Charlie Compton-Jones

My research interests are centred around the geochemistry and metallogenic properties of the Earth's mantle, specifically looking into the concentration and distribution of precious metals (platinum-group elements, Au etc.) in the mantle and assessing the controls on this. I first formed an interest in this research during my MSc where I undertook a research project assessing the precious metal concentrations of mantle nodules (xenoliths) from beneath the Southern African Kaapvaal Craton. These nodules were transported to the surface by ascending magmatic intrusions (kimberlite dykes). My PhD research continues in a similar vein, but I am now analysing the intrusive bodies themselves, which represent magmas formed during melting deep within the mantle. These intrusive igneous rocks can therefore can provide a unique insight into the geochemistry of the lithospheric mantle, and in the case of my research, the PGE endowment and how this has changed over time. By marrying detailed geochemical analysis and isotope compositions of kimberlite and lamprophyre dykes, and xenoliths from across Southern Africa, the aim of my research is to unpick the geochemical history of the mantle underlying the > 3 billion year old Kaapvaal craton.

 

Hughes, H.S.R., Compton-Jones, C., McDonald, I., Kiseeva, E.S., Rollinson, G., Coggon, J.A., Kamenetsky, V.S., Kinnaird, J.A. (in prep). Base metal sulphide geochemistry of Roberts Victor mantle eclogites: Implications for cratonic mafic magmatism and metallogenesis.