RGB cathodoluminescence image of quartz from Yosemite N.P.	the painting Merced River, Yosemite Valley by Albert Bierstadt, 1866	Cross-polarized microscope image of quartz and fuchsite from the Jack Hills metaconglomerate- host of 4.4 billion year old zircons.	fire inside the earth as envisioned by Kircher in Mundus Subterraneous
view from below of a platinum crucible in a 1-atm vertical tube furnace	sunrise over the mountains of Dalmatia seen from the Adriatic	granitic rocks of the White Mountain Batholith	synthetic amphibolite grown at 900 °C and 1.5 GPa in a piston cylinder

Michael R. Ackerson

Petrology and Experimental Geochemistry

Welcome to my professional homepage. I am a Research Geologist and Curator in the Department of Mineral Sciences at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

My primary academic interest is to better understand the evolution of continental crust (spatially and temporally) through natural and experimental observations. To date, my primary geochemical tools have been trace and minor elements in minerals and melts.

Please browse the links at the top of the page to learn more about my research, and feel free to contact me with any questions. Thanks for stopping by!

RGB cathodoluminescence image of quartz from Yosemite N.P.

the painting Merced River, Yosemite Valley by Albert Bierstadt, 1866

Cross-polarized microscope image of quartz and fuchsite from the Jack Hills metaconglomerate- host of 4.4 billion year old zircons.

fire inside the earth as envisioned by Kircher in Mundus Subterraneous

view from below of a platinum crucible in a 1-atm vertical tube furnace

sunrise over the mountains of Dalmatia seen from the Adriatic

granitic rocks of the White Mountain Batholith

synthetic amphibolite grown at 900 °C and 1.5 GPa in a piston cylinder

Michael R. Ackerson

Petrology and Experimental Geochemistry