Elmar Albers

My research stay in the United States took place from 5 Nov to 9 Dec 2017. Of the five weeks, I spent one at Bennington College in Bennington, Vermont, and four weeks at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

In collaboration with Dr. Timothy Schroeder, a metamorphic geologist at Bennington College, I am studying rock samples that allow us to draw inferences on plate tectoni processes, in particular the development of fault zones in mid-ocean ridge settings due to the chemical interaction of rocks and fluids. In Bennington, we were able to review and discuss our findings. The study is now close to being completed and will presumably be submitted for publication in January 2018.

At the WHOI, I could establish a new collaboration with Dr. Frieder Klein. We worked on a set of rock samples I collected during a recent research expedition. Thes unique samples have great potential to shed new light on the fate of carbon during the subduction of Earth’s tectonic plates, which may have direct consequences for, e. g., Earth’s climate. To reach this goal we need to understand the fluid–rock interactions in subduction environments. Dr. Klein is a marine geologist and geochemist and has a wide expertise in this field. He operates a state-of-the-art Raman spectrometer which is ideally suited to identify fine-grained mineral phases as well as inorganic and potential organic carbon in rock samples. During my stay, Dr. Klein trained me in the acquisition of data using the Raman spectrometer and in the interpretation of the data. He and I were able to elaborate a detailed characterisation of the samples which forms the basis for all further work. We furthermore had intersting and fruitful discussions due to Dr. Klein’s profound knowledge and experience from earlier work in the very same and similar geologic settings. We plan to present initial results at the EGU General Assembly in Vienna, Austria, in April 2018. We furthermore aim for a publication of our study in a high-ranked international journal. This will be a major part of my PhD project and my dissertation.

Visiting Bennington College and the WHOI were most helpful assets for my PhD project. Together with Dr. Schroeder, I was able to combine geochemical and textural/structural aspects of my samples. Merging both aspects allows us most versatile insights into a complex system. The collaboration with Dr. Klein permitted me, due to his knowledge and the institute’s analytical facilities, to characterise my sample set in a way that would not have been possible in Bremen. I was furthermore able to acquire a widely used analytical technique, namely confocal Raman spectroscopy, and could broaden my knowledge by participating in weekly seminars at the WHOI wher ongoing state-of-the-art research was reported and discussed. At Bennington College, I was invited to give a talk on the field of marine geology/petrology with special emphasis on research in this field in Bremen and on the projects I am currently involved in. In the course of my research stay, I was able to establish new as well as to revive already existing contacts at both, Bennington College and the WHOI.

In summary, visiting Bennington College and the WHOI were very successful and a fantastic opportunity to extend the scope my PhD project in promising and exciting directions. I made good progress on my current projects. I was able to cement ties with collaborators  for future studies and was encouraged to apply for a postdoc position at the WHOI after having finished my PhD. I hence evalueate my research stay as most helpful and thriving for both, my PhD project as well as for my future career. This research stay was funded within the Bremen IDEAout program.