Dennis Vanderliek
Geochemistry (Arbeitsbereich Geochemie)
PhD Student
Malteserstraße 74-100
12249 Berlin
Office hours
Isotopic age data from early studies of ancient lunar breccia were often lacking sufficient petrological background information. In-situ U-Pb dating of accessory phases in lunar rocks not only provides precise ages but also preserves their petrological context. This information is crucial to reconstruct geologic events in the early lunar timeline, notably the history of basin-forming impacts. To overcome this issue we combine state of the art analytical techniques to further constrain the impact history of the moon:
- Quantitative Evaluation of Minerals by Scanning Electron Microscopy (IML RWTH Aachen)
- Raman Spectroscopy (Freie Universität Berlin)
- Electron Microprobe Analysis (Freie Universität Berlin)
- Scanning Electron Microscopy (Freie Universität Berlin)
- Secondary Ionization Mass Spectrometry (Geoforschungszentrum Potsdam)
Education
Since June 2016 PhD Student in the TRR 170 – Late Accretion Onto
Terrestrial Planets Subproject A1
October 2013 - Master level program Applied Geosciences in the specialization Energy
May 2016 and Mineral Resources at Rheinisch-Westfälische
Technische Hochschule Aachen.
Master’s thesis: Petrogenesis and Zircon Typology of Shear
Zone Rocks from the Trans-Uralian-Zone, Miasskoye, Russia.
August 2014 – Erasmus+ Semester at the Lund University, Sweden in the field
February 2015 Magmatic Petrology, Geochemistry and Geochronology and Sedimentary
Basin Analysis.
2010-2013 Bachelor's degree of Science in the study of Applied Geosciences in the
specialization Energy and Mineral Resources at
Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen.
Bachelor’s Thesis: Geochemical and Petrological Characterization of the
Borehole SH67/08 of the VMS Mine Shinas, Oman.
Abstracts and Publications
Vanderliek, D. M., & Becker, H. (2017, March). Petrologic Context of Zr Phases in Lunar Impactites. In Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (Vol. 48).
Vanderliek, D. M., Becker, H., & Rocholl, A. (2017, May). Petrologic Context and Dating of 4.2 Ga Old Zircon in Lunar Impactites---67955 Revisited. In New Views of the Moon 2-Europe (Vol. 1988).
Vanderliek, D.M., Becker, H. (2017) Impact-Generated Zircon and the History of Lunar Breccia 67955. Goldschmidt 2017, (abstract #2017002503)
Vanderliek, D.M., Becker, H. (2017) Influence of the Imbrium impact event on textures and chronometry of impact melt breccia 15455. Paneth Kolloquium, Nördlingen (Germany), abstract URL: (abstract #0017).
Vanderliek, D. M., Becker, H., & Rocholl, A. (2018, March). In Situ U-Pb Dating of Lunar Breccia 15455: Impact Resetting and Growth of Zircons at 4.2 Ga. In Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (Vol. 49).
Vanderliek, D. M., Becker, H., & Rocholl, A. (2018). Impact-induced Resetting and Growth of Zircons in Lunar Breccias at 4.2 Ga: Evidence from the Apollo 15 and 16 Landing Sites. AGU Fall Meeting 2018
Vanderliek, D. M., Becker, H., & Rocholl, A. (2019, March). Large-Scale Redistribution of Heterogeneous PKT Material by the Imbrium Impact – Evidence from Petrology and U-Pb Zircon Dating of a Complex Apollo 16 Breccia. In Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (Vol. 49).
Conferences
March 2017 48th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference
August 2017 Goldschmidt 2017
October 2017 Paneth Colloquium 2017
March 2018 49th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference
April 2018 2nd International Mars Sample Return Conference
November 2018 AGU Fall Meeting 2018
March 2019 50th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference
Talks
October 2016 PhD Seminar Geocampus Lankwitz FU Berlin
November 2016 Annual TRR 170 Scientific Meeting Hodenhagen
November 2016 TRR 170 Seminar
May 2017 Advances in Geochemistry Seminar, Geochemistry Group, FU Berlin
January 2018 TRR 170 Seminar
March 2018 49th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference
June 2018 TRR 170 Seminar at the Institute for Mineralogy, University of Münster
November 2018 TRR 170 Seminar
January 2019 PhD Seminar Geocampus Lankwitz FU Berlin
March 2019 50th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference
Poster
November 2016 Annual TRR 170 Scientific Meeting Hodenhagen
March 2017 48th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference
June 2017 DMG-Section Meeting Petrology/Petrophysics and Geochemistry, Berlin
August 2017 Goldschmidt 2017
October 2017 Paneth Colloquium 2017
November 2018 AGU Fall Meeting 2018
Scientific Meetings
November 2016 Annual TRR 170 Scientific Meeting Hodenhagen
June 2017 Annual TRR 170 Scientific Meeting Nördlingen
June 2017 DMG-Section Meeting Petrology/Petrophysics and Geochemistry, Berlin
November 2018 Annual TRR 170 Scientific Meeting Washington DC
Laboratory Visits
Regular SEM and Microscopy Laboratories Geoforschungszentrum Potsdam
Regular SEM Laboratory, University of Potsdam
July 2016 Institute for Mineralogy and Economic Geology, RWTH Aachen
May 2017 SIMS Laboratory Geoforschungszentrum Potsdam
October 2017 Institute for Mineralogy and Economic Geology, RWTH Aachen
December 2017 SIMS Laboratory Geoforschungszentrum Potsdam
May 2018 SIMS Laboratory Geoforschungszentrum Potsdam
June 2018 NordSIMS Laboratory, Swedish Natural History Museum
October 2018 NordSIMS Laboratory, Swedish Natural History Museum
November 2018 SIMS Laboratory Geoforschungszentrum Potsdam
January 2019 Heidelberg Ion Probe Laboratory, Heidelberg University