Associate 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
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.
2. A rare fine-weather day in Port Ross in the Sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands.
3. Postdoctoral Fellow Matt Tarling and undergraduate students traversing Haast Schist on the shores of Lake Hawea.
4. Red Mountain in the Southern Alps is a slice of accreted oceanic lithospheric mantle
Teaching
- GEOL252 Field Studies and New Zealand Geology
- GEOL353 Tectonics
- GEOL274 Metamorphism and metamorphic mineralisation
- GEOL374 Metamorphism and metamorphic mineralisation
- GEOL401 Current Topics and Advanced Methods in Geoscience
- GEOL472 Advanced Topics in Environmental Geochemistry
- GEOL474 Advanced Topics in Metamorphism and Mineralisation
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
Postgraduate students
Postgraduate student opportunities with James Scott
Postgraduate students supervised by James Scott
Publications
Lilley, H. C., Scott, J. M., Schwartz, J. J., Turnbull, R. E., & Tulloch, A. J. (2021). Cretaceous tungsten-tin mineralisation in the Tin Range, Stewart Island, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2020.1855216
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
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. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2020.1766519
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
Tay, S. L., Scott, J. M., & Craw, D. (2020). Natural rehabilitation of arsenic-rich historical tailings at the Alexander mine, Reefton, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2020.1840402
Journal - Research Article
Lilley, H. C., Scott, J. M., Schwartz, J. J., Turnbull, R. E., & Tulloch, A. J. (2021). Cretaceous tungsten-tin mineralisation in the Tin Range, Stewart Island, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2020.1855216
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
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. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2020.1766519
Tay, S. L., Scott, J. M., & Craw, D. (2020). Natural rehabilitation of arsenic-rich historical tailings at the Alexander mine, Reefton, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2020.1840402
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
Tay, S. L., Scott, J. M., Palmer, M. C., Reid, M. R., & Stirling, C. H. (2020). 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. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2020.1736585
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
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
Shao, Y., Prior, D. J., Scott, J. M., & Negrini, M. (2020). Pre-Alpine Fault fabrics in mantle xenoliths from East Otago, South Island, New Zealand. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1029/2020JB020196
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
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. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2020.1801771
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
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
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. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1155/2020/9647197
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Dalton, H. B., Scott, J. M., Liu, J., Waight, T. E., Pearson, D. G., Brenna, M., … Palin, J. M. (2017). Diffusion-zoned pyroxenes in an isotopically heterogeneous mantle lithosphere beneath the Dunedin Volcanic Group, New Zealand, and their implications for intraplate alkaline magma sources. Lithosphere, 9(3), 463-475. doi: 10.1130/L631.1
Jacob, J.-B., Scott, J. M., Turnbull, R. E., Tarling, M. S., & Sagar, M. W. (2017). High- to ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism in the lower crust: An example resulting from Hikurangi Plateau collision and slab rollback in New Zealand. Journal of Metamorphic Geology, 35(8), 831-853. doi: 10.1111/jmg.12257
van der Meer, Q. H. A., Waight, T. E., Scott, J. M., & Münker, C. (2017). Variable sources for Cretaceous to recent HIMU and HIMU-like intraplate magmatism in New Zealand. Earth & Planetary Science Letters, 469, 27-41. doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2017.03.037
Smith, S. A. F., Tesei, T., Scott, J. M., & Collettini, C. (2017). Reactivation of normal faults as high-angle reverse faults due to low frictional strength: Experimental data from the Moonlight Fault Zone, New Zealand. Journal of Structural Geology, 105, 34-43. doi: 10.1016/j.jsg.2017.10.009
van der Meer, Q. H. A., Storey, M., Scott, J. M., & Waight, T. E. (2016). Abrupt spatial and geochemical changes in lamprophyre magmatism related to Gondwana fragmentation prior, during and after opening of the Tasman Sea. Gondwana Research, 36, 142-156. doi: 10.1016/j.gr.2016.04.004
Czertowicz, T. A., Toy, V. G., & Scott, J. M. (2016). Recrystallisation, phase mixing and strain localisation in peridotite during rapid extrusion of sub-arc mantle lithosphere. Journal of Structural Geology, 88, 1-19. doi: 10.1016/j.jsg.2016.04.011
Wang, S.-J., Teng, F.-Z., & Scott, J. M. (2016). Tracing the origin of continental HIMU-like intraplate volcanism using magnesium isotope systematics. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 185, 78-87. doi: 10.1016/j.gca.2016.01.007
Scott, J. M., Brenna, M., Crase, J. A., Waight, T. E., van der Meer, Q., Cooper, A. F., Palin, J. M., … Münker, C. (2016). Peridotitic lithosphere metasomatized by volatile-bearing melts, and its association with intraplate alkaline HIMU-like magmatism. Journal of Petrology, 57(10), 2053-2078. doi: 10.1093/petrology/egw069
Czertowicz, T. A., Scott, J. M., Waight, T. E., Palin, J. M., Van der Meer, Q. H. A., Le Roux, P., … Piazolo, S. (2016). The Anita Peridotite, New Zealand: Ultra-depletion and subtle enrichment in sub-arc mantle. Journal of Petrology, 57(4), 717-750. doi: 10.1093/petrology/egw001
Alder, S., Smith, S. A. F., & Scott, J. M. (2016). Fault-zone structure and weakening processes in basin-scale reverse faults: The Moonlight Fault Zone, South Island, New Zealand. Journal of Structural Geology, 91, 177-194. doi: 10.1016/j.jsg.2016.09.001
Scott, J. M., Liu, J., Pearson, D. G., & Waight, T. E. (2016). Mantle depletion and metasomatism recorded in orthopyroxene in highly depleted peridotites. Chemical Geology, 441, 280-291. doi: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2016.08.024
Czertowicz, T. A., Scott, J. M., & Piazolo, S. (2016). Coupled extrusion of sub-arc lithospheric mantle and lower crust during orogen collapse: A case study from Fiordland, New Zealand. Journal of Metamorphic Geology, 34(5), 501-524. doi: 10.1111/jmg.12191
Liu, J., Scott, J. M., Martin, C. E., & Pearson, D. G. (2015). The longevity of Archean mantle residues in the convecting upper mantle and their role in young continent formation. Earth & Planetary Science Letters, 424, 109-118. doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2015.05.027
Palmer, M. C., Scott, J. M., Muhling, J. R., & Kennedy, A. (2015). Carboniferous metamorphism and partial melting of the Greenland Group in the Jackson River valley, south Westland. New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics, 58(1), 22-32. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2014.982661
Ritchie, T. W., Scott, J. M., Muhling, J. R., & Kennedy, A. K. (2015). Cretaceous metamorphism, magmatism and shearing in the Waipuna Valley, directly south of the Reefton Goldfield. New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics, 58(2), 89-103. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2014.992444
Gaffney, D., Summerhayes, G. R., Ford, A., Scott, J. M., Denham, T., Field, J., & Dickinson, W. R. (2015). Earliest pottery on New Guinea mainland reveals Austronesian influences in highland environments 3000 years ago. PLoS ONE, 10(9), e0134497. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0134497
Scott, J. M., Auer, A., Czertowicz, T. A., Cooper, A. F., Billia, M. A., & Kennedy, A. K. (2015). New P–T and U–Pb constraints on Alpine Schist metamorphism in south Westland, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics, 58(4), 385-397. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2015.1093005