Xu Chu

Xu Chu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences. He completed his Bachelor's degree at Peking University, and his Master's degree and Ph.D. at Yale University.

Professor Chu is a hard-rock petrologist interested in the rock records of orogenic dynamics and the geochemical processes that transport heat and materials in the lithosphere. He works on a range of topics, with the aim of improving fundamental theories for petrologic thermodynamics and kinetics, and advancing modeling efforts to reveal the geologic histories documented by natural rocks. His projects integrate field-based studies, experimental petrology, and numerical simulations, and apply the petrologic tools to field areas of various geologic settings, including the New England Appalachians, the Tianshan UHP belt in western China, Alpine Corsica, contact aureoles in the Sierra Nevada, and the Adirondacks.