Dr. Burkhard Schmidt



Position: Research Associate in Mineralogy

Area of expertise: Experimental petrology (cold-seal and internally heated pressure vessel systems), silicate melts, fluid-melt interactions, structure of silicate melts and glasses, spectroscopy (FTIR, Raman, NMR)



Research Interests

Experimental and magmatic petrology. I use high pressure and high temperature experiments to simulate processes within the Earth’s interior, in particular for the experimental determination of phase equilibria in magmatic systems. This involves the investigation of fluid – melt interactions by studying the solubility of volatiles (e.g. water, carbon dioxide, halogens, noble gases) in silicate melts as well as their speciation (incorporation mechanisms) in the melt structure. This work is complemented by diffusion experiments, which shed light on the transport properties of volatiles in silicate melts. All these data are the basis for laboratory investigations of decompression induced degassing and crystallization of volcanic magma, which are performed in our high-pressure high-temperature laboratories. The data gathered from our laboratory investigations enhance our understanding of the dynamic processes occurring in volcanoes prior and during eruptions.
Another important part of my research is the application of various spectroscopic methods (FTIR, Raman, NMR, UV-VIS, XRF) to the investigation of geo-materials, either to study structural properties such as incorporation mechanisms of C-O-H fluids or halogens in silicate melts or to improve quantitative analysis of chemical components.




Profile

since 10/2004: Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter (Research Associate) at the Department of Mineralogy, University of Göttingen
10/1999 – 12/2003: Post doctoral researcher at the Bayerische Geoinstitut, University of Bayreuth, DE
01/1997 – 09/1999: Research fellow (post-doc) at the Department of Physics, University of Warwick, UK.
This appointment included two stays (one year each) as visiting fellow in the Departments of Earth Sciences of the Universities of Bristol and Cambridge, UK
10/1993 – 11/1996: PhD student (allocataire de recherche) at the Centre de Recherche sur la Synthèse et Chimie des Minéraux, CNRS, Orléans, FR

PhD thesis: Conditions of partial melting and incorporation mechanisms of H2 and H2O in haplogranitic magmas

05/1993 – 09/1993: Intern at the Centre de Recherche sur la Synthèse et Chimie des Minéraux, CNRS, Orléans, FR

10/1984 – 01/1993: Diploma studies in Mineralogy at the University of Hannover, DE

Diploma thesis: Absorption spectroscopic investigation of the high Tc superconductor systems Bi2Sr2Ca1-xYcCu2O8+y, La2-xSrxCuO4+y and YBa2Cu3O6+y



Student education

My teaching at the Georg-August-University includes:

B.Geo.101b, LV1: Vorlesung System Erde 1b
B.Geo.101b, LV2: Übung System Erde 1b
B.Geo.102, GÜ II: Magmatite
B.Geo.106, TM1, LV2: Phasendiagramme
B.Geo.210: Bachelor-Projekt
M.Geo.222, LV 1: Methoden der experimentellen Petrologie
M.Geo.222, LV 2: Anwendung der infrarot- und Raman Spektroskopie in der Petrologie
M.Geo.244: Mineralogisches Praktikum
SK.Bio.320: Archäometrie



Publications