Zentilli worked for Chile’s Institute of Geological Research, which transferred him to Copiapó in 1965. He subsequently worked as an exploration geologist in Newfoundland, and joined Dalhousie University in 1973. He chaired its Department of Geology from 1984 to 1986, and retired as professor emeritus in 2005.
His research covered economic geology, rock dating, and the formation of mineral deposits. He worked in the Andes, Atlantic Canada, Iceland, and the Canadian Arctic. In 1975, he established Canada’s first low-temperature fission-track thermochronology laboratory. His research included the relationship between magmatic activity and mineral deposits in the Copiapó region, the formation of the Chuquicamata copper district, and the thermal history of sedimentary basins.
