About the Project
Start date: 01 October 2026
Aim: The aim of this research is to determine how impact processes affect water abundance and hydrogen isotope (D/H) ratios within meteorites. Results will lead to a better understanding of hydrogen mobility during impact shock, and thus will provide a substantial advancement in our knowledge of water retention on rocky bodies throughout Solar System formation and evolution.
Background information: Meteorites have been extensively analysed to determine the source and abundance of water delivered to the early inner Solar System [e.g.,1-4]. These studies are largely based on hydrogen abundance and D/H ratio measurements of hydrous minerals and glasses in these rocks. However, extraterrestrial samples have all experienced some degree of hypervelocity impact processing, potentially effecting change on their hydrogen inventory [e.g., 1, 5-7]. It is therefore vital to understand how hydrogen is affected by impact processes in order to avoid misinterpretations of the origin and distribution of water in the Solar System. Knowing how, when and from where water was delivered is fundamental to our understanding of rocky planet formation, evolution and habitability, both within and beyond our Solar System.
Methods: This research will be achieved via a combination of meteorite analyses and mathematical modelling. Analytical approaches will include scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Raman spectroscopy to identify high pressure mineral polymorphs within meteorites, and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) to measure the abundance and D/H ratio of hydrogen in these polymorphs. The applicant will develop mathematical models ranging from statistical fits to the data to mechanistic descriptions of shock-state evolution and hydrogen transport. Mathematical methods will include
multivariate regression and Bayesian parameter inference, shock hydro/thermodynamics, and reaction-diffusion differential equations for volatile loss and isotope modification. The work will draw on applied mathematics, inverse problems and numerical analysis applied to shock and mineral physics.
This is an interdisciplinary project and training in Geophysics and/or Mathematics will be provided as appropriate.
Research Outputs: The results from this project will be communicated to the wider scientific community via student attendance at both national and international conferences, as well as scientific publications and thesis submission.
Applications should include a 2-page CV and 1-page cover letter (pdf format required for both), explaining why you are interested in this research project.
Applications not submitted in this format will be rejected. Applications should be emailed to Leenah Khan (Leenah.Khan@glasgow.ac.uk) by 5pm on the 27th of April 2026, with the email subject ‘GES STFC PhD studentship 2026’.
Late applications will not be considered. We expect to hold interviews the week beginning 25th May.
References:
[1] Hallis et al. (2017a) The D/H ratio of the inner Solar System. Phil. Trans. Royal. Soc. A 375, 20150390.
[2] Barnes et al. (2020) Multiple early-formed water reservoirs in the interior of Mars. Nat Geosci. 13, 260-264.
[3] Deligny et al. (2021) Origin and timing of volatile delivery (N, H) to the angrite parent body: Constraints from in situ analyses of melt inclusions. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 313, 243-256.
[4] Lorenz et al. (2021) Composition and origin of the volatile components released from the Pesyanoe aubrite by stepwise crushing and heating. Geochemistry Cheme der Erde 81 (1), 125686.
[5] Bischoff and Stöffler (1992) Shock metamorphism as a fundamental process in the evolution of planetary bodies: information from meteorites. Eur. J. Mineral. 4, 707–755.
[6] Hallis et al. (2017b) Effects of shock and Martian alteration on Tissint hydrogen isotope ratios and water content. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 200, 280-294.
[7] Adcock et al. (2017) Shock transformation of whitlockite to merrillite and the implications for meteortic phosphate. Nature Communications 8, 14667.
Funding Notes
STFC funding is available via a competitive process – the successful candidate will receive full funding, for tuition and stipend at UKRI standard levels. International candidates are not eligible to apply.
The project is suitable for a UK graduate with a 2:1 honours degree or above in Geology or Earth Science, Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics or a related subject.
The ideal candidate will have a background in mineralogy, petrology, geochemistry and mathematics. No prior knowledge of planetary science or meteorites is required.
