Igneous petrology; application of isotope and trace element geochemistry to fundamental problems of the Earth’s origin and evolution; structure and chemical evolution of the mantle and crust; origin of mantle plumes and nature of plume/lithosphere interaction; generation and segregation of magma; origin and chemical evolution of continental lithosphere; chemical fluxes in constructive and destructive tectonic environments; the role of crust and lithospheric mantle recycling in the generation of mantle chemical heterogeneityp; the origin and distribution of water and other volatile elements in the Earth’s interior; thermal and chemical evolution of the Earth’s core and core/mantle boundary