Dr Carl Spandler uses petrology and geochemistry to research many different aspects of Earth Science, including the evolution of the Earth's mantle, the production of basaltic magmas, subduction zone processes, magmatic growth of island arcs and the formation of metalliferous ore deposits.  

His current research focuses on:

1. Hydrothermal mobility and concentration of rare earth elements in the crust. 

2. Crustal evolution of NE Australia and the SW Pacific

3. Geochemistry of high/ultrahigh pressure metamorphic rocks

4. Earth-scale geochemical cycling

Teaching

• EA2220: Minerals and Magmas (Level 2; TSV)
• EA2900: Introductory Field Geology (Level 2; TSV)
• EA3100: Igneous Petrology and Processes (Level 3; TSV)
• EA3130: Advanced Petrology (Level 3; TSV)
• EA3400: Ore Genesis (Level 3; TSV)
• EA5041: Igneous Petrology and Processes (Level 5; TSV)
• EA5330: Field Techniques (Level 5; TSV)

Interests

Research

• subduction zone recycling and arc magmatism • high-pressure metamorphism • mantle geochemistry • basaltic magmatism • element diffusion in minerals • magmatic ore deposits • rare earth element ore deposits • experimental petrology • analytical geochemistry • tectonics of the SW Pacific • evolution of the Australian continent

Experience

• 2015 to 2020 - Associate Professor, James Cook University (Townsville)
• 2011 to 2014 - Senior Lecturer, James Cook University (Townsville)
• 2008 to 2010 - Lecturer, James Cook University (Townsville)
• 2006 to 2008 - Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Bern (Switzerland)
• 2005 to 2006 - APD Postdoctoral Fellow, Australian National University (Canberra, Australia)
• 2000 to 2005 - PhD student, Australian National University (Canberra, Australia)

Research Disciplines

• Geology (0403)
• Geochemistry (0402)

Socio-Economic Objectives

• Expanding Knowledge (9701)
• Mineral Exploration (8401)

Awards

• 2010 - Deans Excellence in Research Prize, Faculty of Science and Engineeering

Fellowships

• 2012 - Future Fellowship
• 2005 - Australian Postdoctoral Fellowship

Memberships

• 2012 - National Committee for Earth Sciences, Australian Academy of Science

Other

• 2012 - Treasurer/conference organiser for the Specialist Group for Geochemistry, Mineralogy and Petrology, Geological Society of Australia

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Nazari-Dehkordi T, Spandler C, Oliver N and Wilson R (2020) Age, geological setting, and paragenesis of heavy rare earth element mineralization of the Tanami region, Western Australia. Mineralium Deposita, 55, pp. 107-130, DOI:10.1007/s00126-019-00878-4.
• Slezak P and Spandler C (2020) Petrogenesis of the Gifford Creek Carbonatite Complex, Western Australia. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 175, Article: 28, DOI:10.1007/s00410-020-1666-3.
• Cheng Y, Spandler C, Kemp A, Mao J, Rusk B, Hu Y and Blake K (2019) Controls on cassiterite (SnO2) crystallization: evidence from cathodoluminescence, trace-element chemistry, and geochronology at the Gejiu Tin District. American Mineralogist, 104 (1), pp. 118-129, DOI:10.2138/am-2019-6466.
• Nazari-Dehkordi T and Spandler C (2019) Paragenesis and composition of xenotime-(Y) and florencite-(Ce) from unconformity-related heavy rare earth element mineralization of northern Western Australia. Mineralogy and Petrology, 113 (5), pp. 563-581, DOI:10.1007/s00710-019-00676-w.
• Nazari-Dehkordi T, Huizenga J, Spandler C and Oliver N (2019) Fluid inclusion and stable isotope constraints on the heavy rare earth element mineralisation in the Browns Range Dome, Tanami Region, Western Australia. Ore Geology Reviews, 113, Article: 103068, DOI:10.1016/j.oregeorev.2019.103068.
• Slezak P and Spandler C (2019) Carbonatites as recorders of mantle-derived magmatism and subsequent tectonic events: an example of the Gifford Creek Carbonatite Complex, Western Australia. Lithos, 328, pp. 212-227, DOI:10.1016/j.lithos.2019.01.028.
• Todd C, Roberts E, Knutsen E, Rozefelds A, Huang H and Spandler C (2019) Refined age and geological context of two of Australia’s most important Jurassic vertebrate taxa (Rhoetosaurus brownei and Siderops kehli), Queensland. Gondwana Research, 76, pp. 19-25, DOI:10.1016/j.gr.2019.05.008.
• Cheng Y, Spandler C, Chang Z and Clarke G (2018) Volcanic–plutonic connections and metal fertility of highly evolved magma systems: a case study from the Herberton Sn–W–Mo Mineral Field, Queensland, Australia. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 486, pp. 84-93, DOI:10.1016/j.epsl.2018.01.012.
• Janots E, Austrheim H, Spandler C, Hammerli J, Trepmann C, Berndt J, Magnin V and Kemp A (2018) Rare earth elements and Sm-Nd isotope redistribution in apatite and accessory minerals in retrogressed lower crust material (Bergen Arcs, Norway). Chemical Geology, 484, pp. 120-135, DOI:10.1016/j.chemgeo.2017.10.007.
• Nazari-Dehkordi T, Spandler C, Oliver N and Wilson R (2018) Unconformity-related rare earth element deposits: a regional-scale hydrothermal mineralization type of northern Australia. Economic Geology, 113 (6), pp. 1297-1305, DOI:10.5382/econgeo.2018.4592.
• Rosenthal A, Yaxley G, Crichton W, Kovács I, Spandler C, Hermann J, Sándorné J, Rose-Koga E and Pelleter A (2018) Phase relations and melting of nominally 'dry' residual eclogites with variable CaO/Na2O from 3 to 5 GPa and 1250 to 1500 °C; implications for refertilisation of upwelling heterogeneous mantle. Lithos, 314-315, pp. 506-519, DOI:10.1016/j.lithos.2018.05.025.
• Slezak P, Spandler C and Blake K (2018) Ghosts of apatite past: using hyperspectral cathodoluminescence and micro-geochemical data to reveal multi-generational apatite in the Gifford Creek Carbonatite Complex, Australia. Canadian Mineralogist, 56 (5), pp. 773-797, DOI:10.3749/canmin.1800021.

More

ResearchOnline@JCU stores 74+ research outputs authored by A/Prof Carl Spandler from 2003 onwards.

Current and recent Research Funding to JCU is shown by funding source and project.

Advisory Accreditation: I can be on your Advisory Panel as a Primary or Secondary Advisor.

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

• Fluids in the lower crust: storage and mobilization (PhD , Secondary Advisor/AM)
• Genesis and Economic Potential of Mafic-Ultramafic Complexes in North Eastern Queensland (PhD , Secondary Advisor/AM)
• Establishing a Tectonic Framework for the Cretaceous break-up of Eastern Gondwana: Insights from Papua New Guinea and Offshore Geology of the Coral and Tasman Seas. (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Revealing the Enigmatic Alkaline Volcanism of the Rukwa Rift through Weather Resistant Minerals and their Inclusions (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Base Metal Genesis, Geology, and Structural Evolution of the Central Tommy Creek Domain, Mt Isa Inlier (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• The sedimentary evolution of Permian to Cretaceous basins in Queensland, Australia: insights from lithostratigraphy, U-Pb zircon geochronology, sedimentary facies, and provenance analysis (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Bentonite Tephrostratigraphy and High-Precision Geochronology of Richly Fossiliferous Upper Cretaceous Continental Strata in the Western Interior Basin, North America (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Mineral indicators of magma fertility in the Eastern Succession of the Mt Isa Inlier (PhD , Secondary Advisor/AM)
• Platinum Group Elements, Rare Earth Elements and Base Metals Investigation along the Indus Suture Zone, Kohistan Island Arc and Shyok Suture Zone, North Pakistan (PhD , Secondary Advisor/AM)

Completed

• Magma fertility related to Au - Cu mineralisation: evaluating the potential for linked porphyry Cu - Au deposits at depths, North Queensland, Australia (2018, Masters , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• The Origin and Evolution of Heavy Rare Earth Element Mineralisation in the Browns Range Area, Northern Australia (2018, PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• The Giant Antamina Deposit, Peru: Intrusive Sequence, Skarn Formation, and Mineralisation (2018, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Millennial-scale rates of erosion and change in relief in north Queensland using cosmogenic nuclide ¹⁰Be (2019, PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Petrology of the Gifford Creek Carbonatite Complex and the Yangibana LREE district, Western Australia: New insights from isotope geochemistry and geochronology (2019, PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Mesozoic detrital zircon provenance of Central Africa: implications for Jurassic-Cretaceous tectonics, paleogeography and landscape evolution (2019, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Paragenesis and zonation of alteration minerals, from root to base of lithocap, of the Far Southeast porphyry copper-gold deposit, Philippines (2020, Masters , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Gold-bismuth occurrences in the Kennedy igneous province, North Queensland: constraints on tectonic, magmatic and hydrothermal processes in intrusion-related gold deposits (2015, PhD , Secondary Advisor)

These are the most recent metadata records associated with this researcher. To see a detailed description of all dataset records, visit the JCU Research Data Catalogue.

• Spandler, C. (2015) Experimental study of trace element release during ultrahigh-pressure serpentinite dehydration. James Cook University
• Holm, R. (2015) Hafnium isotope data for the Simuku Igneous Complex, New Britain, Papua New Guinea. James Cook University
• Spandler, C. (2012) Carbonate assimilation during magma evolution at Nisyros (Greece), South Aegean Arc: evidence from clinopyroxenite xenoliths data. James Cook University
• Spandler, C. (2011) Rates of element diffusion in olivine and implications for the deep structure of the Earth. James Cook University
• Spandler, C. (2011) Fluid flow in metamorphic rocks from the Western Alps, Italy. James Cook University

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.