Experimental measurements of volatility in igneous systems
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Oxford
Department Name: Earth Sciences
Abstract
Element volatilities, and their dependence upon temperature and the chemical composition of the gas phase, are of fundamental importance to understanding volcanic emissions, the composition of the Earth and a host of industrial processes. The chemical controls on volatility from high temperature silicate melts are, however, poorly understood and crude approximations are generally made. For instance, direct measurements of volcanic gas compositions must remove an estimated non-volatile, dust component, while the compositions of pre-planetary materials are estimated by assuming that gases condense and evaporate directly to/from solids (which are well understood) rather than to poorly-understood, but physically more realistic, silicate liquids.
Unfortunately, to explore the latter requires data that we currently do not posses - such as how volatile an element may be above a silicate (magmatic) melt and what the chemical controls upon volatility are. This basic chemical data is required to refine our understanding of key moments in Earth history, such as the impact that led to the formation of the Moon. These planetary scale events are modelled using complex numerical simulations, but to improve the fit between the observed chemistry of the Moon and that suggested by such models requires a deeper understanding of elemental volatility.
The compositions of pre-planetary materials - the 'building blocks' of the terrestrial planets - are estimated by assuming that gases condense and evaporate directly to or from solids - a process which is, relatively, well understood compared to the condensation and evaporation from silicate liquids. This project will directly address this gap in our knowledge.
Volcanologists will also benefit by having improved models by which to understand the trace element compositions of volcanic gases. Knowledge of the factors that influence volcanic gas chemistry is key to interpreting the outgassing behaviour of terrestrial volcanic systems. The current method, of removing an estimated non-volatile, dust component, may be obscuring important information concerning magma evolution, and, potentially, volcanic hazards. Given the toxicity of many of the volatile elements, this project is important to both volcanologists and risk/hazard assessors.
In this project, I take a novel approach to measuring elemental volatility by firstly measuring the properties of trace components in silicate melts then predicting and testing their expected volatilities under controlled conditions. The immediate aim is to provide a data set of minor and trace element volatilities directly relevant to planetary evolution, volcanic and environmental hazards.
Unfortunately, to explore the latter requires data that we currently do not posses - such as how volatile an element may be above a silicate (magmatic) melt and what the chemical controls upon volatility are. This basic chemical data is required to refine our understanding of key moments in Earth history, such as the impact that led to the formation of the Moon. These planetary scale events are modelled using complex numerical simulations, but to improve the fit between the observed chemistry of the Moon and that suggested by such models requires a deeper understanding of elemental volatility.
The compositions of pre-planetary materials - the 'building blocks' of the terrestrial planets - are estimated by assuming that gases condense and evaporate directly to or from solids - a process which is, relatively, well understood compared to the condensation and evaporation from silicate liquids. This project will directly address this gap in our knowledge.
Volcanologists will also benefit by having improved models by which to understand the trace element compositions of volcanic gases. Knowledge of the factors that influence volcanic gas chemistry is key to interpreting the outgassing behaviour of terrestrial volcanic systems. The current method, of removing an estimated non-volatile, dust component, may be obscuring important information concerning magma evolution, and, potentially, volcanic hazards. Given the toxicity of many of the volatile elements, this project is important to both volcanologists and risk/hazard assessors.
In this project, I take a novel approach to measuring elemental volatility by firstly measuring the properties of trace components in silicate melts then predicting and testing their expected volatilities under controlled conditions. The immediate aim is to provide a data set of minor and trace element volatilities directly relevant to planetary evolution, volcanic and environmental hazards.
Planned Impact
The data will feed into models of gas compositions arising from volcanic and industrially relevant silicate melts. A wide variety of users will interact with this data, ranging from the academic research community - cosmochemists, geologists and geological hazard assessors - to industrial users.
How will users benefit?
1. THE ACADEMIC COMMUNITY
From an academic perspective, the lack of fundamental chemical data currently hampers a variety of fields. Firstly, planetary science uses models of planet formation that are based upon condensation of gases directly to solids, rather than physically more realistic scenarios that model element volatility arising from a molten silicate, accreting body. Unfortunately, the influence the silicate melt composition has on elemental volatility is, currently, poorly understood.
Secondly, understanding what influences volcanic gas chemistry is key to interpreting the outgassing of terrestrial volcanic systems. The current method of removing an estimated non-volatile, dust component may be obscuring important information concerning magma evolution, and, potentially, volcanic hazards.
This project will provide the essential data that will allow these gaps in our knowledge to be closed. The models developed will be directly applicable to these wide ranging problems.
2. POLICY MAKERS AND INDUSTRIAL USERS
Reducing the volatile, and often toxic, component of industrial fly-ash - a by-product of a variety of smelting operations, is obviously of key environmental importance. Knowledge of the chemical activity of volatile elements in a range of geological and industrial silicate melts, and hence their volatility, would feedback into the various industry standard thermochemical modeling packages (e.g. FactSage). These modeling packages are widely used in industry to predict and minimise the production of volatile rich vapour emissions and fly-ash. For some elements, however, they lack key chemical data such as gas-phase speciation. This project will rectify these omissions by making the data and models produced widely available. Additionally, the partitioning behaviour of a range of trace elements between metals and silicate - a key component of this project - will also expand and refine existing metallurgical models. These models are widely used both in industrial metals smelting processes and in academic research, but data coverage is occasionally poor for potentially important, but rare, elements found in industrial processes.
3. STUDENTS
Undergraduates will benefit directly from our research programme. We will develop small, self-contained 'spin-off' projects aimed particularly at Oxford undergraduate masters projects in Earth Sciences (MEarthSci). These will centre around performing a short series of experiments and using cutting-edge analytical equipment to obtain data.
4. MEDIA AND PUBLISHERS
The Department of Earth Sciences has a strong record of interaction with the media, with coverage of research in the international press, radio, and television. We will seek to capitalize on this and use these channels to promote the output of this project. We will engage with these users through conventional press releases, plus announcements made via the Oxford Science Blog (http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/science_blog/) and our own research group blog and website.
5. GENERAL PUBLIC
The work will benefit the public in terms of UK culture and quality of life. I actively engage with the public from the beginning of work via press releases, talks, and outreach through the University.
6. MEMBERS OF THE DEPARTMENT
I will further develop links between research groups in the department - in particular the isotope and volcanology groups. The research will be presented in group discussions and departmental seminars enabling the adoption of these techniques and data by other researchers in similar areas.
How will users benefit?
1. THE ACADEMIC COMMUNITY
From an academic perspective, the lack of fundamental chemical data currently hampers a variety of fields. Firstly, planetary science uses models of planet formation that are based upon condensation of gases directly to solids, rather than physically more realistic scenarios that model element volatility arising from a molten silicate, accreting body. Unfortunately, the influence the silicate melt composition has on elemental volatility is, currently, poorly understood.
Secondly, understanding what influences volcanic gas chemistry is key to interpreting the outgassing of terrestrial volcanic systems. The current method of removing an estimated non-volatile, dust component may be obscuring important information concerning magma evolution, and, potentially, volcanic hazards.
This project will provide the essential data that will allow these gaps in our knowledge to be closed. The models developed will be directly applicable to these wide ranging problems.
2. POLICY MAKERS AND INDUSTRIAL USERS
Reducing the volatile, and often toxic, component of industrial fly-ash - a by-product of a variety of smelting operations, is obviously of key environmental importance. Knowledge of the chemical activity of volatile elements in a range of geological and industrial silicate melts, and hence their volatility, would feedback into the various industry standard thermochemical modeling packages (e.g. FactSage). These modeling packages are widely used in industry to predict and minimise the production of volatile rich vapour emissions and fly-ash. For some elements, however, they lack key chemical data such as gas-phase speciation. This project will rectify these omissions by making the data and models produced widely available. Additionally, the partitioning behaviour of a range of trace elements between metals and silicate - a key component of this project - will also expand and refine existing metallurgical models. These models are widely used both in industrial metals smelting processes and in academic research, but data coverage is occasionally poor for potentially important, but rare, elements found in industrial processes.
3. STUDENTS
Undergraduates will benefit directly from our research programme. We will develop small, self-contained 'spin-off' projects aimed particularly at Oxford undergraduate masters projects in Earth Sciences (MEarthSci). These will centre around performing a short series of experiments and using cutting-edge analytical equipment to obtain data.
4. MEDIA AND PUBLISHERS
The Department of Earth Sciences has a strong record of interaction with the media, with coverage of research in the international press, radio, and television. We will seek to capitalize on this and use these channels to promote the output of this project. We will engage with these users through conventional press releases, plus announcements made via the Oxford Science Blog (http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/science_blog/) and our own research group blog and website.
5. GENERAL PUBLIC
The work will benefit the public in terms of UK culture and quality of life. I actively engage with the public from the beginning of work via press releases, talks, and outreach through the University.
6. MEMBERS OF THE DEPARTMENT
I will further develop links between research groups in the department - in particular the isotope and volcanology groups. The research will be presented in group discussions and departmental seminars enabling the adoption of these techniques and data by other researchers in similar areas.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Jon Wade (Principal Investigator / Fellow) |
Publications
Buse B
(2018)
Secondary Fluorescence in WDS: The Role of Spectrometer Positioning.
in Microscopy and microanalysis : the official journal of Microscopy Society of America, Microbeam Analysis Society, Microscopical Society of Canada
Dyck B
(2021)
The Effect of Core Formation on Surface Composition and Planetary Habitability
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Gleeson M
(2017)
Constraining magma storage conditions at a restless volcano in the Main Ethiopian Rift using phase equilibria models
in Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research
Gopon P
(2019)
A Nanoscale Investigation of Carlin-Type Gold Deposits: An Atom-Scale Elemental and Isotopic Perspective
in Economic Geology
Jennings E
(2019)
Comment on "Investigating Earth's Formation History Through Copper & Sulfur Metal-Silicate Partitioning During Core-Mantle Differentiation" by Mahan et al.
in Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth
Jennings ES
(2019)
Diamond Anvil Cell Partitioning Experiments for Accretion and Core Formation: Testing the Limitations of Electron Microprobe Analysis.
in Microscopy and microanalysis : the official journal of Microscopy Society of America, Microbeam Analysis Society, Microscopical Society of Canada
Kearns S
(2021)
Encyclopedia of Geology
Kearns S
(2014)
Mitigating Thermal Beam Damage with Metallic Coats in Low Voltage FEG-EPMA of Geological Materials
in Microscopy and Microanalysis
Wade J
(2014)
FEG-EPMA of Solid State Redox Sensors - the Effect of Secondary Fluorescence on Analytical Precision
in Microscopy and Microanalysis
| Description | There are a number of key findings from this proposal ranging from the origin of the volatile depleted Moon in a high energy event, to the fate of volatiles on planetary surfaces, the effect of rock composition on the retention of surface water and the longer-term evolution of life. For instance, the Moon is generally believed to have arisen from impact of a Mars-like body with proto-Earth around 100 million years after the origin of the solar system. Our Moon appears very similar to the Earth isotopically, but also exhibits key elemental differences. Reconciling these observations with previous chemical models of lunar formation have resulted in a range of elaborate scenarios. In these, to reconcile the similarities of Earth and Moon, the isotopes of volatile elements were equilibrated between both bodies, but these models have failed to explain all the chemical similarities and, importantly, the differences. I took a slightly different approach and show that the Moon is a chemical 'snap-shot' of the Earth immediately prior to the Moon forming event. The proto-Earth's rocky mantle was likely contained more iron oxide than present, and as more similar to the rocky Moon. In contrast, the body that collided with the Earth was a highly-reduced, Mercury-like body, with very little iron oxide in its rocks. For volatile elements this observation has implications for both their origin and abundance in the silicate Earth. This work was followed up with experimental evidence that shows that Moons volatile zinc and copper abundances were, derived from the Earth, and subsequently affected to different degrees by lunar core formation. The implication is that the Moon's core, like that of the Earth, has a significant effect on the silicate portions volatile content. Unlike that of the Earth, however, the Moon's core is richer in Sulphur and likely sequestered a significant component of the Moon's volatile element inventory. This has potentially important implications for how we view the chemical evolution of the Earth and other planets - for instance, the chemical make-up of the Earth's mantle was, essentially, set by chance, rather than some inevitable consequence of planetary accretion. The ability of a planetary surface to retain water for geologically relevant timescales may therefore be affected by the mechanism of planetary formation. For instance, Mars appears to be more volatile rich, and yet its surface water was lost very early in its history, making the planet inhospitable to life. This implies that rock chemistry and in particular the mantle iron content, may play a key role in determining planetary habitability. I explored these consequences further by modelling what happens when Terrestrial rocks and Martian rocks - similar in composition but for an elevated iron content in Martian rocks, are erupted in the presence of water, as would have been the case on Early Mars and Earth. In the case of Mars, water is efficiently sequestered into the surface rocks making them denser and promoting water loss to the deep planet. The converse is the case for Earth rocks - wet rocks, purely as a consequence of lower iron contents are buoyant, and it is this difference which likely accounts for the very different habitability of the two planets. Early support for this idea is now arriving from planetary missions, in particular the current InSight mission and gravity surveys from Mars Express which reveal hydration of the lower Martian crust. The iron content of a planets' mantle may also play the dominant role in whether or not complex life evolves. Iron contents, like those seen within Mars, imply a rapid loss of water and in inhospitable surface, whilst low iron contents, like those witnessed on the surface of Mercury, imply a planetary surface devoid of the key elements required by life. The question we are now working on ask how sensitive is planetary habitability to mantle iron content? I am working with colleagues here at Oxford and in Canada to explore how sensitive is the evolution of rocky planets may be their iron content - what would the crust of Earth look like if it contained more or less iron? What would the consequences be for the thickness of the crust and the ability of liquid water if the mantle contained more, or less, iron? Working with colleagues in Immunology, we know that many diseases are, at an elemental level, a competition for iron. Extending the previous work further, we are working on assessing how sensitive life is to iron contents, and whether changes in the composition of the Earth's atmosphere and the solubility of iron in seawater are responsible for the evolution of predation and disease. I have also co-presented a number of advanced electron probe courses that were attended by both students and industry representatives (Sandvik, JEOL, AWE and ITU) as well as co-organised an international conference on micro-analysis in Earth Sciences. Three papers have been published that develop the capabilities of modern electron micro-probes to perform very high spatial resolution quantified analyses. These techniques have applications ranging from the oxidation of high-performance materials used in turbine blades, to estimating the speed of volcanic eruptions by examining the resultant glass compositions and the location of trace gold in economic deposits. I am particularly proud of the outreach and public engagement work I've developed, which has led to a significant increase in applications to Oxford from 'not-traditional' Oxbridge schools. These events include the UNIQUE summer school programme and school visits both hosted in the department and at schools. In term time these events, from key-stage 2 to 6th formers, occur bi-weekly and include an introduction to the subject and University application process. Oxford Earth science applicants are now ~80% from state schools which is directly attributable to these outreach and participation efforts. |
| Exploitation Route | There's evidence of Archaean iron-rich rocks from Northern Canada that may represent domains of the early Earth that hadn't fully mixed with the Moon-forming impactor. This granular model of the Earth's mantle has support from a number of geochemical systems, notably the presence of a primordial noble gas reservoir within the deep earth. It also has consequence for the evolution and homogenisation of the mantle through time and whether or not the mantle is now 'in-gassing' volatiles, in particular water. To test the model, together with colleagues in Cambridge, we are analysing isotopically these iron-rich rocks primarily for their tungsten and iron isotopic contents. We would like to answer the question - are they remnants of a heterogenous mantle source which possessed a more Moon-like, iron-rich, chemistry? If so, how does this relate to the addition of noble metals to the Earth in the so-called late veneer? The effect of mantle iron content on the potential for planetary surfaces to retain or sequester water is also being actively explored by a number of groups. This has implications for both planetary habitability, the prospects for life on extra-solar planets and for terrestrial evolutionary processes. The amount of iron on a planetary surface is governed by the conditions attendant at the birth of the planet, and in particular those of metallic core formation. Given the ubiquity of iron in metabolic pathways, and that many infections are driven at an elemental level by a need to acquire and conserve iron, the observation that life hangs on both a knife-edge of iron abundance and its speciation is interesting. I am working with colleagues in immunology to explore the consequences for life on both iron abundance and speciation (redox state) through time. Life, having learnt its trade in the deep Archean where chemical conditions were unlike the present, records within it these environments. We speculate that subsequent changes in the surface environment and the subsequent decreasing availability of iron, are primary drivers in the evolution of infection and predation, and ultimately, evolution. Partly as a consequence of this work, the iron biomedical group at the Wetherill institute are actively engaging with manufacturers (Perkin Elmer) to explore the possibility of accurately measuring iron in single cells to explore how iron deficiencies are mitigated by organisms. I have presented a number of advanced electron probe micro analysis (EPMA) courses to industry and academics. We have published a number of papers exploring high spatial resolution EPMA with application to a number of materials and Earth science topics. We have a paper published and another in press that couples these techniques with Atom Probe Tomography which enables fully quantified elemental and, potentially, isotopic analyses to be performed on the near atomic scale. These techniques are being utilised by Materials scientists exploring thin oxide growths on exotic, high-performance turbine blades, as well as economic geologists researching the deposition of gold in Carlin-type deposits. |
| Sectors | Aerospace Defence and Marine Chemicals Education Environment Manufacturing including Industrial Biotechology Culture Heritage Museums and Collections |
| Description | The topics of how the Earth came to be are the epitome of 'big question' science, and as such provide a great 'hook' for the wider public to engage with science. This has resulted in my participation in a number of Science festivals and engagement/outreach events, including the Oxford and Edinburgh Science festivals. These big questions, and the suggestion that the Earth's habitability relies on a tenuous sequence of events, has implications for the way the wider public think about current issues, particularly climate change. Life appears good at adapting to changing environments but poor when rapid change is invoked, and aggressively competitive when resources become scarce. By using planetary habitability as a segue into current ecological issues, it is relatively easy to promote a constructive debate with a wide audience both about 'big science' and the challenges facing humanity today. The research has led to a collaboration with Prof Hal Drakesmith (Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine) to explore the role of iron availability and speciation in the evolution of Life and in particular, disease. Many diseases are, at a fundamental level, focused on acquiring iron, a result of Iron's significant drop in bioavailability as a consequence of the oxygenation of Earth's atmosphere 2Ga ago. Indeed, the greatest current cause of human years lived with disability is anaemia, which is often correlated to areas of the Earth where iron is less bioavailable. Furthermore, climate change will increase anaemia prevalence due to faster crop growth but constant iron availability. To explore these effects, we have acquired funding to purchase a new class of particle analyser that enables the rapid elemental analysis of micron sized particles, in particular cells, to explore how they respond to iron availability. The courses run on microanalysis have been well attended by a number or industrial users - both manufacturers (e.g. Oxford Instruments, JEOL, Zeiss) and end users (Rolls Royce, Sandvik and AWE) and have proven a good way of disseminating data and methods. The techniques developed during the course of the IRF are being used in a number of areas, such as optimisation of materials and coatings in harsh environments (such as silicon wafers for solar cells, reactor pressure vessels and turbine blades) and exploration of noble metals, particularly gold. Particularly important is the cross-validation of techniques such as Atom Probe Tomography with the fully-quantified electron beam methods developed here. This allows confidence to be placed on the data arising from these more expensive (and exotic) techniques. It also allows for more accurate preselection of areas of interest, enabling less sample wastage and saving both time and analytical costs. Continued development of these techniques is ongoing. Overall, the last year - 2020-1 - has, like for so many others, unfortunately been a write-off. Homeschooling, rapidly re-casting taught courses for remote teaching, and maintaining equipment remotely has been a challenge. On the other hand, I am significantly more lucky than many in that I still have a job, and I am able to continue doing work I really enjoy. For that I am very grateful! |
| First Year Of Impact | 2014 |
| Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Education,Energy,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology,Other |
| Impact Types | Societal Economic |
| Description | A short training conference targeted to early career researchers primarily in the field of Earth Sciences |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | Primarily aimed at early career researchers this was a training conference. It brought together experts in a variety of microanalytical techniques to explore how these could be efficiently used to deliver more impactful analysis. The conference was sponsored by EMAS (European microanalytical society) and the Mineralogical Society (MinSoc) with contributions made by a number of industry partners / instrument manufacturers. |
| URL | https://www.microbeamanalysis.eu/events/event/51-emas-2018-microbeam-analysis-in-the-earth-sciences |
| Description | Advanced Course on electron microbeam methods |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | The course aims to give a deeper understanding of microanalytical techniques commonly used in Earth sciences, as well as materials. we have run this course for a number of years, last year under the auspices of the NERC GW4 DTP |
| URL | http://research-information.bristol.ac.uk/en/activities/fundamentals-of-epma--an-emas-short-course(e... |
| Description | Fundamentals Of EPMA - an EMAS Short Course |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| URL | http://research-information.bristol.ac.uk/en/activities/fundamentals-of-epma--an-emas-short-course(e... |
| Description | NERC ATSC short course - 2017-18 |
| Geographic Reach | Europe |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | we provide an 3 day advanced training workshop in advanced microbeam analytical techniques and 3 days ih-house instrument based training for up to 25 post graduate researchers, typically from NERC funded course, but available to UKRI funded individuals. The course id run through Bristol with myself as co-I |
| URL | https://nercgw4plus.ac.uk/training/foundation-researcher-training/fundamentals-of-electron-probe-mic... |
| Description | NERC advanced short course on Advanced microeam methods |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | The fully funded NERC ATSC course allows post graduate students and postdocs access to cutting edge microbeam analytical techniques. the course was delivered in Bristol using a mix of academic practitioners and also those from industry to give a flavour of the breadth of the techniques and the problems encountered. The course follows up this three day series of lectures and demonstrations with three days of 'hands on' experience at various institutions. I hosted 6 attendees here in Oxford where we investigated the application of modern computer simulation techniques to real world analytical problems as well as high precision analysis using the EPMA here at Oxford. Feed back was good and as a result the course has been funded again for the next two years. |
| Description | John Fell Fund, Oxford University |
| Amount | £29,646 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 0009940 |
| Organisation | University of Oxford |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2021 |
| Description | Mare Basalt Synthesis |
| Amount | £72,250 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 1799921 |
| Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2016 |
| End | 03/2020 |
| Title | FEG - EPMA |
| Description | installed and commissioned a new FEG-EPMA instrument - the UK's second, high resolution electron microprobe. The instrument is now running and has generated data for a number of research projects. I regularly train users in its use and application of the data, both for in-house users and those from other departments and institutions. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The instrument allows a significant improvement in high spatial resolution microanalysis and has been utilised to explore a range of phenomena, including volcanic hazards (high spatial resolution glass analyses), element behaviour during igneous differentiation and oxidation of high-performance turbine blades. I have published a number of papers detailing optimisations of the technique and regularly run course with colleagues at Bristol, Leeds, Manchester and Cambridge on its application and development. |
| URL | https://www.earth.ox.ac.uk/research/services/geochemical-analysis/electron-micro-analysis/ |
| Description | Iron in evolution |
| Organisation | University of Oxford |
| Department | Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine (WIMM) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We are developing a network to explore the effect of iron speciation through time as a primary driver in evolution and in particular pathogenesis and disease. This collaboration is with Prof Drakesmith (Weatherill Institute of Molecular Medicine, WIMM) and has lead to internal funding (Oxford University John Fell Fund) for a new type of sample introduction method into the ICPMS which offers the capability to analyse single, micron scale particles including cells and pollutants (single cell (SC) ICPMS) We have written a review/ideas paper exploring these fundamental links, published in PNAS (Jan 2022). We have also won a studentship from the Wellcome Trust's 'chemistry of cells' programme to explore the application of this technique with the DPhil Candidate starting in Sept 2022. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The partnership is in early stages - we are developing the analytical technique in collaboration with Perkin Elmer, the IP holder for the technique. The partner lab (WIMM, Oxford Immunology) is developing the capability to screen biological samples for individual target cells and we are developing the method to enable their rapid analyses of individual cells (and particles) for their elemental content, with a particular focus on Iron. We are actively writing grant applications to support the application and method development. this is a new technique, unique to the Earth Sciences and offers applications across a range of environmental and medical areas. We are actively soliciting for support to fund a DPhil to perform method development on earth science materials (nano-plastics, cultured forminifera etc) for a starting date of Sept 2022. |
| Impact | early stages - paper in PNAS on the background and rationale for the development of techniques (https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2109865118). The work is multidisciplinary and involves method development in biological materials, led by H Drakesmith, MRC (Medical Research Council) Human Immunology Unit, MRC Weatherall Institute, University of Oxford, and myself in Earth Sciences. My goal is to develop the technique of single cell(particle) analyses by ICP-MS such that populations of particles can be analyses for individual elemental content, rapidly and cost effectively. Current particle analyses techniques are restricted to the element analyses of a small numbers of cells, but there is often extreme variability of elemental contents in the same cells form a single organism which is 'missed' with the small sampling techniques currently in use. Hence a rapid analytical technique for a large (10s of thousands) of particles is required. The aim is to gain understanding of why certain cells from the same organism respond differently to various treatments for iron deficits. Thus is particularly acute given the current 'hit and miss' treatments available for anaemia and the decrease in iron concentrations in plant crops with increasing atmospheric CO2. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | 10+ talks at or to schools over the course of the year |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | I run a number of outreach activities focused on schools that rely send pupils to Oxbridge. This includes schools in multi academy trusts (e.g. Hackney) who send their high achieving students to Oxford for a workshop/taster session in the department and more local Junior schools to help support Science Week. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019 |
| Description | 3 x department visits |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | 3 visits to department organised through myself, college outreach (St Peters and St Edmund Hall) and dept Outreach officer. Schools based in Walthamstow, Dartford and students via the Unique programme. Follow up visits to the schools are planned for April 2018 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017,2018 |
| Description | 3x school visits |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | 3 school visits to primary schools - Rose hill, Woodstock and Dr Radcliffes |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Advanced short course in electron microanalytical techniques, Bristol, NERC GW4 DTP |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | advanced course for Post-graduate students and post-docs on electron beam analytical techniques in the earth sciences. ~22 people attended from various institutions, mainly funded by a number of DTP programmes |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://nercgw4plus.ac.uk/2015/05/14/fundamentals-of-epma-course/ |
| Description | BGS open day - attending as Nerc anniversary ambassador |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Open day for the BGS - attended with demonstration of high pressure expt equipment - large audience over the day |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.bgs.ac.uk/news/events/openday/ |
| Description | Borrow the Moon, STEM open day, Woodstock Primary |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | STEM open evening using STFC related material ('Touch the Moon' box plus Museum collections). ~250 visitors. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Conference Session organiser - fall AGU 2016 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Organised session at fall AGU2016 - "The Moon Forming impact - geo-physical and -chemical constraints." |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://fallmeeting.agu.org/2016/ |
| Description | Conference invited talk - Goldschmidt 2015 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited conference talk on the origin on the Moon and the various geological consequences |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://goldschmidt.info/2015/program/programViewAuthor?authorId=10006 |
| Description | Conference talk - invited speaker |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | invited talk, Sedgwick Conference, Cambridge |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | EMAS short course, Bristol University |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A short 3 day course given to professional practitioners using electron microprobes. Participants included academic, and industrial participants from Sandvik, AWE, JEOL, and Institute of Transuranic Elements. received follow up emails for further advice input. The course was re-run in November 2014 as a NERC advanced short course for postgrads and postdocs. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | https://www.microbeamanalysis.eu |
| Description | Exhibition/event (Bodleian Oxford) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I initiated and co-organised a celebration of the Moon landings at the Bodleian and in collaboration with colleagues in History, curated a display of material. We also organised a one day 'Touch the Moon' event held at the Bodleian Library, Oxford (initiated and co-run by Wade), and attended by ~5000 people (see https://tinyurl.com/y6gzg4x9). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://medium.com/oxford-university/the-eagle-has-landed-6ce50b1b4075 |
| Description | Goldschmidt talk - 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Goldschmidt talk and poster |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://goldschmidtabstracts.info/abstracts/abstractView?id=2018002105 |
| Description | Interviewed for Carbolite's Trade magazine |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I have/am building a gas mixing furnace using a Gero/Carbolite high temperature furnace. In talking to the sales team and their design engineers, they wanted to highlight the capabilities of the equipment and use this as a PR/case study press release currently in production |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Invited Lecture, University of Portsmouth |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited Lecture on experimental petrology and the inner composition of the Earth |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Invited Speaker - Oxford Geology Group seminar and 'hands on' day |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Day long teaching/training/debate on meteorites with samples from Apollo missions |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.ogg.uk.com/#!Making-sense-of-meteoritics/c1rwy/54c415380cf2ad5dc6d68b81 |
| Description | Invited Talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Invited departmental talk, University of Bristol - role of iron on planetary habitability and evolution of life |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Invited Talk - University of Cork, Ireland |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Invited talk to University of Cork, Earth Sciences dept. "why does it rain? the role of core formation on the distribution of Earth's volatiles" |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Invited lecture, Cardiff University |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Invited lecture on origin of the Moon |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Invited talk - careers day 'Using Maths in the real world', Denbigh School Milton Keynes |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Will present a remote video on the use of maths in the sciences and how and what opportunities this offers to students from years 8 on |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Invited talk at Edinburgh Science Festival |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited speaker - Edinburgh Science Festival. A talk entitled ' a lakeside view of Mars' arising out of work carried out via this grant |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.sciencefestival.co.uk/festival |
| Description | Keynote speaker - Deep Earth Processes, Windows on the workings of a planet |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Keynote speaker, to the Geology Society two day conference on deep earth processes. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=145231&CultureCode=en |
| Description | Newbury Astronomical society |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | November lecture to Astronomical society of formation of the Moon - approx 60 people attended |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://newburyastro.org.uk/meetings/main.html |
| Description | Outreach event, St Josephs Secondary School, Streatham Common London |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Afternoon school outreach visit- evangelised about the Earth Sciences and their diversity and opportunities. Feedback included two students mentioning the visit in their subsequent UCAS application |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Poster presentation, Fall AGU 2016 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Poster presentation, Fall AGU2017 - Making the Moon from the Earth , an internally consistent geochemical model |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Press release and Press coverage |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | press release for the December 2017 Nature paper - picked up by global newspapers and press agencies including Agency France Press, The Guardian (UK), Haaretz (Israel) and the Times of India. In total I performed interviews or fielded questions from around 40 media outlets with the article featured in around 100 global media outlets (print and online). Article in the top 5% of research articles tracked by Altmetric. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.altmetric.com/details/30719147#score |
| Description | Public talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Public talk at the Oxford Science Festival, 25th October 2019. The importance of iron to life on Earth, in conjunction with colleagues form the MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine (WIMM), Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford. The talk explored the consequences of planetary formation on the subsequent evolution of the Earth and its effects on volatiles (water) and life. Event was well attended and has led to a review paper in preparation on the consequences of planetary core formation on the evolution of life and disease (with Prof H. Drakesmith, WIMM) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/fe-fi-fo-fum-battle-for-the-iron-crown-registration-69095300905# |
| Description | Radio Interview |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Radio Interview, Radio Oxford, December 22, 2017 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Radio interview |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Radio Interview for Radio Sputnik World Wide (Russia) on consequences of our work |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://soundcloud.com/radiosputnik/mars-would-not-be-my-number-one-holiday-destination-dr-jon-wade |
| Description | Rose Hill school, Oxford - 'hands on' teaching day at St Edmund Hall, Oxford |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Two Year groups attended St Edmund's college for a 'hands on' day with geological materials. Activities were led by staff and students from the Department of Earth Science, introducing the pupils to a broad selection of topics including fossils, volcanoes, the geology of Mars and meteorites, with samples kindly loaned by the Oxford University Museum of Natural History |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Rose Hill school, Oxford - 'hands on' teaching day at St Edmund Hall, Oxford |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | hands on teaching day for 9 to 10 year olds from Rose Hill School, Blackbird Leys, Oxford. Subjects covered were rocks from space, fossils and volcanoes. Lunch was provided (a big hit!), a mock graduation and a walk around the college finding Harry Potter film sets. very good feedback from the kids and teachers. We're trying to run this one again. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | STFC 'Borrow the Moon' schools ourtreach event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | A week long event (22nd to 29th September) event to primary school children focused around the STFC 'Touch the Moon' outreach kit. 4 Schools attended, with children around the year 6 age group. Very enthusiastic response from children and school teachers and as a result we are aiming to build our own 'in house' kit of meteorites and terrestrial analogues for future use. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | School Visit (Salisbury School, Salisbury Wilts) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | School visit to careers open day For Salisbury Cathedral boys school and Godolphin School - around 100 lower sixth pupils attended. Introduced field of study and explained the oxbridge admissions procedure |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | School visit (Whitehill Primary & Gravesend Grammar Schools) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | High achieving primary school students from Whitehill Primary (Kent) and lower 6th students from Gravesend Grammar visited Oxford University. I and our Out outreach officer arranges and demonstrations of science to both sets - electron microscopy for the juniors, experimental lab for the older students. This was followed by a trip to the Museum for the younger group and a question and answer session, and a talk about entrance to Oxbridge, the breadth of science opportunities, applications and what support is offered for the elder students. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Stargazing live (public access night) - follow up to BBC programme organised by Oxford university Astronomy dept |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | sparked many conversations and received follow up emails from members of the public had a call to show people around our lab |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Talk _ goldschmidt 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk - Goldschmidt 2018 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://goldschmidtabstracts.info/abstracts/abstractView?id=2018004152 |
| Description | UNIQ Summer School 2016 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | UNIQ summer school for school students from schools with little history of applications to Oxford. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | UNIQ summer school |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | UNIQ summer school for students from 'non-traditional' Oxbridge schools (i.e. schools that hadn't submitted or rarely submit an application to Oxbridge) . 15 students attended and I ran an afternoon lab demonstration focusing on how we make 'rocks' in the lab, followed by a mornings tutorial. Of the 15 students who attended in 2015, 7 applied through UCAS to attend with 3 noting on their application forms that they particularly liked our lab demonstration and it specifically encouraged them to apply. Of these 7, 3 were successful in their Oxford applications. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014,2015 |
| Description | article and discussion on forum |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | article and ask me anything on Ars Technica website and forum |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/12/where-did-mars-water-go-maybe-into-the-planets-interior/ |
| Description | conference Talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | conference talk |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www-n.oca.eu/morby/Accrete.html |
| Description | invited talk - Origin and Evolution of planetary atmospheres - Earth, Mars, Venus, Fondation des Treilles, France |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited talk to a small international audience of senior academics on the evolution of volatiles (water, noble gases, oxygen etc) in the atmospheres of the Terrestrial planets. Resulting collaborations have resulted in a standard grant application to NERC and an upcoming Aurora grant application to the STFC. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://lestreilles.hypotheses.org/292#more-292 |
| Description | invited talk - keynote, Rocky Worlds: from the Solar System to Exoplanets, Kavli Institute, Cambridge |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Keynote talk at the Kavli Institute Cambridge at the Rocky Worlds: from the Solar System to Exoplanets conference, Talk explored the development of the Earth in context with the other terrestrial planets |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.kicc.cam.ac.uk/events/copy_of_past-events/rocky-worlds-from-the-solar-system-to-exoplane... |
| Description | presentations to 10+ schools over the year including school visits nationally. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | During term time I perform at least one event to schools every fortnight aimed at widening participation both to Oxford and the wider STEM subjects - this includes both schools coming to the department and my visiting the school (e.g. Bishop Grant RC school, Streatham, London, 13th March 2020). This includes an overview of the width of Earth Sciences as a subject, encompassing all aspects from planetary studies to the ecological and environmental sciences. I also offer insights into the university application procedures, especially to students and teachers with little experience of the Oxbridge process. Particularly gratifying is that as a consequence, these efforts have been demonstrably successful in expanding the range of schools and educational backgrounds of applicants, with ~80% of our undergraduate applicants now coming from a wide range of state schools. This work has also help inform and influenced the way the Department now interviews and select students. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | school visit (Kingdown school, Swindon) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | careers event at comprehensive school (Kingnsdown, Swindon ) - representing NERC as ambassador - around 100 pupils attended, with talks aimed at 13 year olds deciding on gcse's |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |