BYG Canada ep. 3 – Sudbury Bonus Episode with Catherine Farrow

Episode summary introduction: In this episode of Backyard Geology, Serena takes you to Sudbury, ON where a massive meteorite impact 1.85 billion years ago left an economically significant scar on the terrane. Now one of the top global producers of nickel, Sudbury’s owes it fame to Earth’s own natural smelting event that brought precious metals up to the surface where they can be mined today.

Resources:

Barnes, S.J., Holwell, D.A. and Le Vaillant, M., 2017. Magmatic Sulfide Ore Deposits. Elements, 13(2), pp.89–95.

Lightfoot, P., 2016. Nickel Sulfide Ores and Impact Melts: Origin of the Sudbury Igneous Complex. 1st ed. Nickel Sulfide Ores and Impact Melts: Origin of the Sudbury Igneous Complex.

Mungall, J.E., Ames, D.E. and Hanley, J.J., 2004. Geochemical evidence from the Sudbury structure for crustal redistribution by large bolide impacts. Nature, 429(6991), pp.546–548.

Natural Resources Canada, 2021. Minerals and Mining. [online] Government of Canada.

Host Information: Serena is a Canadian graduate student currently studying geochemistry at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Her research focuses on isotopic analysis of Hawaiian volcanos to understand the dynamic and complicated evolution of the Hawaiian mantle plume. She completed her undergraduate degree at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, where the exposed sedimentary rocks of the Niagara Escarpment and enthusiastic professors quickly fostered a love for all things geology. Like other member of the Geology Podcast Network, Serena loves to talk rocks and is invested in sharing her love for our planet through podcasts, educational programs for kids, and even museum exhibits. Despite heavy seasonal rains in Vancouver, she is an avid cyclist, which unfortunately does not bode well with inevitable stop for round hounding, but is an excellent way to thoroughly explore the Earth and all its glorious geologic features.