Research

We strive to understand Earth’s fundamental system of plate tectonics by studying metamorphic and igneous terranes (using petrology, mineralogy, structural geology, geochemistry, and geochronology) to reconstruct their geological histories.

​The evolution of plate tectonics

Plate tectonics is a global system of physical and chemical processes that control the evolution of the entire Earth (the solid Earth as well as the oceans, atmosphere, and life). Because of its global significance, understanding when plate tectonics began, and how it has evolved through time, are two of the most fundamental questions in Earth science. In our work, we address these questions through examination of the metamorphic rock record, which provides a direct record of Earth’s past tectonic processes.

High-T metamorphism & crustal melting

Granulites are metamorphic rocks that form at very high temperatures in the crust. Due to the large volumes of granitic melt that can be generated during granulite metamorphism, knowing how granulites form is fundamental to our understanding of how continental crust evolves: (1) How the crust differentiates into a more felsic upper crust and a more residual/mafic lower crust; (2) How the lithosphere is weakened during orogenesis and is permanently strengthened after orogenesis. The central geodynamic question in studying granulites (especially ultrahigh-temperature granulites; >900°C) is the “heat problem”; what are the sources of heat necessary to elevate (and sustain) the temperature of the crust significantly beyond its equilibrium (or quasi-equilibrium) conductive geothermal gradient?

Subduction metamorphism & dynamics

Subduction is the driving force of modern plate tectonics. Petrological, chronological, and structural data from high-P metamorphic rocks (blueschist and eclogites) give critical insight into the physical and chemical processes that operate in subduction zones, which we cannot observe directly. These processes control the formation and evolution of continental crust in magmatic arcs, the structural evolution of accretionary orogenic belts, and the cycling of elements between Earth’s surface and interior. What happens to rocks as they are subducted and how are they brought back to Earth’s surface?

Petrochronology

U–Pb geochronology—and the growing field of petrochronology: linking geochronology to rock-forming process through petrology and geochemistry—is one of the most fundamental types of data used to interpret the rock record. While broader questions of our research are concerned with plate tectonics and the evolution of Earth’s continents, another aspect of our research is developing new analytical approaches and perspectives on U–Pb dating for more rigorous interpretation of the rock record.

A few recorded talks:

  • UM 2020 Fall Preview research overview (link).
  • GSA 2021: Paired metamorphism and the evolution of plate tectonics (link).
  • Thermochronology conference 2021: Diffusion in titanite (link).
  • Goldschmidt 2021: Hydrothermal alteration of titanite (link).
  • University of Maryland 2019: Metamorphism and the evolution of plate tectonics (link).
3.5 billion-year old Morton Gneiss, Minnesota, USA
sillimanite inclusions in cordierite from Madagascar
Eclogite from Baja California, Mexico
monazite inclusion with radiation-damage halo in cordierite from Madagascar

Publications

If you are interested in any of our work, but do not have access to its journal, contact the corresponding author.

  • Holder RM, Viete DR (in press) The metamorphic rock record through Earth’s history. In: Treatise on Geochemistry, 3rd edition. doi:10.1016/B978-0-323-99762-1.00002-4
  • Ryb U, Ben-Israel M, Holder RM, Nelson L, Smith E, Kylander-Clark ARC (2024) Late Paleozoic Oxygenation of Marine Environments Supported by Dolomite U-Pb Dating. Nature Communications
  • Holder RM, Viete DR (2024) A compilation of metamorphic isograd sequences and their ages, Version 1.0. Interdisciplinary Earth Data Alliance (IEDA). doi:10.26022/IEDA/112748
  • Weaver LN, Kelson JR, Holder RM, Niemi NA, Badgley C (2024) On the role of tectonics in stimulating the Cretaceous diversification of mammals. Earth Science Reviews. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2023.104630
  • Guice GL, Viete DR, Holder RM, Roy S (2023) c. 1900 Ma Tethyan-type ophiolite in the Paleoproterozoic Penokean Orogen, Pembine, Wisconsin (USA): Insights from the volcanic stratigraphy. Precambrian Research. doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2023.107223
  • Yakymchuk Y, Holder RM, Kendrick J, Moyen J-F (2023) Europium anomalies in zircon: a false signal of crustal depth? Earth & Planetary Science Letters. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2023.118405
  • Rodriguez-Mustafa MA, Simon AC, Holder RM, Stein H, Kylander-Clark ARC, Jicha BR, Blakemore D, Machado ELB (2023) Integrated Re–Os, Ar/Ar, and U–Pb geochronology directly dates the timing of mineralization at the Mina Justa and Marcona Deposits, Peru. GSA Bulletin. doi:10.1130/B36904
  • Hernández-Uribe D, Holder RM, Hernández-Montenegro JD (2023) Eclogite thermobarometry: the consistency between conventional thermobarometry and phase-equilibrium modeling. Journal of Metamorphic Geology. doi:10.1111/jmg.12747
  • Su X, Zhang Y, Liu Y, Holder RM (2023) Outgassing and in-gassing of Na, K, and Cu in lunar 74220 orange glass beads. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117924
  • Gutiérrez-Aguilar F, Hernández-Uribe D, Holder RM, Condit CB (2022) Fluid‐Induced Fault Reactivation due to Brucite+ Antigorite Dehydration Triggered the Mw7.1 September 19th Puebla‐Morelos (Mexico) Intermediate‐Depth Earthquake. Geophysical Research Letters. doi:10.1029/2022GL100814
  • Horton F, Holder RM*, Swindle C (2022) An extensive record of orogenesis recorded in a Madagascar granulite. Journal of Metamorphic Geology. doi:10.1111/jmg.12628. *Holder & Horton contributed equally to this work; both are corresponding authors. Code: Link
  • Brenner D, Passey B, Holder RM, Viete DR (2021) Clumped-isotope geothermometry and carbonate U-Pb geochronology of the Alta stock metamorphic aureole, Utah, USA: Insights on the kinetics of metamorphism in carbonates. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems. doi:10.1029/2020GC009238
  • Guice GL, Ackerson MR, Holder RM, George FR, Browning-Hanson JF, Burgess JL, Foustoukos DI, Becker NA, Nelson WR, Viete DR (2021). Suprasubduction zone ophiolite fragments in the central Appalachian orogen: Evidence for mantle and Moho in the Baltimore Mafic Complex (Maryland, USA). Geosphere. doi:10.1130/GES02289.1
  • Závada P, Štípská P, Hasalová P, Racek M, Jeřábek P, Schulmann K, Kylander-Clark A, Holder R (2020) Monazite geochronology in melt-percolated UHP meta-granitoids: An example from the Erzgebirge continental subduction wedge, Bohemian Massif. Chemical Geology. doi:10.1016/j.chemgeo.2020.119919
  • Holder RM, Yakymchuk C, Viete DR (2020) Accessory Mineral Eu Anomalies in Suprasolidus Rocks: Beyond Feldspar. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems. doi:10.1029/2020GC009052
  • Štípská P, Schulman K, Racek M, Lardeaux JM, Hacker BR, Kylander-Clark ARC, Holder RM, Košuličová M (2019) Finite pattern of Barrovian metamorphic zones: interplay between thermal reequilibration and post-peak deformation during continental collision—insights from the Svratka dome (Bohemian Massif). International Journal of Earth Sciences. doi:10.1007/s00531-019-01788-6
  • Holder RM, Viete DR, Brown M, Johnson TE (2019) Metamorphism and the evolution of plate tectonics. Nature. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1462-2
  • Holder RM, Hacker BR, Seward GGE, Kylander-Clark ARC (2019) Interpreting titanite U–Pb dates and Zr thermobarometry in high-grade rocks: empirical constraints on elemental diffusivities of Pb, Al, Fe, Zr, Nb, and Ce. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology. doi:10.1007/s00410-019-1578-2
  • Hacker BR, Kylander-Clark ARC, Holder RM (2019) REE partitioning between monazite and garnet: Implications for petrochronology. Journal of Metamorphic Geology. doi:10.1111/jmg.12458 (erratum, click here)
  • Holder RM, Hacker BR (2019) Fluid-driven resetting of titanite following ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism in southern Madagascar. Chemical Geology. doi:10.1016/j.chemgeo.2018.11.017 (the figures for this paper were poorly rendered by the publisher; for higher quality figures [as they were intended to look], click here)
  • Holder RM, Sharp ZD, Hacker BR (2018) LinT, a simplified approach to oxygen-isotope thermometry and speedometry of high-grade rocks: An example from ultrahigh-temperature gneisses of southern Madagascar. Geology. doi:10.1130/G40207.1
  • Holder RM, Hacker BR, Horton F, Rakotondrazafy AFM (2018) Ultrahigh‐temperature osumilite gneisses in southern Madagascar record combined heat advection and high rates of radiogenic heat production in a long‐lived high‐temperature orogen. Journal of metamorphic Geology. doi:10.1111/jmg.12316
  • Peřestý V, Lexa O, Holder RM, Jeřábek P, Racek M, Štípská P, Schulmann K, Hacker B (2016) Metamorphic inheritance of Rheic passive margin evolution and its early Variscan overprint in the Teplá-Barrandian Unit, Bohemian Massif. Journal of Metamorphic Geology. doi:10.1111/jmg.12234
  • Štípská P, Powell R, Hacker BR, Holder RM, Kylander-Clark ARC (2016) Uncoupled U/Pb and REE response in zircon during the transformation of eclogite to mafic and intermediate granulite (Blanský les, Bohemian Massif). Journal of Metamorphic Geology. doi:10.1111/jmg.12193
  • Horton F, Hacker BR, Kylander-Clark ARC, Holder RM, Jöns N (2016) Focused radiogenic heating of middle crust caused ultrahigh temperatures in southern Madagascar. Tectonics. doi:10.1002/2015TC004040
  • Holder RM, Hacker BR, Kylander-Clark ARC, Cottle JM (2015) Monazite trace-element and isotopic signatures of (ultra)high-pressure metamorphism: examples from the Western Gneiss Region, Norway. Chemical Geology. doi:10.1016/j.chemgeo.2015.04.021
  • Hacker BR, Kylander-Clark ARC, Holder RM, Andersen T, Peterman E, Walsh E, Munnikhuis J (2015) Monazite response to ultrahigh-pressure subduction from U-Pb dating by laser-ablation split-stream ICP-MS. Chemical Geology. doi:10.1016/j.chemgeo.2015.05.008
  • Štípská P, Hacker BR, Racek M, Holder RM, Kylander-Clark ARC, Schulmann K, Hasalová P (2015) Monazite Dating of Prograde and Retrograde P–T–d paths in the Barrovian Terrane of the Thaya Window, Bohemian Massif. Journal of Petrology. doi:10.1093/petrology/egv026
  • Broussolle A, Štípská P, Lehmann J, Schulmann K, Hacker BR, Holder RM, Kylander-Clark ARC, Hanžl P, Racek M, Hasalová P, Lexa O, Hrdličková K, Buriánek D (2015) P−T−t−D record of crustal-scale horizontal flow and magma assisted doming in the SW Mongolian Altai. Journal of Metamorphic Petrology. doi:10.1111/jmg.12124

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