Mines Professor Receives Prestigious Cambridge Fellowship
Gokce Ustunisik, Ph.D., associate professor of geology and geological engineering at South Dakota Mines, will spend the spring semester expanding her research at the University of Cambridge after being selected for the prestigious Derek Brewer Visiting Fellowship.
This fellowship was established in 2000 in memory of Sir Derek Brewer, a renowned medieval scholar and former master of Cambridge's Emmanuel College. Ustunisik is the first professor at Mines to be selected as a Derek Brewer fellow from among nominees representing scholars in physical sciences, literature and engineering.
“These fellowships are rare. Everyone from the world applies for these, and they only give out three each year,” Ustunisik said. “I am excited about this amazing opportunity and will make the most of my time there to add a new direction to my research.”
The fellowship, which begins in January, will enable Ustunisik to expand her research on how crystals formed at depths of up to 25 km and brought to the surface in lavas can reveal how oceanic crust is formed and help determine the volatile element budget in the Earth’s mantle.
“By looking at their chemistry and the dissolved water, carbon dioxide, chlorine, fluorine, sulfur, we can understand how that volcano works and impacts on climate change," Ustunisik said.
Her primary research focuses on the mid-ocean ridge (MOR) system, which produces 75% of the Earth’s crust. Volcanic eruptions can impact the climate and carbon budget of Earth's atmosphere and oceans, causing significant changes in the climate. Episodes of rapid climate change have occurred in the past, but researchers are now beginning to understand how fast changes in CO2 in the atmosphere can result in increased environmental temperature, Ustunisik said.
Two years ago, Ustunisik and Roger Nielsen, Ph.D., research scientist in the Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, were awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant under the Marine Geology and Geochemistry-MGG/Oceanography-OCE program. In collaboration with Dr. Glenn Gaetani at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, their research focuses on measuring the volatile and trace element composition in melt inclusions within plagioclase and olivine, exploring the impact of ocean floor plate tectonics on climate change.
To understand the impact of rapid atmospheric changes, scientists need a clearer picture of all CO2 sources, both natural and human made. Researchers are estimating the CO2 budget of the mantle and crust by analyzing tiny melt pockets (melt inclusions) trapped in crystals that form deep underground and later erupt on the ocean floor, where they can be sampled. These crystals preserve the early chemical signatures of volcanic systems, offering unaltered insights into magma evolution.
“By studying the chemical and volatile contents of these melt inclusions, we can better grasp volcanic dynamics, which is crucial for understanding volcanic hazards, geothermal energy, ore deposits, and the role of volcanic activity in creating habitable environments on other planets like Mars,” Ustunisik said.
During her time in England, Ustunisik will work with Dr. John Maclennan, a professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge, who has been focusing on similar problems under Iceland's volcanoes. The goal is to share techniques and compare results from different sets of volcanic rocks collected worldwide.
Ustunisik's research group at Mines is a leader in studying mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB), focusing on plagioclase ultraphyric basalts (PUB) with large plagioclase crystals that record various igneous processes. She compares interpreting the chemical signatures in these crystals to reading tree rings, with central rings - inner zones of plagioclase crystals, revealing early conditions and outer zones showing later changes. The exact formation and alteration of these signatures remain unclear.
Ustunisik said the crystals hold the key to understanding multiple volcanic systems throughout the world and beyond.
“Even though the groups at South Dakota Mines and the University of Cambridge have worked on similar sample types and research questions, we have looked at different geological environments and treated the materials differently," she said. "A thorough exchange of methodologies, assumptions and resultant conclusions requires a greater degree of in-person interaction than is possible during a shorter period at conferences. It is such information that I hope to discuss while I am at Cambridge. The planned outcome will be to work on projects that will result in collaborative review articles and the development of new National Science Foundation Natural Environment Research Council joint proposals”.
Ustunisik will be at Cambridge through early April 2025.