Andrew Macfarlane

Associate Professor
Ph.D. Harvard, 1989
B.Sc. (Honors), Oregon State University, 1983

Office:
PC 314
Ph: (305) 348-3980
email:macfarla@fiu.edu

Radiogenic isotope, lead, strontium, neodymium, ore deposits, Andes, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, metals, archaeology, archaeometallurgy.

Research Interests

Dr. Macfarlane studies the processes that form metal ore deposits in the context of the geologic evolution of their regional environment. Research in Peru has centered on clarifying how Andean base and precious metal deposits form and where the ore metals come from. Radiogenic isotope studies have shown that metals in the majority of Andean deposits come mainly from associated igneous rocks. Magmatic processes thus strongly affect the metal budgets of most Andean ore systems. Stable isotope and fluid inclusion systematics have been used to study secular changes in hydrothermal fluid chemistry and temperature. Regional studies of lead isotopes have revealed four distinct lead isotopic provinces in the central Andes of Peru, eastern Bolivia, northern Argentina and Chile. These provinces appear to reflect fundamentally different magma sources in different geologic settings. With the establishment of a new mass spectrometry laboratory in the department, future research will investigate the isotopic systematics of ores and important crustal elements of the Andes, Central America and the Caribbean. These investigations constrain the ages of important geological events in the South American cordillera and the isotopic histories of basement terranes in addition to revealing the sources of elements in magmas and of metals in ores.
In parallel with studies of ore genesis and the geologic sources of ore metals, Dr. Macfarlane is conducting research into the sources of metals in pre-Colombian artifacts from the Andean Altiplano, northern Chile, southern Mexico and Ecuador. Lead isotope data on ore deposits from these regions is directly applicable to investigations of the provenance of copper and bronze artifacts, which reveal how metallurgical technology developed and spread in the Western Hemisphere.
Other research interests include studies of the geochemistry of Precambrian weathering profiles to constrain the chemistry, especially the oxygen content, of the early earth's atmosphere. Isotope geochronology and rare earth element geochemistry of these weathering profiles are used to illuminate their geologic history and the chemical environment of their formation.

Selected Publications

Macfarlane, A.W., in prep., Metal Sources and source processes in Central Andean ore deposits: for submission to Economic Geology.
Macfarlane, A.W. and Lechtman, H.L., in prep., Lead isotope tracer studies of archaeological copper and bronze: constraints on metal sources in their geological context.
Panneerselvam, K., Macfarlane, A.W., and Salters, V.J.M, 2006, Provenance of ore metals in base and precious metal deposits of central Idaho as inferred from lead isotopes: Econ. Geol., v. 101, p. 1063-1078.
H.N. Lechtman and A.W. Macfarlane, 2006, Bronce y redes de intercambio durante el Horizonte Medio: Tiwanaku y San Pedro de Atacama: in Esferas de Interacción Prehistóricas y Fronteras Nacionales Modernas: Los Andes Sur Centrales, Institute of Andean Research, New York, p. 503-540.
H.N. Lechtman and A.W. Macfarlane, 2005, La metalurgica de bronce de los Andes sur centrals: Tiwanaku y San Pedro de Atacama: Estudios Atacameños, v. 30, p. 7-27.
Kamenov, G., Macfarlane, A.W. and Riciputi, L., 2002, Sources of lead in the San Cristobal, Pulacayo and Potosî mining districts, Bolivia, and a reevalation of regional ore lead isotope provinces: Economic Geology, v. 97, P. 573-592.
Macfarlane, A.W., Tosdal, R.M., Vidal, C. and Paredes, J., 1999, Geologic and isotopic constraints on the age and origin of auriferous-quartz veins in the Parcoy mining district, Pataz, Perú, in Geology and Ore Deposits of the Central Andes, Skinner, B.J. ed., Society of Economic Geologists Spec. Pub. #7, Ch. 10, p. 267-279.
Macfarlane, A.W., 1999, The lead isotope method for tracing the sources of metal in
archaeological artifacts: strengths, weaknesses and applications in the Western Hemisphere: Metals in Antiquity, BAR International Series 792, p. 310-316.
Macfarlane, A.W., 1999, Isotopic studies of northern Andean crustal evolution and ore metal sources, in Geology and Ore Deposits of the Central Andes, Skinner, B.J. ed., Society of Economic Geologists Spec. Pub. #7, Ch. 6, p. 195-217.
Kamenov, G., Macfarlane, A.W. and Riciputi, L., 2002, Sources of lead in the San Cristobal, Pulacayo, and Potosí mining districts, Bolivia, and a reevaluation of regional ore lead isotope provinces: Economic Geology, v. 97, p. 573-592.
Arfstrom, C., Macfarlane, A.W. and Jones, R.J., 2000, Distributions of Mercury and Phosphorous in Everglades soil from Water Conservation Area 3A, Florida, USA: Water, Air and Soil Pollution, v. 121, p. 133-159.
Macfarlane, A.W., 1999, Isotopic studies of northern Andean crustal evolution and ore metal sources, in Geology and Ore Deposits of the Central Andes, Skinner, B.J. ed., Society of Economic Geologists Spec. Pub. #7, Ch. 6, p. 195-217.
Macfarlane, A.W., Tosdal, R.M., Vidal, C. and Paredes, J., 1999, Geologic and isotopic constraints on the age and origin of auriferous-quartz veins in the Parcoy mining district, Pataz, Perú, in Geology and Ore Deposits of the Central Andes, Skinner, B.J. ed., Society of Economic Geologists Spec. Pub. #7, Ch. 10, p. 267-279.
Hosler, D. and Macfarlane, A.W., 1996, Copper sources, metal production and metals trade in Late Postclassic Mesoamerica: Science, v. 273, p.1814-1819.
Macfarlane, A.W., 1999, The lead isotope method for tracing the sources of metal in archaeological artifacts: strengths, weaknesses and applications in the Western Hemisphere: Metals in Antiquity, BAR International Series 792, p. 310-316.
Macfarlane, A.W., Prol-Ledesma, R.-M. and Conrad, M.D., 1994, Isotope and fluid inclusion studies of the geological and hydrothermal evolution of the Hualgayoc district, northern Peru: the provenance of hydrothermal elements: Internat. Geol. Rev. 36, p. 645-677.
Macfarlane, A.W., Danielson, A., Holland, H.D. and Jacobsen, S.B., 1994, REE chemistry and Sm-Nd systematics of late Archean weathering profiles in the Fortescue Group, Pilbara Block, Western Australia, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 58, p. 1777-1794.
Macfarlane, A.W., Marcet, P., LeHuray, A.P., and Petersen, U., 1990, Lead isotopic provinces of the central Andes inferred from ores and crustal rocks: Economic Geology, v. 85, no. 8, p. 1857-1880.

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4/21/99