Professor Petrus Le Roux

Analytical isotope geochemistry & archaeometry
Chief Research Officer

Research

My geological research interest is in the use of light elements (Li, B) in igneous rocks, especially subduction zone and oceanic basalts, to understand the geochemical cycling of material, as well as the possible shallow-level magma assimilation, contamination and/or degassing systematics beneath mid-ocean ridges.

The development of new MC-ICP-MS isotopic analytical methods and novel applications, especially in situ Sr, Pb, Hf, B or Li isotope analysis using laser ablation.

I have a significant multi-disciplinary research focus on the use of Sr (and Pb) isotopes in palaeoanthropological, palaeontological and biological studies to place constraints on origins, landscape use or migration patterns of plants, hominins, early human societies, extinct animals or dinosaurs.

Selected Publications (student in bold)

More on: Google Scholar, ResearchGate and Scopus

ORCID: 0000-0002-5930-4995

  1. Mtonda MT, Le Roux P, Taylor WL, Wilton A, Tostevin R (2024) High resolution strontium isotope data from Nama Group, South Africa, constrain global stratigraphic relationships in the terminal Ediacaran. Precambrian Research, 404, 107339 DOI 10.1016/j.precamres.2024.107339
  2. Petrie CA, Lightfoot E, Jones PJ, Walker J, Valentine BT, Krigbaum J, le Roux P, Joglekar PP, Shinde V, Singh RN, O’Connell TC, (2024) On the hoof and on the cart: animal movement and its implications for understanding exchange within the Indus Civilisation. Scientific Reports, 14, 158 DOI 10.1038/s41598-023-50249-3
  3. Parra-Encalada D, Larrea P, Loaiza C, Cartagena R, Salinas S, Godoy B, Le Roux P (2024) Magmatic evolution of El Negrillar volcanic field: decoding subcontinental lithosphere processes and the key role of fractional crystallization in the Central Andes monogenetic volcanism. Lithos, 464-465 DOI 10.1016/j.lithos.2023.107427
  4. Taylor WTT, Belardi JB, Barberena R, Coltrain JB, Marina FC, Borrero LA, Conver JL, Hodgins G, Admiraal M, Craig OE, Lucquin A, Talbot HM, Lundy J, Liu X, Chauvey L, Schiavinato S, Seguin-Orlando A, Le Roux P, Lucas M, Orlando L, Roberts P, EL (2023) Interdisciplinary evidence for early domestic horse exploitation in southern Patagonia. Science Advances DOI 10.1126/sciadv.adk5201
  5. Trentacoste A, Mackinnon M, Day C, Le Roux P, Buckley M, McCallum M, Carroll M (2023) Isotopic insights into livestock production in Roman Italy: diet, seasonality, and mobility on an imperial estate. Environmental Archaeology DOI 10.1080/14614103.2023.2282866
  6. Aucamp T, Howarth GH, Peel C, Costin G, Day JMD, le Roux P, Scott J, Greshake A, Bartoschewitz R (2023) Petrogenesis of the Dar al Gani (DaG) olivine-phyric shergottites and implications for ~470 Ma martian volcanism associated with the 1.1 Ma ejection-paired shergottites. Meteoritics and Planetary Sciences, 58, 1654-1676 DOI 10.1111/maps.14090
  7. Wang X, Zhang B, Sun Y, Ingman T, Eisenmann S, Lucas M, Scott E, Ilgner J, Wu G, le Roux P, Wu X, Zhang X, Fan A, Roberts P, Stockhammer PW (2023) Isotopic and proteomic evidence for communal stability at Pre-Pottery Neolithic Jericho in the Southern Levant. Scientific Reports, 13, 16360 DOI 10.1038/s41598-023-43549-1
  8. Voegt C, Gunston G, Nortje M, Sealy JC, He L, le Roux P, Namayega C, Gibbon VE (2023) Bilateral hip dysplasia in a South African individual from the 17th – 19th century. International Journal of Paleopathology, 42, 27-33 DOI 10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.07.002
  9. Godoy, B, González-Maurel O, Harris C, le Roux P, Lister J (2023) Oxygen and radiogenic isotopes constrain different contamination paths in the Azufre volcano, Central Andes, northern Chile. Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 128, DOI 10.1016/j.jsames.2023.104451
(Paper below received the AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize for 2023)

Taylor WTT, Librado P, Hunska Tašunke Icu M, Shield Chief Gover C, Arterberry J, Luta Wih A, Nujipi A, Omniya T, Gonzalez M, Mean B, High Crane S, Mažasu, Dull Knife B, Wih W, Tecumseh Collin C, Ward C, Pasqual TA, Chauvey L, Tonasso-Calviere L, Schiavinato S, Seguin-Orlando A, Fages A, Khan N, Der Sarkissian C, Liu X, Wagner S, Ginondidoy Leonard B, Manzano BL, O’Malley N, Leonard JA, Bernáldez-Sánchez E, Barrey E, Charliquart L, Robbe E, Denoblet T, Gregersen K, Vershinina AO, Weinstock J, Rajić Šikanjić P, Mashkour M, Shingiray I, Aury J-M, Perdereau A, Alquraishi S, Alfarhan AH, Al-Rasheid KAS, Trbojević Vukičević T, Buric M, Sauer E, Lucas M, Brenner-Coltrain J, Bozell JR, Thornhill CA, Monagle V, Perri A, Newton C, Hall WE, Conver JL, Le Roux P, Buckser SG, Gabe C, Bautista Belardi J, Barrón-Ortiz CI, Hart IA, Ryder C, Sponheimer M, Shapiro B, Southon J, Hibbs J, Faulkner C, Outram A, Patterson Rosa L, Palermo K, Solé M, William A, McCrory W, Lindgren G, Brooks S, Eché C, Donnadieu C, Bouchez O, Wincker P, Hodgins G, Trabert S, Bethke B, Robert P, Jones EL, Running Horse Collin Y, Orlando L (2023) Early dispersal of domestic horses into the Great Plains and northern Rockies. Science, 379, 1316-1323 DOI 10.1126/science.adc9691

Courses Lectured

Over the past few years I have taught sections of:

  • GEO2004S – Mineralogy for Chemical Engineers

  • GEO2001F – Mineralogy, Crystallography and Petrography

Current Students

1. Bedone Mugabe, PhD (in Dept of Archaeology; co-supervisor)

2. Mapaseka Mashego, MSc

3. Camila Belén Riera Soto, PhD

Graduated Students

1. Osvaldo Patricio González-Maurel, PhD (co-registered with Universidad Catolica del Norte, Chile; with Distinction in Chile)

2. Agnes Ódri, PhD (co-supervisor) 

3. Sinethemba Ncetani, MSc

4. Bedone Mugabe, MSc (in Dept of Archaeology with Distinction; co-supervisor)

5. James Lister, MSc

6. Mari Scott, MSc

7. Tanya Dreyer, MSc (co-supervisor)

 

 

 

Biography

Degrees

  • PhD (Geochemistry) University of Cape Town, 2000
  • BSc Honours (Geochemistry) University of Cape Town, 1994
  • BSc (Geology) University of Cape Town, 1993

Employment

  • Chief Research Officer, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Cape Town, 2020-present
  • Senior Research Officer, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Cape Town, 2011-2019
  • Senior Research Officer, AEON EarthLAB, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Cape Town, 2008-2011
  • Senior Scientific Officer, AEON EarthLAB, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Cape Town, 2006-2008
  • Research Geologist, Danish Lithosphere Centre/Geological Institute, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2003-2005
  • Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC, USA, 2001-2003

Professional Associations

  • American Geophysical Union (since 1999)
  • Geochemical Society (since 2002)
  • Geological Society of South Africa (since 2003)
  • South African Heritage Resource Agency, permit committee (meteorites) 2008 – 2011
  • International Association of Geoanalysts (since 2015)