Dr. Hanika Rizo

Research
My research aims to understand the early geochemical evolution of the Earth. This involves unravelling geological processes happening more than 4 billion years ago. Some of these processes include the segregation of metal from silicate to form our planet’s metallic core, the crystallisation of Earth’s magma ocean, and the consequences of giant impacts for the geochemical evolution of the mantle. To investigate these events, I analyse extinct isotope systems (e.g. ¹⁸²Hf-¹⁸²W) in mantle-derived rocks. These systems are powerful tools to study the early Earth because they are only sensitive to processes occurring the first tens to few hundreds of millions of years of the Earth’s history.

Mantle-derived rocks older than 3.6 Ga are rare, complicating investigations on the early Earth. Together with my research team, we are currently working on various projects with rocks from the Saglek-Hebron complex in Northern Labrador, where zircons older than 3.8 Ga have been found.

Teaching and others
I currently teach Geochemistry and Geochronology (ERTH 3003) and Advanced Isotope Geochemistry (ERTH 4803). I also currently serve as Adviser for students in the Chemistry and Earth Sciences – B.Sc. Combined Honours program, and for students in the Earth Sciences B.Sc. General program.