About

Kalin McDannell joins Bates College as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Earth and Climate Sciences. Originally from Pennsylvania, he attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania as a first-generation student, earned an M.S. at West Virginia University, and completed a Ph.D. at Lehigh University. He then conducted postdoctoral research at the Geological Survey of Canada and Dartmouth College, where he was most recently a lecturer.

As a geologist and geochemist, Kalin studies the interactions between plate tectonics, surface processes, and climate. He specializes in radiometric mineral dating techniques such as (U-Th)/He, fission track, ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar, and U-Pb within the fields of geochronology and thermochronology. Kalin’s recent work has concentrated on understanding Earth’s evolution during the Proterozoic eon and he has conducted research projects in various locations, including Costa Rica, Alaska, Mongolia, New England, and Canada.

Please contact Kalin if you are a student interested in research opportunities.

Kalin teaches Plate Tectonics and Hazards (EACS 104) and The Lithosphere (EACS 383) in Fall 2024.

Selected Publications

McDannell, K.T., Keller, C.B., Guenthner, W.R., Zeitler, P.K., Shuster, D.L., 2022, Thermochronologic constraints on the origin of the Great Unconformity, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119 (5), e2118682119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2118682119

Issler, D.R., McDannell, K.T., O’Sullivan, P.B., Lane, L.S., 2022, Simulating sedimentary burial cycles — Part 2: Elemental-based multikinetic apatite fission-track interpretation and modelling techniques illustrated using examples from northern Yukon. Geochronology, 4 (1), 373–397. https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-2021-22

McDannell, K.T. and Flowers, R.M., 2020, Vestiges of the Ancient: Deep-time Noble Gas Thermochronology. Elements, 16 (5), 325–330. https://doi.org/10.2138/gselements.16.5.325

Holm, D., Medaris Jr., L.G., McDannell, K.T., Schneider, D.A., Schulz, K., Singer, B.S., Jicha, B.R., 2020, Growth, overprinting, and stabilization of Proterozoic Provinces in the southern Lake Superior region. Precambrian Research, 339, 105587. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2019.105587

McDannell, K.T., Zeitler, P.K., Idleman, B.D., 2018, Relict topography of the Hangay Mountains in central Mongolia: Quantifying long-term exhumation and relief change of an old landscape. Tectonics, 37 (8), 2531–2558. http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2017TC004682

McDannell, K.T., Zeitler, P.K., Schneider, D.A., 2018, Instability of the southern Canadian Shield during the late Proterozoic. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 490, 100–109. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2018.03.012

McDannell, K.T., Zeitler, P.K., Janes, D.G., Idleman, B.D., and Fayon, A.K., 2018, Screening apatites for (U-Th)/He thermochronometry via continuous ramped heating: Helium age components and implications for age dispersion. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 223, 90–106. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2017.11.031

Idleman, B.D., Zeitler, P.K., McDannell, K.T., 2018, Characterization of helium release from apatite by continuous ramped heating. Chemical Geology, 476, 223–232. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2017.11.019