Andy R. Duncan
Andy Duncan is a BSc (Hons) graduate of the University of Cape Town who obtained his PhD from Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand and then spent 2½ years as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Center for Volcanology in the University of Oregon (USA). He started a ten year period as a NASA co-investigator on the Lunar Science Program during his time in Oregon and continued this when he returned to UCT in 1972. His research focus for much of his career has been on volcanic rocks with particular interest in the geological, volcanological, geochemical and petrogenetic aspects of the Karoo and Etendeka flood volcanic provinces in Southern Africa. In pursuing his interest in the geochemistry of volcanic rocks he became a practitioner in the application of a number of analytical techniques, particularly X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF), in obtaining high precision trace element analyses. As a spin-off from this engagement with sophisticated XRF techniques he presented a continuously evolving course on the “Theory and Practice of Modern XRF Spectrometry”, in partnership with Professor James Willis, for 30 years at UCT and over a 14-year period at the University of Western Ontario in Canada. He developed computerised techniques for obtaining instrumental analytical data, for establishing geochemical correlation techniques between volcanic rock units using multivariate statistics, and for the simulation modelling of igneous petrogenetic processes. During the period 1995 - 2008 he was the project manager for several major high-profile and high-budget projects at UCT and finished his career at UCT as the Project Manager in the Office of the Vice-Chancellor. He also returned to his roots as an Earth Scientist in the role of Interim Chief Executive Officer of the Africa Earth Observatory Network (AEON) from 2005 - 2008. He “retired” at the end of 2008 but has continued as a part-time project and programme manager for various projects in the Properties & Services and ICT Services Departments.
Selected Publications
Professor Duncan has co-authored two books with Professor James Willis (See Profesor Willis' bio below) and a few of his notable publications are listed here:
Duncan, A. R., & Marsh, J. S. (2006). The Karoo Igneous Province. In M. R. Johnson, C. R. Anhaeusser & R. J. Thomas (Eds.), The Geology of South Africa (pp. 501-520). Johannesburg and Pretoria: The Geological Society of South Africa and the Council for Geoscience.
Ewart, A., Marsh, J. S., Milner, S. C., Duncan, A. R., Kamber, B. S., & Armstrong, R. A. (2004). Petrology and geochemistry of early cretaceous bimodal continental flood volcanism of the NW Etendeka, Namibia. Part 1: Introduction, mafic lavas and re-evaluation of mantle source components. Journal of Petrology, 45(1), 59-105.
Ewart, A., Marsh, J. S., Milner, S. C., Duncan, A. R., Kamber, B. S., & Armstrong, R. A. (2004). Petrology and geochemistry of early cretaceous bimodal continental flood volcanism of the NW Etendeka, Namibia. Part 2: Characteristics and petrogenesis of the high-Ti latite and high-Ti and low-Ti voluminous quartz latite eruptives. Journal of Petrology, 45(1), 107-138.
Marsh, J. S., Ewart, A., Milner, S. C., Duncan, A. R., & Miller, R. M. (2001). The Etendeka Igneous Province: magma types and their stratigraphic distribution with implications for the evolution of the Parana-Etendeka flood basalt province. Bulletin of Volcanology, 62(6-7), 464-486.
Duncan, A. R., Erlank, A. J., & Marsh, J. S. (1984). Regional geochemistry of the Karoo Igneous Province. In A. J. Erlank (Ed.), Petrogenesis of the Volcanic Rocks of the Karoo Province (Vol. Special Publication No 13, pp. 355-388). Johannesburg: Geological Society of South Africa.
Erlank, A. J., Allsopp, H. L., Duncan, A. R., & Bristow, J. W. (1980). Mantle heterogeneity beneath Southern Africa: evidence from the volcanic record. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, A297, 295-307.