Institute of Earth Sciences | Faculty of Geosciences and Environment

ThermoFORGE (2025–2029)

Thermodynamic Framework for Observation-driven Rapid and accurate petrological modellinG

This project aims to improve predictive petrological models used to simulate mineral, melt, and fluid transformations in the Earth’s interior. These models, based on equilibrium thermodynamics, are essential for understanding tectonic, magmatic, and metamorphic processes and for estimating physical properties like density and seismic velocity. However, current models are limited by slow computational performance and inaccuracies in reproducing observed mineral compositions, for example across metamorphic field gradients respresenting the exposed continental crust. To address this, we will build an open-source database of natural mineral compositions—including major, minor, trace elements, volatiles (F, Cl), and iron speciation—from seven well-characterized metamorphic gradients. These data will be gathered using high-resolution compositional mapping of metapelites, which are representative and widely modeled rock types. Alongside a curated database of experimental results, this natural dataset will be used to test and optimise solution models within petrological software. A key output will be Thermofit.jl, an open-source inversion tool that integrates both natural and experimental data to refine thermodynamic parameters. We will also evaluate a new thermodynamic formalism and AI substitutes that could significantly accelerates Gibbs free energy minimisations. The project ultimately seeks to advance the accuracy and speed of petrological models, making them more reliable and accessible for applications across geoscience and planetary science. It will also establish a framework for future collaborative development of next-generation thermodynamic models driven by real-world observations.

PROMOTING (2020–2025)

PROgrade metamorphism MOdeling: a new petrochronological and compuTING framework
Prograde metamorphism produces large amounts of fluids that have an important role for earthquake generation, arc magmatism, the growth of continental crust and for global geochemical cycles. Despite recent efforts, it remains challenging to recognize and quantify fluid fluxes in natural rocks and to model fluid pathways. The existing petrological modeling techniques are all based on the thermodynamic analysis of single rock types and neglect the chemical changes caused by fluid expulsion and the possible interactions with other rocks. The next frontier in metamorphic petrology is therefore to move our modeling capabilities from an isolated single rock system to an open and multi-rock system, in which fluids can flow in, react and flow out. This concept introduces several challenges from the quantification of fluid-rock interactions in natural samples to the integration of aqueous thermodynamics and fluid dynamics in the petrological models. Based on the developments of high-resolution techniques such as quantitative compositional mapping, I have demonstrated that the petrological models can be inverted to quantify prograde metamorphism based on preserved mineral relics that partially re-equilibrated in the presence of fluids. The primary objective of PROMOTING is to develop a brand-new framework for petrological modeling of fluid-rock interactions in different, coupled rock types during prograde metamorphism. The models will be calibrated on two key tectonic settings that shaped Earth: subduction of oceanic crust and differentiation of the continental crust. A cutting-edge petrochronological strategy is required to identify at which conditions and when fluid-rock interactions occurred in natural rocks. The outcomes of this project will not only form the basis for a new generation of models integrating element mobility from rock scale to crustal sections, but they will also bring new constraints to test the validity of the most advanced subduction models.