Overview

My research focuses on extraterrestrial chrome-spinel grains that are dispersed in sediment throughout the Jurassic time period. The unique oxygen isotopes and elemental abundances of chrome-spinels can be used to determine their parent meteorite type, which is used to reconstruct meteorite populations throughout Earth’s history. Throughout this work I have become skilled in the use of the Electron Microprobe and Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer. I also have experience using FIB and TEM to use the compositions of silicate inclusions in chrome-spinels for parent meteorite classifications.

Laboratory affiliations:

Advanced Electron Microscopy Center at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa.
UH W. M. Keck Cosmochemistry Laboratory

Publication:

Schmitz, B., Yin, Q. Z., Sanborn, M. E., Tassinari, M., Caplan, C. E., and Huss, G. R. (2016) A new type of solar-system material recovered from Ordovician marine limestone. Nature Communications, 7(1), 1-7.

Caplan, C. E., Huss, G. R., Ishii, H. A., Bradley, J. P., Schmitz, B., & Nagashima, A. K. (2021). The classification of relict extraterrestrial chrome spinels using STEM techniques on silicate inclusions. Meteoritics & Planetary Science.

Mailing Address
Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
1680 East-West Road, POST Building, Office 602
Honolulu, HI 96822