Meet the speakers
Samuele Papeschi
Samuele Papeschi is a researcher at CNR-IGG in Firenze (Italy). He is working on fluid-rock interaction in subduction zones with s strong focus on carbonation. Carbon isotope analyses and microCT imaging, combined with thermodynamic modelling enable him to answer his research questions.
“Fluid-mediated carbonation and mélange formation in a serpentinite subduction channel“ register here
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Toshiaki Omori
Toshiaki Omori has a background in information science and physics. He has been conducting interdisciplinary research between geosciences and information science and is currently working at Kobe University.
“Data-driven super-resolution of X-ray CT Images of rock samples by
sparse representation: applications to the complex texture of serpentinite” register here
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Céline Martin
Céline currently works at the American Museum of Natural History. She is interested in fluid-rock interactions related to serpentinite dehydration. In her latest research she analyses Boron isotopes. Her work helps us to understand better fluid pathways in subduction zones.
“Fluid paths in subduction zones: insights from boron isotopes in serpentinites“ register here
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Orlando Olivieri
Orlando is a PhD student at the University of Bologna. He is part of the DeepCarbon Lab and focuses on the high-pressure serpentinization. In his work he combines spectroscopic and isotopic analyses on exhumed high-pressure rocks to reveal methane and hydrogen fluxes in subduction zones.
“Mapping fluxes of CH4 and H2 in exhumed metamorphic complexes” register here
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Lisa Mayhew
Lisa Mayhew is a Research Associate in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her research focuses on characterizing mineralogical transformations that occur during water/rock reactions and the potential for these processes to support subsurface life. At present Lisa is a Return Sample Scientist on the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission where she participates in mission planning including in-situ rover data collection, sampling, and tactical and strategic decision making.
“Exploring for signs of water/rock reaction in Jezero crater, Mars with the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover“
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Eric Ellison
Eric Ellison is a Research Associate at the University of Colorado Boulder. His research focuses on iron mineralogy and redox changes during low-temperature serpentinization and aqueous alteration, especially the controls on hydrogen production. He is currently studying the potential for stimulated geological hydrogen production from serpentinites in the Oman ophiolite.
“Serpentinization and Hydrogen Production Processes in the Samail Ophiolite, Oman: Implications for Stimulated Hydrogen Production“
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Lisa Eberhard
Lisa Eberhard is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Utrecht. She is interested in fluid-rock interaction with a particular focus on (de)hydration and (de)carbonation of ultramafic rocks. Her current research is focused on the mutual influence of of stress, strain and mineral reactions. To answer her research questions she performs high-pressure experiments, combined with chemical and structural analyses in the micro- and nanometer range.
“Stress-induced serpentine dehydration – an experimental approach” watch here
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Katsuyoshi MICHIBAYASHI
Katsuyoshi Michibayashi is a professor at Rock and Mineral Laboratory of Nagoya University, Japan and is interested in rock and mineral fabrics and rheology of crust and mantle. He is a co-proponent of the Oman Drilling Project (OmanDP) accomplished in 2016-2018 and is trying to extract mantle fabrics from heavily serpentinized peridotites obtained by OmanDP.
“Legacy of mantle flow preserved within heavily serpentinized peridotites in the cores of Oman Drilling Project” watch here
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Francesco Ressico, Veronica Peverelli, Zeudia Pastore
This research is part of a project entitled Deep serpentinization, H2 and high-pressure abiotic CH4 (DeepSeep), funded by the European Research Council (ERC). The project aims at improving our understanding of the processes of aqueous alteration of mantle rocks in subduction zones, to define its characteristic patterns relative to shallow equivalents, to assess its potential to produce deep energy sources such as H2 and abiotic CH4, and to define the geochemical fingerprints of these deep gases. This joint presentation will introduce a multidisciplinary study conducted on the blue schist-facies Monte Maggiore ultramafic body, Alpine Corsica. Teamwork integrating petrography, geochronology, and rock magnetism is used to show that the dominant component of serpentinization of the Monte Maggiore body is related to subduction zone processes, in contrast with previous assumptions pointing to subduction of oceanic serpentinized peridotites, and to estimate the cumulative production of H2 generated during this process.
“Tracing hydrogen production and fluxes during serpentinization in subduction: a combined approach using petrography, geochronology, and rock magnetism“
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Elizabeth Fones
Elizabeth Fones is a postdoc at the University of Washington. She earned her PhD in Microbiology from Montana State University, where she characterized adaptations and activities of microbial life in the Samail Ophiolite, Oman, as a member of NASA’s Rock Powered Life team. Currently she studies bacterial longevity with Dr. Carrie Harwood.
“Mechanisms enabling microbial cells to cope with carbon and energy stresses imposed by serpentinizing environments“ watch here
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William Orsi
Microorganisms influence the composition of the atmosphere, the cycling of elements within and through ecosystems, and the functioning of ecosystems. Microorganisms are also the most metabolically flexible, and the most taxonomically and evolutionarily diverse organisms on Earth. Yet deciphering how that diversity influences biogeochemical processes at larger scales is a challenge, because of the overwhelming complexity of microbial communities makes it difficult to quantify how microbial taxa assimilate and transform elements in the environment. Prof. William Orsi (LMU, Munich) uses a combination of methods that blend traditions from microbial ecology including stable isotope probing, genomic, and gene expression tools to explore how the diversity and physiology of microorganisms shape the biogeochemistry of marine ecosystems. His research is derived primarily from field observations, as well as DNA and RNA stable isotope labeling experiments. He is interested in the biological and biochemical mechanisms underlying the biogeochemical cycling of carbon by microbial communities in ecosystems, and how this relates to the life histories of the responsible species.
“Hydrogen utilization by endolithic life in ultramafic ocean crust“ watch here
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Rémi Coltat
Rémi Coltat is a postdoc at IACT (Spain). The focus of his research is on investigating the interactions between fluids and the oceanic lithosphere, particularly in regards to mantle exhumation and the formation of mineralized deposits on the seafloor. He employs a multi-disciplinary approach that combines field and structural geology, metamorphic petrology, and in-situ and bulk rock geochemistry, as well as stable isotope analysis of elements such as S, Se, Fe, Cu, and Zn. His goal is to understand the connection between extensional tectonics and fluid circulation, the hydrothermal conditions that affect fluid-rock interaction, and the origin and transportation of fluids and metals. He has previously studied both ancient – ophiolites – and modern oceanic systems on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and is currently participating in oceanographic scientific cruises as part of the International Ocean Discovery Program.
“Petro-geochemical and isotopic constraints on the magmato-hydrothermal history during mantle exhumation at mid-ocean ridges (MARK area, 23°N, ODP Leg 153)“ watch here
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Clifford Patten
Clifford Patten works at the University of Innsbruck. His research focuses on Ultramafic-hosted volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits. He is interested in the mobilisation of metals during the formation and evolution of the oceanic crust. Therefore, he combines field observations with geochemical analyses.
“Ultramafic-hosted volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits: an overlooked sub-class of VMS deposit forming in complex tectonic environments“ watch here
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Matthew Tarling
Matt Tarling is a field-based structural geologist and currently a post-doc at McGill University. Using a field to nanoscale approach, he studies serpentinites from the perspective of understanding deformation in large faults and shear zones. In this talk, he will discuss leveraging the combined mineralogical and structural complexity of deformed serpentinites to better understand steady-state deformation processes in serpentinite faults.
“Serpentinite rheological behaviour captured in micro-structural and -mineralogical complexity“ watch here
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John M. Aiken
Dr. John M. Aiken is a computational scientist who has experience across disciplines in using machine learning, statistics, and software development to reach solutions. He has worked on a variety of problems and enjoys learning new topics and new technology that connect across disciplines. At Expert Analytics John works on problems related to global scale spatio-temporal modeling and CO2 sequestration. John is also affiliated as a Researcher at the University of Oslo in the Njord Centre for Studies of the Physics of the Earth.
“Constraining Peridotite Alteration Rates with AI and ML“ watch here
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Juan Carlos de Obeso
Dr. Juan Carlos de Obeso focuses around the alteration of mafic and ultramafic rocks by hydrous and carbonated fluids. To do this, he uses a variety of analytical techniques together with hydrothermal experiments and geochemical modelling to constrain temperatures, water/rock, chemical and mineralogical changes and track alteration of rocks. These processes occur globally and have occurred throughout geologic history.
“Serpentinization and Carbonation during mass transfer into the leading edge of the mantle wedge” watch here
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Andrew McGaig
Dr. Andrew McCaig is an Associate Professor at the University of Leeds, and a co-chief scientist of IODP Expedition 399 “Building Blocks of Life, Atlantis Massif”. He is interested in serpentinization, hydrogen generation and melt-rock interaction within the mantle mantle section.
“Preliminary results from IODP Expedition 399: a new 1268m hole in serpentinised mantle rocks” watch here
Nicholas Tosca
Dr. Nicholas Tosca is head of the Tosca Lab at the University of Cambridge. His research group focuses on the co-evolution and interaction of life and environments throughout the history. Nicholas Tosca performs laboratory experiments and theoretical modelling. Comparing the results with natural rocks on Earth and other planets, such as Mars, helps to understand which environments are supportive for microbial life.
“In-situ evidence for serpentinization of the Maaz Formation, Jezero Crater, Mars” watch here
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Manuel Menzel
Dr. Manuel Menzel is a post-doctoral researcher at the Andalusian Earth Science Institute of the Spanish Research Council in Granada, Spain. His main area of research is the study of interactions between water, CO2 and mantle rocks from shallow to high-pressure conditions. Manuel Menzel uses field observations, microstructural analysis and thermodynamic modelling to understand the parameters and mechanisms that control carbonation and decarbonation in active tectonic settings.
“Texture preservation during carbonation and what it tells us about the reactive porosity of serpentinites“
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Coralie Vesin
Coralie Vesin is a PhD candidate at the University of Bern. She is interested in serpentinization processes at the ocean floor. With oxygen isotope analyses and fluid-mobile elements she deciphers multiple stages of fluid uptake. In her presentation she will show part of her PhD work.
“Tracing fluid uptake of abyssal serpentinisation: an in situ oxygen isotope and trace elements approach on serpentine phase“
Frieder Klein
Dr. Frieder Klein is interested in the chemical interactions between aqueous fluids and rocks in a broad array of geodynamic settings on Earth as well as on other planets. In his research he integrates field geology, geochemistry and spectroscopy with laboratory experiments and thermodynamics modelling to address the fundamental problem of how fluid-rock reactions work. In his presentation, Frieder Klein will talk about serpentinization as a fundamental key in planetary processes.
“From Icy Moons to Earth’s Abyss: Serpentinization as a Key Planetary Process“
Susan Lang
Dr. Susan Lang is working at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts. Her research focuses on the interaction between geological environments and microbial communities habituating them. She analyses samples from the serpentinising environments at the Lost city and Von Damm hydrothermal vent fields for abiotic carbon synthesis as well as organic acids. With her research she also aims to better understand where and how life on Earth started.
“Carbon cycling is fundamentally different between mafic and ultramafic hydrothermal systems” watch here
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Mathilde Cannat
Dr. Mathilde Cannat works at Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris in the marine geoscience. Her work concentrates on the structure of the oceanic lithosphere as well as tectonic, magmatic and hydrothermal processes at the mid-ocean ridges. Especially her work on slow-spreading ridges has a major impact on our understanding of exhumation and serpentinization of mantle rocks in extensional regimes. In this presentation she will present her research on the Southwest Indian Ridge showing the tectonic context of serpentization and new results on geological settings of the Old City vent field.
“Serpentinization in mid-ocean ridge detachment fault systems” watch here
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Benjamin Tutolo
Dr. Benjamin Tutolo from the University of Calgary is working on a wide range of systems. With his group he is developing experiments and numerical models on reactive transport systems. The release of hydrogen during serpentinization on the Earth as well as on Mars is one of his research interests. With the analyses of natural hisingerite samples he gives new constraints in chemical processes on Mars.
“Observational constraints on the process and products of Martian serpentinization” watch here
Thomas Ferrand
Dr. Thomas P. Ferrand is currently working at the Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, as a research fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. His research notably focuses on serpentinized faults and transformation-driven stress transfers, and are led in a transdisciplinary environment. Thomas has been traveling between the laboratory and the field. He uses an eclectic set of experimental devices to tackle research questions and compares his findings with field observations.
“Serpentine, serpentinized faults and related seismicity: a transdisciplinary journey” watch here
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Samuel Angiboust
Dr. Samuel Angiboust is an expert in petrology at ENS Lyon, France. In his research he focuses on the dynamics of subduction zones. Samuel is interested in the the role of water on tectonic processes and will present results of serpentine-hosted fluids on deformation in the deeper Earth.
“Serpentinite-hosted fluid flow and deformation in the deep subduction interface: a field and petrogeochemical perspective” watch here
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Lotta Ternieten
Dr. Lotta Ternieten is a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Utrecht and Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research. Her research focuses on hydrothermal systems and their relevance in global geochemical cycles. Specifically fluid-rock interaction and their effect on the carbon cycle, metal transportation and reactivity, and microbial habitat development. Her research approach combines classic petrology methods, Raman spectroscopy, TEM, and EMPA studies combined with stable isotope analyses with more advanced clumped isotope and radiocarbon age dating.
“Microcrystalline carbonates; a hidden record to better understand the carbon cycle in serpentinization systems“
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Souradeep Mahato
Souradeep Mahato is a PhD scholar at the Institut de physique du globe de Paris (IPGP). He is interested in the tectonic and hydrothermal processes at the slow and ultraslow spreading ridges. His PhD work focuses on the deformation and strain localization in the detachment fault damage zone of melt-poor ultraslow spreading ridges and understanding the pathways of hydrothermal fluid circulation in that (damaged) domain.
“Serpentinization and strain localization during detachment faulting in a nearly amagmatic ultraslow spreading context: 64°E Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR)” watch here
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Martina Preiner
Dr. Martina Preiner is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Utrecht and the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research. She is currently focusing on the catalytic role of nanoparticles in deep-sea hydrothermal vent fields. Here, serpentinization not only releases significant amounts of H2 but also high concentrations of iron nanoparticles that potentially play a crucial role in carbon fixation and are thus important for life on today’s as well as early Earth.
“How nanoparticles might connect serpentinization, origin of life and carbon fixation“
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Esther Schwarzenbach
Dr. Esther Schwarzenbach, Universität Freiburg, is interested in the alteration of the oceanic lithosphere. She focuses on the process of serpentinization and its link to biogenic activity. During such fluid-rock interactions the chemical composition and mineralogy of the bulk rock is changed, which has consequences for the large scale geochemical cycles.
“Serpentinization and its role in the global C and S cycle“
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Michelle Ulrich
Michelle Ulrich is interested in the release of fluids from serpentinites in subduction zones. She is currently working as a PhD candidate at the University of Bern. In her research she constrains multistage fluid release via oxygen isotopes.
“Oxygen isotope geochemistry of HP-serpentinites: implications for fluids in subduction zones beyond the brucite-out reaction“
Atsushi Okamoto
Dr. Atsushi Okamoto is an expert of fluid-rock interaction at Tohoku University, Japan. He is interested in chemical reactions and textural development during fluid-mediated reactions in subduction zone, oceanic lithosphere and geothermal systems. He will talk about new insights on the mass transfer and metasomatic reactions at the crust-mantle interfaces within the subduction zone based on experiments and natural observations.
“Mass transport and metasomatic reactions at crust-mantle interfaces induced by CHO fluids” watch here
