About

Blair Schoene is a Professor of Geosciences at Princeton University, specializing in geochronology and Earth history. He leads a high-precision U-Pb geochronology lab within the Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometer Laboratory (TIMS Lab), where his research focuses on understanding timescales related to magmatic processes that build continental crust and influence the biosphere, atmosphere, and oceans. His work begins in the field with outcrop to regional scale mapping and employs complementary approaches such as thermochronology, radiogenic isotope tracing, structural analysis, geochemistry, and numerical and statistical techniques. Schoene's lab is equipped with low-blank clean room facilities, two thermal ionization mass spectrometers, and rock and mineral separation and characterization facilities. His research group shares space and instrumentation with other department labs that measure stable and radiogenic isotopes and geochemistry of various Earth materials.

Research topics

• Geology
• Geochemistry
• Chromatography
• Chemistry
• Paleontology
• Earth science
• Environmental chemistry
• Environmental science
• Physics
• Seismology
• Oceanography

Selected publications

• Tellurium in Volcanic and Sedimentary Systems – From Outgassing to Sequestration

  Open MIND · 2026-03-09

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  Supplementary Data 1 to "Tellurium in Volcanic and Sedimentary Systems – From Outgassing to Sequestration" by Baumann N.B., Regelous M., Adatte T., Rudnick R.L., Chen K., Schoene B., Keller G., Sharma N., and Haase K.M.

  DOI

• Patterns of rift basin development and the fidelity of the subsidence record: Insights through Bayesian modeling of rapid tectonic subsidence in a Rio Grande rift basin, Socorro, NM, U.S.A

  Earth and Planetary Science Letters · 2026-05-22

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Tellurium in Volcanic and Sedimentary Systems – From Outgassing to Sequestration

  Mendeley Data · 2026-03-09

  datasetOpen access

  Supplementary Data 1 to "Tellurium in Volcanic and Sedimentary Systems – From Outgassing to Sequestration" by Baumann N.B., Regelous M., Adatte T., Rudnick R.L., Chen K., Schoene B., Keller G., Sharma N., and Haase K.M.

  PublisherDOI

• Three-body evidence of ca. 3.7 Ga to 3.2 Ga bombardment across the inner solar system

  Geology · 2026-05-12

  article

  The intensity of Archean meteoroid bombardment of the inner solar system is disputed. Here, we present the first observation of cubic zirconia phase heritage in baddeleyite (monoclinic ZrO2) from a lunar meteorite, Northwest Africa (NWA) 12593. Cubic zirconia is a high-temperature mineral structure that forms in superheated impact melt at temperatures >∼2370 °C. 207Pb-206Pb geochronology of baddeleyite grains with phase heritage in NWA 12593 supports an impact age of 3486 ± 10 Ma. The presence of cubic zirconia heritage in this lunar meteorite suggests a large (>30 km) crater forming event at this time. This result aligns with ca. 3.5 Ga large crater forming impacts from two other inner solar system bodies—Earth and Vesta. This period of coeval large crater forming impact events across the inner solar system was synchronous with enigmatic events in Archean Earth history, including the earliest evidence of the evolution of cellular life on Earth. Placed in a comprehensive record of ca. 3.8−3.0 Ga inner solar system impact events, high-intensity meteorite bombardment continued well beyond the ca. 3.9 Ga cataclysmic period.

  PublisherDOI

• Diverse crust-forming mechanisms on early Earth from the Hadean–Eoarchean (4.0–3.6 Ga) zircon record of the Tanzanian Craton

  Earth and Planetary Science Letters · 2026-02-18

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  PublisherDOI

• From Volcanic Source to Sedimentary Sink - Tellurium as a proxy for LIP volcanism

  2026-03-14

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  Tellurium is a highly volatile, chalcophile and moderately siderophile trace element that is strongly enriched in volcanic gases relative to crustal rocks. Like mercury, tellurium concentrations in sediments can therefore represent a proxy for past volcanic activity, allowing the timing of LIP volcanism relative to environmental and biotic change during mass extinction events to be determined. Previous studies reported high Te contents in sedimentary rocks at the Permian-Triassic, Cretaceous-Paleogene and Paleocene-Eocene boundaries, which may be linked to eruption of the Siberian, Deccan, and North Atlantic flood basalts, respectively.Due to the low abundance of Te in most geological materials, and the relatively high ionization energy of Te, this element is rarely analyzed and its geochemical behavior is poorly understood. We have developed methods for analysis of nanogram amounts of Te (and other trace elements) using desolvating nebulizer ICP-MS. Addition of a single-step cationic exchange preconcentration allows analysis of samples containing ppt levels of Te. Using these methods, we carried out analyses of different geological materials, in order to advance our understanding of the behavior of Te in volcanic and sedimentary systems and assess its potential as a proxy for volcanic activity.Glacial diamictite composites, previously used to estimate the average composition of the Upper Continental Crust (UCC), yield an average Te concentration of 36.7 ± 0.5 ng/g. Assuming this is representative of average UCC, this enrichment in Te relative to estimates of the primitive mantle (silicate Earth) of about 12 ng/g, despite tellurium’s moderately compatible behavior during mantle melting, may indicate that Te has been concentrated in the UCC due to volcanic and hydrothermal processes.Deccan flood basalts that have not fractionated sulfide, have low Te concentrations (average 0.94 ppb, n=12) relative to MORB (3 – 5 ppb), suggesting that Te was largely degassed during emplacement of the subaerial Deccan lavas at 66.5 – 65.5 Ma. By contrast, the red boles (fossil soil horizons) interbedded with Deccan lavas, have high Te concentrations of up to 2200 ppb, indicating that significant amounts of Te were released during volcanism, some of which was deposited close to the site of volcanism. This observation agrees with data of several thousand sedimentary rocks from profiles across the K-Pg boundary in Italy, Egypt, Morocco, Turkey and Spain, thus supporting the use of Te as a geochemical proxy for LIP volcanism.

  PublisherDOI

• Magnetite-apatite deposits of the New Jersey Highlands, USA: Geochronological evidence for orogen-scale Fe-P-(Ti) mineralization during the Grenvillian Orogeny

  Geological Society of America Bulletin · 2025-11-24 · 1 citations

  article

  Abstract Magnetite-apatite (MtAp) ore deposits are broadly distributed within Mesoproterozoic rocks of the New Jersey Highlands (USA); however, the age and origins of the ores, and relationships to other Fe-P-(Ti) ore deposits in the Grenvillian Orogen are presently unknown. We use zircon U-Pb geochronology and isotope geochemistry to (1) constrain the timing of MtAp mineralization in the New Jersey Highlands, (2) evaluate the relationship between the MtAp ores and associated lithologies, (3) develop a magmatic model for ore genesis, and (4) place the New Jersey ores within the context of Grenville tectonics and regional mineralization. Ore-body zircon crystals exhibit complex, magmatic textures that record episodic or prolonged crystallization over an extended duration from ca. 1074 Ma to 905 Ma, suggesting that MtAp mineralization occurred during Ottawan to post-Ottawan orogenesis. Cumulate textures of MtAp ores and a close spatial and temporal association among ores, pegmatitic granitoids (ca. 1058 Ma to ca. 986 Ma regionally), and clinopyroxene syenites (most dates ca. 1097 Ma to ca. 926 Ma at one mine) suggest that MtAp mineralization and intrusive magmatism reflect co-magmatic processes. Zircon O isotope data indicate that the MtAp deposits and associated lithologies formed from crustal melts (δ18O = 7.66‰–9.24‰ for the orthogneiss-hosted deposits and δ18O = 5.40‰–6.29‰ for the amphibolite-hosted deposit). Zircon Hf isotope data are more complex. Some MtAp deposits and associated lithologies record Hf signatures consistent with a crustal melt source (εHfi = 0.6–11.1). Whereas other MtAp deposits have extremely radiogenic signatures (εHfi = 29–542) due to the high modal abundance of apatite and monazite in the ores and, consequently, high Lu/Hf ratios. MtAp mineralization in the New Jersey Highlands is broadly coeval with MtAp mineralization in the Adirondack Highlands of New York (USA), rare earth element (REE) mineralization in the Hudson Highlands of New York, and nelsonite mineralization at Lac à l’Orignal and Lac Mirepoix in Québec (Canada). Collectively, these results indicate that orogen-scale, Fe-P-(Ti) and REE mineralization processes operated during Ottawan to post-Ottawan orogenesis throughout the Grenville orogen.

  PublisherDOI

• Geology constrains the diffusivity of Ti in quartz and crystallization timescales of high-silica magmas in the Searchlight Magmatic System (NV, USA)

  Earth and Planetary Science Letters · 2025-06-07 · 4 citations

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  PublisherDOI

• U–Pb geochronology of the Malokaroy Series (Kazakhstan) constrains the global appearance of vase-shaped microfossils to > 759 million years ago

  Precambrian Research · 2025-08-11

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  PublisherDOI

• THE CASE FOR A LARGE CATHEDRAL PEAK MAGMA CHAMBER, TUOLUMNE INTRUSIVE COMPLEX, SIERRA NEVADA

  Abstracts with programs - Geological Society of America · 2025-01-01

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  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Collaborative research: Andean Plutonic Perspectives on Generation, Storage, and Eruption of Rhyolite

  NSF · $90k · 2017–2019

• Laboratory Technician Support: Expanding the capacity for U-Pb geochronology at Princeton University

  NSF · $749k · 2017–2026

• Collaborative Research: EarthScope Geochronology Graduate Student Training Program

  NSF · $36k · 2014–2018

• Testing Models for Magma Transfer and Emplacement In 4-Dimensions:The Bergell Intrusion, N. Italy

  NSF · $297k · 2012–2016

• MRI: Acquisition of a Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometer for High-Precision Geochronology and Isotope Geology

  NSF · $523k · 2017–2020

Frequent coauthors

• C. Brenhin Keller

  Dartmouth College

  59 shared

• Michael P. Eddy

  44 shared

• Kyle M. Samperton

  43 shared

• Dawid Szymanowski

  39 shared

• S. A. MacLennan

  University of the Witwatersrand

  37 shared

• Urs Schaltegger

  35 shared

• Thierry Adatte

  University of Lausanne

  34 shared

• Gerta Keller

  Princeton University

  33 shared

Labs

• Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometer Laboratory (TIMS Lab)PI

Education

• PhD, EAPS

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  2006

• BA, Geology

  Colorado College

  1999

Awards & honors

• Geosciences Alumni honored at AGU 2024 Fall Meeting