Dr Philip Leat

I am an academic geologist having worked for 35 years in post-doctoral geosciences research. My expertise is in volcanic geochemistry volcanic processes igneous petrology and tectonic processes. My research has encompassed on-shore and marine settings including continental rifts subduction zones intraplate volcanism and ancient volcanic systems including in Antarctica Africa USA South America and UK. I have considerable logistic and field experience of working in challenging polar environments.

Submarine volcanic and geological processes
Geological and geochemical evolution of volcanic arcs
Magmatic evolution of continental rifts and basaltic and silicic large igneous provinces
Generation of granites and crustal melting
Generation of basalts and mantle processes
Bathymetry and sea floor processes in submarine volcanic areas and continental margins
Crustal evolution of the Antarctic continent from petrological, geochronological, geophysical and sediment provenance data
Evolution of the Scotia Sea, Southern Ocean and Drake Passage ocean gateway
Active margin terrane accretion from geochemical data

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Leat, P.T. and Riley, T.R. 2021. Antarctic Peninsula & South Shetland Islands I. Volcanology. In: Smellie, J., Panter, K. and Geyer, A. (Eds.) Volcanism in Antarctica: 200 Million Years of Subduction, Rifting and Continental Break-Up. Geological Society, London, Memoirs, 55, 185-212.

Leat, P.T. and Riley, T.R. 2021. Antarctic Peninsula & South Shetland Islands II. Petrology. In: Smellie, J., Panter, K. and Geyer, A. (Eds.) Volcanism in Antarctica: 200 Million Years of Subduction, Rifting and Continental Break-Up. Geological Society, London, Memoirs, 55, 213-226.

Gibson, S.A., Rooks, E.E., Day, J.A., Petrone, C.M. and Leat, P.T. 2020. The role of sub-continental mantle as both "sink" and "source" in deep Earth volatile cycles. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 275, 140-162.

Leat, P.T. and Francis, J. 2019. Geology of Graham Land. In Fox, A. (Ed.), Antarctic Peninsula A Visitor's Guide, Natural History Museum, London, Second Edition, 18-31.

Leat, P.T., Jordan, T.A., Flowerdew, M.J., Riley, T.R., Ferraccioli, F. and Whitehouse, M.J. 2018. Jurassic high heat production granites associated with the Weddell Sea rift system, Antarctica. Tectonophysics, 722, 249-264. 

Jordan, T.A., Ferraccioli, F. and Leat, P.T. 2017. New geophysical compilations link crustal block motion to Jurassic extension and strike-slip faulting in the Weddell Sea rift system of West Antarctica. Gondwana Research, 42, 29-48.

Leat, P.T., Fretwell, P.T., Tate, A.J., Larter, R.D., Martin, T.J., Smellie, J.L., Jokat, W. and Bohrmann, G.  2016. Bathymetry and geological setting of the South Sandwich Islands volcanic arc. Antarctic Science, 28, 293-303.

Leat, P.T., Day, S.J., Tate, A.J., Martin, T.J., Owen, M.J. and Tappin, D.R. 2013. Volcanic evolution of the South Sandwich volcanic arc, South Atlantic, from multibeam bathymetry. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 265, 60-77.

Tonarini, S., Leeman, W.P. and Leat, P.T. 2011. Subduction erosion of forearc mantle wedge implicated in the genesis of the South Sandwich Islands (SSI) arc: evidence from boron isotope systematics. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 301, 275-284. 

Haase, K.M., Beier, C., Fretzdorff, S., Leat, P.T., Livermore, R.A., Barry, T.L., Pearce, J.A. and Hauff, F. 2011. Magmatic evolution of a dying spreading axis: evidence for the interaction of tectonics and mantle heterogeneity from the fossil Phoenix Ridge, Drake Passage. Chemical Geology, 280, 115-125.

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Volcanic geology and geochemistry

No teaching currently undertaken

Antarctic Geosciences

Fellow of the Geological Society
Books Series Editor, Geological Society London 

Polar Medal 2007

Ph.D. University of Lancaster UK 1983