Dr. Zoltán Taracsák

I'm an igneous petrologist and geochemist who primarily studies the chemical composition of basaltic magmas that erupt in various geodynamic settings on Earth, including ocean islands and subduction zones. Much of my work focusses on determining the concentration of volatile elements, particularly sulfur and carbon, in magmas prior to volcanic eruptions. I use these data to infer the volatile content of the Earth's mantle and gain a better understanding on the long-term geochemical cycling of volatiles in the Earth's mantle; the latter has fundamental importance to Earth’s climate and for the formation of critical metal deposits. Most of my research relies on the microanalyses of small droplets of glass often found in silicate crystals called melt inclusions.