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Mark D. Barton

Professor of Geosciences
Director of the Lowell Institute for Mineral Resources

GS 339

520-621-8529
mdbarton@arizona.edu

Documents

Mark's CV

Mark Barton is Director of the Lowell Institute for Mineral Resources and Professor of Gesociences.  Mark earned BS and MS degrees from Virginia Tech (1977, 1978) and a PhD from the University of Chicago (1981). Following a post-doctoral fellowship at the Geophysical Laboratory (Carnegie Institution of Washington), he taught at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) before joining the faculty at the University of Arizona in 1990. He co-founded the Lowell Institute for Mineral Resources in 2008 and led creation (2021) of the new School of Mining and Mineral Resources (SMMR). LIMR and related units are state-, industry-, and privately-funded interdisciplinary organizations that catalyze and facilitate research and education related to mineral resources spanning science and engineering to public health and policy. 

Mark’s research interests span many aspects of energy and mass transfer in the Earth's lithosphere and their applications to mineral deposits. Recent areas of research focus have included critical minerals (CM) in a variety of geologic environments, recovery of CM from mine waste, and novel approaches to assessment of abandoned mine lands. He has developed and managed a number of multi-year industry-government consortia on minerals challenges; in this context and others he works with many companies, Federal and state agencies.  He has advised 24 PhDs and over 60 masters students. In 2001, with former PhD students, he co-founded Bronco Creek Exploration (subsequently acquired by EMX Royalty).

Broadly stated, my teaching and research interests relate to understanding how materials are distributed in the Earth's crust, how they move, and what are their practical consequences. My focus is on economic geology and geochemistry, however my interests span other fields including petrology, mineralogy, and tectonics.

Research topics range from studies of particular ore deposit types, to regional metallogeny and tectonics, to the general mass and energy transfer processes associated with magmatism and metamorphism. Primary research tools include geologic mapping, lab-based petrology and geochemistry, and theoretical approaches. Most projects are collaborative involving the mining industry, geological surveys, and others.

Awards and Recognitions
  • Mineralogical Society of America Award
  • Lindgren Award (Society of Economic Geologists)
  • MSA Fellow
  • GSA Fellow
  • SEG Fellow