Tony Maria at Mexico's Popocatépetl Volcano in January 2004.

 

Tony Maria

While my degree is in geological oceanography, I have wide-ranging interests in physical and geochemical processes associated with volcanism in both the marine and terrestrial environments. As a faculty member at the University of Southern Indiana, my teaching efforts are focused on physical geology, igneous and metamorphic petrology, volcanology, and oceanography.

My research interests are generally related to better understanding volcanic activity. I recently completed a project with the late Jim Luhr in which we worked to characterize the pre-eruptive volatile conditions associated with Quaternary lamprophyres from western Mexico through analysis of melt inclusions trapped within olivine crystals. Our work supports a vein-wallrock melting relationship between the lamprophyres and the predominant calcalkaline andesites in this area, contributing to our understanding of the volcanism and the role of volatile-rich primary melts at subduction zones. Another interest of mine is quantitative shape analysis of volcanic particles as a means of insight to volcanic processes such as magma fragmentation and volcaniclastic transport and deposition. My efforts have focused on image-analysis based on fractal geometry, and I am convinced that sucl analysis of volcanic particles can become a valuable tool for hazard assessments of volcanic areas.

Education:

• Ph.D.: Geological Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Graduate School of Oceanography; major advisor: Dr. Steven Carey, 2000
• M.S.: Geology, University of Rhode Island; major advisor: Dr. O. Don Hermes, 1990
• B.A.: Geology, Dartmouth College, 1984

Research Interests:

• Petrology and geochemistry of magmas, with particular interest in melt inclusion analysis to constrain the roles of volatiles in various volcanic environments.
• Origins of explosive volcanism; generation and deposition of volcaniclastic deposits.
• Quantitative shape analysis and application to volcanic particles.

Publications:

Maria, A. and Luhr, J., 2008, Lamprophyres, basanites, and basalts of the western Mexican Volcanic Belt: Volatile contents and a vein-wallrock melting relationship, Journal of Petrology , 49(12): 2123-2156; doi: 10.1093/petrology/egn060.

Maria, A.H., Millam, E.L., and Wright, C.L., in review , Using a differential scanning calorimeter to teach phase equilibria to students of igneous and metamorphic petrology, Journal of Geoscience Education.

Maria, A.H. and Counts, R.C. (eds.), 2008, From the Cincinnati Arch to the Illinois Basin: geological field excursions along the Ohio River Valley, Geological Society of America Field Guide 12 , 180 pp.

Maria, A. and Carey, S., 2007, Quantitative discrimination of magma fragmentation and pyroclastic transport processes using the fractal spectrum technique, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research , doi: 10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2006.12.006.

Maria, A., and Carey, S., 2002, Using fractal analysis to quantitatively characterize the shapes of volcanic particles: Journal of Geophysical Research, 107(B11), 2283, doi: 10.1029/2001JB000822.

Maria, A., and Hermes, O.D., 2001, Volcanic rocks in the Narragansett Basin, southeastern New England: petrology and significance to early basin formation: American Journal of Science, 301(3), p. 286312.

Maria, A., Carey, S., Sigurdsson, H., Kincaid, C., and Helgadóttir, G., 2000, The source and dispersal of jökulhlaup sediments discharged to the sea following the 1996 Vatnajökull eruption: Geological Society of America Bulletin, 112(10), p. 15071521.

Carey, S., Maria, A., and Sigurdsson, H., 2000, Use of fractal analysis for discrimination of particles from primary and reworked jökulhlaup deposits in SE Iceland: Journal of Geothermal and Volcanologic Research, 104, p. 6580.

Carey, S., Maria, T., and Cornell, W., 1998, Processes of volcaniclastic sedimentation during the early growth stages of Gran Canaria based on sediments from Site 953: in Weaver, P.P.E., Schmincke, H.-U., Firth, J.V., and Duffield, W., eds., Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results, 157, p. 183200.

Abstracts:

Maria, A. and Luhr, J., 2008, Volatile contents and degassing of primitive magmas from the western Mexican Volcanic Belt, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs , 42nd annual meeting, North-Central Section, 2008.

Maria, A. and Luhr, J., 2007, Glass inclusions and volatile contents of lamprophyres, basanites, and basalts from the Colima Rift and Mascota Volcanic Field (western Mexican Volcanic Belt), Eos Trans. , AGU, 88(52), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract V31H-07.

Maria, A., 2006, Quantitative characterization of basaltic tephra using the fractal spectrum technique, Eos Trans. , AGU, 87(52), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract V33B-0667.

Earles, J.E. and Maria, A., 2005, Insights into impact processes from morphology of glassy clasts of the Onaping Formation, Sudbury, Ontario, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs , 39th annual meeting, North-Central Section, 2005.

Maria, A. and Luhr, J., 2004, Melt inclusions in Late-Quaternary basanites and minettes of the Colima Rift and Mascota Volcanic Field (western Mexico Volcanic Belt), Neogene-Quaternary   Continental Margin Volcanism– Proceedings of the GSA Penrose Conference at Metepec, Puebla, Mexico , 2004

Maria, A., and Luhr, J., 2002, Glass inclusions and melt volatile contents in the Late-Quaternary basanites and minettes of Colima (Mexico): Eos Transactions, American Geophysical Union, 83(47), Fall Meet. Suppl., xxxx-xx.

Maria, A., and Carey, S., 2001, Fractal spectrum technique for quantitative analysis of volcanic particle shapes: Eos Transactions, American Geophysical Union, 82(47), Fall Meet. Suppl., F1377.

Maria, T.H., 1999, Significance of South Attleboro volcanics, Massachusetts: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 31(2), No. 05356.

Maria, A., Carey, S., Sigurdsson, H., Kincaid, C., 1998, The source and fate of jökulhlaup sediments discharged to the sea following the 1996 Vatnajökull eruption: Eos Transactions, American Geophysical Union, 79(17), Spring Meet. Suppl., S13.