Francisco HEVIA-CRUZ

Professor (Assistant) at Universidad de Concepción.

I am a Chilean geologist (MSc and PhD). After finishing my PhD thesis "Climatic and landscape evolution of the Azores Archipelago over the past 1 Myr" at Géosciences Paris-Saclay, I did a 1-year postdoc at the LSCE laboratory on the re-launching in Python of the AnalySeries program for paleoclimatic archives correlation. I'm interested in studying the complex relationships between past climate and the evolution of volcanoes, aiming to understand how climate can impact the evolution of volcanic areas and how eruptions and the weathering of volcanic products can impact the climate from local to global scales.

Research interests

Paleoclimate, weathering, volcanic islands and volcanic areas in general

Over the last 5 years, I have been studying the paleoclimate of the Azores Archipelago through a combined geochemical and geochronological study of paleosols spanning the past 1 Myr. I used the paleosols' geochemistry to make paleoclimatic reconstructions and study the weathering conditions and rates at the time of their formation, using K-Ar and 40Ar/39Ar dating techniques to constrain paleosol ages and formation timing.

In my previous work in Chile, I worked in the regional geological mapping of different areas of Northern Chile, including places such as the Ojos del Salado Volcano (the highest volcano on Earth).

During my Master thesis at Universidad de Chile, I made a lithofacies and biotites-geochemical correlation of Cenozoic ignimbrites in Northern Chile, for which I had the chance to go to the ERI of the University of Tokyo in Japan to make EPMA analyses. I further collaborated with this Japanese team during several fieldwork campaigns in the southern part of the Southern Volcanic Zone of the Andes, where we visited several volcanoes (from north to south: Mocho Choshuenco, Puyehue, Antillanca, Puntiagudo, Osorno, Huequi, Michnmahuida, Corcovado, Yanteles, Melimoyu, Mentolat, Maca, Cay, and several monogenetic cones), including maneuvers by foot, car, boat and helicopter.

Research experience

April 2025 - present

Professor (Assistant)
Earth Sciences
Universidad de Concepción

Assistant Professor at Universidad de Concepción, teaching, research, outreach, undergrad and graduate students formation

April 2024 - March 2025

Research Engineer
LSCE Lab
Sorbonne Université

Evaluation of the AnalySeries program functionalities for its development in Python, user manual & forum creation and animation.

October 2020 - December 2023

PhD Researcher
GEOPS Lab
Université Paris-Saclay

"Climatic and landscape evolution of the Azores over the past 1 Myr", under the guidance of Anthony Hildenbrand and Nathan D. Sheldon.

Combined geochemical and geochronological study of paleosols spanning the past 1 Myr.

June 2018 - September 2020

Geologist

SERNAGEOMIN (Chilean mining and geological survey)

Regional mapping in the areas of the Ojos del Salado Volcano and the town of Codpa, both in Northern Chile; "New insights of the geology of salars of northern Chile: study cases".

May - June 2016

Short-term scholar

ERI, University of Tokyo

Biotites EPMA measurements in the context of my Master Thesis, to complement the lithofacies characterization of Cenozoic ignimbrites in Northern Chile and improve their physical correlation.

Academic trajectory

December 2023

PhD
GEOPS, Université Paris-Saclay

"Climatic and landscape evolution of the Azores over the past 1 Myr".

PIs: Drs. Anthony Hildenbrand & Nathan D. Sheldon

December 2018

MSc

Universidad de Chile

"Lithofacies and biotite geochemical correlation of Cenozoic ignimbrites in the southern Central Andes".

PIs: Dr. Angelo Castruccio, MSc José A. Naranjo

December 2015

BSc

Universidad de Chile

Outstanding student award (2012-2014).

Athlete distinction (2013-2018).

Last publications

Hevia-Cruz, F., Hildenbrand, A., Sheldon, N. D., Chabaux, F., Marques, F. O., Carlut, J. (2025) Fast CO2 uptake by intense weathering of volcanic islands during interglacial stages. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 401, 62–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2025.05.035

Hevia-Cruz, F., Sheldon, N. D., Hildenbrand, A., Hren, M. T., Marques, F. O., Carlut, J., Chabaux, F. (2024) Regional variations of the Azores High across glacial-interglacial timescales. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 39 (5), e2023PA004810. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023PA004810

Hildenbrand, A., Marques, F. O., Pereira, A., Nomade, S., Hevia-Cruz, F. (2024) Precise dating of large flank collapses by single-grain 40Ar/39Ar on pyroclastic deposits: example from Flores Island (Azores). Scientific Reports, 14, 11905 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-62583-1

Hevia-Cruz, F., Hildenbrand, A., Sheldon, N. D., Hren, M. T., Zanon, V., Marques, F. O., Carlut, J., Chabaux, F., Haurine, F. (2024) Weathering pulses during glacial-interglacial transitions: insights from well-dated paleosols in the Azores volcanic province (Central North Atlantic). Quaternary Sciences Reviews, 324, 108438. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108438

Naranjo, J. A., Hevia, F., Polanco, E. (2021) Mondaca volcano lahar of December 3, 1762, Maule Region (35°28’S): one of the largest volcanic disasters in Chilean history. Andean Geology 48 (3). http://dx.doi.org/10.5027/andgeoV48n3-3361

Naranjo, J. A., Hevia, F., Villa, V., Ramírez, C. (2019) Miocene to Holocene geological evolution of the Lazufre segment in the Andean volcanic arc. Geosphere, 15 (1), 47-59. https://doi.org/10.1130/GES01352.1

Accepted

- - - - - -

Under review, submitted, in preparation

Hevia-Cruz, F., Naranjo, J. A., Orihashi, Y. Biotite geochemistry fingerprinting for Cenozoic ignimbrites and distal ash-fall correlation, southern Central Andean Volcanic Zone. Volcanica, under rev.

Loiodice, L., Hevia-Cruz, F., Hildenbrand, A., Sheldon, N. D. Unexpected wet and warm conditions during glacial periods in the Central North Atlantic as recorded by paleosols from Flores Island, Western Azores. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, under rev.

Hevia-Cruz, F., Hildenbrand, A., Sheldon, N. D. Timing of paleosols formation in volcanic areas: Implications for climatic reconstructions and weathering rates, in prep.

Selected conference abstracts (since 2020)

Hevia-Cruz, F., Hildenbrand, A., Sheldon, N., Chabaux, F., Marques, F. O., Carlut, J. (2025) Intense CO2 consumption by pulsed volcano weathering near interglacial peaks in the Azores Archipelago (North Atlantic Region), EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, (EGU25-3297).

Hildenbrand, A., Hevia-Cruz, F., Loiodice, L., Sheldon, N. (2025) Unexpected intense weathering during glacial periods in the Central North Atlantic as recorded by paleosols from Flores Island (Azores), EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, (EGU25-6489).

Hevia-Cruz, F., Hildenbrand, A., Sheldon, N. D., Chabaux, F., Marques, F. O., Carlut, J. (2024) Fast basalt weathering and CO2 uptake close to interglacial peaks: insights from precise dating and geochemistry of paleosols in the Azores Archipelago. VIII colloque Climat et Impacts, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.

Loiodice, L., Hevia-Cruz, F., Hildenbrand, A., Sheldon, N. D. (2024) Unexpected wet and warm conditions during glacial periods in the Central North Atlantic as recorded by paleosols from Flores Island (Azores). VIII colloque Climat et Impacts, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.

Chabaux, F., Pelt, E., Hevia-Cruz, F., Hildenbrand, A., Sheldon, N., di Chiara Roupert, R., Perrone, T., van der Woerd, J. (2024) Present and paleo weathering rates by analysis of 238U-234U-230Th disequilibria in soil and paleosols profiles. Goldschmidt Conference 2024, Chicago, USA.

Hildenbrand, A., Marques, F. O., Pereira, A., Nomade, S., Hevia-Cruz, F. (2023) Precise dating of large flank collapses by single-grain 40Ar/39Ar on pyroclastic deposits: example from Flores Island (Azores). Goldschmidt Conference 2023, Lyon, France.

Hevia-Cruz, F., Hildenbrand, A., Sheldon, N. D., Chabaux, F., Marques, F. O., Carlut, J., Zanon, V. (2023) Paleoclimate and weathering on volcanic islands: insights from well-dated paleosols spanning the last Myr in the Central Azores. EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria (EGU23-9064) https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-9064

Hevia-Cruz, F., Hildenbrand, A., Sheldon, N. D. (2022) Enhanced weathering of volcanic islands during glacial-interglacial transitions: insights from well-dated paleosols spanning the last Myr in São Miguel Island, Eastern Azores. VII colloque Climat et Impacts, Orsay, France.