Keith Klepeis on How Plutons Form

About this episode

Keith Klepeis discusses the formation of plutons and their journey from magma to the Earth's crust.

Plutons are bodies of igneous rock that crystallize from magma at depth below the Earth’s surface. But even though this magma never makes it to the surface, it still has to travel many kilometers up from its source near the base of the crust to the upper crust where plutons form. In the podcast, Keith Klepeis explains how it makes that journey and describes the shape of the resulting structures. Many of his findings come from one region in particular that provides an exceptional window into the origin, evolution, and structure of plutons – the Southern Fiordland region of New Zealand’s South Island. Klepeis is a Professor in the Department of Geography and Geosciences at the University of Vermont.

People in this episode

Host: Oliver Strimpel

Guest: Keith Klepeis

Topics covered

• plutons
• igneous rock
• magma
• geology
• Southern Fiordland
• New Zealand

Keywords

• plutons
• igneous rock
• magma
• geology
• Southern Fiordland
• New Zealand
• crust

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Vermont

Places: Southern Fiordland, New Zealand, South Island

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