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Title of the talk: Speeding up nature: Can mineral reaction rates in nature
reproduce those obtained in laboratory experiments?
Metamorphism is a fundamental geological process in which rocks are transformed by heat and pressure, resulting in the formation of new minerals and textures. This transformation occurs over a range of spatial and temporal scales and plays a central role in the geodynamic cycle. It shapes mountain ranges, drives crustal recycling and contributes to the formation of economically important resources. Metamorphism also induces dehydration and densification, processes that actively influence plate tectonics and are associated with rapid geological phenomena such as seismicity. But what controls the rate at which metamorphic reactions, particularly mineral transformations, proceed? While field-based petrological observations suggest timescales of hundreds of thousands to millions of years, experimental data often yield much shorter timescales - on the order of days to weeks. In this seminar I will present a case study using data-driven approaches to unravel the evolvingconditions and timescales of a specific lower crustal metamorphic reaction. I will show how advances in analytical techniques and the development of user-friendly software for big data analysis are crucial to answering the long-standing question of the rates of metamorphic processes in natural systems.
Short bio: Dr Pierre Lanari is a multidisciplinary petrologist and associate professor at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. He received his PhD in Earth Sciences from the University of Grenoble (France) in 2012. His work aims to understand the conditions and rates of metamorphic processes by combining high-resolution geochemical analysis with thermodynamic modelling. Pierre has contributed to the development of important community tools, including the mapping software XMapTools and major petrochemical modelling tools and databases. He has recently been awarded an ERC Starting Grant entitled Prograde metamorphism Modelling: a new petrochronological and computing framework (PROMOTING), co-edited a volume of the Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry series on petrochronology, and received several
prizes including the Barrow Award 2024.
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