Daniel Frost (earth scientist)

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Daniel Frost
FRS
Born (1970-11-29) 29 November 1970 (age 53)
Alma mater
Known for
Awards
Scientific career
Institutions
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Daniel James Frost, FRS (born 29 November 1970) is a British Earth scientist, currently Professor of Experimental Geosciences at the University of Bayreuth. His research focuses on the nature of Earth's deep interior, including the chemistry of the mantle and how it led to the development of the atmosphere, and the physical and chemical processes through which planets form. [1]

Contents

Life and career

Frost was born in Wolverhampton in 1970. After studying chemistry and geology at the University of London, he received a Ph.D. from the University of Bristol, which focused on high-pressure and high-temperature properties of carbon dioxide. Afterwards, he took a two-year post-doctoral fellowship at the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution in Washington D.C. before moving to the University of Bayreuth in 1997. In 2007 he was appointed Academic Director, and became Professor and Deputy Director of the Bavarian Research Institute of Experimental Geochemistry and Geophysics in 2012. [2]

Research

Frost's work combines geochemistry and geophysics to investigate structures and processes deep in Earth's interior, notably its mantle. [3] His research uses high-pressure and high-temperature experiments on mineral, rock, and magma properties, and also involves measuring the velocities of seismic waves to determine the chemical composition of Earth's deepest and most inaccessible layers. [2]

In 2019, a team of Bayreuth scientists, including Daniel Frost and Catherine McCammon, used high-pressure experiments to understand how carbon dioxide, water, and other oxygen-containing compounds escaped from Earth's mantle to form its atmosphere, so making the planet habitable. [2] [4]

In popular science news, Frost has been referred to as a scientist who makes diamonds from peanut butter – a reference to his high-pressure rock-crushing experiments that mimic the conditions of Earth's lower mantle. [5] [6]

Awards

Frost's scientific awards include the MSA award of the Mineralogical Society of America (2006), the James B. Macelwane Medal of the American Geophysical Union (2006), the Arnold Sommerfeld Prize awarded by the Bavarian Academy of Sciences (2011) and the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize of the German Research Council (2016). He was elected a Fellow of the European Association of Geochemistry in 2018 and a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2020. [1] [2]

Selected publications

See also

Related Research Articles

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Magma is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also been discovered on other terrestrial planets and some natural satellites. Besides molten rock, magma may also contain suspended crystals and gas bubbles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carbon cycle</span> Natural processes of carbon exchange

The carbon cycle is that part of the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of Earth. Other major biogeochemical cycles include the nitrogen cycle and the water cycle. Carbon is the main component of biological compounds as well as a major component of many minerals such as limestone. The carbon cycle comprises a sequence of events that are key to making Earth capable of sustaining life. It describes the movement of carbon as it is recycled and reused throughout the biosphere, as well as long-term processes of carbon sequestration (storage) to and release from carbon sinks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kimberlite</span> Igneous rock which sometimes contains diamonds

Kimberlite, an igneous rock and a rare variant of peridotite, is most commonly known to be the main host matrix for diamonds. It is named after the town of Kimberley in South Africa, where the discovery of an 83.5-carat diamond called the Star of South Africa in 1869 spawned a diamond rush and led to the excavation of the open-pit mine called the Big Hole. Previously, the term kimberlite has been applied to olivine lamproites as Kimberlite II, however this has been in error.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earth's outer core</span> Fluid layer composed of mostly iron and nickel between Earths solid inner core and its mantle

Earth's outer core is a fluid layer about 2,260 km (1,400 mi) thick, composed of mostly iron and nickel that lies above Earth's solid inner core and below its mantle. The outer core begins approximately 2,889 km (1,795 mi) beneath Earth's surface at the core-mantle boundary and ends 5,150 km (3,200 mi) beneath Earth's surface at the inner core boundary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andesite</span> Type of volcanic rock

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petrology</span> Branch of geology that studies the formation, composition, distribution and structure of rocks

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volcanic arc</span> Chain of volcanoes formed above a subducting plate

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fractional crystallization (geology)</span> Process of rock formation

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crustal recycling</span> Tectonic recycling process

Crustal recycling is a tectonic process by which surface material from the lithosphere is recycled into the mantle by subduction erosion or delamination. The subducting slabs carry volatile compounds and water into the mantle, as well as crustal material with an isotopic signature different from that of primitive mantle. Identification of this crustal signature in mantle-derived rocks is proof of crustal recycling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark S. Ghiorso</span> American geochemist

Mark S. Ghiorso is an American geochemist who resides in Seattle, Washington. He is best known for creating MELTS, a software tool for thermodynamic modeling of phase equilibria in magmatic systems.

The geochemistry of carbon is the study of the transformations involving the element carbon within the systems of the Earth. To a large extent this study is organic geochemistry, but it also includes the very important carbon dioxide. Carbon is transformed by life, and moves between the major phases of the Earth, including the water bodies, atmosphere, and the rocky parts. Carbon is important in the formation of organic mineral deposits, such as coal, petroleum or natural gas. Most carbon is cycled through the atmosphere into living organisms and then respirated back into the atmosphere. However an important part of the carbon cycle involves the trapping of living matter into sediments. The carbon then becomes part of a sedimentary rock when lithification happens. Human technology or natural processes such as weathering, or underground life or water can return the carbon from sedimentary rocks to the atmosphere. From that point it can be transformed in the rock cycle into metamorphic rocks, or melted into igneous rocks. Carbon can return to the surface of the Earth by volcanoes or via uplift in tectonic processes. Carbon is returned to the atmosphere via volcanic gases. Carbon undergoes transformation in the mantle under pressure to diamond and other minerals, and also exists in the Earth's outer core in solution with iron, and may also be present in the inner core.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite</span> Intrusive rocks with typical granitic composition

Tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite (TTG) rocks are intrusive rocks with typical granitic composition but containing only a small portion of potassium feldspar. Tonalite, trondhjemite, and granodiorite often occur together in geological records, indicating similar petrogenetic processes. Post Archean TTG rocks are present in arc-related batholiths, as well as in ophiolites, while Archean TTG rocks are major components of Archean cratons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mantle oxidation state</span> Application of oxidation state to the study of the Earths mantle

Mantle oxidation state (redox state) applies the concept of oxidation state in chemistry to the study of the Earth's mantle. The chemical concept of oxidation state mainly refers to the valence state of one element, while mantle oxidation state provides the degree of decreasing of increasing valence states of all polyvalent elements in mantle materials confined in a closed system. The mantle oxidation state is controlled by oxygen fugacity and can be benchmarked by specific groups of redox buffers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deep water cycle</span> Movement of water in the deep Earth

The deep water cycle, or geologic water cycle, involves exchange of water with the mantle, with water carried down by subducting oceanic plates and returning through volcanic activity, distinct from the water cycle process that occurs above and on the surface of Earth. Some of the water makes it all the way to the lower mantle and may even reach the outer core. Mineral physics experiments show that hydrous minerals can carry water deep into the mantle in colder slabs and even "nominally anhydrous minerals" can store several oceans' worth of water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deep carbon cycle</span> Movement of carbon through Earths mantle and core

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lower mantle</span> The region from 660 to 2900 km below Earths surface

The lower mantle, historically also known as the mesosphere, represents approximately 56% of Earth's total volume, and is the region from 660 to 2900 km below Earth's surface; between the transition zone and the outer core. The preliminary reference Earth model (PREM) separates the lower mantle into three sections, the uppermost (660–770 km), mid-lower mantle (770–2700 km), and the D layer (2700–2900 km). Pressure and temperature in the lower mantle range from 24–127 GPa and 1900–2600 K. It has been proposed that the composition of the lower mantle is pyrolitic, containing three major phases of bridgmanite, ferropericlase, and calcium-silicate perovskite. The high pressure in the lower mantle has been shown to induce a spin transition of iron-bearing bridgmanite and ferropericlase, which may affect both mantle plume dynamics and lower mantle chemistry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catherine McCammon</span> American geologist

Catherine Ann McCammon is a Canadian geoscientist who is employed by the University of Bayreuth. Her research focuses on surface and mantle processes, as well as the physics and chemistry of minerals. She is a Fellow of the European Association of Geochemistry and American Geophysical Union. In 2013, she was awarded the European Geosciences Union Robert Wilhelm Bunsen medal. She is the editor of the journal Physics and Chemistry of Minerals.

Andréa Tommasi is a geoscientist from Brazil known for her research on geodynamics and terrestrial deformation. She is a recipient of the CNRS silver medal and an elected fellow of the American Geophysical Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diamond inclusions</span>

Diamond inclusions are the non-diamond materials that get encapsulated inside diamond during its formation process in the mantle. The trapped materials can be other minerals or fluids like water. Since diamonds have high strength and low reactivity with either the inclusion or the volcanic host rocks which carry the diamond to the Earth's surface, the diamond serves as a container that preserves the included material intact under the changing conditions from the mantle to the surface. Although diamonds can only place a lower bound on the pressure of their formation, many inclusions provide additional constraints on the pressure, temperature and even age of formation.

Keiko Hattori is a geochemist and mineralogist. She is Distinguished University Professor of Geochemistry and Mineral Deposits in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Ottawa.

References

  1. 1 2 "Daniel Frost: Biography". The Royal Society. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Wißler, Christian (29 April 2020). "Geoscientist from Bayreuth becomes member of the Royal Society". University of Bayreuth. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  3. "Daniel Frost". Google Scholar. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  4. Armstrong, Katherine; Frost, Daniel J.; McCammon, Catherine A.; Rubie, David C.; Boffa Ballaran, Tiziana (30 August 2019). "Deep magma ocean formation set the oxidation state of Earth's mantle". Science. 365 (6456): 903–906. Bibcode:2019Sci...365..903A. doi: 10.1126/science.aax8376 . eISSN   1095-9203. ISSN   0036-8075. PMID   31467218. S2CID   201672824 . Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  5. Robson, David (7 November 2014). "How to make a diamond from scratch - with peanut butter". BBC News. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  6. Wenz, John (8 November 2014). "How to Turn Peanut Butter Into a Diamond". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 25 July 2022.