Chris Hall Associate Research Scientist Ph.D. Physics, University of Toronto, 1982 Contact Information Dept of Geological Sciences 2534 CC Little Bldg 1100 North University Ave Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1005 Office location: 4505A C.C. Little Bldg. Phone: 734.764.6391 Fax: 734-763-4690 Email: cmhall@umich.edu
Fields of Study Primarily advanced argon geochronology, work in economic geology, paleoanthropology, volcanology, oceanography, tectonics, lunar geology, and sedimentology. The age range of materials studied span from over 4 billion years to under 50,000 years. I have been involved in pioneering the use of lasers and automation in argon geochronology, and in recent years we have adapted the technique to new levels of sophisitcation in dealing with extremely fine-grained material such as clay minerals. Publications Hall, C.M. and D. York, 1978, K-Ar and 40Ar/39Ar age of the Laschamp Geomagnetic polarity reversal, Nature, 274, 462-464. York, D., C.M. Hall, Y. Yanase, J.A. Hanes and W.J. Kenyon, 1981, 40Ar/39Ar dating of terrestrial minerals with a continuous laser, Geophys. Res. Lett., 8, p. 1136. LÈpez Martinez, M., D. York, C.M. Hall and J.A. Hanes, 1984, Oldest reliable 40Ar/39Ar ages for terrestrial rocks: Barberton Mountain komatiites, Nature, 307, p. 352. Hall, C.M., R.C. Walter, J.A. Westgate and D. York, Geochronology, stratigraphy and geochemistry of Cindery Tuff in Pliocene sediments of the Middle Awash, Ethiopia, 1984, Nature, 308, p. 26. Glass, B.P., C.M. Hall and D. York, 1986, 40Ar/39Ar laser-probe dating of North American tektite fragments from Barbados and the age of the Eocene-Oligocene boundary, Chem. Geol. (Isotope Geoscience), 59, 181-186. Lo Bello, Ph., G. FÔraud, C.M. Hall, D. York, P. Lavina and M. Bernat, 1987, 40Ar/39Ar step-heating and laser fusion dating of a Quaternary volcanic from Neschers, Massif Central, France: The defeat of xenocrystic contamination, Chem. Geol. (Isotope Geoscience), 66, 61-71. Layer P.W., C.M. Hall and D. York, 1987, The derivation of 40Ar/39Ar age spectra of single grains of hornblende and biotite by laser step-heating, Geophys. Res. Lett., 14, 757-760. Bogaard, P.vd., C.M. Hall, H.-U. Schmincke and D. York, 1989, Precise Laser 40Ar/39Ar Dating of a Cold to Warm Climate Transition in Central Europe, Nature, 342, 523-525. Baksi, A.K., C.M. Hall and D. York, 1991 Laser probe 40Ar/39Ar dating studies on sub-milligram whole-rock basalt samples: the age of the Steen's mountain geomagnetic polarity transition (revisited)', Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 104, 292-298. Dong, H., Hall, C.M., Peacor, D.R. and Halliday, A.N., 1995, Mechanisms of argon retention in clays revealed by laser 40Ar/39Ar dating. Science, 267, 355-359. Hall, C.M. and Farrell, J.W., 1995, Laser 40Ar/39Ar ages of tephra from Indian Ocean deep-sea sediments: Tie points for the astronomical and geomagnetic polarity time scales. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 133, 327-338. Hall, Chris M., 1995, Dating Quaternary Things, Geotimes, 40, 14-16. Hall, C.M., Higueras, P., Kesler, S.E., Lunar, R., Dong, H. and Halliday, A.N., 1997, Dating of alteration episodes related to mercury mineralization in the AlmadÔn district, Spain. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 148, 287-298. Dong, H., Hall, C.M., Halliday, A.N., Peacor, D.R., 1997, Laser 40Ar/39Ar dating of microgram-size illite samples and implications for thin section dating. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 61, 3803-3808. Ballentine, C.J. and Hall, C.M., 1999, Determining paleotemperature and other variables by using an error-weighted nonlinear inversion of noble gas concentrations in water. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta v 63, 2315-2336. Pettke, T., Halliday, A.N., Hall, C.M. and Rea, D.K., 2000, Dust production and deposition in Asia and the north Pacific ocean over the past 12 Myr. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., in press.