Carnegie Fellow Matt Jackson joined DTM on 1 August. He received his Ph.D. in 2007 from the MIT-WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography and Applied Ocean Science and Engineering and was a postdoctoral investigator at WHOI prior to arriving at DTM. The primary focus of Jackson’s research is to understand the dynamics and evolution of the Earth’s mantle from the perspective of geochemisty. In particular, he uses the compositions of oceanic lavas and ultramafic xenoliths to quantify the chemical and isotopic variability hosted in inaccessibly deep parts of the Earth’s mantle.

At DTM, Jackson plans to work with Rick Carlson on measurements of ¹⁴²Nd, a product of the short-lived and now extinct nuclide ¹⁴⁶Sm, in order to gain a clearer understanding of Earth’s early history. By measuring ¹⁴²Nd in oceanic hotspot lavas, the two hope to find evidence of ancient reservoirs that have survived over 4 billion yeas in the convecting mantle. Jackson will also work with Erik Hauri on measuring volatile abundances in hotspot lavas in order to study the volatile signatures that are associated with materials—such as continental and oceanic crust—that have cycled through the Earth’s mantle. With Steve Shirey, Jackson plans on measuring Os-isotopes on a wide variety of hotspot-related lavas in order to investigate the origins and ages of the recycled materials they host.