Yong Zhao

• Professor (Assistant) at Macau University of Science and Technology

Due to the scarcity of rock samples, the Hadean Era predating 4 billion years ago (Ga) poses challenges in understanding geological processes like subaerial weathering and plate tectonics that are critical for the evolution of life. The Jack Hills zircon from Western Australia, the primary Hadean samples available, offer valuable insights into magm...

In previous work, we demonstrated that machine-learning techniques based on mixture density networks (MDNs) are successful in inferring the interior structure of rocky exoplanets with large compositional diversity. In this study, we compare the performance of a well-trained MDN model with the conventional Bayesian inversion method based on the Mark...

Characterizing the interiors of rocky exoplanets is important to understand planetary populations and further investigate planetary habitability. New observable constraints and inference techniques have been explored for this purpose. In this work, we design and train mixture density networks (MDNs) to predict the interior properties of rocky exopl...

Previous studies propose that there is a mantle upwelling that generated the Cenozoic basalts in Changbaishan. However, the dominant source and mechanism of the mantle upwelling remains highly debated. Here we apply machine learning algorithms of Random Forest and Deep Neural Network to train models using global island arc and ocean island basalts...

In the porphyry Cu±Au±Mo deposits (PCDs), chlorite and its mineral assemblages are indicators for exploration. However, chlorite found in PCDs may have different origins because it is a common mineral in different geological environments. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the differences in the composition of PCDs-related chlorites (chloritePC...

Context. Characterizing the interiors of gaseous giant exoplanets is currently one of the main objectives in exoplanetary sciences. In particular, the planetary heavy-element mass provides a critical constraint on planet formation from exoplanetary systems. However, gas giant exoplanets show large diversities in thermal states and their interior pr...

Context. Earth-sized exoplanets have been discovered and characterized thanks to new developments in observational techniques, particularly those planets that may have a rocky composition that is comparable to terrestrial planets of the Solar System. Characterizing the interiors of rocky exoplanets is one of the main objectives in investigations of...

The high conductivity of the Earth's core discovered through first-principles and experimental studies requires that the core must start very hot and cool down slowly to generate the Earth's magnetic field by thermal buoyancy. The requirement is difficult to satisfy due to the fast cooling of the overlying magma ocean and consequently of the underl...

Plain Language Summary Many volcanoes are erupted in Northeast China, and it is of great interest to study the origin of these volcanoes. Previously, the chemical compositions of these volcanoes and typically elemental ratios such as Ba/Th are used to find the answer. In the present study, modern machine learning methods called random forest and de...

In recent days, discrimination diagrams have been widely used for tracing the tectonic settings and origins of basalts from orogenic belts. However, conventional discrimination diagrams are not accurate enough. Here, we reported six new discrimination diagrams obtained from the global database using data mining methods. For most individual diagrams...

Basalt discriminant diagrams have been used to identify the tectonic setting of basaltic magmatism since the 1970s and have played an important role in reconstructing paleotectonic environments. However, the significant increase in the availability of geochemical data has led to a reassessment of these diagrams, suggesting that some of the tectonic...