Sulfur and Chalcophile elements in the Mantle: An Experimental Investigation of the Sulfur Cycle in the Terrestrial Interior (SuChaMa)

Basic data for this project

Description

Sulfur (S) is a volatile element and provides key insights into how the Earth's volatile flux developed through time. Sulfide-loving (chalcophile) elements are important geochemical tracers of S due to their compatibility in these phases. The EU-funded SuChaMa project will investigate crucial aspects of the S cycle using experimental petrology. Novel high pressure-temperature experiments will be conducted to find out the reservoir potential of the mantle and crustal phases in terms of S and chalcophile elements. Experiments will be chemically analysed using micro-analytical methods, and the results will be used to obtain thermodynamic models describing their distribution between minerals, sulfides as well as molten minerals and sulfides at high pressure. The models will be used to fully define the terrestrial S and chalcophile element cycle.