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Viktoria Trautner

Researcher - NJORD GEO - Centre for Studies of the Physics of the Earth
Image of Viktoria Trautner
Room V406
Username
Visiting address Sem Sælands vei 24 Fysikkbygningen 0371 Oslo
Postal address Postboks 1048 0371 Oslo

Academic interests

I am an experimental geoscientist with wide-ranging interests, from planetary science and high pressure mineral physics to fluid-rock interactions and mineral reactivity. 

In October 2025, I moved to Njord to work as a researcher on the REACT project with Dr Joanna Dziadkowiec. I perform experiments in the Surface Forces Apparatus to study mineralization under confinement, as well as reference experiments in the Atomic Force Microscope. Our aim is to better understand the factors governing destructive and cohesive mineral growth in pore spaces and to ultimately find ways to control this, with relevance to societal challenges such as weathering of building materials and CO2 storage.

Current topics:

  • Fluid-mineral interactions at the nanoscale
  • Mineral growth and reactivity under confinement
  • Surface Forces Apparatus (SFA)
  • Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)

Background

I come from a geoscience background with a particular passion for experimental and laboratory work, which was sparked by research projects during my BSc and MSc at VU Amsterdam (the Netherlands). In addition to projects in planetary experimental petrology on trace element partitioning in Mercury’s interior and the formation of lunar high-Ti glasses, I worked on fluid-rock interaction in subduction zones by studying fluid inclusions in metamorphic quartz veins from the Cycladic Blueschist Unit.

During my PhD in high-pressure mineral physics at the University of Oxford (UK), I studied the elastic properties of minerals in Earth’s deep interior using Diamond-Anvil Cell experiments at synchrotron facilities. Specifically, I focused on (Mg,Fe)O ferropericlase, the second-most abundant mineral in the lower mantle, and the effect of the spin transition of iron on seismic properties. 

April - September 2025 Post-doctoral research assistant at Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford (UK)

January 2021 - April 2025 PhD at Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford (UK)

2018 - 2020 MSc in Earth Sciences (Planetary Geology & Geochemistry track), Department of Earth Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NL)

2015 - 2018 BSc in Earth Sciences (Geology & Geochemistry track), Department of Earth Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NL)

2014 - 2015 Propaedeutics in Life Science & Technology, Leiden University & TU Delft (NL)

Publications

Trautner, V. E., Koemets, E., Wang, B., . . . Marquardt, H. (in press). Shielding of periclase by bridgmanite during compression of a polycrystalline mantle assemblage. American Mineralogist. https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2025-10040

Wang, B., Satta, N., Koemets, E., Buchen, J., Trautner, V., . . . Marquardt, H. (2026) Dynamic compression and pressure cycling in dynamic diamond anvil cells: MgO and neon studied by time-resolved x-ray diffraction. Physical Review B, 113, 104109. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/5zj5-5h4y

Trautner, V. E., Rijal, A., Plueckthun, C., . . . Marquardt, H. (2024). Iron Content‐Dependence of Ferropericlase Elastic Properties Across the Spin Crossover From Novel Experiments and Machine Learning. Geophysical Research Letters, 51(22). https://doi.org/10.1029/2024gl111276 

Trautner, V. E., Stackhouse, S., Turner, A., . . . Marquardt, H. (2023). Compressibility of ferropericlase at high-temperature: Evidence for the iron spin crossover in seismic tomography. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 618, 118296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2023.118296 

Méndez, A. S. J., Stackhouse, S., Trautner, V., . . . Marquardt, H. (2022). Broad elastic softening of (Mg,Fe)O ferropericlase across the iron spin crossover and a mixed‐spin lower mantle. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 127(8), e2021JB023832. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021jb023832 

Steenstra, E., Trautner, V., Berndt, J., . . . Westrenen, van, W. (2020), Trace element partitioning between sulfide-, metal- and silicate melts at highly reduced conditions: Insights into the distribution of volatile elements during core formation in reduced bodies. Icarus, 335, 113408. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2019.113408 

Published Oct. 10, 2022 1:17 PM - Last modified Apr. 8, 2026 3:02 PM

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