Ph.D. candidate Yu's work on small-scale flood basalts was published in Scientific Reports

Large igneous provinces (LIPs) and monogenetic volcanic fields are the two end-member surface expressions of intra-continental basaltic magmatism. However, many other intra-continental basaltic fields cannot be classified as either of the two end-members. Under the supervision of Prof. Li-Hui Chen, Yu referred to such volcanic fields as "small-scale continental floodbasalts". The relevant paper was published in Scientific Reports.

Yu present a case study from eastern China, combining major and trace element analyses with Ar–Ar and K–Ar dating to show that the spatial and temporal distribution of small-scale flood basalts is controlled by the growth of long-lived magma chambers. Evolved basalts (SiO₂ > 47.5 wt.%) from Xinchang–Shengzhou, a small-scale Cenozoic flood basalt field in Zhejiang province, eastern China, show a northward younging trend over 9.4–3.0 Ma. With northward migration, the magmas evolved only slightly ((Na₂O + K₂O)/MgO = 0.40–0.66; TiO₂/MgO= 0.23–0.35) during about 6 Myr period (9.4–3.3 Ma). The distribution and compositional evolution of the migrating flood basalts recorded continuous magma replenishment that buffered against magmatic evolution and induced magma chamber growth. With the existence of trans-lithosphere fault zones in the north ( The Lishui–Yuyao Fault ), the magma chambers grew asymmetrically in that direction.Therefore, the continuous asymmetrical growth of the magma chambers in the lower crust controlled the northward migration of the Xinchang–Shengzhou flood basalts.

In addition, Yu’s work on Cenozoic small-scale flood basalts from the Chifeng igneous province in Inner Mongolia suggested that the replenishment of magma had apparently changed the evolutionary trend of basalts.The relevant paper "Magmatic recharge in continental flood basalts: Insightsfrom the Chifeng igneous province in Inner Mongolia" was published in Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems with Yu as the first author.