Associate Professor Grant Bybee

Grant Bybee is lecturer in geochemistry and petrology in the School of Geosciences at the University of the Witwatersrand. Prior to this appointment, Grant was a Predoctoral Fellow at the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution of Washington (2011-2012) and an Associate Lecturer at Wits University. Grant’s Ph.D., from Wits University, focused on using isotope geochemistry in understanding the petrogenesis of enigmatic Proterozoic massif-type anorthosites. His broader research makes use of various components of the geochemical toolbox, particularly radiogenic and stable isotopes, to understand aspects of solid Earth processes and evolution. Grant continues to work on Proterozoic anorthosites, with particular emphasis on understanding the temporal restriction of these bodies and the implications for crustal formation and evolution during the Proterozoic Eon. In addition, he is working on the petrogenesis of Alaskan-Uralian intrusions and applications of isotope geochemistry in understanding human disease. As part of CIMERA, Grant will focus on using petrology and a range of geochemical tools to assess the origin of layering in the Bushveld Complex and implications thereof for mineralization and exploration, as well as investigating the tectonic setting in which this intrusive, large igneous province formed.

Selected Publications:

  1. Bybee, G.M., Ashwal, L.D., Shirey, S.B., Horan, M., Mock, T., Andersen,T.B. (2014). Debating the Petrogenesis of Proterozoic Anorthosites: A Reply to Comments on Bybee et al.: Pyroxene megacrysts in Proterozoic anorthosites: Implications for tectonic setting, magma source and magmatic processes at the Moho. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 401, p. 381-383.
  2. Bybee, G.M., Ashwal, L.D., Shirey, S.B., Horan, M., Mock, T., Andersen,T.B. (2014). Pyroxene megacrysts in Proterozoic anorthosites: Implications for tectonic setting, magma source and magmatic processes at the Moho. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 389, p. 74-85.
  3. Bybee, G.M., Ashwal, L.D., Wilson, A.H., (2010). New evidence for a volcanic arc on the western margin of a rifting Rodinia from ultramafic intrusions in the Andriamena region, north-central Madagascar. Earth and Planetary Science Letters293, p. 42-53.
  4. Bybee, G.M., Ashwal, L.D., Gower, C.F., Hamilton, M.A. (—-). Pegmatitic pods and insights into the final stages of Proterozoic anorthosite crystallisation in the Mealy Mountains Intrusive Suite, Canada. Journal of Petrology under review.
  5. Bybee, G.M., Ashwal, L.D. (—-). Probing the mantle source of Proterozoic anorthosites: stripping away the effects of crustal contamination. Geochimica et Cosmochimicaunder review.