Geological Science and Engineering

Professor James Lee obtained his B.Sc. in Geological Engineering from Queen's University and  a M.A. and Ph.D. from Princeton University.  Following a postdoctoral fellowship and research fellowship at the Research School of Earth Sciences at the Australian National University, he joined the Department of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering at Queen's University as an Assistant Professor.  He was promoted to rank of Professor in 2007.  He has served in several administrative roles and is currently the Associate Dean (International and Research) in the Faculty of Arts and Science and the Academic Integrity Advisor to the Provost.  Externally, Professor Lee is a Lieutenant-Governor Appointee on the Council of Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO) and is a member of the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB) of Engineers Canada.

Professor Lee's research interests focus on understanding the fundamental processes by which geochronologically important elements (both radioactive, e.g. K, U, and radiogenic, e.g. Ar, Pb) behave in rocks and minerals and the resulting influence on the ages we measure.  He specializes in the application of solid-state diffusion theory to geochronological problems through field work, laboratory studies, and theoretical modelling to understand the timing and duration of large-scale geological processes such as mineralization, deformation, metamorphism, and orogenic (subduction and exhumation) processes.  He has worked in a variety of geologic terranes ranging in age from the Tertiary through to the Archean and supervises the Queen's University ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar Geochronology Laboratory.

Supervising Information –current students 

• Herbert Fournier (Ph.D.) - Eclogitisation of crust during the Caledonian orogeny in the Lofoten-Vesterålen Islands, Norway: Implications of the Dynamics of Orogenesis
• Allan Montgomery (Ph.D.) - Regional setting of Alto Chicama Au mineralization, Peru
• Deanne van Rooyen (Ph.D.) - U-Pb geochronology and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar thermochronology studies in the Thor-Odin dome, southeastern British Columbia: Characterization of the behavior of ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar systematics in migmatite terranes and tests of tectonic models
• Heather Wolczanski (M.Sc.) - Thermal history of the Plevna-Ardoch area, Grenville Province, southeastern Ontario

Research Interests/Current Research

• Application of radiogenic isotope (⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar and U-Pb) geochronology, mass spectrometry, and principles of mathematics, physics, and chemistry to fundamental problems in geology
• Field and laboratory studies of diffusion and mass and fluid transport in open systems
• Numerical modelling
• Mineralogy and electron microscopy of geochronologically important minerals
• Origin and evolution of the Earth's atmosphere 

Professional Associations

• American Geophysical Union
• European Geosciences Union
• The Geochemical Society
• Geological Association of Canada
• Geological Society of America
• Mineralogical Society of America
• Sigma Xi
• Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario
• Canadian Bureau for International Education
• National Association of Foreign Student Advisers: Association of International Educators
• Association of International Education Administrators

Selected Publications

• Keppie JD, Nance RD, Dostal J,  Lee JKW, and Ortega-Rivera A (2011) Constraints on the subduction erosion/extrusion cycle in the Paleozoic Acatlán Complex of southern Mexico: geochemistry and geochronology of the type Piaxtla Suite. Gondwana Research (in press - July 2011).
• Parsons I, Fitz Gerald JD, Lee JKW, Ivanic T, and Golla-Schindler U (2010) Time-temperature evolution of microtextures and contained fluids in a plutonic alkali feldspar during heating. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 160: 155-180.
• Mark DF, Rice CM, Lee MR, Fallick AE, Boyce A, Trewin NH, and Lee JKW (2010) ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of hydrothermal activity, biota, and gold mineralization in the Rhynie hot-spring system, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 75: 555-569.
• Lee JKW (2009) Using argon as a temporal tracer of large-scale geologic processes. Chemical Geology 266: 104-112.
• Ortega-Obregon C, Keppie JD, Murphy B, Ortega-Rivera A, and Lee JKW (2009) Geology and geochronology of Paleozoic rocks in western Acatlán complex, southern Mexico: evidence for contiguity across an extruded high-pressure belt and constraints on Paleozoic reconstructions. Geological Society of America Bulletin 121: 1678-1694.
• Camacho A, Lee JKW, Hensen BJ, and Braun J (2005) Short-lived orogenic cycles and the eclogitization of cold crust by spasmodic hot fluids.  Nature 435: 1191-1996.
• Matton G, Jébrak M, and Lee JKW (2005) Resolving the Richat enigma: doming and hydrothermal karstification above an alkaline complex.  Geology 33: 665-668.

.

Back to Faculty Profiles page