7836.
- Pintér, Z., Foley, S.F., Yaxley, G.M., Rosenthal, A., Rapp, R.P., Lanati, A.W., and Rushmer, T.A. . “Experimental investigation of the composition of incipient melts in upper mantle peridotites in the presence of CO2 and H2O.” Lithos 396-397. doi: 10.1016/j.lithos.2021.106224.
- Pintér, Z, Foley, S.F, Yaxley, G.M, Rosenthal, A, Rapp, R.P, Lanati, A.W, and Rushmer, T. . “Experimental investigation of the composition of incipient melts in upper mantle peridotites in the presence of CO2 and H2O.” Lithos 396–397: 1–15. doi: 10.1016/j.lithos.2021.106224.
Research Articles in a Digital Collection
- Lanati, A, Pourret, O, Jackson, C, and Besançon, L. . “Research Funding Bodies Need to Follow Scientific Evidence: Preprints Are Here to Stay.” Preprint. OSFPreprints Center for Open Science. doi: 10.31219/osf.io/k54pe.
- Amulele, GM, Lanati, AW, and Clark, SM. . “Electrical conductivity studies on silica phases and the effects of phase transformation.” American Mineralogist 104: 1800–1805. doi: 10.2138/am-2019-7120.
- Raymond, C.A., Bevitt, J.J., Tristant, Y., Power, R.K., Lanati, A.W., Davey, C.J., Magnussen, J.S., and Clark, S.M. . “Recycled Blessings: An Investigative Case Study of a Rewrapped Egyptian Votive Mummy Using Novel and Established 3D Imaging Techniques.” Archaeometry 61 (5). doi: 10.1111/arcm.12477.
- Amulele, G.M., Lanati, A.W., and Clark, S.M. . “Electrical conductivity studies on silica phases and the effects of phase transformation.” American Mineralogist 104 (12). doi: 10.2138/am-2019-7120.
- Raymond, C.A., Bevitt, J.J., Tristant, Y, Power, R.K, Lanati, A.W, Davey, C.J., Magnussen, J.S, and Clark, S.M. . “Recycled blessings: an investigative case study of a rewrapped Egyptian votive mummy using novel and established 3D imaging techniques.” Archaeometry 61: 1160–1174. doi: 10.1111/arcm.12477.
Research Article in Edited Proceeding (Conference)
- Amulele, G, Clark, S, and Lanati, A. . “THE INFLUENCE OF HYDROUS MELTING ON THE ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY IN FELDSPAR LABRADORITE.” in 113th Annual Meeting: proceedings, edited by GSACordilleran Section. Boulder, Colorado: Geological Society of America. doi: 10.1130/abs/2017cd-293039.
Abstracts in Edited Proceedings (Conferences)
- Lanati, A, Amulele, G.M, and Clark, S.M. . “Hydrous melting of labradorite: an electrical conductivity investigation.” in Geological Society of Australia Abstract, edited by Geological Society of Australia. Sydney: Geological Society of Australia.
- Lanati, A, Amulele, G.M, and Clark, S.M. . “Silica phases and the effects of phase transformation on electrical conductivity – just another mineral to test or a major player in the Earth's field?” in Geological Society of Australia - Earth Sciences Student Symposium 2017, Vol. 125 of Geological Society of Australia Abstracts, edited by Anita S. Andrew. Adelaide: Geological Society of Australia.
Anthony Lanati
Professur für Petrologie (Prof. Klemme)
