My research focuses on understanding variations in the formation and accumulation of crustal sulphides along volcanic arcs. Previous work has shown that the copper content of magmas erupted in volcanic arcs varies in response to crustal thickness. This DPhil project will test the hypothesis that crustal sulphide composition and abundance vary consistently along-arc with crustal thickness, by measuring the elemental and isotopic composition of sulphides and calculating a crustal sulphur budget for different locations along an active volcanic arc. To do this, crustal xenoliths from islands of along the Lesser Antilles Arc will be examined, with work currently underway on samples from St Vincent. This work will contribute to a better constraint of the sulphur budget of intra-oceanic volcanic arcs, with an application to global models of the sulphur cycle, as well as gaining insight into how variations in subduction zone parameters, specifically crustal thickness, impacts magmatic processes and the behaviour of sulphur.
