Asish Basu Explained

Asish R. Basu
Occupation:Geologist, academic, and researcher
Awards:Scholar Awardee 2005, American Federation of Mineralogical Society
Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Fellow, Geological Society of America
Education:B.Sc., Geology, Physics, Mathematics
M.Sc., Geology
M.S., Geophysical Sciences
Ph.D., Geology
Alma Mater:University of Calcutta
University of Chicago
University of California-Davis
Workplaces:University of Texas at Arlington
University of Rochester (1978-2013)

Asish R. Basu is a geologist, academic, and researcher. He is Professor Emeritus of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Texas at Arlington.[1] He is most known for his research in Earth Science -related subjects, such as isotope geochemistry, flood basalt volcanism, and mineralogy-petrology.

Basu has authored over 110 scientific papers in various magazines and journals, including Nature (journal), and the International weekly journal of Science.[2] He is on the editorial board of International Geology Review,[3] and has served as an executive committee member of the Volcanology, Geochemistry and Petrology section of American Geophysical Union for six years. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a member of the New York Academy of Sciences, and was appointed as a part of the five - member US Delegation to attend the First Symposium on the Quinghai-Tibet Plateau in Beijing, May 1980.[4]

Early life and education

Basu was born in India and educated in Presidency College. He then attended University of Calcutta, from which he received his bachelor's degree in Geology, Physics, and Mathematics in 1963, and a master's degree in geology in 1965. Followed by that, he earned another master's degree in Geophysical Sciences from the University of Chicago in 1969. He holds a Doctoral degree in geology from the University of California-Davis.[5]

Career

Basu started his academic career as an assistant professor of geological sciences at the University of Rochester in 1978. He was promoted to associate professor in 1981, and subsequently became a professor of geological sciences in 1987. After serving in this position for 26 years, he joined the University of Texas at Arlington in 2013 as a professor of earth and environmental sciences. He remained in this position until becoming professor emeritus in 2020.[1]

During this tenure at the University of Rochester, he was appointed as chair in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences from 1986 till 1998. Later on, in 2013, he held appointment as chair of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Texas, Arlington. He was an advisor and consultant of the International Atomic Energy Agency in its Isotope hydrology Division in studies of Groundwater Arsenic contamination in Bangladesh and India (West Bengal) and for ground water exploration in Jordan.[6]

Research

Mantle structure and meteorite impact

Basu has focused his research on mineralogy-petrology, volcanology, mantle petrology and isotope geochemistry,[7] and flood basalt volcanism, mass extinction, as well as meteorite impacts. He did work using Neodymium isotopes in mantle xenoliths and their host volcanic rocks to infer mantle heterogeneity and upper mantle structures. Also, by using Neodymium isotopes he showed a meteorite impact melted crustal rocks to form one of the largest Nickel deposits in Sudbury, Canada.[8] In recognition of his doctoral research in San Quentin, Baja California in Mexico and published during 1974–84, Volcan Basu was named in San Quentin Volcanic Field of Baja California for one of its extinct craters.[9] He has co-edited a volume in 1996 on Earth Processes: Reading the Isotopic Code, published by the American Geophysical Union as Monograph 95.[10]

Flood volcanism and mass extinctions

Basu has done work on mantle plume volcanism, their rapid eruptions, precise age relationships to two of the major geological boundaries coinciding with mass extinctions, their primitive compositions of deep-seated mantle origin, and their possible relationships to meteorite impacts. He argued that the Permian-Triassic boundary records the most severe mass extinctions in Earth's history. While focusing his research on the relationship that exists between Permian-Triassic boundary Crises and Siberian flood volcanism, he highlighted how volcanogenic sulfate aerosols and the dynamic impacts of the Siberian plume contributed to environmental extrema that consequently resulted in the mass extinctions.[11] Keeping in view that Siberian Traps represent one of the most voluminous flood basalt provinces on Earth, he focused his study on the quick eruption process of the Siberian Traps flood basalts at the Permo-Triassic boundary.[12] He also described the U-Th-Pb, Sm-Nd, and Rb-Sr isotopic systematics of mafic and ultramafic xenolithic rocks and associated megacrystic inclusions of aluminous augite and garnet, that occur in three alkalic volcanic suites: Kuandian in eastern Liaoning Province, Hanluoba in Hebei Province, and Minxi in western Fujian Province, China.[13] The second largest mass extinction in Earth history at the Cretaceous -Paleogene boundary (KPg), nearly 66 million years ago, is another of his major research activities on plume volcanism. His research has shown several relationships between onset of Deccan volcanism in India, its termination, its relationship to K-Pg mass extinction and the major phase of this volcanism, and coincidence in the precise timing of the Cretaceous - Tertiary Chicxulub impact in the Yucatán peninsula in Mexico at 66 Million years ago.[14] [15] [16]

Basu determined multiple trace element concentrations in volcanic glass, dredged from the Mid-Atlantic Ridges, from near the equatorial mid-Atlantic Ocean, characterizing the mid-oceanic ridge basalt source characteristics;[17] he also provided geochemical evidence of Strontium and Neodymium isotopes and several trace element compositions, including the rare earth elements, that during the middle-Tertiary the mid -oceanic ridges collided with western California, while providing an example of a framework for tectonic-geochemical signature to interpret geological records.[18] [19] By discovering in situ diamonds in ultrahigh-pressure peridotite minerals of the Himalayan ophiolite in the Indus Suture Zone, he with colleagues inferred this ophiolite sourced from the Mantle Transition Zone.[20] He and co-workers found meteorite fragments[21] at the Permian-Triassic boundary in Antarctica, a finding that was challenged by several scientists who opined the Siberian Flood Basalts as the sole cause of this P-T extinction, although small impact crater in South America of P-T age is acknowledged,[22] and an end-Permian impact crater offshore of north western Australia has also been proposed.[23]

Awards and honors

Bibliography

Books

Earth Processes: Reading the Isotopic Code (1996) ISBN 9780875900773

Selected articles

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Professor Emeritus Asish Basu – The University of Texas at Arlington – Earth & Environmental Science. blog.uta.edu.
  2. Web site: Asish Basu. scholar.google.com.
  3. Web site: International Geology Review. Taylor & Francis.
  4. Web site: Proceedings of Symposium on Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau: Beijing, China, May 25 - June 1, 1980 : (abstracts).. 10 February 1981. Acad. Sinica. Google Books.
  5. Web site: Faculty Profile. Faculty Profile - The University of Texas at Arlington.
  6. A report on isotope hydrology of groundwater in Bangladesh: implications for characterization and mitigation of arsenic in groundwater - IAEA Project BGD/8/016, 2000. Aggarwal. P.K.. Froehlich. K.. Basu. A.R.. Poreda. R.J.. Kulkarni. K.M.. Tarafdar. S.A.. Mohamed. Ali. Nasir. Ahmed. Alamgir. Hussain. Mizanur. Rahman. Syed Reazuddin. Ahmed. 10 February 2000.
  7. Major element, REE, and Pb, Nd and Sr isotopic geochemistry of Cenozoic volcanic rocks of eastern China: implications for their origin from suboceanic-type mantle reservoirs. 1 July 1991. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 105. 1. 149–169. 10.1016/0012-821X(91)90127-4. Basu . Asish R. . Wang Junwen . Huang Wankang . Xie Guanghong . Tatsumoto . Mitsunobu . 1991E&PSL.105..149B . free.
  8. Origin of the Sudbury Complex by Meteoritic Impact: Neodymium Isotopic Evidence. Billy E.. Faggart. Asish R.. Basu. Mitsunobu. Tatsumoto. 25 October 1985. Science. 230. 4724. 436–439. 10.1126/science.230.4724.436. 17816075 . 1985Sci...230..436F . 9330813 .
  9. Web site: Global Volcanism Program | Image GVP-03622. volcano.si.edu.
  10. Web site: Asish BASU | Professor and Chair | PhD | University of Texas at Arlington, TX | UTA | Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences | Research profile.
  11. Synchrony and Causal Relations Between Permian-Triassic Boundary Crises and Siberian Flood Volcanism. Paul R.. Renne. Michael T.. Black. Zhang. Zichao. Mark A.. Richards. Asish R.. Basu. 8 September 1995. Science. 269. 5229. 1413–1416. 10.1126/science.269.5229.1413. 17731151 . 1995Sci...269.1413R . 1672460 .
  12. Rapid Eruption of the Siberian Traps Flood Basalts at the Permo-Triassic Boundary. Paul R.. Renne. Asish R.. Basu. 12 July 1991. Science. 253. 5016. 176–179. 10.1126/science.253.5016.176. 17779134 . 1991Sci...253..176R . 6374682 .
  13. Sr, Nd, and Pb isotopes of ultramafic xenoliths in volcanic rocks of Eastern China: enriched components EMI and EMII in subcontinental lithosphere. Mitsunobu. Tatsumoto. Asish R.. Basu. Huang. Wankang. Wang. Junwen. Xie. Guanghong. 1 September 1992. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 113. 1. 107–128. ScienceDirect. 10.1016/0012-821X(92)90214-G. 1992E&PSL.113..107T .
  14. Widespread silicic and alkaline magmatism synchronous with the Deccan Traps flood basalts, India. Asish R.. Basu. Puloma. Chakrabarty. Dawid. Szymanowski. Mauricio. Ibañez-Mejia. Blair. Schoene. Nilotpal. Ghosh. R. Bastian. Georg. 15 December 2020. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 552. 116616. 10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116616. 2020E&PSL.55216616B . 225131898 . free.
  15. Early and Late Alkali Igneous Pulses and a High-3He Plume Origin for the Deccan Flood Basalts. A. R.. Basu. P. R.. Renne. D. K.. Dasgupta. F.. Teichmann. R. J.. Poreda. 13 August 1993. Science. 261. 5123. 902–906. PubMed. 10.1126/science.261.5123.902. 17783739. 1993Sci...261..902B . 23709446 .
  16. A precise geochemical volcano-stratigraphy of the Deccan traps. Asish R.. Basu. Aniki. Saha-Yannopoulos. Puloma. Chakrabarty. 1 December 2020. Lithos. 376-377. 105754. ScienceDirect. 10.1016/j.lithos.2020.105754. 2020Litho.37605754B . 225242153 .
  17. Mantle reservoir geochemistry from statistical analysis of ICP-MS trace element data of equatorial mid-Atlantic MORB glasses. Robyn E. Hannigan. Asish R. Basu. Friedrich. Teichmann. 1 June 2001. Chemical Geology. 175. 3. 397–428. ScienceDirect. 10.1016/S0009-2541(00)00335-1. 2001ChGeo.175..397H .
  18. Middle Tertiary Volcanism During Ridge-Trench Interactions in Western California. Cole, Ronald B.. Basu, Asish R.. 1992. Science. 258. 5083. 793–796. 10.1126/science.258.5083.793 . 2880331 . 17777034 . 1992Sci...258..793C . 8015659 . JSTOR.
  19. Web site: Nd-Sr isotopic geochemistry and tectonics of ridge subduction and middle Cenozoic volcanism in western California .
  20. Web site: In situ peridotitic diamond in Indus ophiolite sourced from hydrocarbon fluids in the mantle transition zone.
  21. Chondritic Meteorite Fragments Associated with the Permian-Triassic Boundary in Antarctica. Asish R.. Basu. Michail I.. Petaev. Robert J.. Poreda. Stein B.. Jacobsen. Luann. Becker. 21 November 2003. Science. 302. 5649. 1388–1392. 10.1126/science.1090852. 14631038 . 2003Sci...302.1388B . 15912467 .
  22. Geochronological constraints on the age of a Permo–Triassic impact event: U–Pb and 40Ar/39Ar results for the 40km Araguainha structure of central Brazil. E.. Tohver. C.. Lana. P. A.. Cawood. I. R.. Fletcher. F.. Jourdan. S.. Sherlock. B.. Rasmussen. R. I. F.. Trindade. E.. Yokoyama. C. R.. Souza Filho. Y.. Marangoni. 1 June 2012. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 86. 214–227. ScienceDirect. 10.1016/j.gca.2012.03.005. 2012GeCoA..86..214T .
  23. Bedout: A Possible End-Permian Impact Crater Offshore of Northwestern Australia. L.. Becker. R. J.. Poreda. A. R.. Basu. K. O.. Pope. T. M.. Harrison. C.. Nicholson. R.. Iasky. 4 June 2004. Science. 304. 5676. 1469–1476. 10.1126/science.1093925. 15143216 . 2004Sci...304.1469B . 17927307 .
  24. Web site: Fellowship - Current Fellows. www.geosociety.org.

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