Wenhao Zhao PhD Candidate

Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Brown University

About

I am a PhD candidate (2022–present) in Earth and Planetary Sciences at Brown University. My research interests focus on (1) the energetics of the Earth–Moon system and (2) how micro- to nanoscale processes dictate geological phenomena.

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Research

Thermal evolution of the Earth and Moon
Geochemical analysis of lunar samples
Nano-geoscience based on atom probe tomography

Selected Publications

Zhao, Wenhao, Lau, H., Parman, S., & Head, J. W. III (2025). Tidal Heating of the Lunar Magma Ocean . arXiv:2511.19946.
Zhao, Wenhao, Wang, B.-W., Gu, L.-X., Tang, X., Liu, Y., Awais, M., Liu, X.-C., Li, X.-H., Hu, R., & Li, Q.-L. (2023). Nanoscale evidence of zircon-coffinite-xenotime solid solution observed by atom probe tomography . Chemical Geology 638, 121697.
Zhao, Wenhao, Li, Q., Liu, Y., Tang, G., Ling, X., Li, J., & Li, X. (2022). Long-term reproducibility of SIMS zircon U–Pb geochronology . Journal of Earth Science 33(1), 17–24.
Wang, B.-W., Zhang, Q. W. L., Chen, Y., Zhao, Wenhao, Liu, Y., Tang, G.-Q., Ma, H.-X., Su, B., et al. (2024). Returned samples indicate volcanism on the Moon 120 million years ago . Science 385(6713), 1077–1080.
Wang, X., Head, J. W., Zhao, Wenhao, Chen, Y., Zhou, Q., Zhu, J., Wu, B., Liu, J., & Li, C. (2024). Lunar farside samples returned by Chang’E-6 mission: significance for understanding the South Pole–Aitken Basin stratigraphic history . The Astronomical Journal 168(6), 247.
Huang, Y.-S., Zhao, Wenhao, Liu, Y., Yang, Y.-H., Tang, G.-Q., Li, Y., Li, X.-H., Zhao, H., et al. (2022). U–Pb dating of andradite-rich garnet by SIMS . Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry 37(5), 1109–1118.

CV

Download my CV (PDF)

Contact

Email: wenhao_zhao@brown.edu
Address: 324 Brook St, Providence, RI 02912 USA