Who we are

Group chair

My research follows magmas from source to surface, and seeks answers about volcanic systems, planetary differentiation and evolution of the Earth’s crust. In our increasingly overpopulated world, volcanic activity can lead to devastation on an unprecedented scale, but magmas also provide riches (hydrothermal energy, mineral resources) and it remains more important than ever to continue to probe magmatic side of our planet. The approach to research that my group thrives to follow is to define a problem and use the most appropriate tool available to obtain an answer. We therefore study magmatic rock units from many different locations around the world, and use multiple techniques, including field geology, mineral chemistry, major, trace and isotope geochemistry, geochronology, and physical modelling, all of which are too rarely combined in geosciences. Pursuing a truly multi-disciplinary route is challenging, but vital if we are to make progress over the next decades, both in terms of our understanding of the natural world, and on how we present it to the public and students.

Senior Scientists & Post-docs

Julien is the electron microprobe specialist in charge of the SEM and EPMA. These instruments provide both images and quantitative analysis at the micron-scale. Throughout his career, he gains a strong interest for mineralogy and geochemistry. His research is now focusing on rare earth elements and the investigation of REE-rich pegmatite within the Pikes Peak Batholith in Colorado. The characterisation and certification of existing and future reference material for quantitative microanalysis is another core aspect of his research. He also manages and creates several websites to help the scientific community, notably the external pageDatabase of electon MicroAnalysis and the external pageFocused Interest Group on Microanalytical Standards.

Ben is a field-based geologist who specialises in understanding the workings of large-scale silicic calderas both in terms of eruptive frequency and magnitude, and how such magmas are made. In addition, he is interested in understanding the behaviour of lithium, a critical element for ‘green energy’ in these magmatic systems that appear to be a crucial ingredient for economic lithium deposits. When not looking at stones, he is often found playing football and helping with jigsaw puzzles.

Marcel Guillong is the Laser ablation ICP-MS specialist, a chemist by training and works with LA-ICP-MS since his diploma thesis with Detlef Günter back in 2000. After the PhD he moved to the earth sciences developing and improving LA-ICP-MS instruments, methods, data reduction and reference materials. His main interests are Geochronological analyses and the constant improvement of instruments and methods.

Răzvan is a volcanologist, studying active volcanoes around the world, especially some of the biggest and meanest systems. He is mostly interested in how magma chamber conditions affect eruptive behaviors, and on finding ways to forecast the future eruption styles of volcanoes: will their magmas blow, or will they flow? He is also interested in the life-cycle of volcanoes, especially those that form calderas, and in the nucleation and growth mechanisms of magma chambers. And in other things as well, including photography, stories and sustainable development. He does like volatiles.

Current PhD students

Maria Paula (Mapu) is a geochemist and geochronologist focused on the geochemical signatures and durations of igneous processes , especially those that result in economic metal enrichments. She received her bachelor degree from Universidad Industrial de Santander (Colombia) in 2017 and moved to Zurich for her master studies. In 2019 she received her M.Sc. degree from ETH Zurich and continued as a PhD candidate. For her research she relies on diverse minerals like zircon, titanite, sanidine and garnet, in volcanic, subvolcanic, hydrothermal and plutonic rocks to decipher its geologic history.

Arka is a PhD student and a part of the InSight Planet MARS project. His work, co-supervised by Prof Chris Huber (Brown University) primarily involves the investigation of young Martian volcanism and crustal evolution with the aid of numerical models. He also works with Martian rocks (meteorites), trying to spill some secrets about the magma chambers where they were formed. His larger goal is to provide a better understanding of the magma plumbing system under the giant Martian shield volcanoes as well as smaller rifts and fissures, some of which might be active even today!

Alejandro is a volcanologist particularly interested in the chemical behaviour of shallow felsic magma reservoirs and their expressions on Earth's surface. He holds a BSc. from Universidad de los Andes (Colombia) and a MSc. from ETH Zürich. He is currently in the last year of his doctoral studies, which are mainly focused on the behaviour of lithium in magmas, a key element for the current energy transition. He has been mostly workingon ocean island volcanoes like the Canaries, Azores and Iceland, but also in arcs such as Panamá, Colombia and Argentina. He likes to combine field observations with chemical analyses and melting experiments to better understand how magmas shape the distribution of elements in the Eath's Crust.

My research focusses on the gabbro-tonalite interaction at shallow crustal levels in arc settings. This study uses the Blumone complex (Adamello, Italy) in the Southern Alps as a case study to investigate the plutonic record of interaction between a shallow mafic cumulate complex and an intruding intermediate magma. Experimental studies are the central portion of my doctoral work and attempt to constrain the viability and extent of this process as well as its potential role in the overall framework of differentiation of hydrous, calc-alkaline magmas at convergent plate margins. By the end, I hope this contributes to the understanding of the evolution of shallow plutonic systems, which play a critical role in generating and shaping the continental crust.

Although Tobias is passionate about volcanoes, he finds what goes on in the crust beneath them much more enigmatic. Therefore, his research focuses on granite intrusions and the processes that take place during emplacement of these batholiths. His main research area is the Pikes Peak batholith in Colorado, where he looks at different suites of intrusive igneous rocks. He studies samples from the field to reconstruct the emplacement history of this large batholith during the so-called "Boring Billion", a period of relatively little tectonic activity between 1.8 and 1.0 billion years ago. Tobias has a particular interest in pegmatites, specifically those that contain minerals rich in rare-earth elements, which are critical for many modern high-tech applications and for the shift toward green energy technologies.

Zoe has been fascinated by the beauty and power of active volcanos ever since she can remember. Being the place with the most rhyolitic extrusives and hosting the biggest geothermal area of Iceland, she is particularly interested in the active Torfajökull volcanic system that combines the most beautiful obsidians together with a big caldera structure. Through obtaining accurate and precise petrological and geochronological data she aims to constrain the current conditions in the shallow subvolcanic reservoir by determining the current stage of Torfajökull within its caldera-cycle.

Thierry uses numerical modelling tools to understand fluid flow in the magmatic-hydrothermal realm of silicic systems, specifically applied to the Taupō Volcanic Zone. He is part of a multi-disciplinary project in New Zealand aimed at searching for and understanding supercritical geothermal resources (external pagehttps://www.geothermalnextgeneration.com). His work helps to better delineate where high-temperature geothermal resources occur and thus helps to decrease the economical and ecological cost of renewable energy production.

From hot volcanic lavas and tuffs to cold hydrothermal pegmatites, Ludmila is constantly thinking about temperature changes in silicic systems - and everything they can tell us. Her research spans across a variety of systems, such as the Pikes Peak batholith, the Bergell Massif, and the Bishop Tuff, and even employs sedimentary rocks to find long-lost magmatic unities that have been completely eroded. Currently, she is working on her projects jointly at RWTH Aachen, co-supervised by Prof. Juliana Troch.

Sun Yi is a mineralogist/earth scientist and has been fascinated by crystals and minerals since childhood. He spends most of his time in the lab to extract tiny mineral grains (for example zircon, baddeleyite, apatite) from crushed rock samples and analyses them to obtain crystallization ages and geochemical information, which are used to get insights into the development and evolution of intraplate magmatic systems, particularly in Namibia.