Specialising in the interplay between global tectonics and the growth of continents, I worked at BAS as a field geologist researching the tectonic history of the Antarctic Peninsula and the origin of its magmatic events. This work continues on the Lassiter Coast of the Antarctica, looking into how crustal deformation led to the emplacement of thousands of kilometres of new granitic crust. My work uses a combination of geochemistry, magnetic fabric analysis, and field data, which I have applied in Antarctica, SE Asia, and New Zealand, looking at how these processes change around the Pacific margin. Beyond tectonic-magmatic relations, my work covers a diverse range of geological science. This includes working on Antarctic geothermal heat flow; satellite remote sensing of exposed rocks and volcanoes; and the large-scale tectonic histories of the Pacific margin.

Research interests

– Tectonics of Antarctica and SE Asia

– Generation and evolution of felsic magma

– Crustal growth

– Granite emplacement

– Ophiolite formation

BURTON-JOHNSON, A. 2013. Origin, Emplacement and Tectonic Relevance of the Mt. Kinabalu Granitic Pluton of Sabah, Borneo. Durham University. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/9450/.

CULLEN, A., MACPHERSON, C., TAIB, N.I., BURTON-JOHNSON, A., GEIST, D., SPELL, T. & BANDA, R.M. 2013. Age and petrology of the Usun Apau and Linau Balui volcanics: Windows to central Borneo’s interior. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 76, 372–388, doi: 10.1016/j.jseaes.2013.05.003.

BURTON-JOHNSON, A. & MACPHERSON, C.J. 2012. Mt. Kinabalu Multi-phased Post-collisional I-Type Granite. In: Abstract American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting.

Publications from NERC Open Research Archive

• Burton-Johnson, A. (2018). Equilibrated Major Element Assimilation and Fractional Crystallisation (EME-AFC) model with simultaneous trace element and AFC modelling (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01101

• Burton-Johnson, A., Black, M., Fretwell, P., & Kaluza-Gilbert, J. (2016). Rock outcrop map of the Antarctic continent derived from Landsat 8 imagery (Version 1.0) [Data set]. Polar Data Centre; British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council; Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK.. https://doi.org/10.5285/f7947381-6fd7-466f-8894-25d3262cbcf5

1. Geological mapping of British Antarctic Territory

   A project to compile over 50 years of geological field data into new geological maps has already seen the publication of six new sheets.

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1. New map unlocks deep digital data of Antarctica’s history

   GeoMAP Antarctica, an open-access and comprehensive geological mapping database of Antarctica, was released today in Nature Scientific Data. Understanding Antarctica’s geosphere is, and has been, critical for understanding the continent’s […]

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2. Discovery of rare lava lake on remote sub-Antarctic island

   A team of scientists has discovered a rare lava lake on a remote and inaccessible sub-Antarctic island. This volcano in the South Sandwich Islands is only the 8th to be identified worldwide to have a persistent lava lake. 

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3. FEATURED PAPER: New geological history for Antarctic Peninsula

   This paper revised the geological history of the Antarctic Peninsula to show how it developed over the last 500 million years, and used this history to tell us about the […]

   Read more of: FEATURED PAPER: New geological history for Antarctic Peninsula