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Professor James Scott

James Scott

Professor
Otago Teaching Excellence Award (2021)
Division of Sciences Early Career Teacher of the Year (2017)
University of Otago Early Career Award for Distinction in Research (2017)
Otago University Top 12 Post-graduate Supervisor (2014)
Otago University Division of Science Post-graduate Supervisor of the Year (2014)

Office – Gn5
Tel +64 3 479 7520
Email james.scott@otago.ac.nz
Google Scholar: James M. Scott
ORCID orcid.org/0000-0001-5185-6261

Mt Irene, the prominent peak in the distance, is composed of a metasedimentary upper plate separated from a meta-igneous lower plate by the extensional Mt Irene Shear Zone. Murchison Mountains, Fiordland.1. Mt Irene, the prominent peak in the distance, is composed of a metasedimentary upper plate separated from a meta-igneous lower plate by the extensional Mt Irene Shear Zone. Murchison Mountains, Fiordland. A rare fine-weather day in Port Ross in the Sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands.2. A rare fine-weather day in Port Ross in the Sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands. Postdoctoral Fellow Matt Tarling and undergraduate students traversing Haast Schist on the shores of Lake Hawea3. Postdoctoral Fellow Matt Tarling and undergraduate students traversing Haast Schist on the shores of Lake Hawea. Red Mountain in the Southern Alps is a slice of accreted oceanic lithospheric mantle4. Red Mountain in the Southern Alps is a slice of accreted oceanic lithospheric mantle

Teaching

Research interests

  • Meteorites, solar nebula and planetary geology
  • Earth’s mantle composition, history, melting
  • Metamorphism, mineralisation and fluid flow
  • Subduction zones and element redistribution
  • Environmental geochemistry
  • Zealandia’s tectonics

Visit the Structure, Environment, Reaction, Petrology (SERP) group research page for more information

Postgraduate students

Postgraduate student opportunities with James Scott

Postgraduate students supervised by James Scott

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Publications

Delpech, G., Scott, J. M., Grégoire, M., Moine, B. N., Li, D., Liu, J., … Giret, A. (2023). The subantarctic lithospheric mantle. In A. P. Martin & W. van der Wal (Eds.), The geochemistry and geophysics of the Antarctic mantle: Geological Society Memoir (Vol. 56). (pp. 115-132). Bath, UK: Geological Society of London. doi: 10.1144/M56-2020-13

Scott, J. M., Negrini, M., Faure, K., Palmer, M. C., Knaack, D. R., & Leybourne, M. I. (2023). Multi-zone fusion crust formation and classification of the 2004 Auckland meteorite (L6, S5, and W0). Meteoritics & Planetary Science. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1111/maps.13955

Scott, J., & Bannister, M. (2022). Equivalent to 1,800 tonnes of TNT: What we now know about the meteor that lit up the daytime sky above New Zealand. The Conversation. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/equivalent-to-1-800-tonnes-of-tnt-what-we-now-know-about-the-meteor-that-lit-up-the-daytime-sky-above-new-zealand-186636

Shao, Y., Prior, D. J., Scott, J. M., Kidder, S. B., & Negrini, M. (2022). Alpine fault-related microstructures and anisotropy of the mantle beneath the Southern Alps, New Zealand. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 127(11), e2022JB024950. doi: 10.1029/2022JB024950

Wilson, L. J. E., Scott, J. M., & le Roux, P. J. (2022). Characterisation of the anomalous sub-alkaline Maniototo basalts in the alkaline Dunedin Volcanic Group: Sources and mechanisms. In A. V. Zernack & J. Palmer (Eds.), Geoscience Society of New Zealand Miscellaneous Publication. 161A, (pp. 309). Wellington, New Zealand: Geoscience Society of New Zealand. [Abstract]

Delpech, G., Scott, J. M., Grégoire, M., Moine, B. N., Li, D., Liu, J., … Giret, A. (2023). The subantarctic lithospheric mantle. In A. P. Martin & W. van der Wal (Eds.), The geochemistry and geophysics of the Antarctic mantle: Geological Society Memoir (Vol. 56). (pp. 115-132). Bath, UK: Geological Society of London. doi: 10.1144/M56-2020-13

Chapter in Book - Research

Scott, J. M., Negrini, M., Faure, K., Palmer, M. C., Knaack, D. R., & Leybourne, M. I. (2023). Multi-zone fusion crust formation and classification of the 2004 Auckland meteorite (L6, S5, and W0). Meteoritics & Planetary Science. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1111/maps.13955

Journal - Research Article

Burgin, D. L., Scott, J. M., le Roux, P. J., Howarth, G., Palmer, M. C., Czertowicz, T. A., Negrini, M., Reid, M. R., & Stirling, C. H. (2022). Rapid characterisation of Mars' mantle reservoirs by in situ laser ablation 87Sr/86Sr analysis of shocked feldspar (maskelynite). Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1016/j.gca.2022.11.011

Journal - Research Article

Chang, Z., Dong, G., & Scott, J. M. (2022). Early Cretaceous basalts record the modification of the North China Craton lithospheric mantle: Implications for lithospheric thinning. International Geology Review, 64(9), 1330-1346. doi: 10.1080/00206814.2021.1931968

Journal - Research Article

Elongo, V., Falcke, H., Rasmussen, K. L., Robbins, L. J., Creaser, R. A., Luo, Y., … Palmer, M. C., Scott, J. M., … Lecumberri-sanchez, P. (2022). Ancient roots of tungsten in western North America. Geology, 50(7), 791-795. doi: 10.1130/G49801.1

Journal - Research Article

He, Q., Lang, X., Wang, X., Deng, Y., Xie, F., Scott, J. M., & Lou, Y. (2022). Volcanic and sedimentary rocks reveal the Paleozoic tectonic evolution of the Lhasa Terrane, Tibet. International Geology Review. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/00206814.2022.2132302

Journal - Research Article

Li, D., Ionov, D. A., Xu, Y., Scott, J. M., & Liu, J. (2022). Subduction-related mantle accretion and makeover revealed by mantle xenoliths at the Pacific margin of NE Eurasia. Lithos. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1016/j.lithos.2022.106943

Journal - Research Article

Li, J., Liu, J., Scott, J. M., Wu, C., Zhu, D.-C., & Zhang, L. (2022). Early Permian magmatism above a slab window in Inner Mongolia, North China: Implications for the Paleo-Asian Ocean subduction processes and accretionary crustal growth. Solid Earth Sciences. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1016/j.sesci.2022.02.001

Journal - Research Article

Lilley, H. C., Scott, J. M., Schwartz, J. J., Turnbull, R. E., & Tulloch, A. J. (2022). Cretaceous tungsten-tin mineralisation in the Tin Range, Stewart Island, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics, 65(2), 283-298. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2020.1855216

Journal - Research Article

Palmer, M. C., Scanlan, E. J., Scott, J. M., Farmer, L., Pickering, D., Wilson, V. J., … Craw, D., … Reid, M. R., & Stirling, C. H. (2022). Distinct scheelite REE geochemistry and 87Sr/86Sr isotopes in proximally- and distally-sourced metamorphogenic hydrothermal systems, Otago Schist, New Zealand. Ore Geology Reviews. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1016/j.oregeorev.2022.104800

Journal - Research Article

Rufaut, C., Weightman, E., Craw, D., Pillai, D., Kerr, G., & Scott, J. (2022). Potential for pastoral irrigation using sulphate-rich waters at Macraes Gold Mine, southern New Zealand. Water, Air & Soil Pollution, 233, 391. doi: 10.1007/s11270-022-05838-9

Journal - Research Article

Shao, Y., Prior, D. J., Scott, J. M., Kidder, S. B., & Negrini, M. (2022). Alpine fault-related microstructures and anisotropy of the mantle beneath the Southern Alps, New Zealand. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 127(11), e2022JB024950. doi: 10.1029/2022JB024950

Journal - Research Article

Wang, T. T., Zheng, J., Scott, J. M., Ping, X., Ma, Q., Xiong, Q., & Zhang, S. (2022). Coronitic and symplectitic textures in meta-troctolite reveal the transition from magmatism to granulite-facies metamorphism in the Early Paleozoic Tongbai Orogen, Central China. Journal of Petrology, 63(7), egac060. doi: 10.1093/petrology/egac060

Journal - Research Article

Cudby, J., Scott, J. M., Craw, D., Hesson, M., & Rufaut, C. (2021). Surficial redistribution of gold and arsenic from the Rise and Shine Shear Zone, Otago, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2021.1996402

Journal - Research Article

Palmer, M. C., Scott, J. M., Luo, Y., Sakar, C., & Pearson, D. G. (2021). In-situ scheelite LASS-ICPMS reconnaissance Sm-Nd isotope characterisation and prospects for dating. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 224, 106760. doi: 10.1016/j.gexplo.2021.106760

Journal - Research Article

Pontesilli, A., Brenna, M., Ubide, T., Mollo, S., Masotta, M., Caulfield, J., … Scott, J. M., & Scarlato, P. (2021). Intraplate basalt alkalinity modulated by a lithospheric mantle filter at the Dunedin Volcano (New Zealand). Journal of Petrology, 62(10), egab062. doi: 10.1093/petrology/egab062

Journal - Research Article

Radclyffe, C. J. T., Summerhayes, G. R., Scott, J. M., & Walter, R. (2021). Pottery production and exchange in the last millennium in the western Solomon Islands: A ceramic sequence for Choiseul. Journal of Pacific Archaeology, 12(1), 25-46. Retrieved from https://pacificarchaeology.org/

Journal - Research Article

Scott, J. M., Pearson, D. G., Liu, J., Auer, A., Cooper, A. F., Li, D., Palmer, M. C., Read, S. E., Reid, M. R., & Woodland, S. J. (2021). Osmium isotopes in peridotite xenoliths reveal major mid-Proterozoic lithosphere formation under the Transantarctic Mountains. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 312, 25-43. doi: 10.1016/j.gca.2021.08.009

Journal - Research Article

Shao, Y., Prior, D. J., Scott, J. M., & Negrini, M. (2021). Pre-Alpine Fault fabrics in mantle xenoliths from East Otago, South Island, New Zealand. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 126, e2020JB020196. doi: 10.1029/2020JB020196

Journal - Research Article

Shao, Y., Prior, D. J., Toy, V. G., Negrini, M., & Scott, J. M. (2021). Does second phase content control the evolution of olivine CPO type and deformation mechanisms? A case study of paired harzburgite and dunite bands in the Red Hills Massif, Dun Mountain Ophiolite. Lithos, 406-407, 106532. doi: 10.1016/j.lithos.2021.106532

Journal - Research Article

Tay, S. L., Scott, J. M., & Craw, D. (2021). Natural rehabilitation of arsenic-rich historical tailings at the Alexander mine, Reefton, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics, 64(4), 558-569. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2020.1840402

Journal - Research Article

Tay, S. L., Scott, J. M., Palmer, M. C., Reid, M. R., & Stirling, C. H. (2021). Occurrence, geochemistry and provenance of REE-bearing minerals in marine placers on the West Coast of the South Island, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics, 64(1), 89-106. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2020.1736585

Journal - Research Article

Allibone, A., Blakemore, H., Jongens, R., Scott, J., Moore, J., MacKenzie, D., & Craw, D. (2020). Structural settings of gold deposits within the Reefton goldfield, western New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics, 63(3), 342-362. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2020.1717554

Journal - Research Article

Auer, A., Brenna, M., & Scott, J. M. (2020). Influence of host magma alkalinity on trachytic melts formed during incongruent orthopyroxene dissolution in mantle xenoliths. New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics, 63(4), 547-561. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2020.1766519

Journal - Research Article

Holbek, S. C., Frank, M., Scott, J. M., Smith, S. A. F., le Roux, P. J., Waight, T. E., Van Hale, R., Reid, M. R., & Stirling, C. H. (2020). Structural controls on shallow cenozoic fluid flow in the Otago Schist, New Zealand. Geofluids, 2020, 9647197. doi: 10.1155/2020/9647197

Journal - Research Article

Montheil, L., Toy, V. G., Scott, J. M., Mitchell, T. M., & Dobson, D. P. (2020). Impact of coseismic frictional melting on particle size, shape distribution and chemistry of experimentally-generated pseudotachylite. Frontiers in Earth Science, 8, 596116. doi: 10.3389/feart.2020.596116

Journal - Research Article

Mortimer, N., & Scott, J. M. (2020). Volcanoes of Zealandia and the Southwest Pacific. New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics, 63(4), 371-377. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2020.1713824

Journal - Research Article

Scanlan, E. J., Scott, J. M., & le Roux, P. J. (2020). Pyrometamorphosed Otago Schist xenoliths cause minor contamination of Dunedin Volcanic Group basanite. New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics, 63(4), 530-546. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2020.1767659

Journal - Research Article

Scott, J. M. (2020). An updated catalogue of New Zealand’s mantle peridotite and serpentinite. New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics, 63(4), 428-449. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2020.1776738

Journal - Research Article

Scott, J. M., Pontesilli, A., Brenna, M., White, J. D. L., Giacalone, E., Palin, J. M., & le Roux, P. J. (2020). The Dunedin Volcanic Group and a revised model for Zealandia's alkaline intraplate volcanism. New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics, 63(4), 510-529. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2019.1707695

Journal - Research Article

Serre, S. H., van der Meer, Q. H. A., Waight, T. E., Scott, J. M., Münker, C., Thomsen, T. B., & le Roux, P. J. (2020). Petrogenesis of amphibole megacrysts in lamprophyric intraplate magmatism in southern New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics, 63(4), 489-509. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2020.1801771

Journal - Research Article

Tian, G., Liu, J., Scott, J. M., Chen, L.-H., Pearson, D. G., Chu, Z., … Luo, Y. (2020). Architecture and evolution of the lithospheric roots beneath circum-cratonic orogenic belts: The Xing'an Mongolia Orogenic Belt and its relationship with adjacent North China and Siberian cratonic roots. Lithos, 376-377, 105798. doi: 10.1016/j.lithos.2020.105798

Journal - Research Article

Weightman, E., Craw, D., Rufaut, C., Kerr, G., & Scott, J. (2020). Chemical evolution and evaporation of shallow groundwaters discharging from a gold mine, southern New Zealand. Applied Geochemistry, 122, 104766. doi: 10.1016/j.apgeochem.2020.104766

Journal - Research Article

Xu, Y., Liu, J., Xiong, Q., Su, B.-X., Scott, J. M., Xu, B., … Pearson, D. G. (2020). The complex life cycle of oceanic lithosphere: A study of Yarlung-Zangbo ophiolitic peridotites, Tibet. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 277, 175-191. doi: 10.1016/j.gca.2020.03.024

Journal - Research Article

Blake, F., Grant, K., MacKenzie, D., Scott, J., & Craw, D. (2019). Surficial arsenic redistribution above gold-mineralised zones in East Otago, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics, 62(4), 573-587. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2019.1647854

Journal - Research Article

Dickie, J. E., Scott, J. M., Sagar, M. W., & Blakemore, H. (2019). Cretaceous igneous-related mineralisation in the Reefton Goldfield, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics, 62(1), 87-99. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2018.1529684

Journal - Research Article

Dwight, T., Scott, J. M., & Schwartz, J. J. (2019). Emplacement and Paleozoic and Cretaceous recrystallisation of the Broughton Arm Peridotite in Western Fiordland, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics, 62(1), 72-86. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2018.1528989

Journal - Research Article

Ritchie, T. W., Scott, J. M., & Craw, D. (2019). Garnet compositions track longshore migration of beach placers in western New Zealand. Economic Geology, 114(3), 513-540. doi: 10.5382/econgeo.4647

Journal - Research Article

Robinson, B. A., & Scott, J. M. (2019). Late Devonian contact metamorphism and a possible upper age to gold mineralisation in the northernmost portion of the Reefton Goldfield. New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics, 62(1), 121-130. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2018.1534745

Journal - Research Article

Scott, J. M., & Turnbull, I. McG. (2019). Geology of New Zealand’s Sub-Antarctic Islands. New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics, 62(3), 291-317. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2019.1600557

Journal - Research Article

Scott, J. M., Liu, J., Pearson, D. G., Harris, G. A., Czertowicz, T. A., Woodland, S. J., … Luth, R. W. (2019). Continent stabilisation by lateral accretion of subduction zone-processed depleted mantle residues: Insights from Zealandia. Earth & Planetary Science Letters, 507, 175-186. doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2018.11.039

Journal - Research Article

Tarling, M. S., Smith, S. A. F., & Scott, J. M. (2019). Fluid overpressure from chemical reactions in serpentinite within the source region of deep episodic tremor. Nature Geoscience, 12, 1034-1042. doi: 10.1038/s41561-019-0470-z

Journal - Research Article

Tarling, M. S., Smith, S. A. F., Scott, J. M., Rooney, J. S., Viti, C., & Gordon, K. C. (2019). The internal structure and composition of a plate-boundary-scale serpentinite shear zone: The Livingstone Fault, New Zealand. Solid Earth, 10(4), 1025-1047. doi: 10.5194/se-10-1025-2019

Journal - Research Article

van der Meer, Q. H. A., Scott, J. M., Serre, S. H., Whitehouse, M. J., Kristoffersen, M., Le Roux, P. J., & Pope, E. C. (2019). Low-δ18O zircon xenocrysts in alkaline basalts: A window into the complex carbonatite-metasomatic history of the Zealandia lithospheric mantle. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 254, 21-39. doi: 10.1016/j.gca.2019.03.029

Journal - Research Article

Wellnitz, A. K., Scott, J. M., Martin, C. E., Palin, J. M., Stirling, C. H., Reid, M. R., … Craw, D. (2019). Carbonation reactions and coupled element and isotope redistribution during shallow crustal gold mineralisation, New Zealand. Mineralium Deposita, 54, 743-760. doi: 10.1007/s00126-018-0838-9

Journal - Research Article

Brenna, M., Cronin, S. J., Smith, I. E. M., Tollan, P. M. E., Scott, J. M., Prior, D. J., … Ukstins, I. A. (2018). Olivine xenocryst diffusion reveals rapid monogenetic basaltic magma ascent following complex storage at Pupuke Maar, Auckland Volcanic Field, New Zealand. Earth & Planetary Science Letters, 499, 13-22. doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2018.07.015

Journal - Research Article

Li, P., Scott, J. M., Liu, J., & Xia, Q.-k. (2018). Lateral H2O variation in the Zealandia lithospheric mantle controls orogen width. Earth & Planetary Science Letters, 502, 200-209. doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2018.09.004

Journal - Research Article

Negrini, M., Smith, S. A. F., Scott, J. M., & Tarling, M. S. (2018). Microstructural and rheological evolution of calcite mylonites during shear zone thinning: Constraints from the Mount Irene shear zone, Fiordland, New Zealand. Journal of Structural Geology, 106, 86-102. doi: 10.1016/j.jsg.2017.11.013

Journal - Research Article

Scanlan, E. J., Scott, J. M., Wilson, V. J., Stirling, C. H., Reid, M. R., & Le Roux, P. J. (2018). In situ 87Sr/86Sr of scheelite and calcite reveals proximal and distal fluid-rock interaction during orogenic W-Au mineralization, Otago Schist, New Zealand. Economic Geology, 113(7), 1571-1586. doi: 10.5382/econgeo.2018.4603

Journal - Research Article

Tarling, M. S., Smith, S. A. F., Viti, C., & Scott, J. M. (2018). Dynamic earthquake rupture preserved in a creeping serpentinite shear zone. Nature Communications, 9, 3552. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-05965-0

Journal - Research Article

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