PhD Student
Title
Iron redox state of serpentinized mantle rocks through a Wilson cycle: implications for serpentinization-sourced hydrogen systems
Supervisors
Gianreto Manatschal and Marc Ulrich
Summary
Within the energy transition context, serpentinization-sourced hydrogen has a great potential as a new energy source. Serpentinization-sourced hydrogen can occur at different stages throughout a Wilson cycle, from the hydration of Fe2+-bearing minerals of the mantle when they meet fluids at high temperature. The team will investigate the redox state of iron contained in primary minerals (mainly olivines and pyroxenes) and secondary minerals (mainly serpentines and magnetite) in the mantle and their evolution in a Wilson cycle to develop a native hydrogen exploration strategy. The approach will be sampling and describing serpentinites from the Alpine Tethys domain, performing iron redox measurements for determining the redox state of serpentine minerals and building a model of the evolution of fluids interaction, iron speciation and hydrogen production associated with serpentinization during a Wilson cycle.