Pamela Kempton
Professor
NERC Postdoctoral Fellow, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK (1986-1989)
National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow, NASA-Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA (1984-1985)
Ph.D. in Geology (igneous petrology), Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas (1984)
M.Sc. in Geology (sedimentology and geomorphology), Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas (1980)
Personal research interests include the petrology and geochemistry of oceanic basalts and gabbros, lower crustal granulites, ultramafic peridotites and continental volcanism, focussing on problems of mantle geodynamics, petrogenesis of basaltic magmas, and the evolution of the lower crust and upper mantle.
Rader, M.A., Kempton, P.D., Möller, A. (2026) Tertiary re-working of Paleoproterozoic lower crust of the southwestern U.S.A.: Evidence from LA-ICP-MS zircon geochronology of granulite xenoliths from the Geronimo Volcanic Field, SE Arizona. Geological Society of America Bulletin (in press)
Adam, C., Kempton, P.D. (2025). Secular variation in the North American kimberlite formation: the variable connection to LLSVPs. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 26, e2025GC012528, https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GC012528
Coggon, R.M., Carter, E.J., Grant, L.J.C., Evans, A.D., Lowery, C.M., Teagle, D.A.H., Kempton, P.D., Cooper, M.J., Routledge, C.M., Estep, J., Christeson, G.L., Harris, M., Sylvan, J.B., Reece, J.S., Estes, E.R., Williams, T., and The South Atlantic Transect IODP Expedition 390 & 393 Scientists (2025). A geological carbon cycle sink hosted by ocean crust talus breccias. Nature Geoscience https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01839-5
Kempton, P.D., Coggon, R.M., Millar, I., Belgrano, T.M., Albers, E., Michalik, A., Milton, A., Evans, A.D., Taylor, R.N., Teagle, D.A.H. (2025) Mantle source evolution along the South Atlantic Transect (31˚S) records a transition from HIMU plume component to depleted MORB. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 26, e2025GC012175. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GC012175
Kempton, P.D., Adam, C., Saunders, A.D., Barry, T.L. (2025) Temporal variations of the oldest Emperor-Hawaiian plume signature influenced by interaction with shallow mantle features. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 26, e2025GC012208. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GC012208
GEOL 503 – Petrology
GEOL 712 – Advanced Geochemistry
GEOL 750 – Geologic Evolution of Planet Earth
GEOL 805 – Advanced Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology
GEOL 810 – Isotope Geology
I am a professor of geology at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, specializing in igneous petrology and isotope geochemistry. I earned my bachelor's degree in geology from James Madison University, then completed a master's degree in sedimentology and geomorphology at Southern Methodist University, followed by a Ph.D. in igneous petrology, also from SMU.
Before joining K-State as head of the geology department in 2013, I spent nearly three decades working in the United Kingdom. I conducted research at the Natural Environment Research Council's Isotope Geosciences Laboratory and later served as head of research and interim director of science at the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). My research focuses on the petrology and geochemistry of volcanic rocks, the evolution of Earth's mantle and lower crust, and the geological processes that shape Earth's surface.
My professional achievements have been recognized by the Geology and Environmental Science Department at James Madison with the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2016 and by the College of Science and Mathematics with the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2017.