MSG RiP Report 2024

The annual MSG ‘Research in Progress’ (RiP) meeting was held at the University of Bristol on 26–28 March. The meeting comprised a one-day kinetics workshop, led by John Wheeler (University of Liverpool), followed by a two-day conference. The meeting was held as a hybrid event, with 39 people in person, and 16 people joining online. In total, 16 countries were represented, reflecting the increasing international profile of MSG.

Twenty-seven talks were given across the two days of the conference, covering a range of topics spanning from traditional regional studies of metamorphic terranes to modern machine learning approaches to petrographic datasets. A poster session was also held on the first evening, comprising eleven posters.

The meeting finished with the presentation of the 2024 Barrow award to Pierre Lanari (University of Bern, Switzerland), who gave a highly thought-provoking presentation on ‘Unlocking Earth’s secrets: Methods for probing metamorphic Processes’. Alessia Borghini (AGH University of Kraków, Poland) also gave a fascinating keynote talk on ‘Melt inclusions in eclogites record deep element cycles and element transfer to the mantle’. Finally, Richard Taylor (Zeiss) gave a talk on behalf of Zeiss microscopy, who generously sponsored the event, on the cutting edge of ‘How deep learning is changing microscopy’. We were delighted that all invited speakers were able to attend the event in person.

Alix Osinchuk (University of British Columbia, Canada) was awarded the student talk prize, with a special commendation given to Hero Bain (University of Bristol). Thorsten Markmann (University of Bern, Switzerland) was awarded the best student poster prize, with a special commendation given to Nicholas Lucas (University of Cambridge).  

Special thanks to Freya George (University of Bristol) for organising the meeting, the University of Bristol for hosting the event, Zeiss for sponsoring the event and the student poster prize, and John Wheeler for running the kinetics workshop.

Attendees at the MSG 2024 RiP conference, Wills Memorial Building, Bristol University

Announcement of the Barrow Award 2024

It is with great pleasure that we announce that the winner of the 2024 Barrow Award is Dr. Pierre Lanari.

Pierre is currently an Assistant Professor and Head of the Computational Petrology and Geochemistry Group at the University of Bern in Switzerland, where he has been based since 2020. Pierre completed his bachelor’s degree at the University of Savoie in France in 2007, and his PhD on ‘Micro-cartographie P-T-ε dans les roches métamorphiques. Applications aux Alpes et à l’Himalaya’ at the University of Grenoble in France in 2012.

Since his PhD, Pierre has become internationally renowned for his development of the XMapTools software package, which has significantly advanced our understanding of, and ability to leverage, the effects of evolving local bulk compositions in controlling phase equilibria. Pierre has also been involved with numerous other software packages, such as Bingo-Antidote, which have collectively improved the community’s ability to solve a variety of geological problems in a rigorous and quantitative manner. Along with his collaborators and students, Pierre has applied these tools to numerous settings, reflecting both Pierre’s multi-disciplinary skillset and impressive track record of mentoring students. Pierre has also generously run or supported several workshops on the use of his software tools. Another notable contribution by Pierre was being co-editor of the Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry volume on Petrochronology.

In a short space of time, Pierre has established himself as a leader in the field of computational petrology and geochemistry, reflected by being awarded the ‘Outstanding Early Career Scientist’ award by the European Geoscience Union in 2017, becoming an Associate Editor of ‘Computers & Geosciences’ in 2018, and by an outstanding track record of publication.

In summary, Dr. Lanari is an outstanding multi-disciplinary petrologist whose substantial contributions have made a profound impact in the field of metamorphic petrology. These contributions make him a highly deserving recipient of the 2024 Barrow Award.

The Barrow Award 2024 was judged by Dave Waters, Clare Warren and Iwona Klonowska. Pierre was nominated for the award by Daniela Rubatto and Jorg Hermann, with supporting letters from Rob Berman and Matt Kohn. The citation above was written by the Metamorphic Studies Group committee, using text from the application package.

MSG RiP Report 2023

The main activity by MSG was to host the annual ‘Research in Progress’ meeting, which was held at the University of Oxford on 4–5^th April, with an ice-breaker event on the 3^rd April. The meeting was held as a hybrid event, and well attended, with 69 people in person, and 20 people joining online. In total, 16 countries were represented.

Forty-one talks were given across the two days, covering a range of topics including kinetics, petrochronology, and traditional regional studies of metamorphic terranes. Keynote talks were given by Donna Whitney (University of Minnesota, USA) and Iwona Klonowska (AGH University of Science and Technology, Poland), with Frank Spear (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA) giving the Barrow award winner’s talk. All keynote and award winner presenters attended the event in person. Maria Margarita Ariza-Acero (University of Lausanne, Switzerland) was awarded the student talk prize. A poster session was also held on the final evening, comprising sixteen posters. Omar Droubi (Penn State, USA) was awarded the student poster prize. The international nature of all keynotes and student prizes speaks to the increasing international profile that MSG has received following successful online conferences during COVID.

Thanks to Zeiss for sponsoring the ice-breaker event and the student poster prize. Thanks also to Richard Palin (University of Oxford) for being the lead organiser. Freya George has offered to host MSG at Bristol University in 2024; this will be discussed at our next committee meeting on 10^th May 2024.

We also held an AGM at the RiP meeting. The only change to the committee was that Nicholas Lucas (University of Cambridge) replaced Isabel Carter (AGH-UST, Poland) as student representative and webmaster. 

MSG 2023 RiP conference, St Anne’s College, Oxford

Announcement of the Barrow Award 2023

If is with great pleasure that we announce that the winner of the 2023 Barrow Award is Prof. Frank Spear.

Frank is a Professor of Geology and Head of the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA, where he has been based since 1985. Frank completed his BA at Amherst College, Massachusetts, in 1971, and his PhD on ‘Phase equilibria and mineral chemistry of a hydrothermally synthesized amphibolite’ at the University of California in Los Angeles in 1976.

Frank is widely known for his classic ‘big-blue’ textbook “Metamorphic phase equilibria and pressure-temperature-time paths”, which galvanized the field in the mid-1990s, as well as for his pioneering contributions across multiple aspects of metamorphic petrology. At the time Frank started his research, quantitative metamorphic petrology was in its infancy. The first thermometers had only just been proposed, with little direct experimental support, and most research relied on broad categories of conditions—greenschist facies, amphibolite facies, etc.—for ‘quantification’. Together with his students, Frank has been one of the most influential scientists in the field of quantitative metamorphic petrology, with major contributions including: major and trace element thermobarometry; metamorphic phase equilibria of major and trace phases; inversion of chemical zoning to determine pressure-temperature paths; use of trace element zoning to infer reactions, and help put the ‘t’ in P-T-t paths; calculation of cooling rates from diffusion profiles; identification of potentially significant overstepping (using QuiG barometry); development of sophisticated thermodynamic modelling software (especially “Program Gibbs” and “Thermobarometry”); and, development of tectonic interpretations of collisions and core complexes.

It is difficult to conceive how one individual could have such an impact on so many fundamental and current research areas in metamorphic petrology. Therefore, the Barrow Award, which recognises “a scientist that has made outstanding contribution to metamorphic studies”, is clearly a most fitting and deserved recognition for Frank.

The Barrow Award 2023 was judged by Lorraine Tual, Mahyra Tedeschi and Victor Guevera. Frank was nominated for the award by Matt Kohn and David Pattison, with supporting letters from Philip England and Jane Selverstone. The citation above was written by the Metamorphic Studies Group committee, using text from the application package.

MSG RiP 2023 – University of Oxford

We are pleased to announce that the 2023 Metamorphic Studies Group research in progress (RiP) meeting will be held in Oxford, UK, on April 4-5^th, 2023. There will be an icebreaker held in the Department of Earth Sciences on the evening of April 3^rd and two days of hybrid talks and posters held in St Anne’s College. We will also have keynote talks from Donna Whitney (University of Minnesota, USA), Iwona Klonowska (AGH University of Science and Technology, Kraków, Poland) and 2023 Barrow Award winner Frank Spear (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute).

Registration is now possible through the following website, which has been set up by the Mineralogical Society: https://www.minersoc.org/msg-rip-2023.html

Abstract submission is also solicited for those that want to present. You can choose to talk either in-person or over Zoom, or present a poster (only in person). We welcome presentations on anything related to metamorphic geology in the broadest sense! This could be focused on field studies, laboratory work, or modelling. Please complete the abstract template (link) and submit through the same portal you use for registration (https://www.minersoc.org/msg-rip-2023.html). Abstracts must be submitted before March 1^st, 2023.

The website contains a lot of useful information, including the fee structure for in-person and virtual attendance, helpful tips on traveling to Oxford, and suggestions of places to stay. Researchers from Research4Life countries (https://www.research4life.org/) can register for free. If you have any questions, feel free to contact the organiser Richard Palin (richard.palin@earth.ox.ac.uk) about the meeting or Kevin Murphy (Kevin@minersoc.org) for any questions or issues related to the website.

We look forward to seeing you in Oxford for what will certainly be a vigorous and exciting meeting!

MSG Research in Progress 2022 and NE Scotland Field Trip

The Metamorphic Studies Group (MSG) Research in Progress (RiP) conference 2022 was organised by Dick White (University of St Andrews) and was held as a hybrid conference on 11th – 14th April 2022, in person at the University of St Andrews and online through Teams.

The conference was opened by Dick White followed by the presentation of the Barrow Award to Prof. Katy Evans (Curtin University) by outgoing MSG Chair Catherine Mottram. There were 18 high quality presentations across four sessions including keynote talks from Chris Yakmychuk (Queens University), ‘Accessory to mischief: reflections on a decade of modelling accessory minerals in metamorphic system’ and Dave Pattison (University of Calgary) ‘Polymetamorphism in the Buchan type-area, NE Scotland’. The conference spanned a huge breadth of topics, from classic Scottish Barrovian and Buchan metamorphic zones to exploring the thermal evolution of mountain belts, petrochronology, fluid behaviour and geodynamics. Many of the talks highlighted state of the art approaches and analytical techniques used to investigate metamorphic processes today! Recordings of oral presentations will be added to the MSG Youtube channel, so please keep an eye on our social media for confirmation of when they are posted.

Beatriz Benetti (PhD student, University of Turin) won the best student talk prize for her presentation ‘Heat-sources and exhumation of deep crust: evidence from the Pouso Alto Nappe HP-UHT granulite, Southern Brasilia Orogen, SE Brazil’. Joe Benson (Masters student, University of Cambridge) won the prize for the best student poster presentation for his poster ‘How hot was Scotland? Decoding the ultrahigh temperature metamorphism of the South Harris Granulite Belt’. Student prizes and attendance was kindly sponsored by Zeiss.

We also announced the winners of our first ever video competition: ‘metamorphic ROCKS!’. The metamorphic community was invited to make up to 90 second videos explaining why metamorphic rocks are the best! First prize went to Gautier Nicoli and Capucine Albert (https://youtu.be/gzj_RmffuU0), and second prize went to Prachi Patel, Grace Watterson and Ariana Wang (https://youtu.be/bJ1xjvgAp2M). An introductory video was also commissioned from Stacy Philips: https://youtu.be/3QIQf5EA-bw. We hope that these videos can be a useful resource for outreach in the future.  

Overall, the meeting was a great success and a fantastic way to celebrate being able to see each other again after two years of pandemic. We hope to see you at our 2023 RiP in Oxford, whether in person or online!

(Most!) of the attendees of MSG RiP 2022

The meeting was followed by a two-day field trip to the NE coast of Scotland near Banff, visiting localities such as Portsoy, Fraserburgh, and Inzie Head. The trip was led and organised by Dick White with geological expertise from Dave Patterson, and was attended by an international group of almost 30 academics and students.

We met early Tuesday morning for two days of looking at the classic Buchan zone sequence in the Dalradian. The outcrops visited ranged from biotite-grade metapelites to orthopyroxene-bearing migmatites, all around ~470 Ma in age. We started the trip at Tarlair analysing some biotite-grade metasedimentary rocks, which retain some lovely sedimentary structures, even if the overcast sky made picking up the biotite porphyroblasts quite challenging! Much to the excitement of many a metamorphic geologist we soon entered the cordierite zone. This transition was evidenced by the appearance of “rain drops” of cordierites within the rocks. Further NW along the coast we started to see much larger cordierites, prior to seeing some staurolite, which is thought to have formed during an earlier phase of metamorphism before being overprinted by the Buchan sequence. Day 1 ended with looking at some excellent sillimanite-grade migmatites at Links Bay, Portsoy.  We were excited to see plenty of in-situ melting with some outstanding folding persevered in the migmatites. The day finished with looking at some small diffuse granitic pegmatites, followed by fantastic BBQ (in the Scottish drizzle!) by Dick White and plenty of beer and wine.

Day 2 started nice and early, unfortunately in the rain although that did not dampen our spirits! We visited a staurolite-kyanite schist at Portsoy, which contained some really fantastic kyanite pseudomorphs – described by some as the best outcrop so far, despite the rain! This locality is close to the tidal pool just west of the Portsoy serpentinite. We then travelled to Fraserburgh, to look at incipient melting in some highly deformed corundum-bearing calc silicate rocks. The rain this made traversing the coastal exposures very challenging but that did not take away from the happy faces of geologists seeing such fantastic rocks. Much discussion was had by Dick White, Dave Pattison and others as to whether the leucosomes were actually leucosomes or fracture veins.

The second half of day 2 focused on some higher temperature metamorphism. Close to St Coombs we looked at some beach exposures with some garnet-cordierite migmatites, where many of the garnets had cordierite rims. There was also a small granitic pegmatite that sharply cross-cuts the migmatites. Moving west to Inzie Head, despite the overcast and chilly day there was much excitement as we entered the orthopyroxene zone, heralding the onset of the granulite facies. Care had to be taken as there were dolerite intrusions at the start of the exposures, but there were some small granitic pegmatite intrusions which sparked a lot of interest from many of the geologists. After a short walk along the beautiful beach we finished with looking at some migmatites; orthopyroxene was hard to find as it has mostly been replaced, but once pointed out we were all very happy to see them.

Overall, the two days were an excellent tribute to classic Scottish geology – a huge thank you goes to Dick White and Dave Pattison for running such a great field trip!

Conference report and photos by Catherine Mottram, field trip report by Tim Webster, edited by Isabel Carter and Owen Weller.

Tarlair Swimming Pools, Macduff: Biotite grade turbidite deposits with MSG attendees for scale

Dick White and Dave Pattison giving an introduction to the geology at Tarlair.

West Boyndie Bay: Cordierites and cross-cutting relationships

Examining migmatites at Fraserburgh

Walking towards the orthopyroxene zone at Inzie Head

Announcement of the Barrow Award 2022

The Metamorphic Studies Group are pleased to announce the winner of the 2022 Barrow Award to

Prof. Katy Evans

Curtin University

The Barrow Award is awarded annually to a scientist who has made an outstanding contribution to metamorphic studies. Publications, teaching, outreach and other activities leading to the promotion of metamorphic geology, in the broadest sense, are taken into account in making the award.

Katy is a Professor in the School of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Curtin University, where she has been based since 2007 as a Research and Teaching fellow, ARC Future fellow and Professor. Katy completed her undergraduate studies and PhD at the University of Cambridge, completing her PhD on ‘Acadian Metamorphic Fluid Flow in East Central Vermont’.

Katy is an influential scientist who has conducted high-impact research and made fundamental contributions not only to the field of metamorphic geology but also crossing disciplinary boundaries into economic geology building on her thermodynamic work into sulphide minerals. She has written several important, highly-cited process-oriented papers on the role of fluids in orogenic systems, the redox budgets, and sulfide minerals that are of importance for our understanding of orogenic (subduction) processes as well as (gold) mineralisation. The most important fundamental contribution that Katy has made to the field of metamorphic geology has been in creating a foundation for our understanding of how metamorphic fluids control redox changes in the deep Earth. Katy has also become a world-leading expert on unravelling the complexities of serpentinization and deserpentinization through a long-running collaboration with Ron Frost. Due to her work on redox budgets, element cycles and serpentinites, Katy has become recognised as a world leader in the role of redox processes and fluids in metamorphic systems. This recognition has led to many keynote and invited presentations, and particularly to invited papers and book chapters as well as winning competitive research fellowships in Australia.

Katy has provided outstanding support for PhD students, encouraging students and nurturing them to go onto successful careers in geoscience. Her students have gone on to leadership positions with Rio Tinto, BHP and Northern Star, and post-doctoral fellowships at CSIRO. Katy is also an excellent teacher and she coordinates and teaches on modules including field geology, Mineralogy and Geochemistry and a masters-level Mineral Deposits unit.

Katy has made an outstanding contribution to the community though her dedication to editorial work. She has been an editor for Journal of Metamorphic Geology since 2018, and was an editor for Geology from 2016-2020, was recognised as a Geology Exceptional Reviewer in 2020. From 2017, she has been a member then Chair (2019-2020) of the Great Southern Science Council, a volunteer organisation of scientists who are passionate about connecting science and the community.

Those who have worked with Katy are all aware of her scientific insight into geological processes based on a deep understanding of thermodynamics and chemistry, a character that also clearly stands out in her published work. While Katy has won this award for her contributions thus far, many of us in the metamorphic community look forward to her future contributions to metamorphic geology with equal interest.

Katy stands out as an excellent researcher, mentor, teacher and member of the metamorphic community and we believe that the Barrow Award is a fitting recognition of Katy’s outstanding work.

The Barrow Award 2022 was judged by Clare Warren, Donna Whitney and Pavel Pitra. Katy was nominated for the award by Andrew Tomkins and her nomination was supported by Roger Powell and Mike Bickle.

Barrow Award 2022-2023

We are now accepting nominations for the next Barrow Award.

Nominees do not have to be Members of the Mineralogical Society, Fellows of the Geological Society of London or nationals of Great Britain and Ireland. The award is open to a scientist at any stage of their career (early, mid or late).

Nominations should include a statement on the merits of the candidate, a summary curriculum vitae and a list of the nominee’s more important contributions. Letters of support may be submitted from up to two additional people.

Nominations will remain on the table for three years. Previous recipients of the award, and members of the MSG Committee (at the time of nomination and adjudication) will not be eligible for the award.

Nominations for the 2022-2023 medal should be sent to the Chair of the Metamorphic Studies Group committee, to arrive not later than 31st October 2022.

For more details see: https://metamorphicstudiesgroup.wordpress.com/barrow-award/

Submissions should be compiled as a single package in pdf format, to include the nomination statement, CV of the candidate and the optional additional letters of support. The nomination package should be attached to an e-mail with a title which identifies the name of the award and the name of the nominee. The e-mail address to use is metamorphicstudiesgroup@gmail.com

MSG RiP 2022: St Andrews

The MSG-RIP “returns” to St Andrews for the first time ever, after the last minute pandemic cancellation of the 2020 meeting. The meeting will be followed by a two-day field trip to look at the low pressure sequences along the Banff coast. More details on both the meeting and the field trip here.

Announcement of the Barrow Award 2021

The Metamorphic Studies Group are pleased to announce the winner of the 2021 Barrow Award to

Prof. Roger Powell

University of Melbourne

The Barrow Award is awarded annually to a scientist who has made an outstanding contribution to metamorphic studies. Publications, teaching, outreach and other activities leading to the promotion of metamorphic geology, in the broadest sense, are taken into account in making the award.

2021 is a notable year for The Metamorphic Studies Group, as it is celebrating its 40^th anniversary. Therefore, it is highly appropriate that this year’s Barrow Award goes to Prof. Roger Powell, whose work over the last ~40 years has fundamentally changed the way we do research in metamorphic petrology. In particular, Roger has been instrumental in advancing quantitative metamorphic petrology through the development of the THERMOCALC software and the use of phase petrology to understand metamorphism.

Roger is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Melbourne, where he has been based since 1984 as a lecturer, senior lecturer, reader and professorial fellow. Prior to this he was a lecturer at the University of Leeds in the UK. Roger completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Durham and was awarded his PhD from the University of Oxford in 1973. In 2015 Roger was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society. He has won several notable academic medals and awards including the Jaeger Medal from the Australian Academy of Science (2013) and the Bowen Award from the American Geophysical Union (2009).

Roger is perhaps best known for his thermodynamic computational program THERMOCALC. The key contribution of Roger to the metamorphic community is through his development, together with Prof. Tim Holland, of an internally consistent database of thermodynamic data for metamorphic minerals and melts, along with software to allow evaluation of metamorphic conditions in natural rocks. Through his numerous workshops around the world promoting, explaining, testing and improving the database, activity models and software, he has been instrumental in educating a whole generation of petrologists. Roger had made sure the world is aware of the tools available to understand metamorphic processes and has worked tirelessly to improve and widen the scope of the software package.

Roger has shown an incredibly long-term vision in seeing the benefits of computational methods in petrology from as far back as the 1970s where the nucleus of THERMOCALC was first developed, through the 1990s with the emergence of calculated petrogenetic grids and calculated pseudosections, and into the 21st century and the common use of this approach and the development of geologically realistic model chemical systems. While the broader THERMOCALC endeavour has involved many people, it has been Roger that has stood at the core of this work.

Roger has done much more for the community than just his own central science: he has built a wide research network worldwide that has introduced many to the, often daunting, challenge of calculating and using quantitative phase diagrams. He has published a great number of papers including co-authors from all over the world, many of whom would visit Melbourne for research visits to learn from Roger. He has been a member of the editorial review board of the Journal of Metamorphic Geology for a record 35 years, including as editor from 2000 to 2012, and has taught numerous international short courses on many aspects of metamorphism. Importantly he has served as a supervisor or academic mentor to many, guiding and advising them on science, life and the finer aspects of wine. Many have gone on to highly successful careers and are part of the lively metamorphic community.

The 40^th anniversary Metamorphic Studies Group Barrow Award is a fitting mark of our UK recognition of the substantial, innovative and absolutely fundamental contributions that Roger has made to our science and to thank Roger for the decades of service that he has committed to the worldwide metamorphic community.

The Barrow Award 2021 was judged by Aphrodite Indares, Chunjing Wei and Paddy O’Brien. Roger was nominated for the award by Richard White and his nomination was supported by Simon Harley and Richard Palin.

Barrow Award 2021-2022

We are now accepting nominations for the next Barrow Award.

Nominees do not have to be Members of the Mineralogical Society, Fellows of the Geological Society of London or nationals of Great Britain and Ireland. The award is open to a scientist at any stage of their career (early, mid or late).

Nominations should include a statement on the merits of the candidate, a summary curriculum vitae and a list of the nominee’s more important contributions. Letters of support may be submitted from up to two additional people.

Nominations will remain on the table for three years. Previous recipients of the award, and members of the MSG Committee (at the time of nomination and adjudication) will not be eligible for the award.

Nominations for the 2021-2022 medal should be sent to the Chair of the Metamorphic Studies Group committee, to arrive not later than 31st October 2021.

For more details see: https://metamorphicstudiesgroup.wordpress.com/barrow-award/

Submissions should be compiled as a single package in pdf format, to include the nomination statement, CV of the candidate and the optional additional letters of support. The nomination package should be attached to an e-mail with a title which identifies the name of the award and the name of the nominee. The e-mail address to use is metamorphicstudiesgroup@gmail.com

EMU Lecture: Friday 29th January

The recipient of the 2019 Research Excellence Award of the European Mineralogical Union was Dr. Nadège Hilairet from CNRS and Université de Lille, France. She received the award for her outstanding contributions to understanding rock deformation and rheology as well as for her international collaborative research.

On Friday, 29th January 2021, at 11.00 am CET (10.00 am GMT), via Zoom, Dr Hilairet will deliver a lecture: Deformation and transformation of subduction zone hydrous minerals and rocks

This is free to all to attend but pre-registration is required

Head here for more information and to pre-register.