Dr Ralf Gertisser
- Title
- Reader in Mineralogy and Petrology
- Location
- William Smith Building : WS 1.42
- Role
- School Research Director
- Contact me
- Try my office or email me to make an appointment
- Phone
- (+44) 01782 7 33181
- r.gertisser@keele.ac.uk
Biography
I studied Geology at the University of Freiburg, Germany, and the University of Oregon, USA, and received a diploma degree (M.Sc.) in Geology from the University of Freiburg in 1996 with a thesis on the volcanological and geochemical evolution of Monte Fossa delle Felci (Salina, Aeolian Islands, Italy). In 2001, I obtained a doctorate (Dr. rer. nat.) in Mineralogy from the University of Freiburg with a study on the eruptive history and magmatic evolution of Merapi volcano, Indonesia.
After postdoctoral positions at the University of Freiburg and The Open University, I joined the School of Physical and Geographical Sciences at Keele University in 2005 as a lecturer in Mineralogy and Petrology. I was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2012.
Research and scholarship
I have a wide range of interests in the fields of igneous petrology and volcanology. At present, these are focused on the following themes:
- Volcanostratigraphy
- Magma genesis and evolution in volcanic arcs and other geodynamic settings
- Magmatic processes and their impact on eruption dynamics
- Rates and timescales of magmatic processes using short-lived isotopes
- Volatile behaviour in volcanic systems and the environmental impact of volcanic eruptions
- Emplacement of pyroclastic density currents
- Volcanic hazards and risks
Current study and field areas include:
- Aeolian Islands (Italy)
- Azores (Portugal)
- Santorini (Greece)
- Sunda arc, Indonesia (Merapi)
I am a member of the Keele Petrology Group, and research centre lead of the Centre of Geography, Geology and the Environment.
Teaching
Year 1
- ESC-10054 : Introduction to Mineralogy and Petrology (Module Leader)
Year 2
- ESC-20001 : Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology
Year 3
- ESC-30009 : Natural Hazards
- ESC-30026 : Independent Field Project
- ESC-30030 : Advanced Petrology and Structural Geology Field Course
- ESC-30032 : Geoscience: Independent Field Project
- ESC-30033 : Volcanic and Magmatic Processes (Module Leader)
Year 4 (MGeoscience)
- ESC-40004 : Geoscience Research Project
- ESC-40005 : Research in Context
- ESC-40006 : Research Report
- ESC-40015 : MGeoscience: Natural Hazards
MSc Geoscience Research - Programme Director
- ESC-40042 : Literature Review
- ESC-40043 : Specific Research Skills
- ESC-40044 : Dissertation
- ESC-40045 : Generic Research Skills
- ESC-40046 : Research Project Design and Management (Module Leader)
- ESC-40036 : Geoscience option module: Volcanic and Magmatic Processes (Module Leader)
Field Courses
- ESC-10034 : Pembrokeshire
- ESC-20001 : Shap, Cumbria
- ESC-20039 : North Wales
- ESC-30030 : Mull, Scotland
- ESC-30033/40036 : Southern Italy / Santorini (Field Course Leader)
Selected Publications
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2019. Advancing Santorini’s tephrostratigraphy: new glass geochemical data and improved marine-terrestrial tephra correlations for the past ~360 kyrs. Earth-Science Reviews. doi> full text>
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2019. Crustal CO2 contribution to subduction zone degassing recorded through calc-silicate xenoliths in arc lavas. Sci Rep, vol. 9(1), 8803. link> doi> full text>
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2019. Chromitite petrogenesis in the mantle section of the Ballantrae Ophiolite Complex (Scotland). LITHOS, vol. 344, 51-67. link> doi> full text>
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2019. Eruptive history of the Late Quaternary Ciomadul (Csomad) volcano, East Carpathians, part I: timing of lava dome activity. BULLETIN OF VOLCANOLOGY, vol. 81(4), Article ARTN 27. link> doi> full text>
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2019. Eruptive history of the Late Quaternary Ciomadul (Csomad) volcano, East Carpathians, part II: magma output rates. BULLETIN OF VOLCANOLOGY, vol. 81(4), Article ARTN 28. link> doi> full text>
Full Publications List show
Journal Articles
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2019. Advancing Santorini’s tephrostratigraphy: new glass geochemical data and improved marine-terrestrial tephra correlations for the past ~360 kyrs. Earth-Science Reviews. doi> full text>
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2019. Crustal CO2 contribution to subduction zone degassing recorded through calc-silicate xenoliths in arc lavas. Sci Rep, vol. 9(1), 8803. link> doi> full text>
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2019. Chromitite petrogenesis in the mantle section of the Ballantrae Ophiolite Complex (Scotland). LITHOS, vol. 344, 51-67. link> doi> full text>
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2019. Eruptive history of the Late Quaternary Ciomadul (Csomad) volcano, East Carpathians, part I: timing of lava dome activity. BULLETIN OF VOLCANOLOGY, vol. 81(4), Article ARTN 27. link> doi> full text>
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2019. Eruptive history of the Late Quaternary Ciomadul (Csomad) volcano, East Carpathians, part II: magma output rates. BULLETIN OF VOLCANOLOGY, vol. 81(4), Article ARTN 28. link> doi> full text>
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2019. Magmatic evolution and textural development of the 1739 CE Pietre Cotte lava flow, Vulcano, Italy. JOURNAL OF VOLCANOLOGY AND GEOTHERMAL RESEARCH, vol. 372, 1-23. link> doi> full text>
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2018. Peralkaline Felsic Magmatism of the Atlantic Islands. FRONTIERS IN EARTH SCIENCE, vol. 6, Article UNSP 145. link> doi> full text>
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2018. The cryptotephra record of the Marine Isotope Stage 12 to 10 interval (460-335 ka) at Tenaghi Philippon, Greece: Exploring chronological markers for the Middle Pleistocene of the Mediterranean region. QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS, vol. 200, 313-333. link> doi> full text>
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2018. Linking In Situ Crystallization and Magma Replenishment via Sill Intrusion in the Rum Western Layered Intrusion, NW Scotland. JOURNAL OF PETROLOGY, vol. 59(8), 1605-1642. link> doi> full text>
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2018. Structural features and stability of Spanish sepiolite as a potential catalyst. Applied Clay Science, vol. 162, 297-304. doi> link> full text>
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2018. Towards reconstruction of the lost Late Bronze Age intra-caldera island of Santorini, Greece. Sci Rep, vol. 8(1), 7026. link> doi> full text>
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2018. Emplacement of the Rocche Rosse rhyolite lava flow (Lipari, Aeolian Islands). BULLETIN OF VOLCANOLOGY, vol. 80(5), Article ARTN 48. link> doi> full text>
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2018. When the gods are angry: volcanic crisis and eruption at Bali's great volcano. Geology Today, vol. 34(2), 62-65. doi> full text>
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2018. Timescales of magma ascent and degassing and the role of crustal assimilation at Merapi volcano (2006-2010), Indonesia: Constraints from uranium-series and radiogenic isotopic compositions. GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA, vol. 222, 34-52. link> doi> full text>
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2017. Petrogenesis of the Peralkaline Ignimbrites of Terceira, Azores. JOURNAL OF PETROLOGY, vol. 58(12), 2365-2401. link> doi> full text>
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2017. The youngest volcanic eruptions in East- Central Europe—new findings from the Ciomadul lava dome complex, East Carpathians, Romania. Geology Today, vol. 33(2), 60-65. doi> link> full text>
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2017. Spherulite formation in obsidian lavas in the Aeolian Islands, Italy. PERIODICO DI MINERALOGIA, vol. 86(1), 37-54. link> doi> full text>
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2016. The "Roxolany Tephra' (Ukraine) - new evidence for an origin from Ciomadul volcano, East Carpathians. JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE, vol. 31(6), 565-576. link> doi> full text>
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2016. Transitions between explosive and effusive phases during the cataclysmic 2010 eruption of Merapi volcano, Java, Indonesia. BULLETIN OF VOLCANOLOGY, vol. 78(8), Article ARTN 54. link> doi> full text>
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2016. The latest explosive eruptions of Ciomadul (Csomad) volcano, East Carpathians - A tephrostratigraphic approach for the 51-29 ka BP time interval. JOURNAL OF VOLCANOLOGY AND GEOTHERMAL RESEARCH, vol. 319, 29-51. link> doi> full text>
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2016. Temporal evolution of a post-caldera, mildly peralkaline magmatic system: Furnas volcano, Sao Miguel, Azores. CONTRIBUTIONS TO MINERALOGY AND PETROLOGY, vol. 171(5), Article ARTN 42. link> doi> full text>
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2016. On the compositional variability of dalyite, K2ZrSi6O15: a new occurrence from Terceira, Azores. MINERALOGICAL MAGAZINE, vol. 80(4), 547-565. link> doi> full text>
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The great 1815 eruption of Tambora and future risks from large-scale volcanism. Geology Today, vol. 31(4), 132-136. doi> full text>
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2015. Geophysical surveys to help map buried igneous intrusions, Snowdonia, North Wales, UK. Geology Today, vol. 31(3), 109-115. doi> link> full text>
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2015. A Jáva-szigeti Merapi 2010-es kitörése: természet és társadalom kapcsolata a Föld legnépesebb vulkánzigetén. Magyar Tudomány, vol. 3, 311-321. full text>
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2014. Pre- and syn-eruptive degassing and crystallisation processes of the 2010 and 2006 eruptions of Merapi volcano, Indonesia. CONTRIBUTIONS TO MINERALOGY AND PETROLOGY, vol. 168(4), Article ARTN 1061. link> doi> full text>
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2013. Eruptive history and magmatic evolution of the island of Salina (central Aeolian archipelago). vol. 37, 155-211. doi>
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2013. Crustal Differentiation Processes at Krakatau Volcano, Indonesia. JOURNAL OF PETROLOGY, vol. 54(1), 149-182. link> doi> full text>
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2013. Magma Rheology Variations in Sheet Intrusions of the Ardnamurchan Central Complex (Scotland) Inferred from Gabbro Inclusion Characteristics. JOURNAL OF PETROLOGY, vol. 54(1), 75-102. link> doi> full text>
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2013. Textural characterization, major and volatile element quantification and Ar-Ar systematics of spherulites in the Rocche Rosse obsidian flow, Lipari, Aeolian Islands: a temperature continuum growth model. CONTRIBUTIONS TO MINERALOGY AND PETROLOGY, vol. 165, 373-395. doi>
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2012. Snapshots of ancient oceanic mantle captured in British and Irish ophiolites. GEOLOGY TODAY, vol. 28, 134-140. doi>
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2011. Merapi (Java, Indonesia): anatomy of a killer volcano. GEOLOGY TODAY, vol. 27, 57-62. doi>
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2010. Eyjafjallajökull volcano causes widespread disruption to European air traffic. GEOLOGY TODAY, vol. 26, 94-95. doi>
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2006. Explosive subaqueous volcanism; edited by J.D.L White, J.L. Smellie & D.A. Clague [Book Review]. GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE, vol. 143, 937-938.
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2005. Volcanic degassing; edited by C. Oppenheimer, D.M. Pyle & J. Barclay [Book Review]. GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE, vol. 142, 221-222.
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2004. Volcanoes of Southern Italy; by J. Guest and co-authors [Book Review]. GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE, vol. 141, 745.
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2000. Distribution, Thickness, Volume and Age of Pumiceous Tephra-Fall Deposits from Major Explosive Eruptions of Merapi Volcano, Central Java, Indonesia. DEUTSCHE GEOPHYSIKALISCHE GESELLSCHAFT - MITTEILUNGEN, vol. 4, 1-6.
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2000. Geochemistry and provenance of Devono-Carboniferous volcano-sedimentary sequences from the Southern Vosges Basin and the geodynamic implications for the Western Moldanubian Zone. Geological Society of London - Special Publications, vol. 179, 433-444.
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1998. The Holocene volcanic activity and magmatic evolution of Merapi volcano, Central Java: constraints from stratigraphic, chronologic and geochemical data. DEUTSCHE GEOPHYSIKALISCHE GESELLSCHAFT - MITTEILUNGEN, vol. 3, 15-19.
Chapters
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2013. Geological map of the island of Salina (Aeolian archipelago) [scale 1:10,000]. In The Aeolian Islands Volcanoes. Lucchi F, Peccerillo A, Keller J, Tranne CA, Rossi PL (Eds.). (vol. 37). The Geological Society of London.
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2010. Ignimbrite stratigraphy and chronology on Terceira Island, Azores. In Stratigraphy and Geology of Volcanic Areas. Groppelli and Viereck-Goette (Eds.). (vol. 464). Geological Society of America. doi>
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2000. Geochemistry and provenance of Devono-Carboniferous volcano-sedimentary sequences from the Southern Vosges Basin and the geodynamic implications for the Western Moldanubian Zone. In Orogenic Processes: Quantification and Modelling in the Variscan Belt. Franke W, Haak V, Oncken O, Tanner D (Eds.). (vol. 179). The Geological Society of London. doi>
Other
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2013. Geochemical dataset for Salina. link>
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2012. Santorini - Field trip guide. European Science Foundation – EARTHTIME-EU Workshop “Absolute Timescales for the Quaternary" (pp. 1-20).
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2012. Volatile and light lithophile trace element geochemistry of the 2010 and other recent eruptions of Merapi volcano, Java, Indonesia.
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2012. Volatile and light lithophile trace element geochemistry of the 2010 and other recent eruptions of Merapi volcano, Java, Indonesia.
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2011. Application of field observations and remote sensing to numerical modeling and hazard assessment of volcanic flows: an example from Merapi Volcano, Indonesia. CERAMAC Special Issue (vol. 3, pp. 35-38). Presses Universitaires Blaise Pascal, Clermont-Ferrand, France.
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2009. Evaluating block-and-ash flows: a GPR facies approach from Merapi Volcano, Central Java, Indonesia. Proceedings of the 5th International Workshop on Advanced Ground Penetrating Radar (pp. 78-82).
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2008. GPR facies analysis of block-and-ash flows, Merapi volcano, Central Java (Indonesia): new insights into deposit architecture and emplacement mechanisms. Proceedings of the 27th National Meeting of the Gruppo Nazionale di Geofisica della Terra Solida (pp. 458-462).
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2007. Dynamics and longevity of the magmatic system of Furnas volcano, Sao Miguel, Azores. GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA (vol. 71, p. A318). link>
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2007. Magma genesis and differentiation at Merapi volcano, Sunda arc, Indonesia. GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA (vol. 71, p. A1038). link>
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Forever blowing bubbles. The Royal Society, London - Summer Science Exhibition.
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2004. Forever blowing bubbles. link>
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2002. Eruptive History and Magmatic Evolution of Merapi Volcano, Central Java, Indonesia.
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2001. Eruptive history and magmatic evolution of Merapi Volcano (Java, Indonesia): inferences from new radiocarbon age determinations and geochemical and isotopic compositions of lavas and pyroclastic rocks. Abstract Volume – Journées Scientifiques, Clermont-Ferrand (pp. 77-80).
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2001. Gunung Merapi (Java, Indonesia): eruptive history and magmatic evolution of a high-risk volcano (translated title).
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2001. Gunung Merapi (Java, Indonesien): Eruptionsgeschichte und magmatische Evolution eines Hochrisiko-Vulkans. full text>
PGR Students
- Rebecca Wiltshire, Keele University (2016 – )
Topic: Pre-eruptive magmatic processes and volatile behaviour of medium-sized eruptions at subduction zone volcanoes - Sean Whitley, Keele University (2015 – )
Topic: Xenoliths as tracers of magmatic and intra-crustal processes at subduction zone volcanoes. Co-supervisor with R. Halama. - Luke Hepworth, Keele University (2018)
Linking in situ crystallisation and magma replenishment in the Rum Layered Intrusion, NW Scotland. Co-supervisor with B. O’Driscoll, S. Daly & C. Donaldson. - Adam Jeffery, Keele University (2016)
Petrogenesis and contrasting eruption styles of peralkaline silicic magmas from Terceira and São Miguel, Azores. - Liam Bullock, Keele University (2015)
Structure, emplacement and textural evolution of young obsidian lavas in the Aeolian islands, Italy. - Katie Preece, University of East Anglia (2014)
Transitions between effusive and explosive activity at Merapi volcano, Indonesia: a volcanological and petrological study of the 2006 and 2010 eruptions. Co-supervisor with J. Barclay & R. Herd. - Lizzie Derbyshire, Keele University (2014)
Upper mantle processes, serpentinisation and late-stage alteration preserved in British ophiolite peridotites and chromitites. Co-supervisor with B. O’Driscoll. - Sylvain Charbonnier, Keele University (2009)
The dynamics and hazards of small-volume pyroclastic flows: a case study of the 2006 eruption of Merapi volcano, Java, Indonesia.
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