Asish Basu - PhD University of California, Davis 1975
Asish Basu

Contact Information


227 Hutchison Hall
Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Rochester
Rochester, NY  14627

Email:
Telephone: 585-275-2413
Fax: 585-244-5689



Click here to see a photo of "Volcán Basu", located near San Quintin, Baja, Mexico. In the late 70s, I did work on the geochemistry of xenoliths from this locale.
Related publications can be found here.



My primary research interest lies in applying trace elements, major elements and isotopes in studying Earth processes. Specifically, these include

  • Petrology and geochemistry of igneous and metamorphic rocks

  • Applications of Sm-Nd, Rb-Sr, 40Ar/39Ar and U-Pb systematics in geochronology and thermochronology

  • Isotope geochemistry and geochronology in studies of crust-mantle evolution and petrogenesis

  • Ground water and river water geochemistry and the marine Sr and Os isotopic record

  • Continental flood basalt geochemistry and geochronology and mantle plume volcanism

  • Mineralogy, petrology and geochemistry of impact craters and meteorites

  • Impact tracers at geological boundaries and mass extinction

  • Petrology and geochemistry of subduction-zone metamorphic rocks, mantle-wedge processes and tectonics

  • Archean geochronology, crustal evolution and sedimentary Fe-Mn ore deposition



  • We have used the above geochemical tools to study a wide variety of topics in earth sciences such as: Archean crustal evolution; meteorite impact origin of the Sudbury Complex, the P-T impact evidence from the discovery of chondritic meteorite fragments at the Graphite Peak, Antarctica; Mesozoic mantle plume volcanism; Tertiary arc-trench collision evidence, understanding volatile and mass transfer mechanisms in the mantle wedge; arsenic release mechanism in the Bengal Basin groundwater, submarine groundwater discharge and the marine Sr-isotopic record, Himalayan foreland basin weathering; and others.

    Get more information on current research projects here.