Publications

Peer-reviewed papers, newest first. Conference abstracts are on Google Scholar and ORCID.

2026

Decompression melting of peridotite xenoliths. W. H. Towbin and T. Plank. Journal of Petrology 67(9), egag077. doi:10.1093/petrology/egag077

Micro-CT, electron microprobe and diffusion modeling show that mantle rocks carried up by magma start melting during a rise of one to three weeks. Plain-language summary.

High precision water quantification by Raman spectroscopy: Applications to volcanic and extraterrestrial samples. E. G. Huggins, E. Gazel, M. Gavrilenko, K. Dayton, J. D. Bixler, W. H. Towbin and T. Plank. Chemical Geology 721, 123628. doi:10.1016/j.chemgeo.2026.123628

2025

A study of the Winston Red: The Smithsonian’s new fancy red diamond. G. A. Farfan, U. F. S. D’Haenens-Johansson, S. Persaud, E. Gaillou, R. C. Feather II, W. H. Towbin and D. C. Jones. Gems & Gemology 61(1). Article

Formation of spongy clinopyroxene: insights from eclogitic inclusions in diamonds. W. Wang, N. M. Korolev, E. S. Kiseeva, R. M. Davies, Y. Weiss, M. Kopylova, W. H. Towbin, F. Huang, A. E. Moore and E. A. Vasilev. Journal of Petrology 66(5), egaf036. doi:10.1093/petrology/egaf036

2024

PyIRoGlass: An open-source, Bayesian MCMC algorithm for fitting baselines to FTIR spectra of basaltic-andesitic glasses. S. C. Shi, W. H. Towbin, T. Plank, A. C. Barth, D. J. Rasmussen, Y. Moussallam, H. J. Lee and W. Menke. Volcanica 7(2), 471–501. doi:10.30909/vol.07.02.471501

An open-source Python tool that measures water and CO₂ in volcanic glass from infrared spectra.

ND70 series basaltic glass reference materials for volatile element (H₂O, CO₂, S, Cl, F) measurement and the C ionisation efficiency suppression effect of water in silicate glasses in SIMS. Y. Moussallam, W. H. Towbin, T. Plank et al. Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research 48(3), 637–660. doi:10.1111/ggr.12572

Fast, furious, and gassy: Etna’s explosive eruption from the mantle. A. Barth et al. (including W. H. Towbin). Earth and Planetary Science Letters 643, 118864. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2024.118864

Applications of X-ray radiography and X-ray computed microtomography in gemology. C. Zhou and W. H. Towbin. Gems & Gemology 60(4), 582–595. Article

Glowing gems: Fluorescence and phosphorescence of diamonds, colored stones, and pearls. U. F. S. D’Haenens-Johansson, S. Eaton-Magaña, W. H. Towbin and E. Myagkaya. Gems & Gemology 60(4), 560–580. Article

Large natural diamonds with asteriated cloud inclusions. T. Linzmeyer, W. H. Towbin and S. Eaton-Magaña. Gems & Gemology 60(2).

2023

Measuring H₂O concentrations in olivine by secondary ion mass spectrometry: Challenges and paths forward. W. H. Towbin, T. Plank, E. Klein and E. Hauri. American Mineralogist 108(5), 928–940. doi:10.2138/am-2022-8247

Two sets of reference standards that most labs use to measure water in olivine disagree by about 50%. We traced the offset to the reference values and proposed a calibration that avoids it. Summary.

Rates of dehydration in hydrous, high-Fo, magmatic olivines. A. Barth, T. Plank and W. H. Towbin. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 342, 62–73. doi:10.1016/j.gca.2022.11.009

2019 and earlier

Effect of polychromatic X-ray microtomography imaging on the amino acid content of the Murchison CM chondrite. J. M. Friedrich, H. L. McLain, J. P. Dworkin, D. P. Glavin, W. H. Towbin, M. Hill et al. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 54(1), 220–228 (2019).

Nautilid nurseries: hatchlings and juveniles of Eutrephoceras dekayi from the lower Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) Pierre Shale of east-central Montana. N. H. Landman, J. W. Grier, J. K. Cochran, J. C. Grier, J. G. Petersen and W. H. Towbin. Lethaia 51(1), 48–74 (2018).

Dissertation

The fidelity of the mantle signal in peridotite xenoliths: Interactions during magmatic ascent. W. H. Towbin. PhD dissertation, Columbia University (2023).

Data

Major, trace and volatile analyses of minerals in mantle xenoliths and associated host scoria from Sullivan Ranch cinder cone, AZ, Basin and Range. T. Plank and W. H. Towbin. IEDA EarthChem Library (2026). doi:10.60520/IEDA/114314

Software

odr_bootstrap: a Python package for fitting calibration lines when both variables have uncertainty, with bootstrap confidence intervals. GitHub