|
Geophysics and Mineral Physics.
Ab initio simulation of the thermoelastic, melting and dynamic properties of planetary forming materials. |
Dr. David Dobson (Royal Society University Research Fellow) Along with colleagues at UCL and the Bayerisches Geoinstitut , I perform high-pressure experiments on deep Earth minerals and rocks. We have several high-pressure devices, including multi-anvil presses, Diamond cells and a modified Paris-Edinburgh cell for neutron diffraction. |
My primary interests cover the icy satellites of the Gas Giant planets, and their constituent condensed volatile minerals (CVM's). I'm interested in all aspects of icy planet tectonics, cryovolcanism, thermal history, and surface and atmospheric processes. Naturally, this leads to an interest in the consequences of ice planet geophysics and geology for subjects such as exobiology, particularly where conditions allow for the existence of aqueous solutions. |
My research aims to combine previous, and ongoing, calculations and experiments to form thermal evolution models of the icy moons. My approach is to combine (1) low-temperature creep experiments (both triaxial and uniaxial) on ice, and possible contaminants, in order to better understand the rheology at relevant conditions, and (2) derive relevant parameterised convection models of the icy moons, which incorporate our computational and experimental work.
|
Prof Lidunka Vocadlo (Royal Society University Research Fellow)
Ab initio simulation of the thermoelastic, melting and dynamic properties of planetary forming materials; cryogenic-high T /high P experiments on planetary-forming materials; ab initio simulation of the high P/T properties of metals.
|
Dr. Ian Wood (Senior Lecturer in Crystallography )
Crystallography
X-ray and Neutron Powder Diffraction
HP and H/L T Diffraction Experiments
Clay Minerals
Planetary Ices |
|
I use advanced simulation techniques in combination with large-volume, high-pressure experiments in order to determine, as a function of pressure, the melting points and physical properties (density, thermal expansion, heat capacity, thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity) of several candidate salt hydrates such as MgSO 4 ·xH2O (where x = 6,7,11 for hexahydrite, epsomite, and MS11) and Na2SO 4 ·10H 2 O (mirabilite). The results of this study will enable us to develop models for the thermal evolution of the the Jovian moons and thereby provide tighter constraints on Solar System formation. |
I aim to use experiments to simulate a flooding process in Antarctica, whereby the weight of snow on ice lowers the snow-ice interface below sea level causing flooding of the snow with seawater. My results will be incorporated into existing sea ice models, which will be used to make predictions on a geophysical scale. I will then compare my predictions to existing modelling and field observations. Similar experimental techniques, using different chemical compositions (namely ammonium hydrate), could be used to simulate subsurface oceans of icy moons. |
Ceri Middleton (NERC Studentship)
I intend to investigate the mechanisms of convection within the icy bodies of
the outer solar system. This will involve the combination of creep experiments
to constrain the rheological properties of ices, salt hydrates and water-ammonia
mixtures, and computer modelling to compare these parameters with those required
for convection. |
+44 (0)20 7679 2000 - Copyright © 1999-2005 UCL
