Kathryn Watts
Kathryn is a Research Geologist with the GMEG Science Center in Spokane, WA. Her research is focused on crustal magmatism, from processes that fuel volcanic eruptions to those that contribute to the formation of economically valuable mineral resources. Kathryn's areas of expertise include - igneous petrology, geochemistry, isotope geochemistry, geochronology, volcanology, and economic geology.
Current USGS Research Projects
- 2023-Present: Granite-related (Li-Sn-Ta) and Lacustrine Evaporite-related (Li) Mineral Systems Assessment
- 2022-Present: Multidisciplinary Investigations of REE Mineralization at Mountain Pass and in the Southeast Mojave Desert, California
Former USGS Research Projects
- 2019-2023: Lithium from Source to Sink: Genesis and Evolution of Li Brines and Clays
- 2019-2023: Systems Approach to Critical Minerals Inventory, Research, and Assessment
- 2019-2022: REE Resources in the Southeast Mojave Desert, California
- 2019-2020: Mineral Resource Assessment Training (Tungsten)
- 2016-2018: Geophysical, Geologic, and Geochemical Investigations of REE Deposits in the Southeast Mojave Desert, Including Music Valley, Thor, and Mountain Pass
- 2015-2018: Magmas to Metals: Melt Inclusion Insights into the Formation of Critical Element-Bearing Ore Deposits
- 2013-2018: Geologic Framework of the Northern Great Basin
- 2012-2016: Formation and Eruption of Large Silicic Magma Chambers and Their Potential Genetic Relationship to Carlin-Type Gold Deposits in the Northern Great Basin (Mendenhall Postdoctoral Research Fellowship)
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Geological Sciences, University of Oregon, 2011
B.S., Geology, Louisiana State University, 2006
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 15
Linking rapid magma reservoir assembly and eruption trigger mechanisms at evolved Yellowstone-type supervolcanoes
The geological record contains evidence of volcanic eruptions that were as much as two orders of magnitude larger than the most voluminous eruption experienced by modern civilizations, the A.D. 1815 Tambora (Indonesia) eruption. Perhaps nowhere on Earth are deposits of such supereruptions more prominent than in the Snake River Plain–Yellowstone Plateau (SRP-YP) volcanic province (northwest United
Authors
J.F. Wotzlaw, I.N. Bindeman, Kathryn E. Watts, A.K. Schmitt, L. Caricchi, U. Schaltegger
Crustal-scale recycling in caldera complexes and rift zones along the Yellowstone hotspot track: O and Hf isotopic evidence in diverse zircons from voluminous rhyolites of the Picabo volcanic field, Idaho
Rhyolites of the Picabo volcanic field (10.4–6.6 Ma) in eastern Idaho are preserved as thick ignimbrites and lavas along the margins of the Snake River Plain (SRP), and within a deep (>3 km) borehole near the central axis of the Yellowstone hotspot track. In this study we present new O and Hf isotope data and U–Pb geochronology for individual zircons, O isotope data for major phenocrysts (quartz,
Authors
Dana L. Drew, Ilya N. Bindeman, Kathryn E. Watts, Axel K. Schmitt, Bin Fu, Michael McCurry
Voluminous low δ18O magmas in the late Miocene Heise volcanic field, Idaho: Implications for the fate of Yellowstone hotspot calderas
We report oxygen isotope compositions of phenocrysts and U-Pb ages of zircons in four large caldera-forming ignimbrites and post-caldera lavas of the Heise volcanic field, a nested caldera complex in the Snake River Plain, that preceded volcanism in Yellowstone. Early eruption of three normal δ18O voluminous ignimbrites with δ18Oquartz = 6.4‰ and δ18Ozircon = 4.8‰ started at Heise at 6.6 Ma, and w
Authors
I.N. Bindeman, Kathryn E. Watts, A.K. Schmitt, Lisa Morgan, Pat Shanks
Non-USGS Publications**
Watts, K.E., Bindeman, I.N., and Schmitt, A.K., 2012. Crystal-scale anatomy of a dying supervolcano: An isotope and geochronology study of individual phenocrysts from voluminous rhyolites of the Yellowstone caldera. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, v. 164, p. 45-67.
Watts, K.E., Bindeman, I.N., and Schmitt, A.K., 2011. Large-volume rhyolite genesis in caldera complexes of the Snake River Plain: Insights from the Kilgore Tuff of the Heise volcanic field, Idaho, with comparison to Yellowstone and Bruneau-Jarbidge rhyolites. Journal of Petrology, v. 52, p. 857-890.
Watts, K.E., Leeman, W.P., Bindeman, I.N., and Larson, P.B., 2010. Supereruptions of the Snake River Plain: Two-stage derivation of low-δ18O rhyolites from normal-δ18O crust as constrained by Archean xenoliths. Geology, v. 38, p. 503-506.
Bindeman, I.N., Leonov, V.L., Ponomareva, V.V., Watts, K.E., Shipley, N.K., Perepelov, A.B., Bazanova, L.I., Jicha, B.R., Singer, B.S., Schmitt, A.K., Portnyagin, M.V., and Chen, C.H., 2010. Large-volume silicic volcanism in Kamchatka: Ar-Ar and U-Pb ages, isotopic, and geochemical characteristics of major pre-Holocene caldera-forming eruptions. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, v. 189, p. 57-80.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 15
Linking rapid magma reservoir assembly and eruption trigger mechanisms at evolved Yellowstone-type supervolcanoes
The geological record contains evidence of volcanic eruptions that were as much as two orders of magnitude larger than the most voluminous eruption experienced by modern civilizations, the A.D. 1815 Tambora (Indonesia) eruption. Perhaps nowhere on Earth are deposits of such supereruptions more prominent than in the Snake River Plain–Yellowstone Plateau (SRP-YP) volcanic province (northwest United
Authors
J.F. Wotzlaw, I.N. Bindeman, Kathryn E. Watts, A.K. Schmitt, L. Caricchi, U. Schaltegger
Crustal-scale recycling in caldera complexes and rift zones along the Yellowstone hotspot track: O and Hf isotopic evidence in diverse zircons from voluminous rhyolites of the Picabo volcanic field, Idaho
Rhyolites of the Picabo volcanic field (10.4–6.6 Ma) in eastern Idaho are preserved as thick ignimbrites and lavas along the margins of the Snake River Plain (SRP), and within a deep (>3 km) borehole near the central axis of the Yellowstone hotspot track. In this study we present new O and Hf isotope data and U–Pb geochronology for individual zircons, O isotope data for major phenocrysts (quartz,
Authors
Dana L. Drew, Ilya N. Bindeman, Kathryn E. Watts, Axel K. Schmitt, Bin Fu, Michael McCurry
Voluminous low δ18O magmas in the late Miocene Heise volcanic field, Idaho: Implications for the fate of Yellowstone hotspot calderas
We report oxygen isotope compositions of phenocrysts and U-Pb ages of zircons in four large caldera-forming ignimbrites and post-caldera lavas of the Heise volcanic field, a nested caldera complex in the Snake River Plain, that preceded volcanism in Yellowstone. Early eruption of three normal δ18O voluminous ignimbrites with δ18Oquartz = 6.4‰ and δ18Ozircon = 4.8‰ started at Heise at 6.6 Ma, and w
Authors
I.N. Bindeman, Kathryn E. Watts, A.K. Schmitt, Lisa Morgan, Pat Shanks
Non-USGS Publications**
Watts, K.E., Bindeman, I.N., and Schmitt, A.K., 2012. Crystal-scale anatomy of a dying supervolcano: An isotope and geochronology study of individual phenocrysts from voluminous rhyolites of the Yellowstone caldera. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, v. 164, p. 45-67.
Watts, K.E., Bindeman, I.N., and Schmitt, A.K., 2011. Large-volume rhyolite genesis in caldera complexes of the Snake River Plain: Insights from the Kilgore Tuff of the Heise volcanic field, Idaho, with comparison to Yellowstone and Bruneau-Jarbidge rhyolites. Journal of Petrology, v. 52, p. 857-890.
Watts, K.E., Leeman, W.P., Bindeman, I.N., and Larson, P.B., 2010. Supereruptions of the Snake River Plain: Two-stage derivation of low-δ18O rhyolites from normal-δ18O crust as constrained by Archean xenoliths. Geology, v. 38, p. 503-506.
Bindeman, I.N., Leonov, V.L., Ponomareva, V.V., Watts, K.E., Shipley, N.K., Perepelov, A.B., Bazanova, L.I., Jicha, B.R., Singer, B.S., Schmitt, A.K., Portnyagin, M.V., and Chen, C.H., 2010. Large-volume silicic volcanism in Kamchatka: Ar-Ar and U-Pb ages, isotopic, and geochemical characteristics of major pre-Holocene caldera-forming eruptions. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, v. 189, p. 57-80.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.