Ralf Halama

Biography

Born in the beautiful Pfalz region of southwestern Germany, I studied Geology at the University of Mainz, Germany, and the University of Glasgow, Scotland, receiving a Diplom (M.Sc.) in Geology in 2000 with a thesis about mass transfer and element mobility in metasedimentary rocks of the Caples Terrane (South Island, New Zealand). In 2003, I obtained a doctorate (Dr. rer. nat.) in Mineralogy from the University of Tübingen, Germany, with a thesis about petrological and isotope geochemical investigations of carbonatites, basalts, gabbros and anorthosites of the Gardar Province (South Greenland).

I held postdoctoral positions at the Institut de Physique du Globe (Paris, France), the University of Maryland (USA), and the Universities of Kiel and Potsdam (Germany). I was awarded a Feodor-Lynen research fellowship from the Alexander-von-Humboldt Foundation in 2005 and the Habilitation (Facultas Docendi) in Geochemistry with a thesis about tracking geochemical cycling using novel stable isotope systems from the University of Kiel in 2011. I was appointed lecturer in Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology at Keele University in 2015.

Research and scholarship

My research interests include various aspects of igneous and metamorphic petrology as well as geochemistry. Main research themes are:

Intraplate alkaline magmatism
Pre-eruptive magmatic conditions recorded in volcanic rocks
Geochronology and element transfer of fluid-rock interaction processes
Light element stable isotopes (B, Li, N) as geochemical tracers
Geochemical cycling in subduction zones

Past and present field areas of my research are in the Gardar Province (South Greenland), the Raspas Complex (Ecuador), the Coastal Cordillera (Chile), the Lesser Caucasus Volcanic Belt (Armenia) and the Sesia Zone (Western Alps, Italy).

I am a member of the Keele Petrology Group and of the Deutsche Mineralogische Gesellschaft, the European Association of Geochemistry, the American Geophysical Union and the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Besides activities as session convener and reviewer for science foundations, I have written more than 100 reviews for scientific journals and acted as topic editor for the International Journal of Earth Science in a special volume about “Volatiles and Fluids in Subduction Zones”. Since 2016, I am Chief Editor of the Journal of Mineralogy and Geochemistry (Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie). In 2020, I was appointed as Associate Editor for Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta.

Teaching

Year 1

ESC-10054: Introduction to Mineralogy and Petrology

Year 2

ESC-20001: Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology
ESC-20064: Geochemistry

Year 3

ESC-30028: Economic Geology
ESC-30030: Advanced Petrology and Structural Geology Field Course

Year 4 (MGeoscience)

ESC-40004: Geoscience Research Project
ESC-40005: Research in Context
ESC-40006: Research Report

Field courses

ESC-30030: Mull, Scotland
ESC-30033: Volcanism of Southern Italy

Selected Publications

Konrad-Schmolke M and Halama R. 2014. Combined thermodynamic-geochemical modeling in metamorphic geology: Boron as tracer of fluid-rock interaction. LITHOS, vol. 208, 393-414. link> doi> full text>
Halama R, John T, Herms P, Hauff F, Schenk V. 2011. A stable (Li, O) and radiogenic (Sr, Nd) isotope perspective on metasomatic processes in a subducting slab. CHEMICAL GEOLOGY, vol. 281(3-4), 151-166. link> doi>
Halama R, Bebout GE, John T, Schenk V. 2010. Nitrogen recycling in subducted oceanic lithosphere: The record in high- and ultrahigh-pres sure metabasaltic rocks. GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA, vol. 74(5), 1636-1652. link> doi>
Halama R, McDonough WF, Rudnick RL, Bell K. 2008. Tracking the lithium isotopic evolution of the mantle using carbonatites. EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS, vol. 265(3-4), 726-742. link> doi>
Halama R, Vennemann T, Siebel W, Markl G. 2005. The Gronnedal-Ika carbonatite-syenite complex, South Greenland: Carbonatite formation by liquid immiscibility. JOURNAL OF PETROLOGY, vol. 46(1), 191-217. link> doi>

Full Publications List show

Journal Articles

Whitley S, Halama R, Gertisser R, Preece K, Deegan FM, Troll VR. 2020. Magmatic and metasomatic effects of magma-carbonate interaction recorded in calc-silicate xenoliths from Merapi volcano (Indonesia). Journal of Petrology. doi> link> full text>
Li W-Y, Yu H-M, Xu J, Halama R, Bell K, Nan X-Y, Huang F. 2019. Barium isotopic composition of the mantle: Constraints from carbonatites. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. doi> full text>
Whitley S, Gertisser R, Halama R, Preece K, Troll VR, Deegan FM. 2019. Crustal CO2 contribution to subduction zone degassing recorded through calc-silicate xenoliths in arc lavas. Sci Rep, vol. 9(1), 8803. link> doi> full text>
Sugden PJ, Savov IP, Wilson M, Meliksetian K, Navasardyan G, Halama R. 2019. The Thickness of the Mantle Lithosphere and Collision-Related Volcanism in the Lesser Caucasus. JOURNAL OF PETROLOGY, vol. 60(2), 199-230. link> doi> full text>
Sokol K, Halama R, Meliksetian K, Savov IP, Navasardyan G, Sudo M. 2018. Alkaline magmas in zones of continental convergence: The Tezhsar volcano-intrusive ring complex, Armenia. LITHOS, vol. 320, 172-191. link> doi> full text>
Halama R, Glodny J, Konrad-Schmolke M, Sudo M. 2018. Rb-Sr and in situ Ar-40/Ar-39 dating of exhumation-related shearing and fluid-induced recrystallization in the Sesia zone (Western Alps, Italy). GEOSPHERE, vol. 14(4), 1425-1450. link> doi> full text>
Konrad-Schmolke M, Halama R, Wirth R, Thomen A, Klitscher N, Morales L, Schreiber A, Wilke FDH. 2018. Mineral dissolution and reprecipitation mediated by an amorphous phase. Nat Commun, vol. 9(1), 1637. link> doi> full text>
Halama R, Bebout GE, Marschall HR, John T. 2017. Fluid-induced breakdown of white mica controls nitrogen transfer during fluid-rock interaction in subduction zones. INTERNATIONAL GEOLOGY REVIEW, vol. 59(5-6), 702-720. link> doi> full text>
Konrad-Schmolke M, Halama R, Manea VC. 2016. Slab mantle dehydrates beneath Kamchatka – yet recycles water into the deep mantle. Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems. doi> full text>
Li W-Y, Teng F-Z, Halama R, Keller J, Klaudius J. 2016. Magnesium isotope fractionation during carbonatite magmatism at Oldoinyo Lengai, Tanzania. EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS, vol. 444, 26-33. link> doi> full text>
Konrad-Schmolke M, Halama R, Manea VC. 2016. Slab mantle dehydrates beneath KamchatkaYet recycles water into the deep mantle. GEOCHEMISTRY GEOPHYSICS GEOSYSTEMS, vol. 17(8), 2987-3007. link> doi> full text>
Halama R and Konrad-Schmolke M. 2015. Retrograde metasomatic effects on phase assemblages in an interlayered blueschist-greenschist sequence (Coastal Cordillera, Chile). LITHOS, vol. 216, 31-47. link> doi> full text>
Konrad-Schmolke M and Halama R. 2014. Combined thermodynamic-geochemical modeling in metamorphic geology: Boron as tracer of fluid-rock interaction. LITHOS, vol. 208, 393-414. link> doi> full text>
Freundt A, Halama R, Suess E, Voelker D. 2014. Introduction to the special issue on SFB 574 "Volatiles and fluids in subduction zones: climate feedback and trigger mechanisms for natural disasters". INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EARTH SCIENCES, vol. 103(7), 1729-1731. link> doi> full text>
Halama R, Bebout GE, John T, Scambelluri M. 2014. Nitrogen recycling in subducted mantle rocks and implications for the global nitrogen cycle. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EARTH SCIENCES, vol. 103(7), 2081-2099. link> doi> full text>
Freundt A, Grevemeyer I, Rabbel W, Hansteen TH, Hensen C, Wehrmann H, Kutterolf S, Halama R, Frische M. 2014. Volatile (H2O, CO2, Cl, S) budget of the Central American subduction zone. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EARTH SCIENCES, vol. 103(7), 2101-2127. link> doi> full text>
Halama R, Konrad-Schmolke M, Sudo M, Marschall HR, Wiedenbeck M. 2014. Effects of fluid-rock interaction on Ar-40/Ar-39 geochronology in high-pressure rocks (Sesia-Lanzo Zone, Western Alps). GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA, vol. 126, 475-494. link> doi> full text>
Laeger K, Halama R, Hansteen T, Savov IP, Murcia HF, Cortes GP, Garbe-Schoenberg D. 2013. Crystallization conditions and petrogenesis of the lava dome from the similar to 900 years BP eruption of Cerro Machin Volcano, Colombia. JOURNAL OF SOUTH AMERICAN EARTH SCIENCES, vol. 48, 193-208. link> doi>
Halama R, Savov IP, Garbe-Schoenberg D, Schenk V, Toulkeridis T. 2013. Vesuvianite in high-pressure-metamorphosed oceanic lithosphere (Raspas Complex, Ecuador) and its role for transport of water and trace elements in subduction zones (vol 25, pg 193, 2013). EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF MINERALOGY, vol. 25(6), 1039. link> doi>
Halama R, Savov IP, Garbe-Schoenberg D, Schenk V, Toulkeridis T. 2013. Vesuvianite in high-pressure-metamorphosed oceanic lithosphere (Raspas Complex, Ecuador) and its role for transport of water and trace elements in subduction zones. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF MINERALOGY, vol. 25(2), 193-219. link> doi>
John T, Gussone N, Podladchikov YY, Bebout GE, Dohmen R, Halama R, Klemd R, Magna T, Seitz H-M. 2012. Volcanic arcs fed by rapid pulsed fluid flow through subducting slabs. NATURE GEOSCIENCE, vol. 5(7), 489-492. link> doi>
van der Straaten F, Halama R, John T, Schenk V, Hauff F, Andersen N. 2012. Tracing the effects of high-pressure metasomatic fluids and seawater alteration in blueschist-facies overprinted eclogites: Implications for subduction channel processes. CHEMICAL GEOLOGY, vol. 292, 69-87. link> doi>
Halama R, John T, Herms P, Hauff F, Schenk V. 2011. A stable (Li, O) and radiogenic (Sr, Nd) isotope perspective on metasomatic processes in a subducting slab. CHEMICAL GEOLOGY, vol. 281(3-4), 151-166. link> doi>
Halama R, Bebout GE, John T, Schenk V. 2010. Nitrogen recycling in subducted oceanic lithosphere: The record in high- and ultrahigh-pres sure metabasaltic rocks. GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA, vol. 74(5), 1636-1652. link> doi>
John T, Scherer EE, Schenk V, Herms P, Halama R, Garbe-Schoenberg D. 2010. Subducted seamounts in an eclogite-facies ophiolite sequence: the Andean Raspas Complex, SW Ecuador. CONTRIBUTIONS TO MINERALOGY AND PETROLOGY, vol. 159(2), 265-284. link> doi>
Halama R, Savov IP, Rudnick RL, McDonough WF. 2009. Insights into Li and Li isotope cycling and sub-arc metasomatism from veined mantle xenoliths, Kamchatka. CONTRIBUTIONS TO MINERALOGY AND PETROLOGY, vol. 158(2), 197-222. link> doi>
Maloney JS, Nabelek PI, Sirbescu M-LC, Halama R. 2008. Lithium and its isotopes in tourmaline as indicators of the crystallization process in the San Diego County pegmatites, California, USA. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF MINERALOGY, vol. 20(5), 905-916. link> doi>
Marks MAW, Rudnick RL, Ludwig T, Marschall H, Zack T, Halama R, McDonough WF, Rost D, Wenzel T, Vicenzi EP, Savov IP, Altherr R, Markl G. 2008. Sodic pyroxene and sodic amphibole as potential reference materials for in situ lithium isotope determinations by SIMS. GEOSTANDARDS AND GEOANALYTICAL RESEARCH, vol. 32(3), 295-310. link> doi>
Halama R, McDonough WF, Rudnick RL, Bell K. 2008. Tracking the lithium isotopic evolution of the mantle using carbonatites. EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS, vol. 265(3-4), 726-742. link> doi>
Courtier AM, Jackson MG, Lawrence JF, Wang Z, Lee C-TA, Halama R, Warren JM, Workman R, Xu W, Hirschmann MM, Larson AM, Hart SR, Lithgow-Bertelloni C, Stixrude L, Chen W-P. 2007. Correlation of seismic and petrologic thermometers suggests deep thermal anomalies beneath hotspots. EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS, vol. 264(1-2), 308-316. link> doi>
Halama R, Joron J-L, Villemant B, Marki G, Treuil M. 2007. Trace element constraints on mantle sources during mid-Proterozoic magmatism: evidence for a link between the Gardar (South Greenland) and Abitibi (Canadian Shield) mafic rocks. CANADIAN JOURNAL OF EARTH SCIENCES, vol. 44(4), 459-478. link> doi>
Halama R, McDonough WF, Rudnick RL, Keller J, Klaudius J. 2007. The Li isotopic composition of Oldoinyo Lengai: Nature of the mantle sources and lack of isotopic fractionation during carbonatite petrogenesis. EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS, vol. 254(1-2), 77-89. link> doi>
Halama R, Boudon G, Villemant B, Joron JL, Le Friant A, Komorowski JC. 2006. Pre-eruptive crystallization conditions of mafic and silicic magmas at the Plat Pays volcanic complex, Dominica (Lesser Antilles). JOURNAL OF VOLCANOLOGY AND GEOTHERMAL RESEARCH, vol. 153(3-4), 200-220. link> doi>
Halama R, Vennemann T, Siebel W, Markl G. 2005. The Gronnedal-Ika carbonatite-syenite complex, South Greenland: Carbonatite formation by liquid immiscibility. JOURNAL OF PETROLOGY, vol. 46(1), 191-217. link> doi>
Marks M, Halama R, Wenzel T, Markl G. 2004. Trace element variations in clinopyroxene and amphibole from alkaline to peralkaline syenites and granites: implications for mineral-melt trace-element partitioning. CHEMICAL GEOLOGY, vol. 211(3-4), 185-215. link> doi>
Halama R, Marks M, Brugmann G, Siebel W, Wenzel T, Markl G. 2004. Crustal contamination of mafic magmas: evidence from a petrological, geochemical and Sr-Nd-Os-O isotopic study of the Proterozoic Isortoq dike swarm, South Greenland. LITHOS, vol. 74(3-4), 199-232. link> doi>
Halama R, Wenzel T, Upton BGJ, Siebel W, Markl G. 2003. A geochemical and Sr-Nd-O isotopic study of the Proterozoic Eriksfjord Basalts, Gardar Province, South Greenland: Reconstruction of an OIB signature in crustally contaminated rift-related basalts. MINERALOGICAL MAGAZINE, vol. 67(5), 831-853. link> doi>
Halama R, Waight T, Markl G. 2002. Geochemical and isotopic zoning patterns of plagioclase megacrysts in gabbroic dykes from the Gardar Province, South Greenland: implications for crystallisation processes in anorthositic magmas. CONTRIBUTIONS TO MINERALOGY AND PETROLOGY, vol. 144(1), 109-127. link> doi>
Sugden PJ, Savov IP, Agostini S, Wilson M, Halama R, Meliksetian K. 2020. Boron isotope insights into the origin of subduction signatures in continent-continent collision zone volcanism. EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS, vol. 538, Article ARTN 116207. link> doi> full text>
Halama R, Konrad-Schmolke M, De Hoog JCM. 2020. Boron isotope record of peak metamorphic ultrahigh-pressure and retrograde fluid-rock interaction in white mica (Lago di Cignana, Western Alps). Contrib Mineral Petrol, vol. 175(3), 20. link> doi> full text>

Other

van der Straaten F, John T, Halama R, Schenk V. 2009. About fluid and element mobility in the subduction channel: Constraints from rehydrated eclogites. GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA (vol. 73, p. A1369). link>
Halama R, Bebout G, John T. 2009. Behavior of nitrogen and its isotopes during high-pressure fluid-driven metasomatic processes: A case study from the Tian Shan, China. GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA (vol. 73, p. A487). link>
Wiedenbeck M, Rosner M, Halama R, Krienitz M. 2009. Tourmaline reference materials for the in situ determination of lithium isotope composition. GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA (vol. 73, p. A1438). link>
Halama R, John T, Schenk V, McDonough WF, Rudnick RL. 2007. Li isotope fractionation in the subducted slab - A case study from the Raspas complex, Ecuador. GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA (vol. 71, p. A370). link>
Savov IP, Bizimis M, Halama R, Shirey S, Hauri E, Haydoutov I. 2007. Li-Sr-Lu-Hf isotope and trace element systematics of eclogites from Bulgaria. GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA (vol. 71, p. A879). link>
Marks MAW, Rudnick RL, Ludwig T, Marschall H, Zack T, Halama R, McDonough WF, Rost D, Wenzel T, Vicenzi EP, Savov IP, Altherr R, Markl G. 2007. Sodic pyroxene and sodic amphibole as potential micro-analytical reference material for Li isotopes. GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA (vol. 71, p. A623). link>
Connor C, Connor L, Halama R, Meliksetian K, Savov IP. Volcanic hazard assessment of the Armenia Nuclear Power Plant site.

PGR/PGT Students

Current PhD students

Rebecca Wiltshire. PhD title: The transitions in eruption styles of arc eruptions.
Sean Whitley. PhD title: Xenoliths as tracers of magmatic and intra-crustal processes at subduction zone volcanoes.

Past PhD students

F. van der Straaten. 2008. Retrogression of eclogites to blueschists: a record of fluid infiltration during uplift in subduction zones. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Kiel, Germany.
Resulting paper: Chem. Geol. 292-293: 69-87

PGT students

K. Sokol. 2016. Petrological study of the Tezhsar Alkaline Complex (TAC), Armenia; insights to alkaline magmatism of the Eurasian-Arabian collision zone. Unpublished MGeo thesis, Keele University
J. Funnell. 2017. Inferring crystallisation and emplacement processes in the Upper Zone of the Bushveld complex through analysis of magnetite and gabbronorite samples. Unpublished MGeo thesis, Keele University.
K. Mclaren. 2017. Origin of the felsic xenoliths of the Garusar cinder cone, Armenia: Implications for the mechanisms of melting in that region. Unpublished MSc thesis, Keele University.
K. Burrows (2018): Distinguishing sandstones in historic buildings using handheld X-Ray fluorescence analysis. Unpublished MSc thesis, Keele University.
S. Whitfield (2018): Geochemical analyses of the alteration and variation across the rhyolites of Parys Mountain, Anglesey. Unpublished MSc thesis, Keele University.
B. Yang (2018): Using the difference in trace element concentrations to distinguish the obsidian from different deposits of Lipari and Vulcano (Aeolian Islands, Italy). Unpublished MSc thesis, Keele University.
H. Reese (2019): Mineralisation of the Shap Granite, Cumbria, UK. Unpublished MGeo thesis, Keele University.
C.-L. Rogers (2019): The petrogenesis of alkaline igneous rocks from Loch Borralan, Scotland. Unpublished MSc thesis, Keele University.
M. Godley (2019): The Ross of Mull Granite boundary; a petrological and geochemical approach. Unpublished MSc thesis, Keele University.