Dr Andrew R. Thomson

Petrology, experiments, volatile cycling, deep earth, mineral elasticity, deep carbon cycle

Associate Professor and NERC Senior Research Fellow

 

Appointment:	Room:
Associate Professor & NERC Senior Research Fellow	K. Lonsdale Building, G02
Courses Taught:
GEOL0007 - The Earth
Research Group(s):
Computational Mineral Physics
Deep Volatiles
Email Address:	Telephone Number:
a.r.thomson@ucl.ac.uk	020 3108 7952 (57952)

Research Summary

My research focusses on understanding deep Earth processes, mostly by using high pressure-temperature experiments to determine both geochemical and geophysical properties of mantle minerals. I perform experiments at extreme conditions (several gigapascals) using multi anvil and diamond anvil cell devices, often in combination with synchrotron x-rays or neutron diffraction to investigate geological processes occurring throughout the mantle.

I study the role of volatile elements, mostly carbon and hydrogen, on large scale mantle geodynamic processes. I have particularly focussed on chemical and isotopic analyses of natural diamonds and their inclusion cargo to understand how they can inform us about processes occurring hundreds of kilometres beneath Earth's surface. Additionally, by using experimental techniques I seek to determine how properties including the density, acoustic velocities and rheology of Earth and Planetary materials vary in response to changing pressure and temperature conditions.