Zoltán Taracsák

I’m an igneous petrologist and geochemist mostly studying crystal-hosted melt inclusions (small droplets of melt entrapped within crystals) found in volcanic rocks. I use melt inclusions to study various volcanic processes from the mantle source, for example mantle melting, to the surface, such as shallow degassing. I’m particularly interested in the volatile element (hydrogen, carbon, sulfur) geochemistry of basaltic magmas, in processes that drive volatile  element enrichment in various tectonic settings, and in the long term geochemical cycle of volatile elements like sulfur and carbon. Most of my previous work focused on elements like carbon and sulfur with special emphasis on processes such as the addition of volatiles into the deeper mantle via subduction and subsequently into the source of ocean island basalts.

My work in Oxford involves the analyses of olivine-hosted melt inclusions for sulfur isotope ratios. I use these analyses to estimate the sulfur isotope composition of primary arc magmas. Sulfur isotope data can be used further to investigate the source of sulfur in arc magmas, and whether there is any difference between various subduction zones in terms of the origin of slab-derived sulfur.