John A. Tarduno

John A. Tarduno

William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor

Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences

Professor of Physics and Astronomy

Dean of Research, Arts, Sciences & Engineering

PhD, Stanford University, 1987

Office Location
227 Hutchison Hall
Telephone
(585) 275-5713
Web Address
Website

Office Hours: By appointment

Curriculum Vitae

Research Overview

Research Interests

  • Paleomagnetism, Geomagnetism and Geodynamics, including rates of plate tectonic, hotspot and polar motion, mantle plume volcanism, long-term history of Earth's magnetic field (paleointensity, paleosecular variation and reversal frequency), origin of the geodynamo, magnetic shielding and planetary habitability, decay of the modern dipole magnetic field and archeomagnetism
  • Cretaceous climate
  • environmental magnetism.

Courses Offered (subject to change)

  • EES 102Q/202:  Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Mountain Ranges in California: A Field Quest
  • EES 252/454:  Marine Geology
  • EES 255/455:  Planetary Science
  • EES 256/456:  Paleomagnetism
  • EES 258/458:  Hotspots and Plate Motions

Selected Publications

  • Tarduno, J.A. et al., Hadean to Palaeoarchean stagnant-lid tectonics revealed by zircon magnetism, Nature, 618, 531-536, 14 June 2023, doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06024-5
  • Tarduno, J.A., et al., Absence of a long-lived lunar paleomagnetosphere, Science Advances, 7 (32), eabi7647, 04 August 2021, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abi7647 
  • Tarduno, J.A., et al., Paleomagnetism indicates that primary magnetite in zircon records a strong Hadean field, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 117 (5), 2309-2318, 2020. (doi:10.1073/pnas.1916553117)
  • Tarduno, J.A., et al., A Hadean to Paleoarchean geodynamo recorded by single zircon crystals, Science, 349, 521-524, 2015. (doi:10.1126/science.aaa9114)
  • Tarduno, J.A., et al., Evidence for a dynamo in the main group pallasite parent body, Science, 338, 939-942, 2012. (doi:10.1126/science.1223932)
  • Tarduno, J.A., et al., Geodynamo, Solar wind, and magnetopause 3.4 to 3.45 billion years ago, Science, 327, 1238-1240, 2010. (doi:10.1126/science.1183445)
  • Tarduno, J.A., H.-P. Bunge, N. Sleep and U. Hansen, The bent Hawaiian-Emperor hotspot track: Inheriting the mantle wind, Science, 324, 50-53, 2009. (doi:10.1126/science.1161256)
  • Tarduno, J.A., Hotspots Unplugged, Scientific American, 298, 88-93, 2008.
  • Tarduno, J.A., R.D. Cottrell, M.K. Watkeys and D. Bauch, Geomagnetic field strength 3.2 billion years ago recorded by single silicate crystals, Nature, 446, 657-660, 2007.
  • Tarduno, J.A., et al., The Emperor Seamounts: Southward motion of the Hawaiian Hotspot plume in Earth's mantle, Science, 301, 1064-1069, 2003.
  • Tarduno, J.A., Cottrell, R.D. and Smirnov, A.V., The Cretaceous Superchron geodynamo: Observations near the tangent cylinder, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 99, 14020-14025, 2002.
  • Tarduno, J.A., R.D. Cottrell and A.V. Smirnov, High geomagnetic field intensity during the mid-Cretaceous from Thellier analyses of single plagioclase crystals, Science, 291, 1779-1783, 2001.
  • Tarduno, J.A., et al., Evidence for Extreme Climatic Warmth from Late Cretaceous Arctic Vertebrates, Science, 282, 2241-2244, 1998.
  • Tarduno, J.A., and J. Gee, Large-scale motion between Pacific and Atlantic hotspots, Nature, 378, 477-480, 1995.
  • Tarduno, J.A., and W.W. Sager, Polar standstill of the mid-Cretaceous Pacific plate and its geodynamic implications, Science, 269, 956-959, 1995.
  • Tarduno, J.A., et al., Rapid Formation of Ontong Java Plateau by Aptian Mantle Plume Volcanism, Science, 254, 399-403, 1991.

Research Opportunities for Graduate Students

Opportunities are available for graduate students interested in multidisciplinary laboratory and field research with the Paleomagnetic Research Group (see www.ees.rochester.edu/pmag/). We have projects studying large-scale plate and mantle motions in the Pacific, Africa and High Arctic. Our archeomagnetic work is focused on southern Africa. Our studies of the oldest magnetic fields and the early Earth are based on field studies in South Africa, Swaziland, Australia and Canada. Opportunities are available for students with Earth Science backgrounds with the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and with degrees in Physics through the Department of Physics and Astronomy. (See http://www.pas.rochester.edu/people/faculty/tarduno_john/index.html)

Contact: john.tarduno@rochester.edu