• Paleointensity and Geodynamo: Experimentally document paleointensity variations over the geological history, in particular, the Cretaceous Normal Superchron (CNS) from volcanic rocks. 
• Geomagnetic Polarity Transitions and Geodynamo: Experimentally retrieve the Matuyama-Brunhes polarity transition and other transitions by high-resolution paleomagnetic investigations on sequences of the Chinese loess and lake sediments. 
• Magnetostratigraphic Dating: Magnetically date the Paleolithic sites throughout China, especially in the Nihewan Basin and Sanmen Lake Basin in northern China and the Yuanmou Basin in southwestern China. 
• Craton Evolution: Study global craton evolution, which expands the theory of intracontinental mineralization.  
• Global Tectonics: Study global continental tectonics, especially Tethys orogenic belt. 
• Instrument Development: Set up a comprehensive and state-of-the-art laboratory, Paleomagnetism and Geochronology Laboratory (PGL), incorporated paleomagnetism, rock magnetism and geochronology (⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating).

Most of the Achievements:

Study global craton evolution, which expands the theory of intracontinental mineralization_ Focusing on continental evolution, one of the most core questions in earth sciences, Rixiang Zhu took the formation and destruction of the North China Craton (NCC) as the starting point, and through the pioneering trinity research of "experiment, observation and theory", he revealed the spatial-temporal patterns of the formation and destruction of the NCC, proposed the deep dynamic mechanism of the destruction of the craton, and innovated the theoretical system of continental accretion, destruction and mineralization.

Following advancements made in the mechanism of the formation of the NCC, he pioneered to reveal that the lithospheric destruction of the NCC mainly occurred in its eastern part, with the peak time of the destruction at about 125 million years before present, whereas the western part of the craton still maintains stable, though the central part shows the characteristic of being partially reworking. He found that the subduction of the paleo-Pacific plate was the first-order driving force leading to the destruction of the NCC, whereas the dehydration of the subducted plate in the mantle transition zone caused the melting of the overlying continental lithospheric mantle, whose unsteady flow led to the lithospheric destruction of the NCC. Thus, he proposed that the essence of the lithospheric desrruction of the NCC is the fundamental transformation of the compositions and physicochemical properties of the lithospheric mantle, which led to the destruction of the inherent stability of the craton. That is, the fundamental changes in the composition and properties of the continental lithospheric mantle lead to the destruction of the inherent stability of the NCC. These findings have not only changed an old idea that old cratons remain "unchanging" forever, but have also reasonably explained the geodynamic mechanism of frequent large earthquakes in the NCC, which is particularly important for those densely populated areas with large cities. Therefore, his research achievements have widely received attention and been praised by the academic circle and society.

On this basis, through global comparison, he has demonstrated that the destruction of cratons and continental accretion caused by ocean-continental interaction is a universal law of global continental evolution, providing a new research approach for intracontinental orogeny and mineralization, expanding the existing theories of plate tectonics and mineralization, and leading the international research direction of continental evolution. More importantly, under the guidance of his theories on the formation and destruction of the North China Craton and intra-continental mineralization, the newly discovered gold reserves of more than Thousand tons in Liaodong, which is situated in the cratonic destruction area and was previously thought to have no gold deposits, have become an impartant gold resource region. In addition, according to his theory of cratonic destruction and intracontinational mineralization, the sevesal enterprises jointly implemented the first deep drilling of rock gold in China, and the new gold reserves of more than Thousand tons were discovered in the Jiaodong gold deposit concentration area.

Based on the above scientific and technological innovation and practical application, he took the lead in implementing major scientific and technological projects such as "Research and Development of Core Equipment for Deep Resource Exploration", "Earth System and Global Change", "Deep Earth Exploration and Mineral Resources exploration", and opened up a new research paradigm of "theoretical innovation, technology development and exploration breakthrough", and made outstanding contributions to the innovation of geological science and technology to serve national construction.

His research achievements have also won the second prize of the National Natural Science Award for two times, the Outstanding Scientific and Technological Achievement Award of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the TAN KAH KEE Science Award. Moreover, he has been listed as the first in the major research progress in the field of earth sciences in China, published in Nature Geoscience by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. It has been successively selected as the Top 10 global hotspots in the field of earth sciences in the Research Frontiers issued by Thomson Reuters-Chinese Academy of Sciences, and has had an important impact on the international community of earth sciences.

Collision and Destruction/Reworking of Continents. The controversies remain regarding continental collision and destruction/reworking. By seismic arrays, magmatic activity and back-arc basin studies on several transverse sections of Tethys, Rixiang Zhu and his research team proposed a new model and pointed out that subduction processes lead to the outgrowth of continents and also cause softening, thinning, and recycling of continental lithosphere due to the vigorous infiltration of volatile-rich fluids and melts, especially along weak belts/layers, leading to widespread continental reworking and even craton destruction. Moreover, Rixiang Zhu and his team have proposed a new model of metallogenic prediction, and established a theoretical framework for "craton destruction". These original achievements have not only significantly advanced the theory of continental evolution, but have also provided a new think for exploration of deep resources.

Paleointensity and polarity reversal of the ancient geomagnetic field_Rixiang Zhu pioneered the determination of paleointensity using volcanic rocks in China in 1980s. Though extensive geological survey and intensive laboratory work in 1990s, he revealed that the strength of Earth’s magnetic field variation exhibit an increasing trend with time, just prior to the onset of the Cretaceous Normal Superchron (CNS), that is, during this time interval, there exists an inverse relationship between the rate of polarity reversal and paleointensity, indicating that the polarity reversal and geomagnetic strength were likely inherently coupled. These results are essential elements toward a more complete understanding of the geodynamo. Rixiang also pioneered the study of geomagnetic polarity transitions and relative paleointensity using the remanence recorded from the high sedimentation-rate wind-blown Chinese loess.

Magnetostratigraphic Dating_ East Asia is a key area for probing human occupation in the Old World after the initial expansion of early humans out of Africa. Rixiang Zhu successfully applied magnetostratigraphy method in the Nihewan Basin in North China and the Yuanmou Basin in South China and placed reliable age controls on early human occupations to 1.66 Ma and 1.70 Ma, respectively. Those results published in two Nature papers have significantly contributed to the chronology of early humans, early human occupation and adaptation to high-latitude East Asia, and the route of the earliest dispersal from Africa to eastern Asia.

Establishment of the first state-of-the-art Beijing Paleomagnetism and Geochronology Laboratory in China_ Chinese universities and institutions had a few small-scale laboratories for paleomagnetism in 1980s, many of them were closed in 1990s. Rixiang Zhu is the founder and director of the Beijing Paleomagnetism and Geochronology laboratory (PGL), in which he has integrated the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology with paleomagnetism. Through his selfless and endless efforts, PGL is now a world-class research center for rock magnetism, paleomagnetism, and geochronology, as well as for educational training. Under his excellent leadership, PGL contributes to national and international geomagnetism and paleomagnetism community as well as to the Earth science in general.