Simulating planetary interiors
A range of experimental and modelling techniques are used by our researchers to simulate and study planetary interiors and to characterise the processes by which planets first formed and by which they continue to evolve.
Much of this work focuses on the Earth, but we also study other rocky bodies and ice giants, both within our solar system and beyond.
Current projects
Magmatic processes in the deep Earth
Large-volume high pressure/temperature equipment is used to simulate magmatic processes occurring in the Earth’s mantle and crust. Current NERC and Leverhulme Trust funded projects include investigating mantle melting, magma evolution and melt hybridisation processes during large-scale rifting, and constraining mechanisms by which the earliest continental crust formed on Earth.
Key staff: Dr Geoff Bromiley
Volatile incorporation in planetary interiors
Water is key to sustaining life on Earth but also plays a key role in many planetary processes. All aspects of volatile incorporation in the Earth is studied, from constraining mechanisms for the incorporation and transfer of volatiles into and out of the Earth, determining how and when water was delivered to the early Earth, and investigating the importance of volatiles on other rocky planets.
Key staff: Dr Geoff Bromiley
Mineral science at extreme conditions
Current projects range from constraining the light element content of Earth’s core to developing new techniques for determining oxygen fugacity in planetary interiors. We investigate the fundamental effect of pressure, temperature, stress, and changes in the chemical environment on the nature of geomaterials.
Key staff: Dr Geoff Bromiley , Dr Tetsuya Komabayashi
Flow in Earth’s outer core
Exploration of the changes in Earth’s magnetic field observed at or near the surface to investigate liquid iron flow in the outer core. This is investigated regionally and globally, to explore the influence of the mantle above on the flow patterns, or concentrate on areas where the flow is better defined. The flows provide a better forecast of magnetic field changes than simple extrapolation.
Key staff: Professor Kathy Whaler
Techniques and facilities
Our School hosts the Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC) Recognised Experimental Geoscience Facility (XG) and several other research facilities.
This combination of equipment and techniques allows us to reproduce many of planetary interiors' conditions, from crust to core.
We also house a range of equipment including the following:
- Controlled atmosphere high-temperature furnaces
- Large-volume high-pressure/temperature vessels
- Diamond anvil cell lab
Our equipment is supported by a dedicated workshop.
Find out more about our NERC Recognised Experimental Geoscience Facility (XG)
External facilities include:
- Synchrotron facilities at Diamond Light Source, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF)
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) for conducting in-situ experiments under non-ambient conditions and for advanced sample characterisation
Data from the current European Space Agency Swarm mission is also used and reprocessed from earlier low Earth orbit satellites and from permanent geomagnetic observatories to understand the Earth's core.
Publications
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(2020) Diffusion of volatiles in hot stagnant-lid regime planets. Planetary and Space Science Volume 182, 104822. * Author: Bromiley, G.D. |
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(2020) Eruption of crystal mush and the formation of steep-sided volcanic domes on Venus: Insight from picritic bodies near Marki, Cyprus. Icarus, 337, 113467. *Authors: Bromiley, G.D.,Law, S. |
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(2020) Compression experiments to 126 GPa and 2500 K and thermal equation of state of Fe3S: Implications for sulphur in the Earth’s core. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 534, 116080. *Authors: Thompson, S., Komabayashi, T., Breton, H., Suehiro, S., Glazyrin, K., Pakhomova, A.,Ohishi, Y. |
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(2019) Phase relations in the system Fe-Ni-Si to 200 GPa and 3900 K and implications for Earth’s core. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 512, 83-88. *Authors: Komabayashi, T., Pesce, G., Sinmyo, R., Kawazoe, T., Breton, H., Shimoyama, Y., Glazyrin, K., Konôpková, Z., & Mezouar, M. |
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(2019) Investigation of regional variation in core flow models using spherical Slepian functions. Earth, Planets, Space, 71, 19. *Authors: Rogers, H.F., Beggan, C.D. Whaler, K.A. |
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(2018) Ensemble Kalman Filter analysis of magnetic field models during the CHAMP-Swarm gap. Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 281, 103-110. *Authors: Beggan, C., Whaler, K. A. |
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