Science Innovation Award 2016 (EAG)
The EAG Science Innovation Award is bestowed upon scientists who have recently made a particularly important and innovative breakthrough in geochemistry. The geochemical research must be highly original and contribute in a significant fashion to our understanding of the natural behaviour of the Earth or planets. Such a contribution must be in the form of a widely recognized important piece of innovative scientific research published in a peer-reviewed journal. The recipient must be between 35 and 55 years old.
Awarded to: Jon Blundy Citationist: Mike Walter
Abstract: The Testimony of Zoned Crystals from Volcanic Rocks
Medal lecture in:
Session 08d in 311+312 on Thursday 30th June 05:45 - 06:30
Citation: Jon Blundy is Professor of Petrology in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol, England. Jon came to Bristol in 1989 after completing a BA in Geology at University of Oxford (1983) and a PhD at University of Cambridge (1989), where he worked on the Adamello Batholith in the Italian Alps under the supervision of Steve Sparks. At Bristol Jon held consecutive independent research fellowships, from the Natural Environment Research Council (twice) and the Royal Society, for a total of 16 years, providing him with a great opportunity to pursue his interest in all things magmatic, using a combination of fieldwork, geochemical analysis, experimental petrology and thermodynamics. In 1990 he teamed up with Bernie Wood to work on the problem of trace element partitioning between crystals and melts. Their work confirmed the importance of ionic radius in controlling trace element incorporation and spawned the Lattice Strain Model of trace element partitioning, that has been widely used since to predict partition coefficients for geochemical modelling. Jon has also worked on mineral geothermometry, magma degassing, the phase relationships of subduction zone magmas, and hydrothermal ore deposits. Together with Kathy Cashman, Jon has explored many aspects of the Mount St. Helens magmatic system, exploting its potential as a natural laboratory for understanding magma dynamics beneath andesite volcanoes. In a 2006 paper with Steve Sparks and Catherine Annen Jon introduced the concept of Deep Crustal Hot Zones in generating the compositional diversity of magmas in the crust. Jon has been a recipient of the F.W. Clarke Medal of the Geochemical Society (1997) and the Bigsby Medal of the Geological Society (2005). He has held visiting scholar positions at University of Oregon (1999), Nagoya University (2007) and California Institute of Technology, where he was Moore Scholar in 2014 and 2016. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2008 and the Academia Europea in 2011.