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Distinguished Lecturer Programme 2007–8

To promote interest and discussions across the broad field of Mineral Sciences (including all aspects of petrology and geochemistry at the Earth’s surface and at depth) the Mineralogical Society has appointed two lecturers, both of whom are good communicators and experts in their fields, to give lectures at universities and related institutions. The lectures will be aimed to appeal to undergraduates and research students as well as more advanced scientists. To promote the lectures, the Mineralogical Society pays the travel expenses of the lecturers; whilst the host departments cover any accommodation and dining expenses.

In the 2007-2008 academic year, the appointed lecturers are:
Prof. Jon Blundy (University of Bristol); and
Prof. David Vaughan (University of Manchester)

The arranged programme is as follows, and short resumés of the lectures and the contact persons at the host institutions are given below:

Lectures by Prof Vaughan

Programme completed.

Lectures by Prof Jon Blundy

• 7^th January, Monday, University College Dublin, School of Geological Sciences, Room G01, 5.00 pm.

• 4^th March, Tuesday, University of East Anglia, LGMAC Seminar Room, 1.00 pm. (part of the Geochemical Luncheon Club Seminar Series)

• 13^th March, Thursday, Lancaster University, Biology Lecture Theatre, Dept of Biological Sciences, 1.00 pm.

• 19th May, Monday (new date), Glasgow University, East Quadrangle Lecture Theatre, Main Building, 4.00 pm

Lecture given by Prof David Vaughan

Minerals, metals, molecules and microbes: environmental mineralogy and sustainability

Metals have been central to human development since ancient times, and play a critical role in the cycling of elements at or near Earth’s surface. Understanding the cycles involving metals is important in studies of ore formation, pollution, and containment of hazardous wastes. Studies of key stages in the cycling of metals from the breakdown of metal-rich minerals, transport in solution or as colloids, uptake on mineral surfaces, and precipitation, will be illustrated with examples of work done in Manchester using state-of-the-art techniques.  These include atomic resolution studies of mineral surfaces and their reactivities using scanning probe microscopy, and investigations of the evolution of colloidal precipitates, or of sorption of metals on mineral surfaces, using synchrotron radiation methods. The importance of biofilm coatings on mineral surfaces will also be discussed, and also of relating phenomena at the molecular (or nano) scale to those at field, or even larger, scales.

Lecture to be given by Prof Jon Blundy

The subterranean machinations of explosive volcanoes

Explosive volcanoes are routinely monitored for signs of unrest. Deciphering the signals, such as earthquakes, ground deformation or gas chemistry, in terms of what is happening underground is not straightforward and rarely unambiguous. As magma chambers cannot be accessed directly our understanding of what goes on inside them is limited to studying their erupted products and attempting to link retrospectively the testimony of crystals and glasses to the pre-eruptive monitoring record. In this lecture I shall demonstrate the application of petrology to understanding past, present and future volcanic activity at Mount St. Helens volcano in the USA.

Host Contacts:

Brighton: Colin Whiteman, C.A.Whiteman@bton.ac.uk
Cambridge: Simon Redfern, satr@esc.cam.ac.uk
Liverpool: Claire Mahaffey, Claire.Mahaffey@liverpool.ac.uk
Galway: Martin Feely, martin.feely@nuigalway.ie
UC Dublin: Stephen Daly, stephen.daly@ucd.ie
UEA: Dan Franklin, Dan.Franklin@uea.ac.uk
Lancaster: Kirk Semple, k.semple@lancaster.ac.uk
Glasgow: Rhian Thomas, Rhian.Thomas@ges.gla.ac.uk